The Lord above has been teaching me so much these last months. Years, really. Life had been rolling along smoothly. A little scare would crop up here and there, but nothing materialized into anything real difficult.
We were driving down the highway with the top down and the sun shining in, singing along to our favorite songs. That's how I see us back then. We were in our 20's, and we lived well. We took lots of trips. We entertained friends in our home. We worked hard and played hard. It was a good life. It was an easy life.
Toward the end of that decade, we had babies. Three awesome little blessings in four years. We continue to be overwhelmed with how good God has been to us through our children. We did nothing to deserve them.
After the babies came, we had a little scare. For me, it was actually a really big scare. A life and death scare. A chance to test the amount of faith in me. I walked around for two weeks after Skylar's birth, wondering if cancer was invading my body. Then I endured the needles in my neck for the biopsy. Needles are one of my great fears! But then, the phone call set me free. It was a nodule that mostly amounted to nothing.
But I wasn't really free. The Lord was just preparing me for more life, more tests, more faith, more trust. And he used that time to change me deep down.
One of the great outcomes of my cancer scare was that I started thinking about other people who are in pain, and my heart started to break for them. This life is hard for a lot of folks, and I just started seeing it, seeing them. We have it so plush and comfortable here, and I guess I developed a habit of looking away when things were too hard to see.
Hungry children. People with true physical difficulties. People who want more of God yet can't even own a Bible. Abused girls and women right here in the States. Emotional wounds affecting people's every day lives. People who don't know Jesus... It all started slapping me in the face on a weekly basis, and I stopped turning my head. I started asking God, "What can I do?"
I have so much still to learn here. Some great and beautiful truths are coming to light for me, and very sad realities too. In the next couple of posts, I will share with you a little of the journey I've been walking through and some of the things I'm learning. I don't plan to depress you, but God needed to break my heart for others. This is the road He has me on. I hope you will be encouraged!
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us.
***For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.***
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
1 John 3:17-18, NIV
Monday, March 23, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
She Speaks...He Speaks!
Last June, I attended the She Speaks Conference put on by Proverbs 31 Ministries in Concord North Carolina. It was one of the best weekends of my entire life. When I first heard about the conference, it was already full. But I put my name on the waiting list, and asked God to make a way for me to go.
A few weeks later, they notified me that more spots opened up, and it was a go! But the hotel was full, so I had to reserve a room down the road. Since I was headed there alone, I really wanted to stay at the conference hotel. Again I asked God to make a way for me to stay there.
Two days before I left, in the middle of Target, I heard a loud thought (God) say, "Go home and check with Embassy Suites." I went online, and my reservation went through. So I called the hotel directly, just to confirm. There had been two cancellations for a weekend that had been sold out for months, and the representative on the line assumed I was a lucky person.
But I knew it was God’s hand working out details of my life, and I shared that with the person on the line. I bubbled over with thankfulness that HE wanted me at She Speaks, enough to open up a spot from the waiting list and to save a room in the hotel just for me.
Driving down the road that Friday, I spent some time asking God one thing: Am I chasing MY dream, or Yours? Because if it was just mine, I didn’t want to want it anymore. I had learned some things about the publishing industry, and none of it seemed to be a good fit for me.
So on my way to She Speaks, I told the Lord, "I know I can write, but I just can't do that other stuff; I wouldn't even know how to. You know who I am Lord--the one people don't notice, the one people forget, the one who gets overlooked--so if you could just take this dream of sharing my words with the world away this weekend, my life would feel a lot easier."
It didn't seem like the right prayer to pray on my way to a writer's conference, but it was my heart that day. A big part of me thought He was going to take away my dream of being a writer while I was there, and I went into the conference that afternoon feeling free.
The first night, one of my favorite speakers and writers, Lysa Terkeurst, opened up with a message called, "Developing the Character to Match my Calling". After a couple of stories from her life that were oh-so-similar to my own, she talked about David. Would you believe that the first point she made was this: "David was OVERLOOKED by everyone else but hand-picked by God."
