Tired of all the redundant New Year’s Resolutions!

Sitting in the pew at church this morning listening to a wonderful message about how people make New Year’s Resolutions that don’t stick. I began thinking about how every year I try to make one or two (or fifty) that, like everyone else, doesn’t seem to stick. And to be honest, for the last six years, my resolutions have been more prayers and hopes for the next year instead of actual resolutions. It’s more me begging God to allow us to have a better year than the one before...with more peace and comfort and emotional and mental stability. 2017 has been emotionally draining for Brad and myself. It’s almost like the seven year itch came a year early which leaves me anxious and wondering what will the seventh year be like for us if the sixth was this bad!!! Who said “time will ease the pain?” I can tell you it wasn’t someone who had been rocked to the core by losing a child.

So I’m sitting in the pew listening to all the ways to draw closer to God (Colossians 3 by the way) and be a better version of myself. The thought comes to my mind “but this would be so much easier if I didn’t have to focus so much of my mind and energy on what has been taken away from me.” How much easier it would be to just say “I believe I’ll lose ten pounds...read more...spend more time with family...be a better mother, wife, teacher, friend...stop drinking sodas...exercise more...spend less”...you get my point.

PSA: Let me forewarn you; what I’m about to say will sound psychedelic to those of you who haven’t experienced hearing the voice of God so profoundly in your life. It’s not like the voice of Morgan Freeman or Charleston Heston, nor does a light shine from the heavens as this voice appears from no where. Save that for the movies! It’s the most intense, strike-you-in-the-gut, no-one-is-in-the-room-but-you-and Him moment, that unless you’ve witnessed it, you’ll never understand.

As I’m sitting there saying all this to what I think is myself, a voice much sweeter than Freeman or Heston says “What makes you think I have taken anything from you? I have taken nothing from you. In fact, what I have done is given you something? A testimony. Your son is alive and well. You and your family get to spend eternity with him. I have allowed you that gift...and added to that a testimony.”
~God’s drop-the-mic moment~

A couple nights ago, I read Psalms 119, mainly because one verse from that chapter popped up on my ‘verse of the day’. If you’ll read it, you’ll see that the word ‘TESTIMONY’ appears almost two dozen times, which I was thinking to myself (at the time of reading it) how redundant it seemed to keep using that word over and over. But this morning it connected when the preacher even referred to Psalms 119 as he quoted scripture. Coincidence? Yeah, well maybe...but I choose to believe that God used that moment to assure me that HE KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING! It’s time for me to stop trying to do His job, especially since I do such a poor job of it, let Him take care of my mental and emotional well-being and start doing my job...being His hands and feet by using my testimony to share His love (Noah’s Legacy) with a broken world who just wants to be LOVED!

So for my 2018 NY Resolution....Simple: Just let God...........................………………

PSA #2: Every moment is God’s drop-the-mic moment!!!!! Be still and know..........

Much love and many blessings,
Leann

Reminder to self: God knows what He's doing, God knows what He's doing...

There are those days when things seem to go awry...some days it feels like your life has ups and downs like a roller coaster. Then, there are those days when the roller coaster stops in the middle of a loop and you become stuck upside down...all the blood rushes to your head and there's nothing you can do but wait for someone to relieve you. That seems to have been our lives over the past several months.

It's been several months since I last blogged. Noah's Legacy Foundation completed a trip to Honduras last year. This year, we had so much going on personally that it made it hard for us to leave. So there were three previous Noah's Legacy mission team members from our church who went this summer back to Honduras to follow up on last year's trip and do additional village and street ministry.

2015 has seemed like a year of Victory and Defeat. Of course, I'm using the term "defeat" very lightly. In March, two strong, beautiful women (Shayla Taylor and Kellie Hargett) and I started a new chapter in our lives with a much needed, and greatly called, ministry, Three Strong. Three Strong recorded its very first CD during the Spring 2015 and was released in the Summer. God has opened so many doors for our music ministry. So, Trapp Ministry has now intertwined with Three Strong for an even greater testimony! I love these two women with all my heart. We have been through some of the most tragic events within the last several years and because of an Almighty, Powerful God, we have made it to the other side of such devastation. Every day is a challenge for each of us, but everyday is also a blessing from God that we can share with others when given the opportunity. God knows what He's doing...

In May, my sister-in-law, Susan Trapp Higginbotham, was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer. We were so sure she would beat the odds, but unfortunately it had spread into her kidneys, which caused renal failure. On July 23, only a couple months after her initial diagnosis, Susan joined Noah and met her Savior face to face for the first time. What an amazing day for her. We miss her so much, but what a Hallelujah day it was for her to make it HOME! I had the opportunity just a few days prior to her promotion to talk about Home. She asked me if I was jealous...she would be getting to hold my sweet Noah in just a few days. Honestly, YES! At the time, I was jealous that she was going to get to be with my Savior and Noah sooner than I could, but I also know the devastation and anxiety there has to be knowing you are leaving behind those who want you to stay, and knowing that your children need you to be "here" with them. It's a bittersweet thought that I'm not sure I could even answer honestly. We continued with a conversation that no one, especially a mother, would ever want to have..."You take care of my boys" she said with a beautiful, peaceful smile that could only come from someone who "KNEW". I continued with "And when you get there, you hug my baby and tell him I love him, and I'm coming soon...me, daddy, and Daylee." She smiled and nodded. We both "KNEW". Two mothers, two different circumstances...but both knowing that God is good, and His plan is perfect! God knows what He's doing...

