dancedogsanddevotion

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Unqualified.

Preface: This topic came to mind while I was thinking of leaders but is applicable for any follower of Jesus who might- and probably will- encounter hard questions with themselves and/or others. 

This is the first time I’ve sat down to write something about what Jesus has been teaching me in a long time. I pray that you feel at least a little bit more confident, encouraged and enthusiastic about loving Jesus and all of His kiddos- like you and me- after reading this.

When I was 17 I started leading kids.  Where to? Well, many places. Camps, coffee shops, difficult discussions, but mostly to Christ. That was the goal, at least. As a leader I have seldom felt actually prepared and qualified to show kids, or anyone, the road to Jesus. Why? Probably because when I was their age I was making decisions I would later try to forget, and because Jesus was just the guy I had to hear about on Sundays. Maybe some of you can relate. 

In the midst of those idiotic, rash, damaging decisions, Jesus found me and said “Hey. I love you. You’re a mess. Let’s chat.” And because He’s literally the most perfect and irresistible thing to anyone ever, being full of love and light and hope and humor and creativity and all- oh yeah and dying for us- I fell in love with Him so fast. He led me out of the rotting garden from which I was eating and continues to lead me through this new glorious garden with fulfilling, vibrant, sometimes sour fruits that taste good after a while. Some examples of those sour fruits being self-control and patience; like when Jesus tells me not to buy another Ben & Jerry’s pint even though it’s on sale, or when I’m going to be late to a meeting because of bumper-to-bumper traffic and can’t do anything about it. 

Along the way, during my walk with Jesus through this new garden of life, He said “Hey, now that we’re tight, I want you to lead kids to Me.” I slowly, kind of comedically- like the way Jim does in The Office- looked back at the old, dying garden I came from. “Me? After all I did in that nasty place? Lead kids? I don’t think so,” said 17 year old Markella. 

Whoopdy-do, here we are, almost four years later and leading kids is my job. It’s funny how Jesus doesn’t care how unqualified we are, how messed up our past is, or if the only Bible we have is on our phones. If we give ourselves to Him, He’ll make it happen. Annoying; it’s like He knows what He’s doing or something. 

In my almost-four-years of leading, I have met some of the most  wonderful people I could have ever dreamed to meet. To any girl who has ever let me be their leader, you should know that you filled me with more of Jesus than any verse ever could. Also I love you and you changed my life. Thank you. And to any leader who I’ve ever had the pleasure of leading next to, you have been my rock at times whether you know it or not, and you're a superhero. Every hard conversation, every prayer for a kid’s test, and every cent towards coffee and gas (it’s a lot, I know) does not go unnoticed. You are walking agents of grace. (Donna Hatasaki said that once and I was like “MINE, THAT PHRASE IS MINE NOW” but really it’s hers. But you are an ‘agent of grace’.)

My almost-four-years of leading have also brought to me some of the hardest questions I have ever encountered. Like ever. Like I’d have an easier time doing rocket science than answering some of these kid’s questions. They either want my brain to explode or for me to just start crying on the spot. 

You could guess some of these questions;

“Why do bad things happen to good people?”

“Did God create evil?”

“Why does the Bible say that Adam came from the dirt, but my science class teaches us evolution?”

“How far is too far?”

“Is it okay to question God?”

“What is the Holy Spirit?”

“I think I might be gay, is that bad?”

Y’all! Jesus loves you, that’s the best I got!

So many times I’ve heard these and I’m like “where’s the fire alarm?? Jesus?? I’m scared??” because the last thing I want to do it give an answer that is either wrong or misguides them. 

I was asked to create a way to respond to just about any and all questions that I think is pretty solid, and this is what I came up with. I don’t have answers to the hard questions but I hope with these three filters you’ll walk away from that conversation proud of and confident in what you said.

1. PRAY and WAIT.

After you hear the question, literally pray. Like in those few seconds between them asking the question and it being awkward or seeming like you didn’t hear them, pray. 

