Seasons

We are always going through some kind of season, whether that’s a season of growth, a season of lessons, a season of difficult situations, a season of happiness, a season of flourishing, whatever the season is, we’re all going through some kind of season. Right now, I’m going through a season of growth where I’m learning how to 100% lean on God and trust in a Him. It is a very scary season because I have no idea what direction to go in, where to go next, what to do, I am the most confused I’ve ever been and at a complete standstill; the beauty of it all is I still have God. Regardless, of what has happened, He is still here. I believe God gives us seasons like this to grow us and bring us closer to Him. One of my favorite quotes is by Rick Warren and it says, “The deepest level of worship is praising God inspite of pain, trusting Him during a trial, surrenderingwhile suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.” Throughout everything that I’m facing right now, I am not facing it alone and God has a purpose for it all. As scary of a season this is, I am so looking forward to what God is going to do in my life through this and how He is going to mold me!

The Greatest Love Story of All Time

With today being the day of love, I felt it only necessary to blog about the greatest love story of all time. How amazing it is to know that there is someone who knew you before you were even formed, put so much thought into every detail of you, going as far as each hair on your head, and sacrificed the only son He had so that you wouldn't have to sacrifice; what a love story that is. No one has anything on the love that our God has for us. He loves you at your worst moments and you at your best moments. He loves you through every failure and mistake, and through every triumph and success. He loves your vulnerable moments when you are open to Him. He loves you regardless of what anyone says about you. God does not hate a single person He created, otherwise He would have not created said person. God loves you if you're a part of the LGBTQ community, if you don't go to church, if you cuss, if you're a single mother, if you have been turned away from a church due to your lifestyle or the fact that your clothes aren't nice enough, or if you are what "Christians" look down upon; God loves the people in those categories just as much as He loves the person who leads worship, is a pastor, serves in the church, goes to church every Sunday, reads their Bible all the time, and is constantly praying. God has no gray area on His love for people; He loves all people. He didn't send His Son to die an unbearable death on a cross for people He didn't want it for; He sent His Son to die an unbearable death on a cross for you and me and everyone who has ever been on this Earth or will be on this Earth. That to me is the greatest love story to exist.

John 19 is where you can find this love story in the Bible. The link below will take you to John 19 in an online Bible:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+19&version=NIV

God Gives Us Amazing Days To Prepare Us For The Bad Days From Satan

Do you ever have those great days that are followed by life punching you directly in the face? You have a great weekend and then on Monday your car breaks down, or you go to a weekend-long conference that was beyond amazing and then on Monday everything seems to go wrong? I think things like this happen to everyone. It just happened to me last week; we had a youth event at church that was beyond amazing and God really moved and did some cool things. My Friday and Saturday were beyond amazing, but come Sunday after church, Satan was trying to knock me down as hard as he could. Sunday sucked and was beyond a struggle, but at the end of the day God had given me two amazing days before which prepared me for Sunday. Satan wanted me to get mad and be angry and forget about all God did in the past two days, but it didn't work in his favor. If it wouldn't have been for Friday and Saturday, I don't know what kind of wreck I would have been on Sunday. God is good and has the most perfect timing and I was reminded of that on Sunday. Satan is going to try to tear you down, especially after you have been built up by God, but God is good and gives us strength and hope for days that feel like the worst and longest days. The days following the really good ones where God really did something awesome, where God refreshed and renewed you, those are the days when Satan will fight extremely hard to make you who you were before, to make it seem like nothing even happened during those days. When Satan comes at you on the days following those great days, remind him what happened during those days prior and remind him who you serve. Remind him that he can fight as much as he wants to, but you're on the side that has already won. Don't let Satan ruin something God gave you. The day may be difficult, but another day is coming and that day will be better.

