Out of the dust...

This is beautiful...

manly men...

Recently someone commented about my younger brother that he is a "manly man". Yes. He is a man and he is manly. It's true. Both of my brothers are quite manly actually. I had never had this thought about them because they just are who they are and it's all I've ever known. But with this statement I realized the standards my husband is up against.

They both love working with their hands and are two of the hardest workers I know. They both love the outdoors (which of course includes camping and any sort of hunting-which of course includes blood (think braveheart)). Neither will ever be caught dead in a pair of skinny jeans of any sort. They both love a good beer. And they both could stand their own in a fight (and have at times). They are both great cooks (better than I). They both treat everyone great (poor, rich, ugly, pretty, etc). They both have a great sense of humor. They both love the Lord and live their lives in such a way that their convictions and standards prove it. They both can give a killer backrub. They both will endure a chick flick, but tie me down before watching a Lifetime movie. It's true, they are quite manly men.

My younger brother is one of the most honest, real people I know. He puts on no mask just so others will be happy. He has told me on more than one occasion that he does not enjoy church. He loves to worship, doesn't mind hearing a good message and he loves people, but the whole set-up of a Sunday morning service, well he just does not like it. Never has. And hearing this probably would have upset me 7-9 years ago in my Bible school days, thinking that my brother who has really just given his life to the Lord wouldn't want to be at church, but it doesn't bother me at all. Probably because for one, I've changed and two, I'd rather him be real and say how he feels than try to fit in and put on a "this is what I'm 'suppose' to do face".

And then I read the artcle below and I was reminded of what that person told me about my brother. I have this hidden desire that as my brother grows in Christ that he never fits into a boxy christian stereotype. That he doesn't lose his unique flavor by people telling him who he needs to be. He is a manly man and I often wonder how different God's idea of living righteously in relationship with Him really is compared to ours. No check list. No striving. No masks. Just being who He made you to be and not forsaking all that He has put in your heart.

I think this article applies to me personally and not just about men. It convicts the part of me that wonders if I'm living out of my heart, not out of obligation to the Lord. If I'm living this safe little boring life doing all the right, safe things afraid to just throw it all in and wrecklessly abandon. As I recently heard my younger brother say, "I'm just tired of holding back. Holding back a little so I am still ok and safe and don't have to worry." It's the widow that Elisha met and asking her for ALL that she had left she could no longer play it safe. Aren't we this generation?

The funny thing is, it's happening to my older brother too. The Lord has asked some things of he and his family where he had to choose; forsake my heart and the desires God placed in their, or hold nothing back, no longer playing it safe and trust that we serve an amazingly faithful God who is the Lion and the Lamb. And the Lion is rarely the safe bet :).

A Nice Guy
by John Eldredge with Ransomed Heart Ministries

And then, alas, there is the church. Christianity, as it currently exists, has done some terrible things to men. When all is said and done, I think most men in the church believe that God put them on the earth to be a good boy. The problem with men, we are told, is that they don’t know how to keep their promises, be spiritual leaders, talk to their wives, or raise their children. But, if they will try real hard they can reach the lofty summit of becoming . . . a nice guy. That’s what we hold up as models of Christian maturity: Really Nice Guys. We don’t smoke, drink, or swear; that’s what makes us men. Now let me ask my male readers: In all your boyhood dreams growing up, did you ever dream of becoming a Nice Guy? (Ladies, was the Prince of your dreams dashing . . . or merely nice?)

Really now—do I overstate my case? Walk into most churches in America, have a look around, and ask yourself this question: What is a Christian man? Don’t listen to what is said, look at what you find there. There is no doubt about it. You’d have to admit a Christian man is . . . bored. At a recent church retreat I was talking with a guy in his fifties, listening really, about his own journey as a man. “I’ve pretty much tried for the last twenty years to be a good man as the church defines it.” Intrigued, I asked him to say what he thought that was. He paused for a long moment. “Dutiful,” he said. “And separated from his heart.” A perfect description, I thought. Sadly right on the mark.

a little taylor on the way...

Coming to join us in the oh so near future... little Clara Taylor!  My good friend Erin and her husband Zach will be expecting their first in the next month!  She will be the first of my close friends from CFNI  to be entering motherhood and I'm so excited for them both!  I can't wait to see how little Clara wraps her dad around her little finger!

I can't wait to meet you little Clara!

not enough time...

I am finally finding a minute to breath! The last weeks have been great, but non-stop and I came back to an overwhelming amount of work and work outside of work! It's simply just that I can't find enough time. I have been gone the last two weekends and have loved it! I babysat my niece and nephew in northwest Arkansas while my brother and sister-in-law were busy with a wedding. We had so much fun together fort building, playing catch, coloring, playing with Play-doh and so much more!

My Hero!

I returned Sunday night and driving back I started feeling sick. Little did I know I probably caught the same stomach bug the little munchkins had gotten over last week :(. I tried to go into work for a couple hours since Monday's are always busy, but I was home back in bed pretty quickly. I woke up Tuesday feeling back to normal-shew! I worked Tuesday and Wednesday and then after work Wednesday met 3 girl friends and we drove to Arkansas to stay the night before heading up to Nashville on Thursday! The trip was a bit longer than we expected but the fun times kept us rolling right along!