In a room that seemed filled with Him, God taught me that He has used all the events of my life, even those little moments that made big impressions on me, and the days I felt up to my elbows in dirty diapers and baby food, to prepare and equip me for the jobs He'll give me to do. Oh, and just maybe, I’m still there, in the fields of everyday life, still being prepared for what He’ll do through me.
Before dinner Saturday night, I went running in the blanket of heat that is summer in North Carolina, and again, I prayed. "Lord, I am going back and forth about embracing this calling right now. Sometimes I feel sure that You made me to write, and other times I think it was just for my journal. Will you give me something to confirm that you have called me to do this? Like you did for Gideon--you gave him several things that could ONLY have been YOU. Can you just give me something like that, because then I won't doubt it?"
I went on to recount the times I thought God had already called me to write for His purposes. “I really do feel like Gideon right now, asking for another confirmation,” I said, “but I just need to know this is You and not just me."
At dinner, I met up with some girls I had met the first night for some awesome worship and great conversation. Then Renee Swope delivered a message called "Beyond the Shadow of Doubt."
After making us roll with laughter, she said, "Ladies, let's open up to Judges 6. We're going to look at a guy called Gideon." And I cried. The girls at my table must have wondered what was so emotional about opening Bibles to the book of Judges.
All I could think about was that God planned this for me long ago. He knew the prayers I would pray earlier that day, the doubts, the questions. He prompted Renee to prepare this message for the conference, and for me. His love not only reaches to the heavens. That night, it filled the place. It filled me.
Later that night, I found myself in a spa-like room labeled, The Prayer Room, where God met me again, loud and clear, just me and Him. He used a lady who I had never met before to pray some words over me about my worth in God’s eyes and His purposes for me. I might have called the experience strange, only I knew better by then. It was God using her to speak His words! I had no doubt about that.
I went to She Speaks, asking for confirmation of my calling--or my non-calling rather--and God gently reminded me over and over that it was not about ME at all, but about Him. He gave me signs to confirm that I am called, and I should keep moving in that direction.
If you are a speaker or writer or women’s ministry leader (or if you want to be any of those things), consider coming to She Speaks this year! You can find out more about the scholarship they are giving away here: She Speaks Scholarship. I encourage you to pray about it and GO. I feel certain you’ll find God there, and you just might never be the same!
A few weeks later, they notified me that more spots opened up, and it was a go! But the hotel was full, so I had to reserve a room down the road. Since I was headed there alone, I really wanted to stay at the conference hotel. Again I asked God to make a way for me to stay there.
Two days before I left, in the middle of Target, I heard a loud thought (God) say, "Go home and check with Embassy Suites." I went online, and my reservation went through. So I called the hotel directly, just to confirm. There had been two cancellations for a weekend that had been sold out for months, and the representative on the line assumed I was a lucky person.
But I knew it was God’s hand working out details of my life, and I shared that with the person on the line. I bubbled over with thankfulness that HE wanted me at She Speaks, enough to open up a spot from the waiting list and to save a room in the hotel just for me.
Driving down the road that Friday, I spent some time asking God one thing: Am I chasing MY dream, or Yours? Because if it was just mine, I didn’t want to want it anymore. I had learned some things about the publishing industry, and none of it seemed to be a good fit for me.
So on my way to She Speaks, I told the Lord, "I know I can write, but I just can't do that other stuff; I wouldn't even know how to. You know who I am Lord--the one people don't notice, the one people forget, the one who gets overlooked--so if you could just take this dream of sharing my words with the world away this weekend, my life would feel a lot easier."
It didn't seem like the right prayer to pray on my way to a writer's conference, but it was my heart that day. A big part of me thought He was going to take away my dream of being a writer while I was there, and I went into the conference that afternoon feeling free.
The first night, one of my favorite speakers and writers, Lysa Terkeurst, opened up with a message called, "Developing the Character to Match my Calling". After a couple of stories from her life that were oh-so-similar to my own, she talked about David. Would you believe that the first point she made was this: "David was OVERLOOKED by everyone else but hand-picked by God."