“Jesus, give me the wisdom and patience to answer this question. Provide the best possible answer. Use me to tell them what they need to hear. Don’t let any false information leave my mouth. Guide my answer and fill me with grace for them and passion for You in my response.” I’m not saying you will have time to pray all of this, it’s just a handful of a few phrases that can put your heart in the right place. 

Then let the Holy Spirit do it’s thing. Maybe you’ll feel this brilliant answer washing over you. Maybe you won’t feel anything at all. Just trust that Jesus is there and He’s on your team. 

2. ANSWER SLOWLY.

An obvious follower to #1; but a lot of us forget this one. I do. Sometimes we don't know the answer, and then other times we are convinced we do know the answer, which is where it gets tricky. I’ve definitely answered some questions hastily before, and I’ve walked away from the conversation feeling like I swayed them one way or another because I answered too fast, and talked from my opinions; not my heart.

When responding, first of all, it’s okay to say “Hmm, I am not quite sure.” Or “Regardless of my opinion, the short answer is _______.” Or “I don’t know, let’s look in the Bible together.” These are okay. And say them slowly. Like physically speak slowly and gently. It’s possible that whatever you're going to tell them will be hard to hear. 

Answering slowly gives you more time to BE INTENTIONAL.

I can't emphasize this enough. Actually I’m still working on my “Intentional” post. Jesus was not always happy, or always working, but He was ALWAYS intentional. Always always always. Be completely intentional with every single word you say, and the only way to do this is to be patient and slow. 

3. ASK QUESTIONS.

Many times, the original question is rooted in a much more intense place than we might imagine. By asking questions, you show the other person not only that you are interested and that you want to know more but also that they might have answers to their own question. Thanks to my YoungLife leaders who did this for me, I was able to answer lots of my own questions with the knowledge I had, but just didn’t realize I had it.

These aren’t answers, but I have found when encountering a question only God can answer, by praying, being patient, and asking more questions I learn more about the person asking the question and I can love them better, and hopefully be a little bit more of Jesus for them than if I didn’t do those things.

I love hearing about leading techniques and ways to embody Jesus. Please let me know of any suggestions, comments, ideas, etc. 

<3 Markella

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Just because everyone does it doesn’t means it’s God’s best. You can’t look at everyone else. You gotta look at Jesus.

This why I like to be alone with Jesus a lot because it helps me stay sober and in love. It doesn’t mean I don’t like people. I’m around people all the time. I just like spending time alone making sure my heart is right.

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Grace.

Anyone who knows me knows that my love for animals is nearly equated with my love for God and my family. Animals are the best. See, death is not the worst thing to happen to a person, because in Heaven, I’m going to get to play with every animal- without fear of being mauled or eaten! Like WHAT?! Imagine running up to a tiger and jumping on him while he plays gently back with his big ole’ paws like a kitten would. Does anything sound better? No. Just no!

Unfortunately, that kind of love will have to wait for the Kingdom. Please don’t find a tiger and attempt playing with him. 

About two or three years ago, my animal-obsessed eyes were opened to the appalling truth of the inhumanity around the world; in particular, the dog meat trade that occurs in some Asian countries. Granted, every country has their own awful ways of treating some animals. If this is news to you or tugs on your heart, I’ve attached links at the bottom to explain. 

In Yulin, China, the infamous Dog Meat Festival is held; my tummy turns just typing it. It’s an annual celebration during the summer solstice where people gather to eat dog meat from pups who are tortured, boiled and beaten to death in front of buyers. The thought that this went on somewhere in the world filled me with fuming anger and hatred towards those who worked for this kind of industry and who supported it. “Such things were only permitted in the worst nightmares,” I thought. Who could do this to a puppy? An innocent creature? And then I thought oh wait; we did that. 

If you forgot, once upon a time, about 2000 years ago, the human race put on the cross the only perfect person to ever walk the Earth. Yup; the only One who mastered love and life… we killed Him. Just like people do today with those pups. 

