Bare branches

from (in)courage by AnnieBlogs

Three and a half years ago my life fell apart.
In one emotionally draining [understatement] week, I lost it all.
My best friend.
My ministry.
My church home.
My peace of mind.
My understanding of where life was going and what the next day/month/year would even look like.
Something died that week.
Do you know that feeling? I think we all do at some level, right?

The realization that, in a moment, so many things housed in the TRUTH category can be ripped out and put in the THAT'S WHAT YOU THOUGHT category.

Painful. To date, the most painful experience I have ever known.

And though details would make this a juicy story and a real tear-jerker, I've never written about it and I won't. But. What I will tell you about is how God used that experience to change my entire life.

As Bible teacher and author Beth Moore says, "God allows wounding in your life so that He can bring healing."

And that statement, my friends, can have permanent residence in the TRUTH part of your heart.

In the few months after the total destruction of the life I knew, God began to speak to me of His love. At first, my reply was, "Uh. Yeah. Are You serious right now? Cause hello! You just allowed my life to FALL-A-PART. I'm supposed to label that as LOVE?!?"

[Cause sometimes a sarcastic tone is all I can muster. Forgive me.]

I went to a new Bible study during this LOVE season. My heart was broken and in all honesty, I felt a bit lost in my own skin. So anytime someone invited me to something involving God, I went.

The leader passed out a drawing, a tree with a girl standing in front of the trunk, to each of us. The goal, she said, was to add leaves to the tree with words representing all the ways God is using you in the world, yadda yadda blah blah blah. I stopped listening.

I stared down at my tree. And it looked just like me. Bare. Empty. Dead.
My eyes began to focus and see something coming out of the limbs. I grabbed my Raspberry Crayola marker and began to color.
There, in the empty, in the death, in the absolute absence of life, was L-O-V-E.
Can you see it?

When everything was pruned away, there I was, standing under the tree of His love.

Today, if life seems to have thrown you more curve balls than you can even fathom, if all that was true yesterday is suddenly false, if you are broken in the deepest of places, I'm asking God to draw near to you.

Because somewhere in your bare branches, He is writing His love to you.

Choose Joy

from (in)courage by Jessica Turner

About two months ago, my pastor Pete Wilson talked about joy. Since then, I haven't been able to get his words out of my head.

Choose joy.
Choose joy.
Choose joy.

When I am frustrated about something, I hear the whisper of the Lord, choose joy, my child. Don't let this silly thing steal your joy. The root of my frustration usually stems from me doing too much. I am the type of personality that likes to be busy. I do a lot. I write a lot of lists. I oftentimes over-commit, and excitement about a new project can turn to overwhelming dread when I evaluate all that is on my plate.
Can you relate? Surely I'm not the only woman who juggles way too much.
In the same sermon about joy, Pete said, "everybody has treasures. Your treasures shape you. You'll become like what you idol."
What are my treasures? What do I idol?

Busyness. Achievement.
Juggling too much - and appearing to do it "well"


Am I choosing joy? Not when these are my treasures. The joy they bring is temporary.

These are not what I want my treasures to be, but if I look honestly at my life, I can't deny their presence. And they are stealing the joy of the Lord that is inside of me.

What Pete said next really hit close to home.

"If you are worshiping something other than God you will be chronically disappointed. When you are living in a healthy rhythm, you will treasure more."

We are in month three of a new decade, and I am striving to choose joy and live in a healthy rhythm of loving God and growing closer to Him.

Am I still busy?

Yes.

But I am trying to not let that busyness interrupt the healthy rhythm I want to live.

I'm choosing joy.

What are your treasures? What interrupts your rhythm?

Encouragement Thoughts

"For I've discovered on the other side of achievements if you were lonely before you win, you'll be lonely after you win. No amount of outward success can give you inward acceptance." ~ Lysa TerKeurst

"Love prescribes an answer in a given situation as no mere rule can do. ~ Elisabeth Elliot {If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. Love…bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. ~ I Cor. 13}" ~ P31 Ministries

Abide in Christ

"It is the faith that continually closes its eyes to the weakness of the creature, and finds its joy in the sufficiency of an Almighty Savior, that makes the soul strong and glad." ~ Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ

Are you digging a hole or building a cathedral?

