Brokenness

I'm sure it's happened at your house. Someone drops a glass or plate and it shatters...everywhere. It's broken and useless; no longer good for its intended purpose, so we sweep it up and into the trash it goes. 

Or maybe if it's a special piece you might try mending it. I have a set of red mixing bowls that my husband bought me for my birthday while on a trip to Angelfire, New Mexico. I love those bowls...they make me happy. So when one of them began to crack I quickly grabbed the Gorilla glue to try and salvage it. In my eyes the cracks didn't diminish the beauty. I wasn't about to throw it away because I loved it. 

Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art that fills the cracks in a broken piece of pottery with gold, incorporating them into the restoration. The result is amazing! Rather than covering up the brokenness, the faults and weaknesses become a beautiful part of the object's past.

What a beautiful picture of how God views us! My cracks and brokenness make me who I am and if I allow them to they will become an opportunity for His strength  to shine through. Bringing our hearts to Him He lovingly takes each broken, jagged piece and puts it back together, sealing it over with His love and grace. The end result is more beautiful than we could have ever imagined and something that ultimately brings Him glory when viewed by those around us.

Feeling broken today? Don't hide it! Jesus wants to pour Himself into the cracks of your life to create an amazing masterpiece that will bless others and bring Him glory. Give Him the pieces and see what He'll do.

No words...

I've always loved to write. As long as I can remember I've been filling notebooks with thoughts, prayers and dreams. There has never been a shortage of words. It's free therapy really. For some reason things seem to make more sense when I can get them out of my head and onto paper. There's a semblance of order that begins to happen as the words flow...like a painting taking shape at the hands of an artist.

But then there are times when the pain is so real that there are no words. There is simply no way to make order out of chaos. Things just need to sit for awhile; to settle. Thankfully, time has a way of helping us regain a bit of perspective; perspective that's important for putting things into words once again.

Our family is walking a hard road right now. A road that I am not ready to put into words. I know at some point the Lord is going to use our story for His glory as He brings beauty from the ashes, but the words aren't ready just yet. They're in there, tumbling around and being refined, but they're not ready...I'm not ready. And that's OK. 

It's more than OK, because it's our story. You can't tell an artist what to paint or a writer what to write anymore than you call tell someone what their story SHOULD look like.

One thing I know to be true - God is faithful. He sees our journey from beginning to end and He has a plan in it all. Of that I am certain...and every so thankful.

Light in the darkness

We've had weird spring weather this year. More clouds and rain than usual have made for some pretty amazing sunrises. I never tire of them...as is evidenced by the number of photos on my camera. My favorite place to steal away for my quiet time is the back patio. Coffee in hand, the view of the sun coming up over the mountains is the perfect backdrop for my chats with the Lord.

This morning the weather seemed to mirror my thoughts. Dark menacing clouds boiled behind me as I poured out my heart to the Lord. Tough stuff. Life stuff. Stuff that takes your breath away and leaves you clinging to Him. Over the mountains the clouds lingered, but as I prayed the sun suddenly burst from behind a cloud almost blinding me. What joy! There, in the midst of the darkness, was hope. As the darkness threatened to overtake, the light came flooding in. My prayers were turned to praise and I realized the Light is always at work in the darkness. This morning He painted me a sunrise as a powerful reminder.

There are reminders all around us. We just need to slow down long enough to take them in. To let them wash over us, reminding us that the trials we're facing are but a momentary blip on heaven's radar. All this will one day give way to an eternity with Jesus...where the Light will shine brightly and He will wipe all our tears. All the tough stuff will be nothing more than a memory. What a sweet promise that is my friends! 

Until then, enjoy the sunrise.

The thing about parenting when it's HARD

Life has sort of knocked me on my butt these last few months. Just being real. I'll sum it all up by saying parenting is hard. Not potty training hard...I mean raising teenagers hard. If you have teens I bet you're shaking your head right now. See, I use to say my least favorite part of parenting was potty training. It was the first thing those wiggly little humans really had complete control over and they would do it when they were darn well ready. Yeah, that was kinda hard.