In a room that seemed filled with Him, God taught me that He has used all the events of my life, even those little moments that made big impressions on me, and the days I felt up to my elbows in dirty diapers and baby food, to prepare and equip me for the jobs He'll give me to do. Oh, and just maybe, I’m still there, in the fields of everyday life, still being prepared for what He’ll do through me.
Before dinner Saturday night, I went running in the blanket of heat that is summer in North Carolina, and again, I prayed. "Lord, I am going back and forth about embracing this calling right now. Sometimes I feel sure that You made me to write, and other times I think it was just for my journal. Will you give me something to confirm that you have called me to do this? Like you did for Gideon--you gave him several things that could ONLY have been YOU. Can you just give me something like that, because then I won't doubt it?"
I went on to recount the times I thought God had already called me to write for His purposes. “I really do feel like Gideon right now, asking for another confirmation,” I said, “but I just need to know this is You and not just me."
At dinner, I met up with some girls I had met the first night for some awesome worship and great conversation. Then Renee Swope delivered a message called "Beyond the Shadow of Doubt."
After making us roll with laughter, she said, "Ladies, let's open up to Judges 6. We're going to look at a guy called Gideon." And I cried. The girls at my table must have wondered what was so emotional about opening Bibles to the book of Judges.
All I could think about was that God planned this for me long ago. He knew the prayers I would pray earlier that day, the doubts, the questions. He prompted Renee to prepare this message for the conference, and for me. His love not only reaches to the heavens. That night, it filled the place. It filled me.
Later that night, I found myself in a spa-like room labeled, The Prayer Room, where God met me again, loud and clear, just me and Him. He used a lady who I had never met before to pray some words over me about my worth in God’s eyes and His purposes for me. I might have called the experience strange, only I knew better by then. It was God using her to speak His words! I had no doubt about that.
I went to She Speaks, asking for confirmation of my calling--or my non-calling rather--and God gently reminded me over and over that it was not about ME at all, but about Him. He gave me signs to confirm that I am called, and I should keep moving in that direction.
If you are a speaker or writer or women’s ministry leader (or if you want to be any of those things), consider coming to She Speaks this year! You can find out more about the scholarship they are giving away here: She Speaks Scholarship. I encourage you to pray about it and GO. I feel certain you’ll find God there, and you just might never be the same!
Monday, February 16, 2009
A Life Lived Well
I have tried several times over the last couple of weeks to post something, anything, just to stay alive in the blog world. And while I have several drafts sitting in the queue, nothing seems post-worthy.
I had a friend, and she was much like me. A wife, daughter, mommy, sister, friend, lover of God... She entered the hospital a few months ago and gave birth to her 3rd baby. She had been in a considerable amount of pain, and we had been counting down the days until his arrival, assuming the pains would go away.
But instead. The course of her life changed in a day. Precious baby came, but the pain didn't go away. It increased. Multiplied. Like the cancer throughout her body. A long, dark road opened up, and she and her family were forced to walk on it.
We prayed for a miracle like never before, knowing full well that she was in the hands of our Lord and Savior, the One who gave us life and determined when each of our earthly lives would come to a close.
On Friday, the road took another turn, and Kristi went to meet Jesus. I am having a hard time believing that this friend who I spoke with several times a week just a few months ago is no longer with us. Tomorrow, I will attend her Memorial and a graveside service. I'm sure that tomorrow, it will be real.
Today, I'm spending time learning from her life. She inspired me to so many good things, each one bringing me closer to the Maker of my soul. Today, I realize I've just witnessed the ending of a life well-lived. There is only a legacy left behind now, but it's exactly the kind of legacy I would hope to leave behind in this world.
God used Kristi to bring Him glory while she walked on this earth. I don't think she knew the extent of her godly influence on all those she rubbed shoulders with.
