celebrate

Jesus Likes to Party Too.

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Sharita

Balloons…Games…Cake…Hats…Loud noises…music… laughter…chaos…sugar…presents…toys…pictures.

Kid birthday parties rock.

When I was little, birthday parties were practically the highlight of my life. (It ranked right up there with our annual trip to the Missouri State Fair and calving season.) It didn’t even have to be MY birthday party… just the prospect of socializing, games and CAKE were enough to make us talk about upcoming party for weeks.

Being an adult, it is kind of hard to find that unbridled joy and anticipation that rivaled a birthday party of my youth. Now, we have to be all responsible and adult-like… Birthday parties can be more of a burden than a joy, and if we eat too much birthday cake, we spend the next two weeks in the gym trying to work it back off. (How a 6 oz piece of cake can make us gain two pounds defies all laws of science.)

But I still have a chance to party everyday. And so do you. Because Jesus likes to party, too.

Granted, Jesus’ way of partying doesn’t involve much Pin the Tail on the Donkey (I don’t think the live donkeys of ancient Israel would have appreciated that much) and birthday cake wasn’t a priority. (Although Jesus did turn water into wine once. And that’s better than sugary cake icing.)

We can party every day with Jesus, rejoicing in the good and wonderful gifts that He gives us. They come in so many different packages, all shapes and sizes. There is no specific location for our daily Jesus party– it can be in the car, in the living room or before you rise out of bed in the morning.

Think about the incredible promises that He has given to us. Unending love. Eternal life in heaven with Him. A daily invitation to experience Him.

Those things are better than ANY gift I ever received at one of my birthday parties in my youth.

God loves when we celebrate Him. Each time we say a prayer, open our Bible, or share the love of God with another, He rejoices with us. He shows up to the party every time– but we have to remember to send Him the invite.

Jesus isn’t like birthday cake. He isn’t only for special occasions. He is the bread. We can partake daily.

And make quite a party out of it.

How do you celebrate Jesus? When have you rejoiced in Him lately? Do you treat Him like cake or bread? I would love to hear from you– comment below!

We don’t have to wait weeks looking forward to the party with Jesus. We can party daily, complete with balloons, games, shouts of joy, gifts and all. Invite Him to your life. Make it a party. Because Jesus likes to party too.

Partying like a Jesus Rockstar Daily,
SGK

“So I answered, “I’m coming. I read in your letter what you wrote about me, And I’m coming to the party you’re throwing for me.” That’s when God’s Word entered my life, became part of my very being.” ~Psalm 40:7-8 (MSG)

Categories: celebrate, God | Tags: , , , | 10 Comments

Gotta Love the Shiny

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Sharita

Do you know what my favorite thing about April is? Go ahead, guess…

The warmer weather? Naw. April showers bringing May flowers? I do enjoy it, but not my favorite. The fact that April is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich month? Oohh close, but not quite. Do you give up?

I love April because it is my bi-annual ring cleaning month. (I will give you a moment to stop laughing… or rolling your eyes… or however you reacted.)

That’s right. My beloved proposed to me in the month of April, thus I have to have my engagement/wedding ring cleaned and inspected every six months in order to maintain the lifetime guarantee. So October and April are two of my favorite months of the year.

In the airport, moments after my beloved gave the ring... I have never felt more bright and shiny. And if you are curious-- I said yes.

Before you think I am a superficial crazy person, let me explain something. It’s not the biggest ring on the planet. And it certainly isn’t the most expensive. (I personally have issues buying/owning/wearing a piece of jewelry that costs as much as a vehicle. Uh, yeah, no.) But I love my ring because of what it represents– a sacred, lifelong covenant between my beloved and I.  And I LOVE getting it cleaned. After they work their two-minute magic on this bad boy, it looks as good as new. I don’t know about you, but I just love the shiny.

The new shininess of the ring just fills my heart with joy. The light will catch it every now and then, at which point I smile like a bozo, think of my beloved and giggle like a school girl.

Sometimes I am so excited about the “shiny” in my life, I am convinced I am part squirrel.

But here’s the thing with my newly-cleaned up ring… That awesome excessive shine only lasts a few days. As the weeks and months pass, don’t get me wrong, it still looks pretty and I always cherish it, but it gets a little… gunky. And when I do take it in to get cleaned every six months, I oftentimes have to ask for a “second” cleaning because they missed some of the inside crevices.

Getting that  ring cleaned is a lot like our relationship with Jesus. I don’t know about you, but if I neglect my Jesus time, I start to lose that Jesus shine and look/feel gunky. So I am all about  getting polished daily by spending time with Him. And just like that ring’s “lifetime guarantee,” I need to have  hardcore cleaning sessions a few times a year… perhaps it is a women’s retreat, or attend a really awesome Jesus conference or go on a mini-personal sabbatical.

