Category Archives: Jesus Thoughts.

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January 26, 2017

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Jesus Thoughts., Real Life.

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Sickie snacks. 

A couple years ago I got very sick.
A head cold.
I did not handle it with grace.

I spent the afternoon laying in bed, sending my dad pitiful selfies to prove that this stuffy nose would, in fact, be the death of me.  

Around 23:30, I heard a knock at my door and received a text from my dad that said, ‘Open up.’

I opened the door to see my parents standing on my porch with a grocery bag full of Chicken & Stars and strawberry milk;
Sickie snacks. 

After exchanging possession of ‘the goods’ my parents waved,
exclaimed, ‘see you for thanksgiving!’
and immediately headed back to Brookings.

My dad had worked 08:00-17:30 at one job, roughly 18:00-20:00 at his second job, driven 6 hours round trip, and was back at work 08:00 the next day.
Just to bring me some sickie snacks. 

Some people hear that story and say, ‘Well aren’t you a princess. My parents would never do that for me.’

They’re right. I am a princess.

Don’t mind this unwarranted selfie. Just wanted to remind everyone that my eyes look like limestone.

But there’s more. 

Your parents might not drive 6 hours to bring you goodies that you could easily buy yourself from the store that’s 3 blocks away if you chose to handle the situation like an adult;
And that’s completely understandable.

But Jesus would do it for you.
(Didn’t see that coming!)
And I know that for a fact, because in the Gospels (Matthew 8, Mark 5, and Luke 8,) Jesus got into a boat, crossed a whole entire sea, went up to one guy (Matthew says two guys. I don’t know why. Ask Jesus,) cast out demons, brought healing, gave him new clothes, probably a fresh-looking shave, made him look all sorts of fly, gave him some food, got back in the boat, and went back to the same place he had come from.

He literally crossed a sea to take sickie snacks to one dude.
(probably Chicken & Stars and strawberry milk. He is the Lord, after all.)

Now in another book of the Bible that I don’t remember right at this very second (it’s Mark 9:28 and Luke 9:49,)
The disciples said, ‘There was a guy casting out demons in Your name. We told him to stop, because he don’t hang.’
And Jesus said, ‘Fo’ real?! Don’t do that. He cool.’

Don’t worry about the relaxed nature of my paraphrasing.
My point is that there were people during that time who could cast out demons other then the 13 main characters that we all know and love.

God totally could have sent someone else to go and help this guy.
Just like He sent Jonah to Nineveh.
Or like my dad could have called my Aunt and Uncle who live 9/10 of a mile from my house and asked them to bring me a care package.

Probably would have been cheaper and way more efficient in both instances.

But it wouldn’t have been as impactful or made the recipient feel like a Prince or Princess.
And we wouldn’t have this iconic blog post today.
Praise God.

So instead, Jesus knew of the Demoniac, climbed into a boat, calmed an entire maritime storm by shouting ‘STOP IT! MY BABY NEEDS ME!’ (Loose translation, but I’m sure it’s close..) crossed the sea, made sure his little pumpkin was taken care of, and then just went right back home.

Like my parents did.

I hope you enjoyed this anecdotal reminder that Jesus is a good Padre.
I’ll conclude with an actual picture of the afore mentioned sickie snacks; circa 2014.

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Remember taking pictures with a webcam? Those were quaint days.

– Dani
😉 🙂 😀

(This post was inspired by a section in The Heart of the Prophetic by Ivan Roman. Pick it up on Amazon by clicking here. It’s real good. And his translations are probably more accurate than mine are. You’ll love it.)

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June 29, 2016

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Jesus Thoughts., Marketing., Real Life.

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Dream Big.

In Hawaii, I saw something amazing.

The people in YWAM dream big.

Like, real big.
They dream so big, they don’t compete.
They dream so big, that no one else shares their exact dream.
They want to see souls saved.
They want to take whole nations.
If they meet someone with a similar dream or a heart for the same nation, they partner;
They don’t compare themselves to each other.
Because they recognize that they have different giftings that can work together to reach their goal.

If you dream small,
(Like the ultimate goal in your life is to have the microphone on a Sunday morning,)
You’re going to criticize everyone who gets that microphone instead of you.

If you dream bigger,
If you want to see souls saved through your words, you’re going to support whoever has the microphone and is teaching sound theology and learn from them.
And then you’re going to take what you learn, and share it with everyone you meet.
And you’re going to constantly look for ways to partner with Jesus to achieve your dreams.