Easter is in about a month so this isn’t about that; it’s about what happened while Jesus was on the cross. One of His most remarkable lines, Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”

Gosh. I can’t read that without feeling every emotion. First I’m utterly confused; like “Jesus, they stripped you of your clothes and your dignity. They whipped you to the brink of death. Now they’re watching you breathe your final breaths after nailing you to a cross. This was not a short process. I think they’re well aware of what they’re doing.” Then I’m furious. “Why are you asking for their forgiveness?! THEY aren’t even asking for forgiveness! Smite them! They deserve it!” Finally I feel sorrow and a little hope, because you and I put Jesus on the cross… and He still loves us.

We nailed His hands and feet. We stripped Him and beat Him. Our sins held Him to the cross. Still, He asks the Father for our forgiveness. He still loves us while we watch Him die. 

How the heck are you supposed to respond to that?! Every time I’m reminded, I’m left speechless; lost. What do you say? Where do you go from there? Am I supposed to return to reality now and just live like before?

Well, kinda; except now you get to do it with Jesus. But what about what’s happening around the world? What about the wars? The tragedy? When bad people do bad things? And worse, when bad people do bad things to good people or innocent animals?! Isis? Sex trafficking? Hunger? Terrorism? The very evil that infects this world? What do we do?

Here is where we apply Jesus’s words. 

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

From the guy who took your parking spot at Ralph’s even though you had your blinker on for five minutes, to the Isis terrorist. From the annoying kid behind you on the airplane to D. Trump. From the Starbucks barista who got your order wrong to Hitler himself. 

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Recently I had to get a new transmission using a warranty; as you can probably imagine, customer service working for the warranty company was not thrilled about me asking for a new $4K transmission. They were difficult and reserved, naturally, and every phone call while they tried to convince me that they would not in fact get me a new transmission I was like “Father forgive them, Father forgive them…” But God wants me to have that same approach to the ones who slaughter dogs for food? What? I don’t think so.

But that’s what He did for me. Did I deserve it? No. Did He do it anyway? You bet.

Jesus’s request to God on the cross is how we were meant to live in regards to our brothers and sisters. Even the rapists? Yup. The murderers? Yup. Drunks, thieves, tyrants, and sick in the head people? Yup.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you that this is easy. It’s not. Anger is real. Hatred is real. Tragedy is real. The bitterness you have is probably well validated; but nothing you are bitter about can outweigh the grace He has for us. For me. For you.

Grace is one of the most difficult aspects of a relationship with Christ. I still struggle daily. But I can promise you that my joy is increased every moment and with every decision I make to chose grace over anger. Over bitterness. Over a fight. When we chose grace, we see our chains fall. When we chose grace, the enemy has one less prisoner.

It’s a lot to ask of someone to forgive. When you know the life on the other side of grace though… you’ll never look back. I promise.

I pray that while reading this you were not offended but were awakened to the kind of freedom offered to us by grace. I pray for your heart, that it is softened and accepts the grace overflowing from God’s heart so much that it pours into yours and from there overflows into the hearts around you. Grace is the best gift that we could not get from anywhere else. 

Thanks for reading if you got this far. I love to hear thoughts, opinions, and ideas. <3 

http://www.hsi.org/issues/http://www.hsi.org/issues/dog_meat/https://animalhopeandwellness.org

(HSI and Animal Hope and Wellness are great activist teams and work to stop the dog meat trade and more. The dog thing at the beginning was just an intro to the main point but I love keeping up with these teams.)

[dancedogsanddevotion]

I just feel this on my heart tonight.

There is someone reading this or even multiple people reading this who feel discomfort where they are right now because they aren’t satisfied with where they are right now. You might be seen as “successful” by those around you and those who don’t even truly know you, but somehow you aren’t satisfied with where you are at. I feel the Lord saying that it is because you were made for more. God didn’t plan on keeping you where you are right now and your spirit knows this. God has more for you than you see right now! You are not a failure or a loser or confused, you are just destined for more. Let that discomfort compel you to go to God and seek Him more than you ever have before. Let God takeover in your life and guide you and move you and minister to you every moment of everyday. God can take away what burdens you and fill that void within you, just let Him!! I just felt like this popped into my spirit for someone and just wanted to post it!