Last month I attended a professional development and networking luncheon. It was more interesting than it sounds.
Something from that lunch has stuck with me – and I don’t mean the dozens of announcements or painfully basic tips on getting involved in social media.
During a conversation about the characteristics that make up a leader, the woman facilitating our discussion told a story.

A woman was walking down the street and saw three men, each one digging a hole in the ground. The woman stopped and asked the first man, “What are you doing?”
That man didn’t hesitate at all. He answered, “I’m digging a hole.”
The woman moved on to the next man and asked him, “What are you doing?”
This man looked at his toolbox, then back at the woman. Then he said, “I’m building something.”
The woman walked a bit further and reached the third man. She asked, “What are you doing?”
That man leaned back on his shovel and stared into space for just a moment before replying, “I’m creating a cathedral.”

Each of those men performed the same task, but they had different perspectives on why they were doing it. The point of that story, as I’m sure you can figure out, is that a leader is someone who not only completes the task at hand, but also understands how it fits into the larger goal and shares the vision of that bigger picture.
I left that luncheon a little disappointed, as I’d hoped to take away some more tangible tips for positioning myself as a leader. But later, as I sifted through the stack of business cards I’d collected that day, I kept coming back to that phrase: creating a cathedral.
I thought about creating a cathedral and what that means to me. I thought about it as I listened to Matchbox 20 sing about being the head honcho. I thought about it as I read blog posts by stay-at-home moms who consider themselves family managers. I thought about it as I looked at my to-do list and wished I could delegate the less fun tasks to someone else.

And I realized I’d learned more than I realized about leadership.
Leadership is more than being in charge, being the boss of somebody. It’s more than a fancy office or an impressive title. It’s more than having underlings follow your directions; it’s more than having underlings.
Leadership is about stewardship. It’s about understanding that each item on our to-do list is part of a goal, a vision. Even when it’s not fun. Or seemingly important. Or glamorous, rewarding, gratifying. And it’s about doing those things well, because the bigger picture is more important than the tedium, the boredom, the sweat, the tears.
It’s remembering that writing 300 press releases in one month, while repetitive, is my contribution to the success of 650 small businesses across this country. It’s remembering that balancing my checkbook, though boring and full of math, is the accountability that keeps my family within the budget that will free us from debt. It’s remembering that changing diapers, while at times disgusting, is a gesture of love to my daughter.
I become a leader – even when I’m just leading myself – when I treat my tasks as part of the bigger picture that I believe in. And – no big surprise here – it’s what God tells us to do anyway.
While the image of a cathedral is new to me, the idea of working with honor no matter how large or small the task, is one the Lord has taught me over and over. After yet another reminder a few months ago, I finally wrote it out on a giant post-it and stuck it above my computer at work:

“Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
(Colossians 3:17)
“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.”
(Ephesians 6:7)

Your to-do list may look different than mine, but we can all create a cathedral with even our most mundane tasks. What is your cathedral today?
by Mary, Giving Up on Perfect

Just some thoughts....

Throughout life, we are all faced with fears of the unknown and personal problems that seem hopeless or scary, and it is so easy to get caught up in our emotions, forgetting to look for God. In some situations, we may even find ourselves wondering if God is really aware of our problems, and doubt if He really cares, but 1 Peter 5:7 ("cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.") is a sweet reminder that He is aware, He does care, and He is with us.

At times, life can make us feel like we are in a fog - a fog so dense and heavy that it seems nearly impossible to feel or see God at all. But even if we can't "see" Him, He has promised to be with us, if we surrender our hearts and sincerely seek out His face.

Then, as we walk with Him, and sincerely believe He is walking with us, we enter into a place to receive His provisions, His blessings, His comfort and His peace. When we prepare our hearts to experience Him, He will prepare our eyes to see Him.

Dear Lord, I seek Your face with my whole heart. Help me to see You in a special way. In Jesus' Name, Amen.