Pastor Angela Fox

I haven’t actually blogged in a while since I found out after waiting 19 years that I was actually pregnant.  Unbelieveable!  13 weeks of being sick with no energy definitely threw off my schedule.  Now I’m already 71/2 months pregnant and I am overwhelmed with the promise of God.  No matter how we try to figure things out, He performs his word on His timing which is always perfect. 

As I thought about this miracle in my tummy today, I had to remind myself that I am pregnant with the promise of God and when it is fully grown and birthed, I get to live out the promise for the rest of my life.  God is so amazing!  So you may not be actually pregnant, but there is something growing inside of all of us that God promised and He always does what He says!

Okay, my birthday just kicked off 17 minutes ago.  For the record, I love everyone’s birthdays except mine.  Either way, here goes another year.  A very special person told me that good things happen on birthdays with “9’s” on the end, so I’m trying hard to focus on that. 

Truthfully, age is all about who you are and how you feel.  In other words, I refuse to let age define me.  I am who I am no matter what year comes at the end of my offical birthdate.  God said this would be one of the best years of my life….so that’s my “birthday quote”! 

The best thing about today is that I get away with being, saying, and doing whatever I want and that is definitely something celebrate!

Just sitting here enjoying a great night of R & R with my beautiful daughter.  It’s amazing how little we take the time to just exist.  For me, I actually feel a little guilty if I’m not “doing something”.  Why is that?  Resting, spending time with someone without an agenda is very therapeutic.  God intends for us to just hang out with the wonderful people He put in our lives or better yet, just spending time with God, no requests, no list of prayers, just being with Him! 

Give it try….you might like it and you might be surprised how much better your week goes after spending a little downtime with the Creator of time.

Last night I had so much fun at our girls night out, Pursuit 31!  It was such a humbling honor to speak to some of the most beautiful and amazing girls in Pensacola.  One of the things that most affected me was reminding myself that God is not just an ingredient in my life.  He is not what I need a little more of or a little less, when it’s convenient for me.  He is the one who has everything I need and I get it all from him.  II Peter 1:3, “Everything I need for life is in Him”…  So, I don’t just add a little God to my life from time to time, but rather, God adds his life and character to my life, exactly what I need.  He is everything, he is the only thing!    

So, everyday, I have to remind myself, everything I need for my life today, tomorrow, next week, in five minutes is completely in him….so in truth, no feeling, no man, not even a pair of Jimmy Choo’s can complete me….only he does!

Well, I haven’t written a blog in a while.  Life seems to take over and blogging is not always high on the list, but tonight, I have a worthy topic.  I am in Panama, beautiful country and beautiful people.  I have to admit, life has been so crazy that I wasn’t sure I should or would come on this trip.  But I have to say as soon as I landed, it has been great!  I have treated wonderfully and feel so at home.  It’s interesting that as you develop relationships and friendships that you can truly feel at home with them.  That’s how I feel today….a home away from home. 

There’s nothing quite like learning to wait on God.  It’s so frustrating to feel like you are just waiting.  I don’t like waiting for much of anything.  I don’t like waiting at stoplights, I don’t like waiting in the drive-thru line, I even don’t like waiting in line at Disneyworld (yes, it’s true).  When we think about the word wait, it has several meanings.  Waiting - to remain inactive until something expected occurs…Seriously, who wants to be inactive when you are expecting something?  Inactive means “idle”.  Just standing still not knowing if the expectancy inside will actually become “real”….

Wait can also mean to serve someone or something else, to “wait on” them.  So, while God is taking care of things that I can’t control, rather than just being inactive and expecting him to do something, I want to be waiting on him.  Meaning, I want to serve Him in the waiting.  While my expectation is still to going to happen, I want to be actively serving God with everything I am, not doing nothing, not just running in place and wasting my time, going nowhere.  What is wasting my time anyway?  What is preventing me from waiting on (serving) God?  Is it an idle mind?  Is it idle time? Is it idle conversation?

II Timothy 2:15-17 (Amp)

5Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.

    ¹⁶But avoid all empty (vain, useless, idle) talk, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.

I don’t want to be idle or inactive….I want to wait on the Lord in my serving, staying on track with my mind and conversations and let Him take care of the rest!

You know as a girl, diamonds are definitely one of my very favorite things, if the diamond is the “real thing”, that is.  18 years ago, when my husband proposed, he gave me a beautiful diamond ring.  When I went to get the ring sized and re-mounted, can you imagine how I might have reacted if the jeweler had told me the diamond in my ring was fake?  To think that something so valuable to me and meant so much could be a cheap imitation.  (It wasn’t….thanks, Tim :)

In life, we present ourselves in a similar way when we choose to be a cheap imitation of who we really are.  That means, to be really real and genuine, I have to be more real on the inside than on the outside.  On the outside, we may seem genuine, my gifts, my talents, my persuasive personality, my influence, etc…  But what happens when the character on the inside of me isn’t there, I am just a cheap imitation of something that could be real.

Develop your character so that it can carry you where your gifts are taking you!  Be the “real deal!”

Reality is not usually where we choose to hang out. We either get hit in the face with it or we are simply doing life and find ourselves right in the middle of it.  Either way living in “Fantasy Land” is much more appealing than reality any day.  If you know me at all, you know I am a serious Disney Fanatic.  When you enter the world of Disney…all reality disappears.  There is no house to clean, someone else is going to be cooking and preparing all meals, my child is going to be fully and completely entertained and the list goes on.  But even in Disneyworld, there is a real place called reality…when you get the bill for your tickets, your hotel, your food, etc… when you are standing in line with hundreds of other people that you don’t know who are clearly as miserable as you are.  My point to all this is no matter what place you find yourself in, reality is there!  The key in the midst of these places of reality is to find a real Jesus inside of you right in the middle of your reality check.  You know the phrase, “Reality Check”.  The best reality check you can do is to let God be your reality and then everything else comes together.

Matthew 6:33 (TMB) - “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.”

So…find some God-reality this week, let him be the ultimate judge of your reality check and then everything else will make sense!

As I anticipate our Pursuit 31 meeting tonight, I am overwhelmed by knowing that God loves women, right where we are.  We don’t have to pretend to be anything or do anything to seek God’s approval, He just absolutely loves us.  We can come to him just as we are, no masks, no pre-conceived ideas, no unrealistic expectations.  Isn’t that amazing!  Today, focus on being just who you really are, without your protective mask, JUST BE YOU!

Proverbs 27:19 says, “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the REAL person”.

So let your face be a reflection of your heart connected to God’s heart and be a REAL PERSON today.  You are amazing just how you are, really!