God Bless you!!

[dancedogsanddevotion]

20.

Holy Neptune!

Hard to believe I’ve been alive, loving animals and God, and practicing dance and sarcasm for a whole 20 years now! 

One of my New Years resolutions is to write more, mostly because writing exercises creativity and allows us to reach the depths of our individuality. Also because I love to laugh and I hope every once in while I make someone else laugh.

Since today marks my second decade of existence, I decided to write less and reflect more, so thought of  20 facts about myself. I’m pretty weird but hey, God loves us all the same. I hope you enjoy.

1. When I was 5 or 6, I pulled out all of my eyelashes. Don’t ask.

2. I can sing the alphabet backwards. Not just the letters, also the finishing “Now I know my ABC’s, next time won’t you sing with me.” That’s right. 

3. As much as I adore every creature on the planet, I am shamefully TERRIFIED of bunnies. And spiders. And squids.

4. My mommy and I share the same birthmark in the same place under our left eye.

5. Breakfast every day is salmon. Every. Day.

6. My elbows are hyper extended. 

7. Kim Possible is my giiiiiirl. I had the backpack. The lunchbox. The soundtrack. The whole package. 

8. In high school I used to ditch class. Like a lot. Sorry. 

9. At my first YoungLife summer camp I was hit in the face with a frisbee and got a black eye. 

10. When I was little my favorite snack was carrots dipped in ketchup??? Gross???

11. In class in 7th grade, we watched a pirate movie that was fairly gory (I’m very squeamish) and fainted on the way to the nurse. I dissected a frog later that day perfectly fine.

12. Dream job(s): Dancer on tour/YoungLife Staff Member/Kingsman Spy. 

13. Once when I was younger I was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night because I fell asleep twirling my hair and it was cutting off my circulation.

14. I get absolutely physically nauseous while attempting to eat peas, beets, warm carrots, or seeing PDA; I just can’t. No.

15. One of my besties Reagan and I snuck into a Joe Nichols concert once. It was lit. 

16. Humor and sarcasm= my love language.

17. I have several recurring dreams/nightmares: being chased by bears/wolves (they rotate every few nights), spiders closing in on me, getting to school unclothed, failing one particular school assignment, and trying to not fall off a flying plane. 

18. I make the world’s best chocolate chip cookies.

19. I cry every time I hear the song “Puff the Magic Dragon.”

20. I call God “Dad,” regularly. Comfortably.

Well there are twenty things about me that you may or may not have known before; do what you will with this generally useless, silly information. Thanks for reading! 

[dancedogsanddevotion]

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Crush.

Think of that special someone.


You know.


The one who gives you butterflies. The one whose Instagram photo pops up first on your feed (and you’re always the first to like it). The one whose texts you always over analyze. The one who you want to do life with.


You know; the one.


How darn annoying are they? I mean obviously they’re so cute; and so funny. And they do that one thing with their hair that’s precious or they simply smile and you’re like “😍😍😍OMG” but aren’t they the most ANNOYING!


Every waking moment your brain is like “think about them!” And maybe you’re even a little frustrated because you’re like “why am I so obsessed with them??”


If any of these things sound familiar, you’ve probably had a crush. I’ve had my share of crushes over the years, but one desire remains constant with every crush; I just want someone to feel the way about me that I do about my crush.


Why can’t someone be obsessed with me? Is someone wasting their brain space on me? Does anybody spend their time daydreaming about me?


Actually, yeah.


That way you feel about someone… how much you care about them, all the time you’ve spent thinking about them, every written and deleted message to them to express how you feel… Someone feels that way about you.


Someone is so incredibly obsessed with you, so jealous for you, so stupidly wrapped around your finger… someone has the biggest, dumb crush on you.


