I’m absolutely fascinated by watching people. In fact, I almost went into the hotel's "night club" the other day that the front desk lady clearly said "I don't think it's for you," just so I could watch the people (and get a really fun instagram story.) I also spend a lot of time in airports, sitting, (as I am doing as I write this) waiting and watching. Airports seem to be a simmering pot for something to go wrong and for emotions to boil over.
 
Lately, things on my flights have been going wrong a lot, so I have had the chance to really observe and take notes on my own and other people’s behavior when things are just plain out of our control.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I am a fighter….which has gotten me into trouble on several occasions. I am fiercely loyal to friends and family and for the cause of justice. But, aside from that when things go wrong, flights get cancelled and luggage gets lost, I tend to take on an “it is what it is” kind of attitude.

My anger, my biting words, and desire for things to be right will not change the fact that the plane has broken down, come in late or that my bags are in limbo. So it simply “is what it is” and when that happens I strive for resolution and understanding, but I also ask God what can I learn from this….anything…I'll take any little lesson He has to give in the most frustrating of situations.
 
This past weekend, as I dealt with luggage that didn’t make my flight, which meant my event clothes and all my merchandise and CDs were potentially not going to make it I felt frustrated, but what could I do…the show must go on, so I just wrapped my mind around the fact that I just needed to wait.
 
So I am asking myself (which means I am asking you) what is worth fighting over, what is worth waiting over? What areas do we need to rise up and speak more loudly and when do we simply need to sit down, shut our mouths and wait for things to unfold. It sound sounds like an easy question, but the answers will differ for each of us.
 
Lord, help us to be fighters for faith. Help us to know when to rise and when to lay down. Guide our words, but more importantly our hearts. Thank you God for caring about the little things and the lost things, our words and our heart. Lord, let every breath that you give us bring life, healing and joy. Help us to learn, help us to grow.- Amen

PS - Because of the sacrifice of one of our team members, who waited at the airport, rented a car and drove over 2 hours on her own to the event venue, I received my luggage 5 minutes before I had to step on stage. Five minutes was more than enough time to throw on a new outfit, some lipstick and do a little praise dance!! It was worth the wait!

​Today I opened a new devotional that a sweet new friend gave to me. It's called "At the Feet of Jesus-Daily Devotions to Nurture a Mary Heart" by Joanna Weaver.

Even more precious for me is that the woman who gave it to me exemplifies someone with a Mary heart who truly does sit at the feet of Jesus, Joanna Weaver herself.

As I opened the book I couldn't wait to see what I would read on the July 21st date. I was preparing myself to be blown away. 

Funny thing is, I was, but not in the way that I thought. I was blown away in the simplicity of the stillness that this days devotional writing brought, and how it basically stopped me in my tracks.

The devotion pulled from a book called "The Indwelling Life of Christ" where Major Ian Thomas talked about our lives being lived for Christ.  At the end of this Joanna points the reader to Acts 4:13 

Joanna then asks the simple, yet powerful question "What would you like people to note about your life?"

There it was...BOOM. It hit me like a ton of bricks. The way it spoke to me, it wasn't asking about all the believers who come to my concerts, the women I speak to at retreats, the readers of my blogs, my children, my husband and all those who think so highly of me. For me, it was asking what do I want the people of this world, those who are lost, hurting, without Christ, living in the dark to take note about my life. What do I want THEM to see.

It made me reflect and ask myself, what does the world see through me. It reminded me that the world IS taking note whether I like it or not. It caused me to pause, it caused me to pray. It caused me to think about my response.

So, as a reminder to me, to keep me accountable, I want to share it with you. This is what I wrote down...

More eloquently translated, I want the world to somehow take note that in times of trouble and pain, I kept my head up when most people would have hunched over in despair, because there was something greater than me, greater than my circumstances that kept my head up even when I didn't have the strength to lift it.

I want the world to know that in times of joy, that I lived for something beyond my own ambitions and the things that brought me true joy may not have been the things that most people would have strived to live for. I hope they would see that there was a quiet and boisterous joy that overflowed in my life, a joy that knew how to rejoice with others, a joy that knew how to rejoice in pain even if the world thought I was crazy.

I hope they would take note of these things and then ask themselves "Why?" and I pray that they would see clearly through their seeking that it was and is Jesus, simply, powerfully and inexplicably Jesus. Jesus, Jesus.

My friend, this day, I ask you the same question that Joanna asked me through her book "What would you like people to note about YOUR life?"

