Crash the Chatterbox

Have you ever seen, done, or read something that you felt like you just had to share it with other people?  When I moved to NY and found a hair salon I loved, I felt like I needed to share it.  With everyone I know.  And now, when other wives ask where's a good place to get their hair done, because let's be honest, we all know the importance of a good hairdresser, I tell them.  I don't keep it a secret.  I want everyone to know and love it as much as I do.

I've missed a couple Sunday's at church the last few weeks, and I was feeling like I just needed to hear some good ole fashioned truth preaching.  I have listened to Steven Furtick from Elevation Church several times in the past, so I went right to him.  I came across his most recent series that's going on now, Crash the Chatterbox.  The intro to the series immediately spoke to me.

"We live in a world full of chatter. Lies of condemnation, fear, insecurity, and discouragement bombard us every day. These lies keep us from hearing God's voice and realizing the full purpose He has for our lives. But what can we do about it? How can we silence the enemy and discern God's voice above all others? In this series, we'll learn how to crash the Chatterbox with the promises of God, and embrace the freedom found only in Him."

Without knowing too much more, I sat and listened with tears rolling down my cheeks to 45 minutes of good, solid truth.  I wanted more though.  Not that it wasn't enough.  It was!  I just wanted more of it.  It was that good.  

So today I bought his book, appropriately titled, Crash the Chatterbox: Hearing God's Voice Above All Others.  I was only 6 pages in when the first tears fell.  One line, seven words.  That's all it took.

"But God is faithful to speak too."

The premise of the series and book is that we constantly have chatter going on inside us.  Lies, fear, insecurities, discouragement, negative thoughts.  We are in a constant battle of keeping ourselves afloat among all of this, but often times failing.  Drowning in the negativity that we allow ourselves to believe.  

In the book he talks about his flight landing in the city where he was starting his new church.  There was a sunset that, as he puts it, "Was a glowing visual that set the scene for God to speak to my heart."  He goes on to say, "The part I'm sure of is that I heard God encouraging me at a time when I really needed it."  I thought back to almost four months ago, as S and I left the hospital following the news of a miscarriage and there was a rainbow in the sky.  In that moment, God knew just what I needed.  Even to this day it is a reminder to me that something beautiful will come out of that tragedy.  God was faithful to speak that day.  No, it was an audible voice.  But it was enough to reassure me that God was there, and He had a plan.  

Since that day I have struggled immensely with negative thoughts.  Allowing myself to believe that I will never have a baby.  I will never get to be a mom.  I will never get pregnant again.  The list of reasons why is numerous.  The words that I listed to in those 45 minutes during the first part of Crash the Chatterbox helped me to see that not only are they lies, but that I don't have to believe them.  One last quote from the book helped solidify that idea.  

"Yet everything changed when I began to realize God has given us the ability to choose the dialogue we believe and respond to."

We are constantly fed lies about ourselves, about others, about everything in life.  But we don't have to believe them.  Once we choose to believe truth, our lives will be forever changed.

Happy hump day!

Love, Mrs. Seidler