What was your Zoe moment today?

It's Friday which I love and a beautiful day here in NC, although I want so badly for it to become cool and crisp like fall should be. Today my moment of abundant living can in the form of a hot steamy cup.

Why is it that pumpkin hot goodness causes you to inhale and exhale deeper than you have in days? The comfort of warmth and spice make you feel all things good.

Since we are new on our journey together i wanted to share with you some of my inspiration. Why Zoe you may ask? I found this concept of abundant living years ago while reading a book: (Starbucks should pay me for the advertising :) )

Sweet discusses how Starbucks has made millions off of their ability to create community and that if the church institution could grasp the same concept it could advance and have far reaching impact. Great thought, but what struck me most was Sweet's words about abundant living. John 10:9-10 (NASV) 

 ⁹ "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

This fullness of experience is what helps make Starbucks successful. But they didn't invent the feeling. Oh no, like everything else, God created this fullness and He sent His Son Jesus Christ to tell us and teach us and challenge us that in Him and through Him we, shamed and separated sinners, can living abundantly in Him. In Him is the fullness of all things and when we surrender ourselves to Him He extends to us, though we are deserving of wrath, the fullness of grace, mercy, compassion, and love. The word "life" in John 10:10 is zwh/ in the Greek, or the transliterated word zoe.

The power of this truth pierced me with a longing to start living and pursueing Jesus abundantly in life. The concept marked me in an Eben-ezer stone kind of way. So much that i wear a ring on my right hand daily as a remebrance.

I guess this blog is going to be a way to record those ways in which we can embrace abundant living. Not to fill us up on the things of this world that just rust and destroy and pass away, but abundance on the things of eternal value.

Tomorrow I am joinging a linky party (i think that is what it is called....step back i'm still new here) that will last the month of October. It is a challenge to bloggers to blog about one topic for 31 days. I hope you enjoy the 31 days of words that will be happening right here!

So, share with me. Have you had a moment of abundant living today? Are you experiencing His fullness?

(aka: COMMENT PEOPLE :) ) 

Where to begin?

The pressure of a beginning. Why is it that the start of a story or speech or letter is always the hardest. How many of your high school yearbooks have notes from friends that start with "Where do I start?" We pose the question in the beginning to break the ice becasue we simply don't have an answer to the question.

I'm starting a blog today, welcome. I find I live life with a lot of thoughts swarming around in my head and so in order to break up all the noise and hopefully make a mark in this blogsphere world we live in I am starting this. Recently I began following a long list of blogs and have been so inspired by these women and their lives. The willingness to share life and lessons to strangers over the interent struck me. Is that courageous or crazy? I don't know that I have discovered that answer yet but either way I am jumping into the crazy (or courageous). 

I am a follower of Jesus and because this truth about me shapes my affections and beliefs, my thoughts are shaped through what I know anout Him and what I know about His Word. I believe that Christ gives each of us a story and that our stories matter and have power. It is this belief that has compelled me into the crazy courageous world of blogging. I am far from claiming to have answers to the world and how to live in it. But I do know that I have a story and if sharing my story helps you to better live in and shine through yours then this blog is totally worth it. And if no one reads this then it is like an online journal that I can use to quiet the voices in my head. Either way it's a win! 

So, where to begin? I am beginning with the end in mind. The goal of the journey is where my eyes are set so not to waiver or wander (ok we may wander a little) but to stay steadfast on the journey. The goal you ask? To bring Him glory in this process and maybe extend words of grace,mercy,comfort, and compassion to you in your life along the way. 

Let's journey together though we may be far apart. 

Scripture meditation for today: Matthew 6:22-24
Where are you setting your affections? The direction of your eyes will tell. Look  up sweet friend.