Then they grew up and decided they would make their own decisions. Oy vey! Sometimes those decisions make me stand up and cheer, sometimes they make me cringe and sometimes they make me just want to curl up in a ball and cry. Yep, I've done all three. Good, bad or indifferent, they're learning all decisions have consequences and those consequences never affect just one person. They're learning how to live with consequences and make the best of them.

Me? I'm learning to pray. Oh, I knew how to pray before, or at least I thought I did. The whole "pray without ceasing" thing? It takes on a whole new meaning when your kids decide to find their own way. You wake up praying, pray in the shower, the car, while making dinner and then you fall asleep praying. Repeat daily for the REST OF THEIR LIVES. Yep, it's a whole new dimension of prayer.

Through it all here's what I know to be TRUE: God has a plan for each of our kids. We've known that from the start, but my little Pollyanna outlook had me believing those "plans" would be all rainbows and unicorns. It honestly never occurred to me that in order to fulfill the plans my kids might have to go through a whole lot of junk. Junk that will refine them to do exactly what He has called them to. Oh how that junk hurts my momma heart! We want to protect our kids from pain, but the pain is the sandpaper (or in some cases the sledgehammer) God uses to polish out the imperfections so they will shine for Him.

I may be knocked on my butt, but I don't doubt that God is still in control and working all things together for good. He's like that...faithful when we're faithless, sovereign when we fail and able to see the bigger picture when our eyes are so blurred by tears we can't see what's right in front of us. He'll pick us up, wipe our tears, dust us off and send us right back out there to keep fighting for these amazing kids he's loaned us to raise. 

And he gave us coffee...just one more proof he loves us dearly.

God - the ultimate hacker

We recently got a nasty virus on our computer. We didn't know it at the time, but woke up one morning to find our computer had completely reset. Wiped clean. Eight years of photos...our kids entire childhood...gone. The documents, while disappointing to lose, can be recreated. The photos cannot.

Desperate, we took it to a friend in our homeschool group who we are affectionately now calling our very own "computer genius". Yes he is. Turns out we had the same virus that took out all the East Coast banks last year. It's a savage beast that wipes your hard drive clean. While the virus had reset everything, the Lord sovereignly protected our data and photos and our resident "computer genius" was able to save it all! Yipee! He cleaned up the virus and restored what was to dear to our hearts. Now our kids won't grow up and accuse us of having no photos of them.

Lately I've seen the Lord working in similar ways. A virus invades our lives. It wreaks havoc on our systems - emotional, physical, spiritual and leaves devastation in its wake. Dreams are erased, Hopes altered. Much is lost. Maybe the virus lays dormant for awhile. We don't even know it's there until one morning we wake up to its destruction. Or maybe the damage is done a little at a time, but with the same devastating effects.

However it works, it has but one source and purpose. The purpose of this computer virus was to wipe out information. It was created by evil people, with an evil intent. Satan is the creator of the viruses that threaten our lives. His purpose? To steal, kill and destroy God's people. But thankfully God is the ultimate computer genius! He is able to hack the hacker, saving what was meant for evil and restoring it for good. The virus, engineered to destroy, doesn't have to be life altering. Instead it can remind us of what's important and of who is really in control. 

We're so grateful that our photos were saved and the virus removed. Even more grateful knowing God is able to restore our lives when things get hacked.

Losing the art of reflection - a major disadvantage of technology

Technology has its advantages, many of which I admit are helpful. Information at our fingertips, keeping up with far away family and friends and giving the average person a voice can all be positive if used correctly.

One serious downside I've noticed is people's seeming inability to just be still. To be alone with our thoughts for even a moment. Sitting at the dentist office recently and I looked around to see every other person in the waiting room with their noses stuck to their phones. What use to be a few quiet moments to catch your breath between appointments, to close your eyes and reflect or pray or even strike up a conversation with the person next to you - these moments are gone; swallowed up by electronic sound bytes vying for our attention.