And every time I come back from those big Jesus events, I feel new… fresh… clean… and of course, oh-so-shiny. Talk about some Jesus Bling!!

So I am curious– what do you do to keep your “Jesus shine?” Do you attend any specific events? Or do you have any interesting methods to be cleansed by Jesus daily to maintain your shine? Let me know by commenting here. :-)

The blood of Jesus is the ultimate cleaning solution. Get washed today. Accept His love for you, and don’t be shy about sharing it with others. Jesus is the light and He can shine through us… And I don’t know about you, but I just gotta love the shiny.

This Shine Ain’t All Mine,
SGK

“‘Men and women who have lived wisely and well will shine brilliantly, like the cloudless, star-strewn night skies. And those who put others on the right path to life will glow like stars forever.” — Daniel 12:3

Its. So. Shiny. Thank you, Jesus!

Categories: blessing, celebrate, fresh start, God, Jesus, Love, marriage, recharge, shine | Tags: , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Peace is a Priority

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Sharita

When I was a little girl, Easter ranked in the top 4 of the most exciting and wonderful days of the year. It was just behind Christmas, my birthday and the last day of school. I loved hunting for eggs and that feeling of excitement as I came down the hall peered into the kitchen… and on top of the deep freeze, our Easter baskets would always be sitting, overflowing with candy and toys.

Ahhh. Those were the days.

But back then, I don’t recall having ANY idea what Easter was really about. Now as an adult, things are a wee bit different. Don’t get me wrong– if anyone is willing to sneak into my house and leave an Easter basket on our deep freeze filled with chocolate, please feel free. (But call first so I can kennel up the pup. I would hate for your ankle to have an encounter with our ferocious 12 pound beast.)

So yes, now Easter has a MUCH different and much more profound meaning to me… It of course signifies that Christ has Risen. How. Awesome. Is. That??

During my quiet time last week, God gave me a revelation of sorts… In all of our hustle and bustle of life, specifically for a minister preparing for Easter church services, PEACE is a priority.

We see this in John 20:19-21 when Jesus first appears to the disciples after He has risen from the dead.

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.””

Jesus makes peace a priority. “Peace be with you” was the first phrase He uttered to his group of best friends after this profound event of rising from the dead. It wasn’t “Hey y’all, I’m back!” or “I win, let’s party!” or even “Now let me tell you my plans…” It was simply “Peace be with you.” He didn’t just say it once– He said it twice. Pretty important, eh?

When have you experienced God’s peace most deeply in your life? Have you mastered it or do you still struggle with it? Please share your Jesus-peace experience by leaving a comment here.

As we approach Easter, let’s rejoice that He has risen and will soon be coming back. But let’s also remember  the promise of peace that comes from clinging to Jesus and spending time in His presence– daily, not just on Easter. Jesus made peace a priority– shouldn’t you?

Rejoicing in the Peace,
SGK

“The God of peace be with you all. Amen.” –Romans 15:33

Categories: believe, Bible, calm, celebrate, Christ, hope, Jesus, peace | Tags: , , , , , | 6 Comments

Fresh Cut of Joy

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Sharita

Annnddd… It’s Monday.

Before you pull a Garfield the Cat move by grabbing a big pan of lasagna, pulling the covers back over your head and muttering “I hate Mondays!” hang with me for just a second.

I’m not a big fan of Mondays either. I have grown to tolerate them, but honestly, what choice did I have? (Turns out employers are not super big supporters of employees who desire to boycott Mondays on a weekly basis. Just kidding.) I have learned to embrace Mondays (and every other day for that matter) because I seek to find new, fresh little cuts of joy in everything around me.

All throughout God’s word, we find reminders to REJOICE, no matter what our circumstances or what day of the week it is. I have discovered that my pup Sweet Justus is the exact opposite of Garfield that cat. (Although I am sure if I gave him a pan of lasagna, he would be thrilled. I guess we will never know…)

Justus, true to his puppy nature, finds joy in EVERYTHING. It doesn’t matter if I have left for 14 seconds to take out the trash, he is so overcome with joy when I come back from the house, he greets me like I am returning from a year long deployment. If I even say the word “treat,” his eyes perk up, tail wagging… Pure joy.

And last week, Justus rejoiced with me over accomplishing a simple, mundane task. We finally mowed our grass.  Check out the video for the celebratory demonstration. (Sorry it’s not better quality… but it was very spur of the moment.)

I couldn’t help but laugh and get pure joy from my pup AND my freshly cut yard. What if we possessed an attitude like Justus to celebrate God’s little blessings everyday? Why don’t we do a happy dance every time we run the dishwasher? Or praise the Lord for an alarm clock that wakes us up to go to a job that provides income for our family? Or maybe we can rejoice in life’s challenges, no matter what it entails, because it gives us a chance to grow closer to God?

