Connecting The Dots

I follow several blogs, daily.  We are THAT family by Kristen Clark Welch, The Big Mama Blog by Melanie Shankle, Money Saving Mom by Crystal Paine, and the original blog that hooked me on all things "blog"...The Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond.  I read these everyday.  I enjoy them.  They encourage me, teach me, and make me laugh.  So, when Kristen Clark Welch posted that she needed a launch team for her new book, Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World, I decided to apply.  I totally did not think that I would get chosen for this awesome opportunity, but I DID!  I was chosen!  So stinking exciting!  I totally applied on a whim, but knew that I would seriously enjoy this book if chosen, and let me tell you something...not only will I enjoy this book, I am CERTAIN, I will be changed.  Yep, I read the introduction the day before Thanksgiving, and knew then that this was going to be BIG!  Today, Chapter 1, rocked my boat a bit.  Uh huh, entitlement!  Yes, Kristen makes you think about YOURSELF!  How dare she?!  Haha!  She says this, "Entitlement didn't start with my kids.  It began with me.  I entitled them because I was entitled!"  Wow!  I had to stop on that one!  (More to come about chapter one later this week!)

Here's the super cool thing, though!  Last night at church, one of our pastors was reading from Exodus 3.  You know, the chapter where Moses sees the burning bush that isn't burning up, so he goes close and hears the voice of God?!  He speaks to God there!  Yep, heard that story a few times myself, being that I grew up as a preacher's kid in Southeast Texas.  I know that story!  I could tell you that story over and over, but last night I heard something different!  In Exodus 3:13-14, the bible says:

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the people of Israel.  Suppose I say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.'  Suppose they ask me 'What is his name?'  Then what should I tell them?"  God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.  Here is what you must say to the Israelites.  Tell them, 'I AM has sent me to you."

Now friends, I am going to be brutally honest here.  I have read and heard that passage many times, but never really grasped what God was saying when he says, "I AM WHO I AM."  Never really got that.  Kind of read it, and kept going...never stopped and processed!  But last night, I understood!  I AM means HE IS means He's Sufficient!  He is everything when I am nothing!  He IS, when I'm not!  I AM...whatever they need, whatever you need, sufficient for anything and everything always!  One of our pastors, Christopher Hillken, says it way better, take a look:

Good stuff!  And here is where I realize that God connects all the dots for us!  My entitlement, just might be connected to my lack of understanding that HE IS, sufficient?!  Yep, this book might just be God's way of teaching me about HIS SUFFICIENCY!  I pray that my heart is ready, Lord!  Let's do this!