There are many things wrong with this scenario, but what hit me that day was how our love of technology has caused us to lose the ability to think introspectively; to take a look at our hearts, or better yet, allow the Lord to do so. Hopping on to play a round of Candy Crush, or text a friend about weekend plans is far easier than trying to think through what's been bugging us. It's easier to lose ourselves in the world of Facebook than to ask tough questions about why we responded the way we did to our spouse that morning. Technology at our fingertips is stripping us of the ability and desire to just be quiet. For some of us quiet is scary, so we keep our minds busy with the unimportant.

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." Psalm 139:23

Stillness and quiet reflection is a difficult discipline, but one we must not ignore. No matter how hard we try to deflect, ignore or downplay, the junk in our lives is still there. The only way to get rid of it is to walk through it. Maybe it's time to put down the phone and listen to the One who already knows our hearts and is waiting to walk us through all the messy parts. 

  

Giving thanks through trials

This time of year "thanks" is all the buzz word. We're reminded of the importance of thankfulness, of turning our hearts toward gratitude in an effort to refocus on the important. We try desperately to prepare our hearts for the upcoming holiday season, wanting this year to be different.

Listing our thanks, putting pen to paper in an effort to recognize our blessings certainly makes us more aware. Some things come easily, no effort required to give thanks. Family, friends, a job we love, a home to share, a full pantry. These are easy. Smiles on our faces, we lift our hands and say, "Thank you Lord!"

But what about the "blessings" that don't come so easily? What about the ones that look nothing like blessings at all, but instead come wrapped in messiness and pain? Lamentations 3:37 reminds us that nothing happens unless the Lord allows it. If we believe the Lord's plans for us are for good and not for evil and that nothing will happen to us that He will not use, then isn't it safe to say that the pain is also a gift? A messy blessing bestowed on us by the Giver of all good things? Is it possible to move from viewing our struggle as simple a source of pain to part of His plan to show us more of himself?

I don't want to simply thank Him when it's easy. To stand before the Creator of the Universe listing off my thanks like a Christmas wish list, but to kneel in reverance in the midst of pain. To stand, hands raised and tears streaming because I know nothing we experience is ever wasted. Nothing we go through cannot be used by the One who allows it to happen. 

The only way I've found to live out this type of gratitude is knowing where to keep my focus. Eyes on my circumstances leads to fear, worry and despair. In a moment's time it will suck me under. That's all it takes and before I know it I am consumed with everything but thanksgiving. Eyes on my Savior means there is no room for despair, no time for worry. How can I marvel at his faithfulness while allowing fear to consume me? The two can't exsist together. Focusing on God's goodness opens my eyes in a new way to my circumstances and I begin to see Him in it all. In every single ugly, gut wrenching detail. And I give thanks.

Thanks for the niceties makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Thanks for the heartbreaking, the unexpected, the stuff that leaves you reeling...that type of understanding brings you to a whole new level of gratitude and allows you to see God in ways you never expected. Warm and fuzzy is nice, but hearing the heartbeat of Jesus and feeling Him holding your hand trumps warm and fuzzy any day.

Hiding God's Word in our hearts...and the shower

Here's something I never expected about having teenage boys...the incredibly loooong showers. They don't have to spend much time on appearance, but apparently the shower is where they do their best thinking. Who knew? 30 minutes into it we're banging on the door and interrupting their watery reverie. Yes, we're dream killers like that.

For school this year we're memorizing what I'm calling the A-B-C's of scripture - a scripture passage for each letter of the alphabet. Should be a fun way to shake things up a bit. I'm not sure where the second part of my brainstorm came from. Probably a lack of coffee or something. I decided since they spend such an inordinate amount of time chillaxin' in the shower that I would give them something to stare at while they're in there. Sorry for the poor pic quality. I took it with my phone...in the shower.

Taping a large Ziplock bag in an area that doesn't get too wet allows me to change out the page inside each week. Around here, we call this multitasking at it's finest.