Rejoice today. Thank God for whatever technology you are using to read this. Give Jesus a figurative high five for allowing your car to start this morning. Match those seemingly hundreds of pairs of socks with joy knowing that you have clothes to wear.

Or perhaps you should go mow the grass… Then take a deep breath, smelling that new smell, and run around your yard (shouting and barking optional) to celebrate your FRESH CUT OF JOY.

Celebrating His Gifts,

SGK

“This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

Categories: blessings, celebrate, excited, gifts, God, joy, praise | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jesus Caffeine

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Sharita

What gets you up out of the bed in the morning?

I am sure many of my more cynical or sarcastic readers would say “My stinkin’ alarm clock” or “That job I committed to working at” or “My extremely motivated 3-year-old child.” Perhaps I should rephrase that…

So… What gets you excited and happily out of bed in the morning?

What are the things that you could stay up late, get up early and spend hours talking about?

If you had all the time and money in the world with no limitations, what would you do?

This, my friends, is what we in the leadership teaching realm refer to as your PASSION.

Passions can come in all shapes and sizes… For me, my passion comes in the form of Jesus. He is like my caffeine. He gets me up in the morning. I often lie awake at night thinking about His wonders. I am ever thankful and crazy in love with Him.

God has done some AMAZING things in my life the last few months. Since my call to ministry last July, the blessings and lessons have simply been overwhelming.

One blessing in particular is this new personal ministry, 7 Days Time. I launched it 11 days ago… and it has exploded in more ways than I can imagine. Already. Wow, right? When I was going through the steps of creating it for God, I was up early (aka like 4am) and awake late. It was all I could think about. I prayed non-stop. This, ladies and gentlemen, is MY Jesus caffeine.

So in honor of the incredible success of 7 Days Time, we are going to celebrate. With caffeine. And Jesus. (How appropriate.)

WE ARE DOING A GIVEAWAY!!! Ready? Here we go…

The prize pack will include: A Starbucks gift card, a sweet journal (that I selfishly am excited to go pick out for our lucky winner) and the book “Guerilla Lovers” by Vince Antonucci. (It is one of my latest and most favoritest reads.)

Starbucks

The contest will close next Tuesday night (That would be February 21 at 11:59pm EST.)

“Well Sharita,” you might be saying. “This all sounds AMAZING. But how do I enter?”

So glad you asked, dear reader.  You can enter in several ways… and for every way you share/participate, your name gets put in the drawing… Again!

1. Comment on this blog sharing your passion… The sky is the limit. Don’t be shy.

2. Comment on this blog letting me know you have liked the 7 Days Time Facebook page. See the “like box” widget on the sidebar. (If you have already liked it, that’s great… just let me know and I will get your name entered again!)

3. Share this post on your Facebook wall letting your friends know and/or inviting them to like the Facebook page. (That would be the third time your name gets entered)

4. Either retweet one of my 7 Days Time tweets  OR if you are a non-twitter-er, send an email to your friends/family sharing the word about this ministry. Then comment on the blog to let me know you did that!

YOU COULD BE ENTERED UP TO 4 different times. Wow. Pretty good odds to score some caffeine, eh?

So excited to see this ministry continue to blossom… not for me, but for God. We are sharing His message. We are sharing His Passion. A Passion that bled and died for us to give us hope and future.

Let’s get passionate about this, readers. Grab your pen, your computer and your coffee cup… Time to the world know about our awesome Jesus Caffeine!!

Jacked up on Jesus,
SGK

“Celebrate God. Sing together—everyone! All you honest hearts, raise the roof!” –Psalm 32:11

Categories: accomplishment, celebrate, Christ, giveaway, Jesus, ministry | Tags: , , , , | 35 Comments

True Reason for the Season

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Sharita

About a week ago, my husband and I were preparing to depart for our holiday block leave road trip that would take us from Fort Benning, Georgia to South Dakota to Kansas and back. Our car was loaded down, ready to depart early the next morning. Our refrigerator was completely bare so we could reduce the possibility of growing penicillin in it while we were running amuck. Thus, we went out for a quick supper and on our way home, I decided I wanted to peruse through the neighborhood and check out the Christmas lights.

Some people in our neighborhood went all out for Christmas. Inflatable Santas, Frostys and Rudolphs bounced in front yards. Icicle lights sparkled and multicolored light glowed. Trellis and porch decorations were abundant. I was impressed.