We arrived around 4 to our two friend's home in Nashville and boy were we ready to get out of the car! Somewhere on the drive up my stomach decided it wasn't quite over that bug and I spent most of Friday with a ton of stomach pain. ugh! But it didn't stop us from seeing downtown Nashville, seeing the local shops and having a good time! I missed out Friday night cause I knew I would be no fun as bad as I was feeling, but was feeling better again Saturday.

Saturday we drove to Franklin and went downtown where we met another friend, had lunch and did a little shopping! None of us were ready to make the 11 hour drive home early Sunday morning, but needless to say we made it back!

Pictures from that trip will be coming soon!

legacy...

I read a great blog yesterday that really stirred me and made me start asking myself a lot of questions.  What kind of mark do I want to leave on the world?  What legacy do I want to leave?  What do I want to hand down to my children?  What do I want my life to stand for?  When I'm gone will I have had a lasting impact on anyone's else's life?  Can I say I that I used everything/ALL that God has given me and more not trying to take anything with me when this life is over? 

The blog below made me think about what kind of legacy I was building.  I've never thought about 'building' a legacy, but rather leaving one.  But today I realized that's what we do.  We decide what's most important based on our worldviews and then we build upon that.  Some of us build on the hopes of having money and success.  Some of us build on the idea of serving, serving, serving.  Some of us build simply upon relationships and pouring into those around us.  There are a million things we decide to build our legacy upon...and none of these things are bad things in and of themself... but when it's all said and done and the building must stop and be left to someone else, will it stand?  Will it leave a lasting impression?  Not so much of you, but of the One you were building it for all along.

Here is the blog I read:

“What’s your legacy?” That’s what the Lord asked several months ago in a moment of prayer with him. I had a million things going through my head as to all the good things I would love for my legacy to be. I soon realized that everything I tried to answer him with was what I figured a legacy meant or should be. I actually looked it up in the dictionary. It has a kind of technical and functional meaning but this is the one I most identified with; “Creating positive roads through, past, and over the negative actions of many then pass it on to those around, close, or listening to me … Peace.” I love that one. After some great thought I realized that although passing on my gifts, talents and writings to my son would be a great legacy to leave, there was more to it.


I have this old box someone gave me years ago that looks like a treasure chest. It even has Winnie the Pooh on it. (Go figure) I used it to put encouraging letters I started getting years ago through the mail. This was back when no one knew what email was and people put stamps on envelopes! Over the years the box got too full and I put it away in the attic. I felt like the Lord told me not to throw those letters away but to re-read them when the enemy’s voice was telling me I had nothing to offer anyone. So, I did. The stories inside that box and the precious content of what God has done to the lives of others through the sounds of my worship, undoes me every time.

Those letters and stories, they are my legacy. I could write a thousand more songs that gain a thousand more affirming nods from people. I can travel another 10 years to event after event and do the artist thing. All of that is great, but it is not a legacy. The hearts in those letters and the fact that my reach for Christ birthed a worship experience in them is breathtaking! One day Justice will open up that box. It won’t have royalty checks in it or property deeds. What it will have are the lives and journeys of people that connected with the walk and love of God his mother had that will tell a story for years to come.

This is a weird time to be in the church. A great time of awakening but a strange time of watching while a younger generation figures out how to grab ahold of truth and an older generation figures out how to pass it to them. It’s like watching an awkward dance of strangers figure out how to be friends. These talented creative artistic young trees are bursting with promise and passion, but still cannot find any real mothers and fathers to parent them and throw courage upon their movements. The older group doesn’t want to lay the baton down until they dictate how it should be handled. Sigh. I have come to my own conclusions. I’ll trust the Lord with whom he puts his spirit on and put a hope in a calling that is God inspired.

If your 30 years old and under, I apologize for us older peeps who love your passion but haven’t blessed it yet. I charge you though to learn the way of honor and respect. There are those of us that love you and believe that you carry a sound and a power. Wisdom knocks, be sure you open the door.

For those 30 and older, God is not done with us yet. He wants to use us and encourage us to leave our legacy’s in a place where the ones coming behind us can see it and believe for greater things. If it’s your time to pass the baton, do it with belief and blessing and sit in the balcony’s of those you pass it too with a huge smile on your face cheering them on in their season. I’m not trying to be harsh, really I’m not. But I do want to sound direct. God has so much for us to all be doing. We have too much teaching and releasing to all be apart of still.

Anyway, I was just thinking about legacy’s. Do you have one? Are you going to leave it somewhere where the new comers can find it and find Him? Will it be a testimony to the journey and the climb you had to make to be trusted by the Lord? My hope today is that we all leave a legacy that traces back to the Palace. If you don’t have one yet, love God, honor him, make him famous and I’m pretty sure you’ll find your legacy.

Blessings,


Rita Springer

Family, dogs and pancakes!