Today, we are battling another family situation...this week my father-in-law was diagnosed with Lymphoma. We're unsure where this will lead the Trapp family once again, but one thing is for sure...we still know that God is good, and His plan is perfect! Nothing changes who we are in Christ...no situation too bad, no circumstance too unbearable can take away who God is! He's perfect...and He knows what He's doing!! When everything else fails, we can rest assure that He never will! The Trapp family will continue to keep our eyes on the prize...HOME...and keep reminding ourselves...GOD KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING!!!!

Combat boot or flip flop Christian??......

Been thinking, reading, studying, talking to God about the "shoes"...haven't gotten it all together, but I did come to the realization that we too often wear our flip flops to combat; when what we should have done was taken the time to strap our boots on so we would be ready for whatever comes at us. I love me some flip flops, but let's get real...flip flops are for the lazy! There's no prep...you just slip 'em on and go. Kind of like lazy Christians...no prep, no studying the Word, no prayer, no witnessing, no worship; just one quick "swoop" for an hour on Sunday morning and we're ready to face a week full of fiery darts and satan's minions. They're often the most "comfortable" and we are the most "content" with the flip flop, but does it serve it's purpose?  The shoe was made to protect the foot, so which protects it most: a flip flop that exposes everything or a combat boot that covers everything (kind of like the armor of God for the foot...lol). I feel more comfortable in my flip flops, but I sure wouldn't want to fight a battle in them! So is that the kind of Christian I want to be: a flip flop Christian- One who is lazy and flip flops back and forth on who I am as a child of God because I don't know enough about the Word, don't spend as much time talking to God, and telling others about Jesus, or a combat boot Christian- one who is laced up, strapped down, covered with the Word, and sitting on GO on the front lines of battle ready for whatever is waiting on my path to eternity. So, what shoe do you wear? Just a thought.....

Proclaiming "I know my Redeemer lives"...

Just as with Job, in the depths of my agony, I KNOW MY REDEEMER LIVES! We’ve spoken about the many similarities of our family and Job’s. People approach my husband and me quite often and ask, “Do you feel as though Satan has approached God and asked to sift you as wheat?” In no way to we feel that we are righteous enough to be compared to Job…that’s a long shot. But sometimes, Yes…I do feel that way. Even if he has…and we are…there’s still a huge difference in Job and my family. You see, Job didn’t know there was a conversation that was taking place between his Creator and the fallen one, yet after all he had faced he still proclaimed “I know my Redeemer lives!” And so, here I sit, hindsight 20:20…having read Job and knowing the story twofold…can I, will I, stand chest to chest with the world and declare “I know my Redeemer lives” even after my circumstances? Because no matter how difficult this life becomes for us…all the cuts, scrapes, snags, briars, and bruises…God is still God…in all His splendor, Almighty and Glorious! And if we hold on to the One who is PROVING to the antagonist once again that WE ARE WHO HE SAYS WE ARE, we will find ourselves not only singing “I know my Redeemer lives” to the world, but we will be able to stand face to face with the adversary and say with a confident smirk “watch this…when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold!”

Waiting on God Until....

I've been studying on "waiting on God"...which is horribly hard for me! When we don't have immediate possession of something (or someone) that is of great importance to us, we have days where we almost feel a panic, a sense of urgency to possess or grab hold of it (or them) just so we know that it's (or they are) there. You know, that comfort in knowing the "ahhh, there it is" feeling. But, why are you making me wait God? Why is it so important for me to continue to wait for this job, assignment, task, person? Can't You see how hard this is for me? Of course He does! Just like Joseph...who waited in a prison...not for days, or weeks, but YEARS! Waiting on God to answer him! Waiting for a rescue! And me??? I'm not in a prison! You aren’t in prison, but we may be infertile or inactive or in between jobs or in search of health, looking for that "task" or ministry that you know God has called you to. Wondering how long must I suffer? At some point, we've all known what it's like to be so sick but dread going to the doctor because we know the waiting room and wait time will be excruciating!!!!!! But we drag ourselves there, sign in, and begin "THE LONG DREADED WAIT!" The aggravation of hearing other people's names called before our own! Don't these nurses and doctor know how bad I feel? Can they not see the bags under my eyes from the lack of sleepless nights I've toiled with this? Are you in God’s waiting room? If so, there’s something you need to know: While you wait, God works! Jesus said "My Father is still working..." In John 5:17. GOD NEVER STOPS! He takes no vacations. He rested on the seventh day of creation but got back to work on the eighth and hasn’t stopped since. Just because we're idle, don’t assume God is! So we wait....we pray....we fast...we wait...we worship...we praise...we pray...we wait...UNTIL it's our time...God calls and it's now our turn! Joseph wasn't left in prison to be punished. We aren't left without an answer for punishment...sometimes we are there to grow, to become more prepared for whatever we've waited on, or maybe to just simply STAND STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD!!!! I don't know what you may be waiting on or what you've entered the throne room and asked from God, but I do know that His answer will be worth the wait! So I continue to my wait....I pray....I fast...I wait...I worship...I praise...I sing...and I wait.........until. And I pray you will, too! ~Many blessings and Much Love ~

Noah's Legacy Guatemala Mission Team 2013

Village of Hope Orphage

Sacatepéquez, Guatemala

Noah's Legacy 2013 Mission Trip to the Village of Hope Sacatepéquez, Guatemala