I continued to drive (which probably wasn’t the safest decision, as I was much more interested in gawking at the Christmas lights than my husband) and I kept commenting on the decor. We didn’t do any outside decorating on our house mainly because 1) We weren’t going to be home for the holidays 2) We didn’t own the supplies necessary and 3) I sure as heck wasn’t hanging that stuff up by myself as my husband was rather occupied with his job.  (Something about training future soldiers to defend America  took take priority over Christmas lights. Scoff ;-)

We drove around for about 15 minutes in our neighborhood, guessing who might “win” the yard decorating contest and living vicariously through their glowing decor. Suddenly Brandon said, “Hey, do you know what? I didn’t see one nativity scene in all those yards.”

I stopped the car, right in the middle of our street. He was right! Not only was I surprised at that revelation, but I also was shocked I didn’t realize it at all until he brought it up. Huh.

Before you get all riled up, I am not about to get all up on a soapbox and preach about the rumors of Santa Claus’ existence or how anyone who mentions him is in the wrong. I am 26 years old and still get gifts from Santa… and our future kids will be getting gifts from Santa Claus as well.

Brandon and I joked about our “decoration” strategy for next year… I said we should get a live nativity scene, complete with camels and sheep to set up in our yard. He agreed and said he could get some of the trainees/privates to pose as Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds and Wise Men. He could force them to stand in our yard for 6 weeks. Or he said we could just spell JESUS in our grass in Christmas lights.

We laughed. It was awesome. But obviously that revelation about the nativity scene (or lack thereof) stuck with me.

Do we really take time to remember why we celebrate this holiday? I know it sounds cliche-y, but we gotta remember the real reason for the season: That baby born in a manger over 2000 years ago. And that baby wouldn’t have had any impact on us had it not been for the Cross. We have been set free– all because of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection!

It’s not about the gifts, the awesome food, the lights, ornaments, snow (or lack thereof), cheesy movies or men in red suits with excessive facial hair.

It is about our Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ. Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus… And thanks for being the true reason for the season!

Partying it up for Baby Jesus,

SGK

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:9-11

Categories: celebrate, Christ, Christmas, hope, light, Love | Leave a comment

Happy Dance Celebration

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Sharita

Cue the confetti! Crank up the dancing tunes! Get out the party hats! Release the balloons!

Uh huh, uh huh, uh-huh-uh-huh-UH-HUH!!

Why are we celebrating? A few reasons:

1. God loves me (and you) :-) We have a lot to be thankful for!

2. I FINISHED MY MASTERS DEGREE!!!! I hit the final “submit” button last Friday for my Masters of Arts in Christian Leadership… So excited, relieved and thankful that I no longer have to write research papers.  From start to finish, my masters degree took me 310 days. Yes, I was “booking” it (literally!) and the completion of this big life step is clearly an indication of God’s power working in my life. I’m celebrating whatever He has in store for me next!

3. Today is my 94th blog post… so I am rounding up and preparing for my 100th blog post, which according to my calculations will be next Tuesday. In honor of this upcoming milestone, I am doing a giveaway to YOU…

ALL. THIS. WEEK. The winner of the “Leadership by Faith” prize package (that’s what I am calling it) will be announced on the day of my 100th post (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)

The prize package will include:

  • Book: “Share Jesus without Fear” by William Fay
  • Book: “Winning with People” by John Maxwell
  • Book: Either “Wild at Heart” (for a guy )or “Captivating” (for a gal) by John and Stasi Eldredge
  • An “Easy” button (Staples)
  • A “Panic” Button (Hoops & Yo Yo) Note: both “buttons” are hilarious/fun… and productive-ish for home/office use.
Sound good? AWESOME! Now, you might be asking: “Um, Sharita, how can I enter this awesome celebration giveaway?” Pick one of the following ways:

1. Leave a comment on this blog or any of my daily blogs between today and next Monday.

2. Spread the word about his giveaway via Social Media - Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. and let me know that you did that by leaving a comment so I can make sure you are included in our auto-generated number drawing.

3. Follow me on Twitter (@SharitaKnobloch) If you are already a faithful follower, leave a comment and let me know :-)

4. Follow this blog by either signing up for it via email, Google Reader, or Networked blogs. (You can do this all via the side bar.) And, as the pattern has shown… leave a comment to let me know you are a follower.

Folks, my heart is SO joyful right now!! God has brought me through some awesome (and challenging) life experiences… but through it all, He had (and still has) a plan for my life in ministry & leadership. I want to share that joy with you… This giveaway is not for my glory, nor is the request to share this blog/link to make my name “known…” Rather, it is an opportunity to share the gospel throughout the nations and for us to grow spiritually together as a family of Christ. The glory ALL goes to God. He called me to it… and is faith and continues to do it!

Excited to share my joy with you! 100th blog post & masters diploma, here we come.

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go do a happy dance in my living room.

God rocks my socks,

SGK

 

“For seven days celebrate the Feast to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.” –Deuteronomy 16:15


Categories: accomplishment, celebrate, glory, goals, God, leadership, power | 18 Comments

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