Through Kristi's life and death, God is teaching many of us more about trust, and even misplaced trust. He is causing us to love our loved ones better and reach out to those we meet in an effort to point them toward Jesus. He is reminding us that we are not guaranteed 80 years on this earth, but that we have today, and we need to live our time well. He is teaching us about our priorities, our goals, our desires. Reminding us what is perishable and what is not.
Kristi had an urgency about wanting people to know Jesus and wanting believers to live the life God offered them. She found creative ways to reach out to people, regardless of her stage in life. She was as real and human as any of us, and yet she loved Jesus and loved to talk about Him. And I never once observed in her a love of material possessions.
I am unable to record here all the admirable things about Kristi. But that's not what she would want anyway. The reason for Kristi being such an amazing person was that she was sold out--on fire--in love with--the Lord Above.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16, NIV
Be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 1 Corinthians 15:58, NLT
One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple. I Psalm 27:4, NIV
I had a friend, and she was much like me. A wife, daughter, mommy, sister, friend, lover of God... She entered the hospital a few months ago and gave birth to her 3rd baby. She had been in a considerable amount of pain, and we had been counting down the days until his arrival, assuming the pains would go away.
But instead. The course of her life changed in a day. Precious baby came, but the pain didn't go away. It increased. Multiplied. Like the cancer throughout her body. A long, dark road opened up, and she and her family were forced to walk on it.
We prayed for a miracle like never before, knowing full well that she was in the hands of our Lord and Savior, the One who gave us life and determined when each of our earthly lives would come to a close.
On Friday, the road took another turn, and Kristi went to meet Jesus. I am having a hard time believing that this friend who I spoke with several times a week just a few months ago is no longer with us. Tomorrow, I will attend her Memorial and a graveside service. I'm sure that tomorrow, it will be real.
Today, I'm spending time learning from her life. She inspired me to so many good things, each one bringing me closer to the Maker of my soul. Today, I realize I've just witnessed the ending of a life well-lived. There is only a legacy left behind now, but it's exactly the kind of legacy I would hope to leave behind in this world.
God used Kristi to bring Him glory while she walked on this earth. I don't think she knew the extent of her godly influence on all those she rubbed shoulders with.
Through Kristi's life and death, God is teaching many of us more about trust, and even misplaced trust. He is causing us to love our loved ones better and reach out to those we meet in an effort to point them toward Jesus. He is reminding us that we are not guaranteed 80 years on this earth, but that we have today, and we need to live our time well. He is teaching us about our priorities, our goals, our desires. Reminding us what is perishable and what is not.
Kristi had an urgency about wanting people to know Jesus and wanting believers to live the life God offered them. She found creative ways to reach out to people, regardless of her stage in life. She was as real and human as any of us, and yet she loved Jesus and loved to talk about Him. And I never once observed in her a love of material possessions.
I am unable to record here all the admirable things about Kristi. But that's not what she would want anyway. The reason for Kristi being such an amazing person was that she was sold out--on fire--in love with--the Lord Above.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16, NIV
Be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 1 Corinthians 15:58, NLT
One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple. I Psalm 27:4, NIV
Saturday, January 24, 2009
In It To Win It!
Is it ever difficult for you to jump into the Word of God, to really devour the words and study them for a while? Maybe you've realized that it is truly a discipline, to be a daily Bible-studyer, and discipline is simply not easy. The distractions of daily life war against our time with God.
And yet, don't you desire a life lived well? Do you beg God to help you be patient and gentle when your life is spinning circles around you? Do you wish for wisdom when you have tough choices to make? Do you realize your need for stillness, peace, and contentment?
Do you realize your need?
When I need help, I often look for the answers around me, even though I want what the Word offers. I make resolutions. I talk to friends. I read books, lots of books. I declare my decision to turn it around and do things a different way. Then, I pray about my plans and offer them to the God of the universe.
But by then, I’ve been running, a hundred miles an hour, in the wrong direction. My direction.
When I study the Word of God, when I dig deeper, and I stay still, to think about it, to listen to it, I find answers there for the life I live today.
