“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! LOVE the Lord your God with ALL your heart, ALL your soul and with ALL your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deut 6

I was listening to a teaching by RVL this morning, and it totally took me back to the time I spent in Israel. I remember waking up every morning, and starting the day out by reciting the Shema. That was SO empowering! Why? Because the Shema is exactly how God tells His followers that we need to live, and repeating that every day was such an awesome reminder of the purpose for that day! Is the Shema WHO I am? Is it everything about me that matters? RVL always asked us the question: “WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” That is such a simple question, but it has so much meaning behind it!

Who am I? Am I a person who is completely obsessed, completely preoccupied with obeying and following God with all of my heart, soul and strength? My goal as a follower of Christ should be one thing: becoming a woman who is madly in love with God, and therefore living out my life with that single purpose filling my mind!

What am I doing here? Is my time, energy and resources dedicated to bringing the kingdom? How much of my time is focused on God’s work and purposes?

“How we live our days is how we live our lives” Annie Dillard

Phil 4:4-5 “Celebrate God all day, every day! I mean, REVEL in Him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the master is about to arrive! He could show up any minute!”
Colossians 2:6-7 “You received Christ Jesus, the Master, now LIVE Him! You’re deeply rooted in Him. You’re well constructed upon Him. You know your way around the faith, now do what you’ve been taught! School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving!”

Francis Chan said “We live and plan like we don’t believe God even exists. We try to set our lives up so everything will be fine even if God doesn’t come through. But true faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God’s fidelity to His promises!”

As I wrap up my time here in the DR and start a new adventure, this is a big time of questions...and I hope the main question I ask myself is if I am making choices by how I can best serve, or what I want most?