And in case you're wondering, anxious starts with an A.

Back to school - seriously?

Normally this time of year we're already back in school mode. Seeing all the back to school supplies in the stores usually makes me giddy. Getting boxes of curriculum in the mail...oh man, that's like Christmas! I put the date on the calendar and go into full on planning and organizing mode.

But not this year. OK, I did buy some new pencils and composition books, but even that lacked the usual excitement. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that summer is already over. I've put off the start date until after Labor Day, hoping my feelings will catch up soon. I'll let you know on Tuesday how that works out.

Here's the thing - if I waited to start school this year until I felt like it, I'm pretty sure not much would get done. Feelings can't be trusted. How thankful I am that my God isn't like that! I don't have to doubt his promises or that he'll do what he says he will do. His Word is not dependent on whether or not he FEELS like doing something. Can you imagine if he were like us humans? Fickle and changing depending on the temperature outside, the time of the month or how much coffee he's had?

Nope. His faithfulness and mercies are new every single morning. 

Times when parenting gets hard and we're feeling worn out.

Times when we lack the joy or excitement we expected. 

Times when life seems overwhelming. 

It's times like this we learn the meaning of perseverance, of doing what we need to do despite how we feel. The Lord honors our obedience when we do what he's called us to do. Obedience has nothing to do with feelings, but calls us to a new level of sacrifice. 

That means getting my act together and starting school with enthusiasm whether I want to or not.

It means continuing in prayer when I don't see the end.

It means letting him be my strength when I have none.

It means complete and total dependence on him. And that my friends is exactly where he wants us to be.

The masks we wear

"I grew up thinking that revealing the worst parts of me, especially in church, would be unacceptable. If grace is real, how could I ever feel that? The places that hold grace should be the safest places to unveil our humanity. 

But they usually aren't. The gospel of grace fights every piece of pride in us. When God gives us grace, he is also taking something from us. He takes our control. So many of us don't live in grace even though we may have grown up singing about it since birth." Jennie Allen - Anything

Sometimes I think growing up as a Christian can bring with it it's own kind of bondage. The bondage of "being good" or keeping everything shiny on the outside, regardless of what the inside looks like. We become a Pharisee. Don't misunderstand. I am incredibly thankful for having had the opportunity to grow up the way I did, but I have to wonder how much the "good girl" image got in the way of what God really wanted to do in my life. 

We hear about what Jesus did for us on the cross so often that the enormity of what he did seems to fade. 

We sing about amazing grace so much that we fail to grasp just how amazing it truly is.

Church, the very place we should be able to be real with one another is the very place we wear our shiniest masks. The place where grace should abound in greatest quantity is the very place we believe we will feel the most shame. Is it really so, or has the enemy simply caused us to believe a lie, whispered repeatedly in our ears over the years? Looking back, I'm not sure the church I grew up in would have been a safe place to unveil my true self...to share the truth of my sinful humanity. I don't think it was a place where grace abounded. Or maybe it was just me. I wasn't at a place to take off that shiny mask. It was just easier to keep buffing out the smudges than to take it off completely....there was far too much at stake. The lie is that everyone else is walking around mask free and you're the only one with something to hide. The truth is we're all sinful and in need of forgiveness every single day. 

Thankfully, my masks have come off. I wish I could say I've given up control, but I'm still a work in progress. I've stopped believing the lies that were whispered in my ear and embraced the freedom that comes from being who God created me to be. Yes, there is still sin, but there is also grace. There always has been. Somewhere along the way we were lulled into believing our sin outweighed the grace. And another mask falls to the ground.

The Silence of Saturday

Honestly, I've never given  much thought to the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. It was just another day, usually spent getting ready for whatever Easter festivities we had planned.

Maybe I'm getting a bit more introspective as the years go by, but there's something special about today; about this Saturday. The crucifixion has taken place, the sacrifice made and we're waiting on the glorious resurrection. We know the ending. We know what happens on the third day, but the disciples did not.