The truth is, if I want to live well, I need this letter from God, every single day, woven into my life. Yet at times, I’ve given away my quiet time to extra work or extra sleep, to procrastination, a workout, or a TV show. Things worth little compared to the value of my time with God.
I remember the years when my two boys were still babies. They were born just over a year apart, and I will admit now that those were some hard years! I tried to pull it off smoothly each day and do all the things I thought a Mama should do. Eventually, I learned to be honest--my life was more like a wooden rollercoaster ride than a smooth sail.
During those years, I took a lot of shortcuts. I could be through the shower and have my hair dried and makeup on in 20 minutes flat. In the kitchen, my theme was "the quicker, the better". The only shortcut I learned with laundry was "never fold it when the boys are awake". They could blaze through 13 piles in 2 seconds flat, unfolding and desorting in one fell swoop.
But I also took some shortcuts in my time with the Lord. Too many days, I sat on the edge of the bathtub once I was "ready", ingested a few verses and quickly ran off to get the little guys out of bed and start the day. There was plenty of background noise in the form of "Maaaama...Mommy...MAMA!" during those "quiet" times.
Obviously, life has seasons, and that time when you're home with little ones is more of a survival time than one in which you thrive. But there are plenty of seasons of life where time and discipline are hard to come by. For me, there had to be a change. Because a lack of God's Word, a lack of really soaking it up, will take it’s toll.
Do you remember the little Sunday School song where we used to squat down real low to the ground and then come up just a little with each "grow" until we bloomed into a whopping four foot tall human being? Go ahead, sing along now: "Read your Bible, pray every day, pray every day, pray every day. Read your Bible, pray every day, and you'll grow, grow, grow. And you'll grow, grow, grow, and you'll grow, grow, grow..."
You could also reverse it, and if you don't read your Bible and pray every day, then you'll shrink, shrink, shrink.
So here’s to growth, to God’s Word, to being still, to looking to the One who gave us life. It’s basic, and some of us have heard it from the time we could read, but this book will make all the difference in our lives.
If we’re in it.
But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25
And yet, don't you desire a life lived well? Do you beg God to help you be patient and gentle when your life is spinning circles around you? Do you wish for wisdom when you have tough choices to make? Do you realize your need for stillness, peace, and contentment?
Do you realize your need?
When I need help, I often look for the answers around me, even though I want what the Word offers. I make resolutions. I talk to friends. I read books, lots of books. I declare my decision to turn it around and do things a different way. Then, I pray about my plans and offer them to the God of the universe.
But by then, I’ve been running, a hundred miles an hour, in the wrong direction. My direction.
When I study the Word of God, when I dig deeper, and I stay still, to think about it, to listen to it, I find answers there for the life I live today.
The truth is, if I want to live well, I need this letter from God, every single day, woven into my life. Yet at times, I’ve given away my quiet time to extra work or extra sleep, to procrastination, a workout, or a TV show. Things worth little compared to the value of my time with God.
I remember the years when my two boys were still babies. They were born just over a year apart, and I will admit now that those were some hard years! I tried to pull it off smoothly each day and do all the things I thought a Mama should do. Eventually, I learned to be honest--my life was more like a wooden rollercoaster ride than a smooth sail.
During those years, I took a lot of shortcuts. I could be through the shower and have my hair dried and makeup on in 20 minutes flat. In the kitchen, my theme was "the quicker, the better". The only shortcut I learned with laundry was "never fold it when the boys are awake". They could blaze through 13 piles in 2 seconds flat, unfolding and desorting in one fell swoop.
But I also took some shortcuts in my time with the Lord. Too many days, I sat on the edge of the bathtub once I was "ready", ingested a few verses and quickly ran off to get the little guys out of bed and start the day. There was plenty of background noise in the form of "Maaaama...Mommy...MAMA!" during those "quiet" times.
Obviously, life has seasons, and that time when you're home with little ones is more of a survival time than one in which you thrive. But there are plenty of seasons of life where time and discipline are hard to come by. For me, there had to be a change. Because a lack of God's Word, a lack of really soaking it up, will take it’s toll.