He sends you love notes. A whole book full, actually. He’s there for you every second, ready to drop everything to hear your heart. He’s constantly gawking at you, everything about you. His heart breaks for your broken heart. In fact, He gave His life so you could live yours. Can you imagine the grueling slavery of that crush??


Me neither. Honestly it’s a little overwhelming to think of someone feeling that way about me; but that isn’t all… He doesn’t expect anything in return.


He does everything for you expecting nothing. And He does it willingly. He sits by the phone waiting for your call. He can’t help but smile when you smile. He wants to hold your hand…all the time. He is that smitten with you.


If you know me, you know Who I’m talking about. He is Jesus. Big surprise. But I wasn’t kidding. He has a huuuuuuge crush on you. Like… ginormous.


So now you have a choice. Jesus lived out the most romantic love story with you in mind. He got up on the cross and while He could’ve gotten off at any moment, He stayed up there- to die- only because He loves you.
I think that’s a pretty big crush. What would you do if someone liked you that much? Because He does. And He’s got open arms whenever you’re ready.


I hope you hear this with an open mind. I hope you understand that all this is true. We only experience crushes because He experienced them for us first. I understand if you’re not ready yet. I understand if it’s weird or uncomfortable. I don’t write these words for fun, but I write them while praying that God would give me the words to express how beautiful His love for you is, and that one day you would give in and let Him love you. Because His love was the creator of all love, and it’s the most real love I’ve ever known.


As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. ❤️

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Sex.

Yup.  

The movie scenes we dread watching with our parents, the awkward talk we all grit our teeth through, the reason you are alive today… sex.

I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret…

God loves sex. He loves it! In fact, it was one of His (many) gifts to us! Did you think He just haphazardly created our bodies and our desires the way He did without any clue what He was doing? Did you think we came up with it ourselves? Um, no. He knew exactly what He was doing when He made us and He knew exactly how we would use our bodies. And He did it on purpose. This probably sounds weird… God? And sex? Well it’s true! It is the single most exposing act we can do. But, when done right, it is the single most exposing and loving act we can do. It is complete wholeness in complete vulnerability. 

What do I mean by “done right?” Glad you asked!

In this day and age, sex is thrown around loosely and casually, with little to no significance when, in reality, sex is huge. It is a big deal. No matter what anyone tries to tell you. It. Is. A. Big. Deal. The decision to have sex makes two people one, and while that’s a beautiful thing when it’s “done right,” it is too often done wrong. By wrong I mean unprepared, unpremeditated, not considered… carelessly. 

There’s a reason God asks us to wait. He is not trying to limit our happiness. He is not trying to keep us from experiencing joy and relationship. He asks us to wait because He loves us. Because mistakes happen when we don’t listen to Him.

There’s a chemical called oxytocin, also known as “the love hormone.” Why is it called this? Because in women, this chemical is released in our brains when any of these three things happen: 

1. Making love

2. Child birth

3. Breastfeeding

Oxytocin being released in our brains creates a literal mental bond and physical attachment to whoever we share these experiences with. This is why they call it making love- because you are literally producing, creating, making love itself. It’s that real.

Guys, remember this. Every time you share this experience with a woman, her brain is being wired to fall in love with you. Without even trying.

But we were meant to fall in love, right? We were meant to have sex, created for it… so how did God want it? Mark 10:6-9 quotes Genesis:

6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Even in Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) 7:6-12, the groom goes on forever about the beauty of his bride’s body. He talks about her boobs (yes, boobs, sorry not sorry, it’s in the bible), and how sweet her lips taste. But this is a love between just those two people, not the groom and his side chicks. This is how He wanted it. This is sex done right.

Say someone is cooking you a meal and they can make you one of two things. Your first option is a filet mignon, cooked to perfection, seasoned and marinated, but it might take a little bit longer but it will be the best thing you’ve ever had. Your second option is gas station microwave Ramen noodles, ready in 5 minutes. I want the filet mignon. I hope you do too. Anyone can get Ramen noodles. You deserve the filet mignon. Don’t settle for cheap, easy, fast or convenient… you know that it won’t even compare to the savory uniqueness of the more gradually cooked filet mignon. (Can you tell I love food?)