I just found all these pictures from the last couple weeks. The first ones are from when my aunt, uncle, cousin and parents came in town. Great food and fun with the family :). (bad pictures i know) More to follow.

My roommate Diana and I almost adopted a puppy. We randomly decided to go in and play with puppies at Petmart, but it was a painful sad experience. So many mutts with no homes :(

I finally talked my roommates into going to eat pancakes late one night! We went downtown Ft. Worth and my good friend Kari Crowe met up with us for a great time. Food was great... service...that's a whole other story!

What do you want?

"What do YOU want?" 

I believe this is the question God is asking his people to man up to.  What do you want in your heart of hearts?  Not what is needed.  Not what would be helpful.  Not what others think you'd be great at.  Not what is easy and safe.  I believe and have come into a deeper understanding and revelation recently of the freedom in the Kingdom of God.  God is not ordering us around like soldiers.  He is not watching waiting for us to mess up.  He is not trying to get us to live in contradiction to the desires in our hearst.  He put them there and like a good father He gives you the freedom to go after them.  So what do you want?  What do you desire? 

I started writing this blog and then took a break to go catch up on reading others and I came upon a friend of mine, Jory, who I use to be roommates with at CFNI and her thoughts on the freedom of being a child of God. Here's what she wrote.  It was exactly what I was thinking but couldn't write.

"One specific example that I would like to talk about with my dad is when we use to go up to the mountains for a trip every fall. We would take walks along the river and climb rocks to get down and back up from the river. When I was little I was extremely bored with the walks but loved to climb up and down those rocky hills. My little eyes would always wonder to the most risky rocks; the ones that only adults should try to wrestle (if they had to). My dad allowed me to have freedom to climb over rocks that were appropriate for little girls, but he kept a close eye because he knew my tendency to find the risky ones. Sometimes, he would allow me to tackle these challenging rocks if I held his hand; other times he would not let me near them. As a little girl, I ran with freedom with absolutely no fears. I believe this was because I knew deep down inside that my father would always protect me from anything that was not good for me.

This is exactly the way God wants us to be as adults. He wants us to embrace and run with freedom, pursuit our dreams, take risks and all the while trust that He is watching your every move. When we become adults we start to lose that “child-like” trust but this is exactly the type of trust that God desires from us. He wants us to trust him so much that we will give every dream, every desire, and every fear to him knowing that if we trust him with every decision we make he will protect us from things or people who are not in our best interest. He will steer you clear from dangerous rocks that you have no business climbing because he knows you will get hurt (a dangerous rock could be a bad romantic relationship, a job you think you want but you would end up hating, ect..). Though I would be disappointed when my dad would not let me climb those types of rocks (and I may have even thrown some fits) I knew deep down inside that I was wise to obey.

Now, there will be times where we will want to take some risks and God may continue to allow these risky doors to open, but he will want to hold your hand through it and stay close to you, directing your steps so that you do not get any more hurt than maybe a few cuts and bruises. Those are the times we as humans want to shrug our hand away and say “I can do it myself,” as I have told my dad many times. The truth is though that our heavenly father knows when we need His help and we need to keep a humble attitude and allow him to tackle these challenges with us. Now, there are many things in life that are not risky at all (like playing games with your children, taking walks, enjoying whatever- you know day-to-day decisions). This is when God the Father allows us to run free; it is as if life is our playground and He sits on the bench and just enjoys watching us play. I say all this to say that we can trust God with our lives. He desires us to run in freedom but all the while allowing him to open the right doors for us and close the wrong doors for us, and as we grow up in Him we will stop throwing temper tantrums when things don’t go how we think they should go. God the Father creates boundaries for His Children which can all be found in the Bible.

And of course along with that this was my daily devotional!

Killing Desire May Look Like Sanctification
You may recall the story Jesus told of the man who entrusted three of his servants with thousands of dollars (literally, “talents”), urging them to handle his affairs well while he was away. When he returned, he listened eagerly to their reports. The first two fellows went out into the marketplace and doubled their investment. As a result, they were handsomely rewarded. The third servant was not so fortunate. His gold was taken from him, and he was thrown into “outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” My goodness. Why? All he did was bury the money under the porch until his master’s return. Most of us would probably agree with the path he chose—at least the money was safe there. But listen to his reasoning. Speaking to his master, he said, “I know you are a hard man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it” (see Matt. 25:14–30 NLT). He was afraid of the master, whom he saw as a hard man. He didn’t trust his master’s heart.

The issue isn’t capital gains—it’s what we think of God. When we bury our desires, we are saying the same thing: “God, I don’t dare desire because I fear you; I think you are hard-hearted.”


Even though we may profess at one level a genuine faith in him, at another level we are like the third servant. Our obedience is not so much out of love as it is out of carefulness. “Just tell me what to do, God, and I’ll do it.” Killing desire may look like sanctification, but it’s really godlessness. Literally, our way of handling life without God. The deepest moral issue is always what we, in our heart of hearts, believe about God. And nothing reveals this belief as clearly as what we do with our desire.