Do you remember the little Sunday School song where we used to squat down real low to the ground and then come up just a little with each "grow" until we bloomed into a whopping four foot tall human being? Go ahead, sing along now: "Read your Bible, pray every day, pray every day, pray every day. Read your Bible, pray every day, and you'll grow, grow, grow. And you'll grow, grow, grow, and you'll grow, grow, grow..."
You could also reverse it, and if you don't read your Bible and pray every day, then you'll shrink, shrink, shrink.
So here’s to growth, to God’s Word, to being still, to looking to the One who gave us life. It’s basic, and some of us have heard it from the time we could read, but this book will make all the difference in our lives.
If we’re in it.
But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25
Friday, January 23, 2009
Go Boldly * 2009
A group of blind people gathered in a hotel room this morning to praise God and pray, and we all walked out of there with clear vision. Seriously though, I know the blind people joke is horrible, but we must have heard jokes like that hundreds of times during the early years of owning our "Budget Blinds" business. Customer after customer would open the door and say something cheesy like, "It's the "blind" man, honey...but don't worry, he found the door!" :)
We are in Orlando this week, at our annual Budget Blinds convention. For the second year, Dan has organized a prayer meeting for anyone who wanted to get up early and come together. This year, we lifted up the founders of our company and other key players; we prayed for the Obamas and other leaders of our country; and we prayed for each other and for the courage to go boldly back into the world and light it up.
We talked about ways to share our faith within our business. Some pray for opportunities--divine appointments--just before they arrive at each consultation with customers. Others ask each client if they can pray for them or with them. Others look for a reason to strike up a conversation about the Bible, and they find that people are really searching right now.
It's refreshing to meet Christ followers from across the country who are devoting their business lives to the Lord. Our lives can look very different and yet, we are all very similar. We go through trials, we experience joys, we have the same basic needs, and are all made in the image of Jesus Christ, our great God and Saviour.
There was a lot of talk and prayer this morning about sharing our faith, about the missionfield that we have in this business where we meet with customers in their homes, and about using this economic slowdown as a time to get our focus where it needs to be, on the Lord. It wasn't until the end that someone mentioned the theme Corporate chose for this whole convention. It's usually something like "the sky's the limit" or "A B C's for Success". This year, the theme is "Go BOLDLY!"
And now there's a group of us who see that theme as a charge, from the Spirit of God who was in that room with a group of believers this morning, in a different way from the rest of the conference attendees.
You may not be a blind person. Maybe you're a foodservice person or a kid person or an office person or a classroom person or a computer person or a medical person. But no matter what you are, this year's theme can be Go Boldly! Pray for opportunities, and keep your eyes open. Be willing to take them.
So I bow in prayer before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name. I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit. I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. And I pray that you and all God's holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ's love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Christ's love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.
With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21, NCV
We are in Orlando this week, at our annual Budget Blinds convention. For the second year, Dan has organized a prayer meeting for anyone who wanted to get up early and come together. This year, we lifted up the founders of our company and other key players; we prayed for the Obamas and other leaders of our country; and we prayed for each other and for the courage to go boldly back into the world and light it up.
We talked about ways to share our faith within our business. Some pray for opportunities--divine appointments--just before they arrive at each consultation with customers. Others ask each client if they can pray for them or with them. Others look for a reason to strike up a conversation about the Bible, and they find that people are really searching right now.
It's refreshing to meet Christ followers from across the country who are devoting their business lives to the Lord. Our lives can look very different and yet, we are all very similar. We go through trials, we experience joys, we have the same basic needs, and are all made in the image of Jesus Christ, our great God and Saviour.
There was a lot of talk and prayer this morning about sharing our faith, about the missionfield that we have in this business where we meet with customers in their homes, and about using this economic slowdown as a time to get our focus where it needs to be, on the Lord. It wasn't until the end that someone mentioned the theme Corporate chose for this whole convention. It's usually something like "the sky's the limit" or "A B C's for Success". This year, the theme is "Go BOLDLY!"