Think about what they must have been feeling. The One they have dedicated the last three years of their lives to has just been crucified. 

Overwhelming sadness at the loss of their Lord and friend. 

Uncertainty about what lay in store for them. 

Fear over what the leaders might do to Jesus' followers. 

I can imagine the emotions were running high. Saturday was a somber, depressing day as they gathered together, locking themselves in and bracing the door. 

They didn't understand that God's plan wasn't finished. The waiting and uncertainty of Saturday was part of the plan.

How much is that like our own lives? Maybe it's a job situation, relationship, health. We're caught in the lull of the waiting, the uncertainty.  We're so engaged in the emotions of the Friday experience that we can't see what's on the horizon.

Sunday's coming!

Whatever  you're waiting on today, take heart - your Sunday's coming! Jesus' time in the tomb was part of God's plan. It could not be rushed. The quiet, uncertain Saturday of waiting ushered in a Sunday of rejoicing.

Don't grow weary friends. Embrace the quietness of your waiting, hold on to His promises and you will see the Lord answer. You will see your Sunday!

Running - the beauty of the journey

I've written before about my love/hate relationship with running....it's mostly still a hate kinda thing. I've been told you reach a point where you achieve a "runner's high" and suddenly find yourself on the side of loving it...hasn't happened here yet.

This morning as I begrudgingly laced up my running shoes I decided to just go for a walk, maybe run a little if I felt like it. The dark clouds lingered from last night's rain storm and the air was crisp. Taking a deep breath I began my route, talking to the Lord as I walked. As we chatted I began to notice some things that previously I had run right past. 

The vivid spring green of the new trees.

The flowers bursting from the sleepy earth.

The foothills still clinging to the last bit of snow.

The world around me seemed so much more vivid and that's when it hit me. I've been focusing so much on the drudgery of running that I've missed out on the gift that it is. My focus was wrong. Yes, it can help me get in better shape, but I think that's simply a byproduct. The reality of running is that it affords me time to pray, to listen, to notice. Oftentimes the busyness of life means I run right past it all. In my hurry to get where I'm going I can easily miss out on the beauty of the journey.

Life lived well embraces beauty. It notices the little things and pauses to give thanks.

I walked in the door to a still sleeping house and a second cup of coffee. Heart sigh. Blogging on the patio, the sun has broken through the dark clouds on this Good Friday morning and suddenly I realize maybe I don't hate running after all....maybe.

Perspective

Life is about perspective. Oftentimes we get so caught up in the dailiness of our own lives or intensity of our own struggles that we can easily lose perspective or allow that perspective to become skewed. Looking outside of ourselves is a good reality check.

A friend posted today that their family received a letter from the recipient of her son's corneas and the joy it brought them to know Nick lives on in others.

Perspective.

Attending the funeral of a precious 14 year old friend taken home to be with Jesus in his sleep.

Perspective.

The "C" word creeping into the lives of too many people I know.

Perspective.

Walking the dark road of depression with someone I love.

Perspective.


When life doesn't make sense, when things happen that we just can't wrap our minds around, we come to a crossroads. We can turn away, disillusioned and defeated or we can turn to the One who can somehow help us make sense of it all. 

Turn and lean deeply into Him.  

And in the quiet we hear him whisper "I have a plan in the pain. I'm writing their story - your story - and this part, no matter how hard, is just another chapter."

In the leaning and the whispering we find a new perspective...one that gives us hope again.

Love and bacon

We postponed our Valentine's day family celebration until this morning. Heart shaped waffles with whipped cream, raspberries and chocolate chips and bacon...

 

Because everyone knows bacon equals love.

 

As I spent time writing notes to hubby and the kids, I was reminded of the fact that while V-day is a good time to remember how/why we love the people we do life with, it shouldn't be the only time we celebrate that love. I use to be good at writing notes to the kids. In fact, when they were younger I kept a journal for each of them, writing down milestones, thoughts, observations and prayers for their lives. When did that stop? Why did it stop? I could come up with a hundred reasons, but truthfully they would all sound pretty lame.

