Late Night Talks {Guest Post by R.B. Denney}

Hey all! Sorry for no posts in so long. It's been a crazy couple of months. Today, however, we have a special treat! R.B. Denney from Writing is Home to Me and Foundations 274 has granted us with a guest posting!

Thank you so much, Rachel Beth, for agreeing to guest post! I know how late I am in getting this out, but the message is still, and always, relevant.
Here it is!

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Yep, summer has definitely given its grand entrance and is now enjoying its dominion over our lives. That sounded rather harsh--but for me, especially when it comes to doing my devotions, I struggle with summer.

I love the bright, warm days with friends, iced Americanos, and sandal tan-lines, but on a personal level, I struggle most with God during the summer.

And ever so much have I been wrestling lately.

During the summer months I take anywhere from one to four weeks off (from my regular life) to work at Cocolalla Lake Bible Camp. This place is my second home, I connect so much with God when I'm there. It's a lot of hard work, but I love it--and I love the people. I am always so refreshed when I'm there, I feel so alive and so in God's will. Those are all good feelings, but then when I'm on my own again at home, I topple.

Okay, so it's not that bad--I still do my devotions pretty regularly and I live for the Lord, but it's so much harder when I'm not constantly surrounded by my much adored Christian friends.

I have entitled this post "Late Night Talks" because at the moment it's a little after midnight and I'm just now getting my quality time in with God. Don't get me wrong, I talk with God throughout my day, but there is something special about purposefully setting aside time to just be with God.

It's important for every Christian to be spending time with just God and themselves, be it in prayer or in reading His Word, we all need to be growing in God on a personal level.

So, how do we fit God into our busy summer schedules?

First off, I would give you one of my favorite quotes.
"You have plenty of time for whatever it is you choose to make time for."

The idea is not to guilt you into spending time with God, but much rather to remind you that you have the power to make what you love most a priority in your life.

I know, reading through books like Deuteronomy, Judges, and so on are not always super "exciting", for lack of a better word. But God does everything with a purpose, so ask yourself this, "What can I see of God's character by reading this?"

To close, remember this: there will always be busy seasons in life, but God is always available. Seek Him. Love Him. Trust Him.

Psalm 33:4 "For the Word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in all He does."

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Hello! I'm Rachel Beth, so I'm typically pretty bad at introductions and/or telling about myself, but here it goes. My heart belongs in the woods, I would be lost without my towering trees and endless mountains. Black coffee is where it's at. I've always adored the art of writing since I was young and about four years ago I seriously took it upon myself to tell the stories that are in my thoughts with the words from my heart.

Am I doing pretty good so far? Hope so. Continuing on--I want to explore, and by exploring I don't mean just being there, I mean meeting the people, getting to know where there is, wherever there may be. I want my life to honor my Savior and it is my prayer that His story would come through all of my stories.

I simply adore my folk music. I have no idea what I would do without music. I play guitar and a bit of piano. I grew up in a family of music and it has always been such a way into people's hearts, it mak
es me smile when someone tells me about a song that pulled at their heart.

Oh yes, and I read. A lot. I enjoy all kinds of genres, but I really enjoy reading things that have been around for a long time. I enjoy trying to figure out why it is that particular books have lasted so long, hearing what they have to say.

Hope to get to know other young writers out there, and to encourage you all.

~Rachel Beth

Life {On Trials I}

"...there was given me a thorn in my flesh...to torment me. I pleaded with the Lord to take it from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Life is hard. We go through so much. There's happy times, there's sad times. We're excited, then we're depressed. We're lonely, we're hurt, we're bitter because of what's happened to us. There's tribulations, heartbreak, suffering, and trials of so many types. How do we continue living in the Fullness God has ordained for us...when we're drowning in these trials?

Let's look at Paul for a moment. If you go to the second part of 2 Corinthians 11, he lists everything hard he's suffered for the sake of Jesus. It's a painful list. Shipwrecks, beatings, insults--Paul went through it all. He had a crazy ride.

Okay, okay. It's weird to try and imagine somebody who's gone through so much pain but still chugging on, loving God with all their heart. Do you know anybody like that?

As humans, it's so natural for us to want to give up.

But...after you've tasted the pure sweetness of the Love of God...how could you give up?

Everything God allows for us to go through...crafts us further and further into who we're supposed to be. For God to use us effectively, we have to allow Him to change us. Sometimes change comes through trials.

Emotional...
Physical...
Financial...
Spiritual...
Mental...

There are many kinds of trials.

We are used to instant gratification. When everything's good, we're good. When something goes wrong, we tend to forget the whole long ride of GOOD that we've had. All we can see is the darkness in front of us. It makes us want to run away--to turn back and put as much space between us and the suffering that we can. It's uncomfortable. We want to be safe and sure of our life. If God won't fix our problem right away, there's no use following Him for the rest of our life.

But the thing is...if you'd gone a little further...you would've seen the dazzling Light on the path. It was just a little further.

If you'd gone a little further...you would've seen the Light was there the whole time. There were only clouds blocking it.

Storms blow away. They don't stay forever. Darkness seems to drag on, but it's only a moment in time.

If we press on to the end and realize the Light's always been right here, we're able to rejoice!
We can look back at the storm and see the people behind us--those who are struggling through the same blinding darkness. And we can encourage them. We can spur them along towards the Light we know is waiting just up ahead. We can remind them of the Goodness of God and the Love He has for them.

Or we can keep on going our merry way, forgetting what God just brought us through.

That's when others perish.

If God puts something hard in our life, there's a reason.

There's always a reason.

And it's usually so we're able to minister to others. Paul used his weaknesses and trials to be a light. He could relate to others, encourage them, minister to them, love them--because he knew what it was like to suffer.

It's our choice how we use our trials. But I pray we use them for God's Glory.

Live in the Fullness of God! When there's darkness, don't forget the Light.

I know this verse is prophecy about Jesus, but I believe it can be great Hope for us as well:
"After the suffering of His soul, He will see the Light and be satisfied." Isaiah 53:11

"Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the Light of the Lord." Isaiah 2:5

The Beginning {A Testimony in Progress}

Wow, okay. God has done so much in my life already. And that's crazy amazing. He's so Awesome!

I know sometimes reading other people's testimonies can be boring and seem like a waste of time. But testimonies can change lives. They can connect people. They can bring people to God's Love and Identity.

And, seeing as it's my first post here at No Longer Stone, it kind of seems fitting to give my Testimony in Progress (TiP). (My life isn't over yet! Our whole life is a testimony)

So I've grown up in a Christian home. My dad is a Chaplain in the Army, so I've been under the label: PK my whole life (Pastor's kid!). There's so many expectations of PK's. Some are good, some are bad. We're expected to be perfect. Everybody knows who we are...and we're (like it or not) a representation of our parents. And then you hear about the rebellious PK's who go against everything they ever grew up learning.

I'm going to tell you that I'm neither. I've never been perfect. But I've also never been extraordinarily rebellious.