And now there's a group of us who see that theme as a charge, from the Spirit of God who was in that room with a group of believers this morning, in a different way from the rest of the conference attendees.
You may not be a blind person. Maybe you're a foodservice person or a kid person or an office person or a classroom person or a computer person or a medical person. But no matter what you are, this year's theme can be Go Boldly! Pray for opportunities, and keep your eyes open. Be willing to take them.
So I bow in prayer before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name. I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit. I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. And I pray that you and all God's holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ's love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Christ's love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.
With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21, NCV
Thursday, January 22, 2009
What Do You Do With Loss?
Everyone suffers loss. Maybe you have lost something important, or maybe knowing you will nags at you. The thing is, losses come in all shapes and sizes. Loss of a dream you planned your life around. Loss of someone you loved. Loss of a pet who was always by your side. Loss of physical function you used to have. Loss of your life the way you knew it. It doesn't matter the type of loss, it just hurts.
I've sufferred some losses lately. And even though I am blessed to have my husband, my children, my family, and others still beside me, the loss has ripped a piece of my heart out. I've been on my knees, throwing it at the feet of Jesus, feeling comforted in His great arms. And I've dropped to the floor, crushed by reality, my tears unstoppable.
Have you been there? At that place where grief takes over, your hope in Christ flickers in the background, the "here and now" reality sets in like a cloud, the darkness heavy on your shoulders. You ask Him with shaky voice, "What do I do with this?" And you grieve over your loss. You feel the pain with only a small ray of hope that you'll get up off this floor and feel good again, get past it, over it, or move on in spite of missing them.
It's lonely here, in the place where loss meets life, even if there are others showering you with hugs and prayers. Because the way you deal with the pain is different from every other person. The way it hits you is all your own, the pain is yours.
Except for the One who knows you inside and out. He will fill the empty places, the hole that feels raw and wide open in your heart. Only He can do that anyway. He's the only One who lasts forever. He is not fading away, the way our loved ones are, the way we are. And He loves you and longs to fill your emptiness.
Sometimes my tendency is to put hope in the people around me. I can see them. They make me feel known and loved and good. They care for me and help me to feel less lonely. But still, I feel unsure. Because they are no more sure and certain than I am. As David said in Psalm 39, Everyone's life is but a breath.
So my hope in them falls short. Their life, like mine, is fading. And then I choose to hope in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. Those words I memorized when I was five, they mean so much more now. I didn't understand. I said I trusted the Lord, but I didn't fully understand.
I used to think that trusting God was a one-time event. I placed my trust in Jesus Christ for my eternal salvation. But because life is full of difficult moments (trials, you might call them), I realize now that trust is something we do day after day. I can respond to my pain by trusting in all kinds of different things, or I can trust in the Lord.
It's often in moments of grief that I learn to trust Him. Trust that the God who made me loves me and has my life in His hands, my loved ones' lives in His hands. Trust that life is so much bigger and more important than me and the life I live on earth. Trust that God is good, and He is worthy of my focus and attention, day in and day out. Trust that even though all that is true, He cares for me.
He hears your cry and sees your pain and knows how it feels to you. Trust Him.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:8
I've sufferred some losses lately. And even though I am blessed to have my husband, my children, my family, and others still beside me, the loss has ripped a piece of my heart out. I've been on my knees, throwing it at the feet of Jesus, feeling comforted in His great arms. And I've dropped to the floor, crushed by reality, my tears unstoppable.
Have you been there? At that place where grief takes over, your hope in Christ flickers in the background, the "here and now" reality sets in like a cloud, the darkness heavy on your shoulders. You ask Him with shaky voice, "What do I do with this?" And you grieve over your loss. You feel the pain with only a small ray of hope that you'll get up off this floor and feel good again, get past it, over it, or move on in spite of missing them.
It's lonely here, in the place where loss meets life, even if there are others showering you with hugs and prayers. Because the way you deal with the pain is different from every other person. The way it hits you is all your own, the pain is yours.
