What Do YOU Do?

People often say to me, "What does your husband and you do for a living?" Well if I were to say that we are a Pastor...well that brings up all kinds of thoughts and images in peoples minds. Depending on their past experiences with church or even with their pastors...whether good or bad....will determine how they respond. So you have to be creative in telling people because they will start to act all kinds of weird. I have had people forget "they had something to do" and very quickly excuse themselves OR loudly apologize for any curse words or things that they have said in the preceding sentences of our conversation. They will then spend the rest of the time quoting scriptures or re-telling a spiritual encounter they had. Haha. It is really funny.

So I have to be creative. The longer that I take in letting someone know what I do or what my husband does the better it is. You will not believe the questions that I get. I have been asked the strangest things and of course they will want to know when I think Jesus is coming back or what denomination is the one that is on the right track. Or they ask if I can read their mind or even been asked to read their palm. Yes that has happened! Oh and let's not forget the question of "If God is real then why is the world suffering?" Personally, that is my favorite one. So when I am asked, what I say has to be something that gets them thinking and not jump to judgement or make them think that I am going to take up an impromptu offering!

So if I were to answer in a non-churchy or in a way that anyone would understand this is how it would kind of sound: I work for a global enterprise. We have outlets in nearly every country in the World. We have hospitals, hospices, homeless shelters, we specialize in weddings and marriage services, work with orphanages, we have feeding programs. We deal in education, health and wholeness all sorts of reconciliation and counseling. We work closely with nursery age children, encourage adoption, help people discover their geneaology and support kids and youth to go to camp. We empower people to learn and grow and be the best they can be. We love people and we are a family. We have an amazing leadership team that is very inviting and not at all exclusive. We basically deal with people from birth to death and we major in the area of behavior modification. We are always looking for people to join our team. Are you interested? What else do you want to know?

This is the Church. In a nutshell. So if you are a part of THE Church....this is what you do as well. Just think about that for a minute.



You are Graciously Adorned!

❤Jonna

*God Has Been Waiting On You

 I do know someone who is waiting right now on you and me. I believe that God literally waits for us. What is He waiting for? He sees our potential and is waiting for us to step into it. God is waiting for His children to come back home. He is waiting for his own to listen to His voice. He has been waiting for us to be obedient and do what He has called us to do. He has been waiting for us to take that step of faith. He has been waiting for us to step up and be that woman of God that He called us and equipped us to be. 

Adam and Eve had everything that God had to offer them and they turned their backs for one thing that they didn’t have and really didn’t even need. And today, we are still following in those same footsteps. We receive all the mercies and grace and all the wonderful things that God so freely gives but we turn our head and look away and put our attention on other things that look good and wonder if that will bring us joy. We allow the things in life to distract us and lead us away from the path that we were destined and designed for. 

The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness. But He is patient with us, because He does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. Isaiah 30:18

The truth is that we cannot really go anywhere significant if we are trying to look in two different directions. We have to make a decision to go one way or another and stick with it. God wants us to focus.  To keep our eyes on Him. He wants us to avoid looking at what everyone else is doing, being and saying---and instead just see Him. 

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God. Hebrews 12:2 The Message

Let me encourage you today to do three things: stop, focus and seek. Stop being so busy with all the social media, the Netflix series that you just have to binge watch for 6 hours and be still. God fights for our attention especially in this crazy world of drama and unrest. He just wants a little bit of our time. So stop and rest in His presence. Look at what is consuming your time and reevaluate and ask God to help you fix your eyes on Him and be more consistent about it. Focus on Him. Focus on what He is wanting for your life. When we stop and focus we can finally hear His voice. He is putting people and opportunities in our path but we haven't noticed because we have been distracted. Finally you need to seek Him. No longer will He will be waiting for us but we will be looking for Him. Seeking is a new commitment and I want to challenge you to seek God in our everyday. Seek Him in every word we speak and every decision we make. When we seek Him we will find things that we never thought we would find.

God shouldn't be waiting for us...we should be looking and waiting to hear where to go next and what our new assignment is going to be. Sometimes our lives just get a little out of whack and we find ourselves off the path. I pray that today you will stop, get refocused and seek your creator. He is waiting for you.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God. Hebrews 12:2

You are Graciously Adorned

❤ Jonna Gibson