I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable. I hope if you take one thing away from this it’s that Jesus loves you, and He wants us to wait because He loves us. He loves you. So much. If you’ve already had the Ramen noodles, don’t worry, you have your very own filet mignon waiting for you, but you are going to have to wait until it’s ready to enjoy it. And by “ready,” I do mean marriage. But it’s so worth waiting for. I hope if you read this you see this gorgeous gift of sex from a new, pure perspective. 

Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear your thoughts. :)

https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-wisdom-books/song-of-solomon

http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20131125/how-the-love-hormone-works-its-magic#1

http://www.biblestudytools.com/parallel-bible/passage/?q=song+of+songs+7:6-12&t=niv&t2=niv

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Most People Don’t Know About This

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Urgent Prayers for my mom..

Hi Tumblr family in christ can you please keep my mom in prayer stage 4 cancer for healing & her health she needs to eat again please pray only God has the final word😞 her name is amina prayers would be appreciated much love 🙏🏽🕊

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Swear Patches.

It’s funny to me how easily we find ourselves in a habit of cursing. We grow up and eventually people stop caring to shield our young ears from harsh words and they become more reckless with their conversation. In the process of growing up, hearing people swear stings our hearts less and less the more we hear it; it’s like our nerves become deadened to the impact of brutal language.

As believers and followers of Jesus, it’s so important that we do our best to speak life with every ounce of ourselves, because our goal as lovers of Christ is to glorify and represent Him in everything we do and say. That being said, in no way do I intend to make this seem easy- I fall short of accomplishing this everyday. Emotions get the best of us sometimes, and that’s just part of being human, and it does take consistent practice to become fully aware of what is coming out of our mouths and going on in our minds (because everyone knows that our thoughts become words). For practice, I took the time to write this list of 50 phrases one can say instead of cursing so that maybe next time you're about to say something you'll regret, you can use one of these quirky terms and save yourself some trouble and get a little humor in as well. Hope you enjoy!

(P.S. I didn’t make all these up, and I don’t take credit for anything you have seen other places.)

1. Son of a Nutcracker!

2. Sweet Niblets.

3. Holy Neptune!

4. Good Heavens!

5. Dang Flabbit.

6. Cheese and rice!

7. Santa Maria!

8. Criminy!

9. Ding dong dang it.

10. Oh bother.

11. Fiddlesticks!

12. Dagnabbit.

13. What in Heaven’s name?!

14. Pardon me?

15. That is shocking!

16. Boo-hockey.

17. Gosh darn it.

18. Goodness gracious great balls of fire!

19. Oh my word!

20. Jeepers creepers!

21. Jiminy Cricket!

22. For the love!

23. Heavens to Betsy!

24. Zoinks!

25. Geez louise.

26. Holy toledo!

27. That’s bonkers!

28. Feadnog.

29. Croats.

30. Shitake mushrooms!

31. Sugar honey iced tea!

32. Troll bogeys!

33. Donut holes!

34. Shut the front door!

35. Awe rats.

36. Judy sko!

37. Skoody Ju!

38. Holy citrus fruit!

39. Holy stars and stripes!

40. Oh snap.

41. Brother Pucker.

42. POOP!

43. Mother of Pearl!

44. Lord Farquad!

45. Hakuna Matata.

46. Kachow!

47. Falling marbles!

48. Carl Marks!

49. What the Donald Duck?

50. Mama Mia!

Now you have 50 reusable ways to keep your language clean and funny! Let me know some of your own cover ups!

#cleanwords funny

[dancedogsanddevotion]

[dancedogsanddevotion]

It Seems He Took It Pretty Well

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Taking That Good Photograph

[dancedogsanddevotion]

Using It Wrong

[dancedogsanddevotion]

You didn’t need your heart today, right? Good.

[dancedogsanddevotion]

crying