Except for the One who knows you inside and out. He will fill the empty places, the hole that feels raw and wide open in your heart. Only He can do that anyway. He's the only One who lasts forever. He is not fading away, the way our loved ones are, the way we are. And He loves you and longs to fill your emptiness.
Sometimes my tendency is to put hope in the people around me. I can see them. They make me feel known and loved and good. They care for me and help me to feel less lonely. But still, I feel unsure. Because they are no more sure and certain than I am. As David said in Psalm 39, Everyone's life is but a breath.
So my hope in them falls short. Their life, like mine, is fading. And then I choose to hope in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. Those words I memorized when I was five, they mean so much more now. I didn't understand. I said I trusted the Lord, but I didn't fully understand.
I used to think that trusting God was a one-time event. I placed my trust in Jesus Christ for my eternal salvation. But because life is full of difficult moments (trials, you might call them), I realize now that trust is something we do day after day. I can respond to my pain by trusting in all kinds of different things, or I can trust in the Lord.
It's often in moments of grief that I learn to trust Him. Trust that the God who made me loves me and has my life in His hands, my loved ones' lives in His hands. Trust that life is so much bigger and more important than me and the life I live on earth. Trust that God is good, and He is worthy of my focus and attention, day in and day out. Trust that even though all that is true, He cares for me.
He hears your cry and sees your pain and knows how it feels to you. Trust Him.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:8
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Deceit
Do you ever fall into a pit and fit it hard to climb your way back out? It's a horrible place to be, and you stay for a while before you realize you are there again. Then you run to the Rescuer, and maybe it takes running to Him, away from the pit, more times than one, before you understand that He has rescued you. Again.
I find myself in that pit every now and then. Each time, I can't believe I fell in again. My pit is dark and depressing, full of the evil one's deceptions. They take over my life, and they're incredibly personal. They build on pieces and parts of my past and seem horribly true. But I don't want them to be, and I struggle against them. Until I start living as if I believe them, unaware that the lies are swallowing me. Again.
I am reading a book called The New Eve, by Robert Lewis. But I had put it down for a while, for the holidays and the busyness, and when I picked it up again, it was timely. I am reading about how Eve was deceived by Satan, into thinking that there was something better out there than what God had planned for her. Eve left that tendency to us, you know. Well I know. At least the part about being deceived by the evil one.
John 10:10 calls him a thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Sisters, the evil one wants to destroy our lives, and he is working at it. Especially when we've given our hearts to the King. That's when he looks for anything, little snippets of our past. Something hurtful someone said that we remembered. He can build on that. Reinforce it. Make it feel true. When it's not.
But Christ has come. For us! The rest of John 10:10 says I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I've heard this verse so many times in my life, but right now, I'm experiencing it. The Rescuer is alive and at work, and HE overcomes the evil one. Will you run from your pit, along with me?
Psalm 31:2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
I find myself in that pit every now and then. Each time, I can't believe I fell in again. My pit is dark and depressing, full of the evil one's deceptions. They take over my life, and they're incredibly personal. They build on pieces and parts of my past and seem horribly true. But I don't want them to be, and I struggle against them. Until I start living as if I believe them, unaware that the lies are swallowing me. Again.
I am reading a book called The New Eve, by Robert Lewis. But I had put it down for a while, for the holidays and the busyness, and when I picked it up again, it was timely. I am reading about how Eve was deceived by Satan, into thinking that there was something better out there than what God had planned for her. Eve left that tendency to us, you know. Well I know. At least the part about being deceived by the evil one.
John 10:10 calls him a thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Sisters, the evil one wants to destroy our lives, and he is working at it. Especially when we've given our hearts to the King. That's when he looks for anything, little snippets of our past. Something hurtful someone said that we remembered. He can build on that. Reinforce it. Make it feel true. When it's not.
But Christ has come. For us! The rest of John 10:10 says I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I've heard this verse so many times in my life, but right now, I'm experiencing it. The Rescuer is alive and at work, and HE overcomes the evil one. Will you run from your pit, along with me?
Psalm 31:2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
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