If you’re called to worship ministry,
Go big!
Take your guitar to a park on Saturday!
Just play it!
If people come up to you, tell them about Church on Sunday!

Sing at an open mic night at a dive bar at one in the morning on a weekday!
I bet those people could use some Jesus,
And I bet someone encounters the Lord..

It’d be easy for me to find someone who works a similar job,
Making more money,
In a bigger office,
In a bigger city,
With more name recognition,
Who gets to travel more than I do.

If my biggest dream was to have that job,
I would criticize everything that person puts out.
Every print ad,
Every social media post,
Every marketing campaign.

But I’m dreaming bigger.
I want to see a shift in the entire process of Marketing in America.
Because if there’s a shift in America, the whole world will be influenced.
I want to see honesty in Marketing.
I want to see wholesome campaings.
I want to see a day where sex doesn’t sell products in America!
(Amazingly, I currently work for a company whose executives share my vision.)

So now when I see print ads or social posts or marketing campaigns that aren’t sleezy or misleading,
I get to rejoice!
And partner with the person or company who created that ad!
I get to support that company and share it with people!
I get to find inspiration from what they’ve created!
Because it can be very challenging to come up fresh, exciting, classy ideas for marketing.

In short,
Dream bigger.
Dream so big that it scares you.
Dream so big that people don’t understand it.
Dream so big that they tell you it’s impossible.
Dream so big that there is absolutely no way you can make it happen on your own.
Dream so big that after 50 years of continuously chasing your dream,
When people say, ‘Look at all this fruit! So much has been accomplished because of your dream!’
You can say, ‘I’m not done. My dream is still bigger.’

And just keep going.

(There is more to your life than striving for public recognition in the local Church.)
((Yikes.))

– Dani
😉 🙂 😀

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June 10, 2016

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Jesus Thoughts., Real Life.

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Singleversary.

5 years ago, I realized something. 

I suck at choosing boys, and I make terrible decisions with them.

So June of 2011, I decided that I would start involving Jesus in the process of finding love.

(Spoiler alert: you don’t get a lot of boyfriends when you’re asking Jesus for His approval, first. Especially when you inform your potential suitor that you’ll be requesting the Lord’s input. They typically just bow out right then. )

Thus Singleversary was born!
And is celebrated the first week of June, every year.
**In the name of being fully transparent here:
I dated someone for a short time, earlier this year;
For the first time since the inception of Singleversary.
(I asked Jesus for His input and everything!
And no terrible decisions were made!
I’ve grown so much.)
Because of this, I struggled with the decision to celebrate ‘Singleversary 2016’. 
I don’t want to be untruthful and exclaim,
‘I’ve been completely single for five years, now!’
But at the same time, Singleversary has always meant more to me than that.

Singleversary represents:
  • When I started realizing my worth.
  • When I started setting rules for myself.
  • When I started asking Jesus’ opinion about boys.
  • When I started believing that I’m capable of taking care of myself.
  • When I started taking authority over the influences I allow in my life.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget those things when you’re single.
And I refuse to forget them, even when I am dating someone.
So I didn’t want to STOP recognizing this symbolic time in my life..
Especially since I’ve just had this whole new experience to learn from!

Ya feel me?
It was time to evaluate exactly what this time of year signifies for me:
It’s a time to remember that I’m unmarried by choice;
That if I had stayed on the path I was on five years ago,
My life would be vastly different and not nearly as awesome as it is today..
That everyday I am trusting Jesus to keep me safe until it’s time to get married.
(It’s also a time to validate spending a lot of money on myself.
I am a gift person and I don’t have an anniversary to receive presents on;
99% of Singleversary is Dani spoiling Dani.
And speaking in third-person.)
Perhaps Singleversary isn’t the best name for it anymore..
Because it’s not about how long I’ve stayed single.
But then again, maybe ‘Singleversary’ is a good name..
Because it’s about making good decisions while single.
And it’s just so dang catchy!

Maybe I should come up with something better before next year;

Like Dani-versary.
Or Princess-versary.
Or Nacho-versary.
(I just love nachos so much.)
Now, on to the important things:
How does one celebrate a 5-year Singleversary?!
Adventures, rodeos, and margaritas.
(And the acceptance of gifts from kind people like yourselves..)
Of course.

– Dani
😉 🙂 😀