Waiting

You know what sucks? Waiting. Waiting sucks, especially when you are impatient. The even suckier part is that anything of actual importance, you probably had to spend some time waiting for. Whether it was waiting to find out if you got the job, waiting to find out if that couple who came to look at your house on the market wants to buy it, waiting to find the "one", waiting for the baby to be born, waiting for your relative to come home from deployment, the list goes on; the point is, we are most likely always waiting for something; it is even harder when it is something of importance, but it is also worth so much more. Have you ever stopped during the waiting process and thought about all of the different reasons why you are in the waiting process? Maybe you are being prepared for what is to come. Maybe you are being molded into the person you need to be for what is to come. Maybe you are being strengthened for what is to come. Maybe you are not yet ready for what is to come, or maybe it is not ready for you. "Why is it taking so long?" "Why am I having to wait?" "Why can't I have it now? I'm ready." We have all asked these questions probably every time we are having to wait on something. Why rush something that was meant to be waited for? If we never had to wait we would never experience discipline, growth, responsibility, and patience in the way we do when waiting. There could be dire reasons why you are waiting. Take car accidents for example. Everytime you are stuck waiting in traffic from a wreck, say thank you; if you would have left your house a little earlier that day, that could have been you. All to often we take for granted waiting and how much of a blessing it is. Stop, slow down, and embrace the waiting process.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12
“Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.“ Philippians 4:6
“David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.” 2 Samuel 5:4-5

Wanting What God Wants

For most of my life I have lived a life that was about me. I prayed for things I wanted and only thought about what I felt would benefit me. I never stopped to think about what God wanted; it was my life and He was just there when I wanted something. This year changed that for me; I had a revelation and realized that the things I want are not worth anything because it is not what God wants for me. I realized that I have not been on the same page with God for so long and that was why everything I always would want would end up not working out or not turning out the way I thought it would. Something I have begun praying with absolute true meaning behind it is, "God, give me what you want because I want what you want." I have realized throughout this year that the only things worth having are the things that God wants for you. I have begun thinking like God instead of like myself and begun looking at things the way He would. I have gained a peace about removing anything not of Him out of my life and filling myself with things that will give me growth in Him. Being in sync with God is so overwhelming and getting on that same page with God has placed a new joy in me. I have no words to describe the feeling of truly knowing and understanding that everything you want is what God wants for you. Looking back and seeing what I have been blinding myself to with my selfishness breaks my heart, but I'm so glad that I am where I am at now.