 

Like getting up at 7:30 on a Saturday morning to make breakfast and decorate the table in pink and red, love is a VERB! It doesn't merely express an emotion. In fact, it's when we equate love with emotions that we end up on trouble. The reality of it is I don't always FEEL loving towards my family. Chalk it up to hormones, lack of sleep, never ending to-do lists or whatever, but the truth of it is selfishness plain and simple. Love takes laying down my needs/wants in place of theirs. It takes sacrifice. It takes biting my tongue when I want to respond, ironing the shirt when I'm tired, not having the last word, doing the dishes and laundry for the millionth time and knowing it won't be the last. 

 

Real love requires something of me. Sometimes we get lazy and our excuses become lame.  We forget the importance of letting people know what they mean to us. Since we aren't guaranteed tomorrow maybe it's time we put a little Valentines day into every day of the year.

 

After all, who couldn't use more bacon?

Why New Year's resolutions fail

Another new year.  Another fresh start.

Healthy foods will be purchased.

Gyms will be packed.

Resolutions made.

At least for the next few weeks.

Have you ever wondered why most of us continue to fail at keeping the promises we make to ourselves every January 1st?  We have good intentions. We're determined to do things differently with the next 12 months we've been given.  None of us plan to fail...and yet we do. Before we know it we've slipped back into our old habits.  With a sigh we resign ourselves to the fact that "this is just how it's always going to be".

The problem for most of us is we're focusing on the wrong things. We're concerned with changing the outside, the parts people can see, but find it far easier to simply ignore the underlying issues.  And there are always underlying issues.

We want to loose weight, but are afraid to ask ourselves why we overeat in the first place. 

 

We want to work out, but don't want to give up our habits of laziness and inactivity. 

Improving our marriage may be on our list this year, but we're too stubborn to look at the junk we're carrying that affects intimacy.  

We desire that anger not control our lives, but are afraid to explore what might actually be the root cause of this outward emotion.

A relationship needs mending, but we don't want to acknowledge our part in the problem. 

The outward stuff we can forcibly change...at least for the short term.  I can be nicer, less angry, make better food choices, but without the proper focus it will simply be a flash in the pan.  The heart issues take work - real, hard, messy work and most of us aren't willing to go there.  Turning our hearts over to the One who can do the surgery required is terrifying, but it's the only way to make a true change.  Otherwise our good intentions are simply polishing off a bit of the dirt and we will find ourselves in the same place next January...with a whole lot of wishes and not a lot of change.  

We are all broken people with good intentions.  We desperately need a perfect God who can take our brokenness and turn it into something beautiful.

God, create a pure heart in me, and renew a right attitude within me.  Psalm 51:10

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  2 Corinthians 5:17

He changes us from the INSIDE out so that His light shines through our brokenness.  

Now THAT is a resolution we can count on!

Canadian geese and families...yes, there's a connection

There's a cornfield directly behind our house.  I love the feeling of country living right in the middle of the suburbs.  I enjoy looking out my back windows and watching the Canadian geese feeding on what's left of this year's crop.  The geese fly over in large flocks, but not in a nice, straight V-formation as you might expect.  Their flight formation seems to be mostly organized chaos - they're often out of line, pushing for the front and honking loudly. But while it may lack a bit of order they never really loose their formation.  They are a ragtag band, but they still follow the lead goose who seems to know where he's going.

Reminds me a lot of our family.  The REAL family, not the Pinterest perfect one we often strive for.  In our family Mike is the leader and I would like to say we all fall into formation under that leadership without any complaining, shoving or honking.  But I can't say that.  There are power struggles, arguments, messes...maybe even some shoving or honking.  But ultimately we still follow the leadership God set up for our family.  The leadership model allows us all to respect authority, learn to follow, work through disagreements, swallow our pride and humble ourselves when necessary.  Honestly, it's a lot of work, but it's the only way that family works.  God designed each member to work in loving conjunction with the other as an example to the world of His love.