I love you in the Lord, Mia

I am in the middle of texting my sweet friend in Nashville dates and times for me to just get away, rest, retreat and re-energize at her home. It's going to be a trip with no gigs and no expectations. There will be time alone and time together filled with girl talk, laughter and encouragement.

My husband has given me his full blessing and I have an accumulation of miles to cover my flight so I am ready to go!! Then it hit me... as I talked to my husband, I asked him if he was sure that it was ok for me to leave. He teased me a bit and then reminded me what his schedule will be like that week of finals and graduation at the high school where he is the Executive Director and Principal. Then, I felt a little more at ease leaving.

I think I found myself baulking because I actually felt a little guilty and anxious. Anxious because it is not a work trip, because there is no agenda, because I might actually be still for a solid length of time and that can be scary.

As my husband and I discussed this anxiety, we realized how hard it is to be still when life goes 100 miles an hour for so long, which is why we both love hiking together so often as it sometimes seems to be the one place we can go to get away from it all, even if it's for a moment. Sometimes, being still, in actuality, can put us in shock mode and we don't even know how to act and we sometimes forget how to listen. 

So, I have put away the guilt, I embrace what is to come and I look forward to a week in Nashville away from the laundry, dishes, and daily chores and I am ready to receive the gift of stillness, the gift of fellowship and the gift of friendship.

We may not always be able to fly across the country, but pressing into stillness in vital. So whatever you need to do to find that place of quiet, that place of stillness, that place where you can be re-vived, JUST DO IT, even if it's for a moment!

"...but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14

I love you in the Lord, Mia

PS. Ticket is booked, no turning back!!

I'm a pretty chill person most of the time, so when I slip into hyper slow mode, to the untrained eye, most people would have no clue that I am struggling. In fact, the changes can be so subtle, that even I don't know.

I have some deadlines from various places coming up and I have been on the road for some trips, some of which were expected and some that were not. These little events in my life start stacking up and before I know it, it turns into crunch time.

When I am stressed, instead of running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I tend to procrastinate and fall prey to distractions, still unaware of what is going on until........

BOOM, my body starts screaming out "I'M STRESSED, HELP ME!" The screams come in the form of hives. Yep, because apparently it's the only way I will listen.

So here I am a few days before an event with ugly blotches on my arms.

But, here I am. Here I am ready to listen, ready to take a look at my priorities and focus on what is important, ready to be accountable, ready to press into God's strength and NOT my own.

Here I am...ready to fix my eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of my faith. 

Here I am, ready to Breath.

How do you handle stress? Do you recognize it quickly or do you need to get hit by a bus (figuratively) before you stop and re-evaluate.

What really helped me this time was sitting down with my husband and simply writing down all the deadlines and things I needed to get done. And you know what, it's not as bad as I thought. I saw more clearly those things that I could let go and those things that were important and now, I'm off to get 'er done (and go hiking)!

​Peace out friends! Don't forget to breath!
​Mia

One of the treasured milestones that a mother looks forward to with her little girl is...getting a tattoo...right? OK, well maybe not all Moms. But, since I am a fan of tattoos, it really did warm my heart when Baby Girl asked if I would go with her to get her first tattoo on her 19th birthday.

With excitement, she shared with me what she wanted eternally printed on her body. It was two words, Be Still. I thought it was beautiful, but it was when she shared with me why she wanted it, that my heart became overwhelmed with joy.

Instead of trying to explain it, I am simply going to show you what she, in her own words, shared on her Instagram account with all her friends.

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." - Psalms 46:10 

"Earlier this year I was sitting in the prayer chapel when I saw the words "be still" written on the wall. When I saw those words my mind was cleared from all the distractions going on in my life and it was just me and God. In that moment of stillness I was filled with this joy and peace that is hard for me to explain. It was then that I decided to fully give my life to Christ and let me tell ya, it's been the best decision that I have ever made❤️ "~ Miriam Koehne

Over that past few weeks God has used this verse to minister, to teach and to grow me in so many areas. It is in the stillness that we are able to hear. It is in the stillness that He fights for us. It is in the stillness that we are comforted and in the stillness that we wait. It is in the stillness that the storms cease.

I am overjoyed that she knows. I pray that you know His peace, His love and His strength. I pray you know that He is God.


Where do you need the stillness of God in your life today? 
Where do you need to know that without a doubt He is God? 
Know, that as you are still, He will be known.

I love you in the Lord, Mia