Interviewing My Dad

This blog is a bit different than my others. I got the chance to help my dad tell his story and I couldn't be more thankful. I'm so honored to be able to share his story with you and hopefully inspire others facing the same or similar situations.
1. Who are you?
"Andrew Weatherford"
2. Where are you from?
"Originally Greenville, SC. I live in the Dacusville community of Easley, SC."
3. Tell me about yourself.
"Growing up in Greenville, I attended Carolina High School. I was active in the youth group at Oakcrest Baptist Church. Most of my friends were church kids, but I was also a friend to anyone. I would sometimes sit with the popular kids and sometimes the non-popular. I just loved being with people in general."
4. What do you do for a living?
"I am a Funeral Director and Embalmer."
5. How long did it take you to get where you are in life? (with your career)
"My career has been and still is developing for 27+ years now. My career is a calling. When I first had the thoughts of Funeral Directing, I wanted nothing to do with it. A month later I was out of work and sitting in church. I felt God impress upon me to enter funeral service and prayerfully I said "Okay God, if this is what you want me to do then open the door and clearly show me". I then talked to a Funeral Director friend and before our conversation was over my friend said, "By the way, we need help".  I prayerfully said "Okay God, I'll do it" and from there things fell into place. Things went well to start, but it got tough. Throughout my career I have stepped away from my calling--and during those times I failed miserably. Sometimes I stepped away because I didn't want to be away from my wife and children; being away from them tormented me. Other times I just had trouble dealing with inconvenience of missing church, working late nights, weekends, and holidays. Sometimes it was constantly hearing crying and sadness at work. It has taken God putting me on my spiritual back to make me look up and put Him back in the center of my life, ahead of family and my own desires."
6. What is your biggest passion?
"My biggest passion, I would say, is people in general. It's about God first, others next, myself last. Art and painting is also another big passion. If I can just paint a painting that people can look at and find themselves caught up in, to where they can forget about their problems for just a few minutes, if they will just get a minutes relief and find joy and pleasure. That's what I want, to make people's life better in some way."
 7. What do you believe God's calling is for your life?
"I believe I'm doing God's calling career wise, but God's calling for me is also to somehow better the lives of others."
8. When did He reveal this to you?
"In 1993, sitting in a church business meeting."
9. How long have you known that the funeral business was your purpose?
"25 years."
10. What did you grow up expecting to end up doing?
"Youth minister or pastor."
11. What made you realize that that wasn't for you?
"I just couldn't get a peace about it."
12. What took you so long to realize that the funeral business was for you?
"Selfishness."
13. What's been the hardest thing you've faced throughout everything?
"Denying myself."
14. Now that you have realized your purpose, what are you most excited about?
"Just the inner peace of knowing that I'm doing what I'm supposed to do."
15. What's the biggest struggle you face in life?
"My biggest struggle is confidence, afraid of messing up, afraid of letting people down, afraid to let myself down."
16. How have you learned to overcome this struggle?
"I haven't overcome this, it's a daily process."
17. What motivates you to keep going when everything is telling you to stop?
"My faith in God keeps me going. If and when I sway from God keeping me going, failure is just a short place away."
18. What is the biggest thing that God has revealed to you about yourself through everything you've faced?
"God has revealed that it's about Him, not me. It's about people, not me. I must, I have to be last. It doesn't mean that I'm not important, it's just about priority. It's about servanthood. I'm important to God, I know that, but God's plans and ways are far greater than mine."
19. If you could give someone who is facing or struggling with something you've dealt with advice, what would it be?
"Don't be selfish with your calling, your time, your family, with people or yourself. I would say, anything worth having only comes with great sacrifice. Don't let money or things motivate you. It is, and should always be God, family, others, self, in that order. Selfishness and greed always lead to destruction of relationships, careers, and success. Again, God always first, family, others, self."
•
•
•
This was a really cool experience for me as I got to learn more about my dad and see God Work through him. His story is quite a story and I think everyone can benefit from it and take something away. Thanks to my dad for allowing me to be a part of this and to share this using my passion!

Why Memphis?

I leave in 6 hours to return to my second favorite place in the world and my heart is absolutely jumping for joy. I want to close my eyes and wake up in Brinkley Heights, but I've got an 8-9 hour ride first. People probably think I'm crazy for spending that much time on the road to visit such a rough place and spend time with people who may not even care for what I have to say; to those people I say, it's worth every traffic jam we may get stuck in, every rude comment, every disobedient child, and every suffocatingly hot afternoon at Bible Club.
 My heart is there, but "why?", you ask. You know when you go somewhere and you absolutely fall in love with it? That's Memphis for me. It ranges from the children who just need love, to the elderly in the Highlands, and everything in between. It's the desperate cry for God in a city full of music history and too much darkness. It's knowing that I'm reminding the people of Memphis that I come in contact with, that they are still loved. It's knowing that for one of the most dangerous cities in America, I can still make a difference and instill hope. When I go to Memphis, I reconnect with the part of my heart I left there. I don't feel scared in Memphis, but I feel at home; I feel like I'm supposed to be there. Memphis gives me the humility that home can't; at home I'm blessed, in Memphis I see people far from that. I know that's everywhere, but when I go to the part of Memphis I do, that's all I see. It probably sounds odd to people when I say that inner city Memphis is my second favorite place in the world, but it is hands down! I'm blessed for the people I have met and the experiences I have had during the times I've been in Memphis. I can only thank God for keeping my heart in Memphis. I can only thank God for giving me such a passion for a place like inner city Memphis.