I wish I could say we are always a good example, but we're not.  We mess up...a lot, but we've also gotten really good at "I'm sorry."  Our relationships are stronger when we work through the shoving and honking.  Geese are not quiet animals.  They make themselves known.  Yeah, we're a lot like those geese.  We like to make our needs known, but we've also gotten better at listening and communicating.  Seems our formation is improving.

We certainly don't look like the picture perfect family, but I've lived long enough to know there IS NO picture perfect family.  Only an illusion we like to chase...honking loudly all the way.

An inconvenient life

Confession time:  I'm selfish.  Honestly, when it comes down to it we're all basically selfish.  We live in a society that promotes "me first" and "looking out for #1".  We fill our schedules with things we want/need to do. Spend money on things we want.  Take vacations where we want to go.  Spend time with who we want to spend time with.  We're comfortable doing things that please us and make our lives easier and more enjoyable.

Think for a moment how life would look differently if we surrendered each of these areas to the Lord.  If we asked him to show us what things should be on our schedule, what our days should consist of, how our money should be spent and dare I say it, even where we should go on vacation.  Would that change the way we're currently living? 

We've become a much more transient society and the idea of helping our neighbor is all but lost, leaving families and individuals isolated.  Back in the day friends and family lived close to one another and did life together.  If there was a barn to be raised, the whole community came together to help.  Wisdom was shared over canning, quilting and gardening.  People went out of their way to help one another.  They inconvenienced themselves to do what needed to be done.  Regardless of what was planned for the day, when a neighbor needed help they dropped what they were doing to pull together.

We have convinced ourselves that we're so busy with urgent things that dropping everything to help someone would be too much of a sacrifice.  I'm guessing it was back then too, but it wasn't a question of whether or not they would do it...they just did.  I'm not suggesting we start canning, quilting, gardening or barn raising (although that's a great idea), but that we need to be willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of others, learning to live out the truth of Philippians 2:3 on a daily basis - Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

Is a friend feeling overwhelmed with a project?  Spend the day helping her finish it.  Know a new mom who could use an extra set of hands?  Take some time to hold her baby so she can take a nap...or a shower!  Drop dinner off unexpectedly to someone you know is struggling.  Flowers and a card of encouragement may be just what someone needs.  

Be willing to be second.

Be willing to do something for others that they can't currently do for themselves.  

Be willing to live an inconvenient life, dying to self to be Jesus with skin on.

I dare say an inconvenient life is exactly the life Christ called us to live.

Prayer - WORD!

You've most likely experienced a similar scenario - Bible study is winding down. As you being to pack up your things, the leader asks if anyone has any prayer requests...two hours later tummies are rumbling and everyone's looking at their watches while the "sharing" continues.  Please don't misunderstand.  It's not that we don't care about what's going on in the lives of those around us, but too much information can leave us wondering what the heck we're really suppose to be praying for!

 

A friend recently introduced me to one word prayers.  Sure the concept is simply, but I found it to be extremely profound and incredibly helpful in praying for people. 

 

How would you sum up your most important/intimate prayer need(s) in a WORD? 

 

One word, no explanation needed. I really had to stop and think about it.  Sure, I've got my list, but what is the central theme running through them all?  This approach forces you to look at what's important.  The benefit to the person praying for you is that it frees them from knowing all the details.  Again, it's not that I don't care about the details of a friend's life...sure I do.  But if I know every detail of a particular situation, I may be tempted to pray in a certain way, with a bias as to how the situation needs to be resolved.  By praying a single word for a friend, I take God out of any box and pray for Him to work in the way He deems best.

 

Think how this would work in your small group, mom's prayer group or with your best girlfriends.  Instead of remembering five different situations and everything that went with it, you simply remember five different words, each one special to a particular person.  As the Lord brings that person to mind throughout the day/week you simply pray their word for them.  The Lord knows the details and will work accordingly.

