I must confess: I am excited about my failures! (Alternately Titled: I have so much to be excited about!)

I don't know about you but I sure could use a Character Makeover; in-fact, I desperately need a complete character overhaul! You can bet when I saw this book on sale at the local bookstore, I picked it up. There is no doubt in my mind that this gem of a book was tucked away in the sale bin exactly where it would catch my eye for a reason.

The book itself takes you on a 40 day journey of character transformation. I actually took the 40 day journey quite some time ago and each and every day of the journey was absolutely fantastic. I was challenged, I was stretched beyond my comfort zone, and I grew. Here recently one particular day of said journey has been brought to the forefront of my mind and is weighting heavily on my heart.

Let's dive straight into day three....

But my heavenly Dad said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you Erica, for my power is made perfect in your weakness." So, I will get excited when I can't go on because I know that is when Christ's power kicks in. That is why, in the power of Christ, I can rejoice when I want to pull my hair out for failing at being a submissive wife or patient Mom, when I have an outburst of anger, when I feel abandoned by friends and family, when I am criticized, or at the end of my rope. It is when I'm at my weakest and I give up that Christ takes over and HIS power makes me strong. - 2 Cor. 12: 9-10

Open your Bible and turn to 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 and what you find will read a little differently than the above passage. I encourage you to take the time to re-write these verses and personalize them to your unique weaknesses, infirmities, limitations, insults, reproaches, abuses, sufferings, mistreatments, hardships, needs, accidents, constraints, hard times, catastrophes, persecutions, opposition, perplexities, difficulties, distresses, bad breaks, calamities, troubles, pressures, etc.. Put your personalized verse somewhere where you can read it every day. God really does show His power through our weakest moments. If you can get excited about your weakest moments wouldn't your life feel a lot less heavy? Mine sure is starting to. Please let me know if yours does also.

I learned...
I need to let go of the masks I wear to bolster my self-esteem.
I need to stop covering my sins with various types of lies.
I need to strip away all my excuses for not obeying God's Holy Word.
I need God to show me where I should serve, and do only what He says.
I need to wait for Him to tell me when I should speak, and until He does, I need to wait.
I need God to take all my broken pieces and transform them into humility so that I can be most useful to Him.
What about you?

YOUR TURN: What failures are you excited about in your life? Take the plunge, be transparent enough to let the world see Jesus in you! How does your very own personalized ' 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 read?

To take the 40 day challenge yourself pick up "Character Makeover: 40 Days with a LifeCoach to Create the Best You"

Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl by N.D. Wilson

In college my professor’s rocked my world.

For the first time in my life my faith in God was being downright ridiculed. I distinctively recall thinking to myself, “No wonder so many teenagers leave the church after High School graduation. It’s because we go to college and are taught only ignorant idiots even consider believing the Bible.”

Does that sound like an exaggeration?

It’s not.

I expected to be taught evolution in biology; however, what I didn’t expect was the anger, hostility, and ridicule that my professor displayed at the very mention of the mere possibility that evolution ‘might’ be wrong and the Bible ‘could’ be credible. The worst part was that the attacks weren’t limited to Biology class. History, World Civ, and even Philosophy professors were on the attack.

My time in college was a period of unprecedented doubting and struggling to find the truth; consequently, it was through this season of testing my faith was strengthened more than any other time in my life to date.

Great apologetics teaching and great resources put out by ministry’s such as Answers In Genesis helped me to be able to stand up for my faith in areas such as Biology and History; however, I haven’t ever been able to find anything to help me score a point in the philosophical arena.

Until now that is.




Wide Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World: Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl written by N.D. Wilson is a must read for anyone who might be remotely interested in learning if there is even a smidgen of a chance the Bible contains truth that can be defended philosophically. I even recommend this book to those who don’t consider the Bible to be truth at all. There are some very interesting thoughts and ideas to consider no matter your belief system (or lack thereof.)

A word of caution: don’t expect to pick up this book and speed read your way through it. Wilson’s unique and intricate writing style practically demands a leisurely reading pace. I think that is why I so thoroughly enjoyed this book. For someone who is used to knocking books off my reading list quickly (for example, the Twilight Saga in 3 evenings.) I thoroughly enjoyed savoring every word. I think you will also so go buy the book!

P.S. - I have every intention of writing a series of posts relating to various thoughts that Wilson implanted in my head that have been mercilessly bouncing around and are begging to be let out. Stay tuned!

P.P.S. - A special thank you to Michael Hyatt who gifted this book to me. Mainly due to the fact that I follow him on twitter.