 

As I thought about the things going on in my life over the past few weeks, I finally summed it up with the word RELENQUISH.  That one word means a whole host of things and actually applies to several different situations, all of which God sees and understands.  He understands and is moving even on levels I don't yet grasp.  It's comforting to know I have a friend who is praying that word with me this week and I can see Him working already.

 

How about you?  What would your word be?  Leave me a comment with your word and I'll pray for you this week.

Sunrises and God's amazing faithfulness!

When we moved back to Idaho nine months ago, a view was really not on our list of must-haves.  Quite frankly, I was not in any condition to think or wish that big.  I just wanted some place to unload those pods! But the Lord gave us a gift...a gift we didn't even think to ask for.  This is the view from our back patio.  I have at least one million sunrise/sunset photos taken over the last nine months and I honestly don't think I will ever tire of looking it.

I sat yesterday and watched yet another AMAZING sunrise over the mountains and was reminded of God's incredible faithfulness.  As you plan and organize for the new school year, what "mountains" are you facing?   Are there things for which you find yourself waiting? Just as the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1) and the sun never fails to rise from behind the sleepy mountain, so He will be faithful to what He has called you to do.  Trade your worry in for a dose of WOW as you marvel at what He will do.  He is planning and orchestrating YOUR circumstances at this very moment and will bring it all to pass in His timing.  

No matter how long I sit on my patio in anticipation, I can't will the sun to rise any sooner than it's appointed time.  And so we wait.  Because just like life and whatever we find ourselves waiting for, when it finally rises, it is glorious!

Jesus you're all I need

You're all I need.

You're all I need.

Jesus you're all I need.

If you've grown up in church you've most likely sung this song many times, but if we're completely honest with ourselves would this be our conclusion?  Can we say those words with conviction and more importantly can we live it out?  We want to believe it's true.  We want to grab hold of something bigger than our circumstances and not let go and yet part of us wonders - Is he really? What if the thing we're clinging to so tightly, the thing we're trying desperately to control doesn't work out the way we'd hoped?

When the diagnosis comes back tragic.  When the call back from the job interview never comes.  When the child we love with all our heart goes a different way.  When someone dear to us finishes their time on earth.  When 'happily ever after' looks nothing like we dreamed it would.

Is he enough then? 

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
    for my hope is in him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will not be shaken.
⁷ My victory and honor come from God alone.
    He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
⁸ O my people, trust in him at all times.
    Pour out your heart to him,
    for God is our refuge. 

~ Psalm 62:5-8 ~

He ALONE is my rock and my salvation.  There is nothing else I can do or grab hold of that would come close to his protection over me.  No enemy can reach me.  NO ENEMY CAN REACH ME!  Standing in his shelter, in his refuge of strength, we are protected.  Does it mean the diagnosis will always come back good, that those we love will always make positive choices or that marital strain will be kept at bay?  No, but in those moments, those terrifying, heart stopping, bottom dropping out moments, he WILL be all we need.  He will give grace and peace....in abundance and overflowing...to walk through what he has planned for us. 

So what's our end of the deal?  What do we have to do to grab hold of the grace?  How do we lasso that elusive peace that passes all human understanding?  Psalm 62 gives us our marching orders.  POUR out our heart to God and WAIT quietly before HIM.  Seriously?  That's it?  Yes, that's it.  Cry out to him, wail, bang your fists...tell him how much it hurts, petition a loving God with your request.  He's listening and he cares.  We petition with a heart turned toward his will.  We pray Your kingdom come, YOUR will be done.  Another heart stopping moment...what if his will looks nothing like ours?

We pray and we hold our breath.

It's the waiting that's the hardest.  We want answers and resolution NOW.  But in those moments of pouring and waiting, as we're filled with everything we need to face our circumstances, we discover that he really is all we need.  We draw closer to him because we desperately need him. He's been there all along and yet in our busyness we somehow missed it.  Desperation has a way of slowing down the earthly enough to witness the eternal.

What are you facing today?  What are you wading through that is simply too much for you to bear?  Whatever it is, I promise you He really is all you need.  Just pour and wait, then leave the rest to him.