I didn’t actually realize how much I learned from my mom until I sat down to write this post last October. It seemed appropriate to share it again in honor of Mother’s Day. Regardless of what kind of relationship you have had with your mother, take some time this weekend to think aout what you have learned from her and be grateful. If you are a mother, have faith that your kids are learning more from you than they realize. Dear friend, whoever you are, your life makes a difference.
Here’s the post:
There are milestones in life that need to be celebrated. Some of them are expected and hoped for. Others creep up on you and you shake your head, “How did I get here?!” Mom turned 80 last week on October 19. When I spoke with her on that day, it was clear that this is one of those milestones for her. I mean, think about it, Mom was three years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed and the US entered World War II. Imagine all that has changed in her lifetime! From the telephone to television, to space travel to computers to the Internet and social media. A lot has changed!
So, Mom, how did you get here? You kept going and didn’t give up. You have lived your life one step at a time. You may think of your life as small and unimportant, but I’d like to share a few things I’ve learned from you. You need to know that your life has made a difference. So, here goes!
Read moreYou work hard. You take care of your family. You help your friends. You serve at church.You do your best at your job. But it is rare that anyone says thank you. Others get recognized and advanced. Your coworker gets the promotion. The house already looks like a tornado blew through and you just finished cleaning an hour ago. The laundry hamper is full as soon as you finish folding the load you just washed. The dishes in the sink seem to multiply as soon as you wash them. You find yourself frustrated and empty. “What’s the point? Why am I doing this?” you wonder. “No one sees what I do. No one cares. No one appreciates me or my hard I work. I am the invisible woman. If I disappeared no one would miss me.” If that describes you, my friend, please know I have been there. I really do understand how you feel.
But, Dear One, you are so wrong. There is Someone who sees and cares. You are not invisible. He sees you. He knows you. He loves you. He cares.
Very early in my Christian walk I discovered a verse of Scripture that has informed and motivated all my work since.
Read moreThe YES journey is the grand adventure of life with God. We often think of our life with God as what we do FOR God, our devotional activity, our acts of service. But what God really wants us to understand is that our life WITH Him isn't really about those things. What it IS about is knowing and living in our identity in Christ. God wants you and me to be defined by our relationship with Him rather than all the other things that we look to to tell us who we are.
How do you find out who you are? What criteria do you use? Is it what other people say or have said about you? Is it public acclamation or your accomplishments? Is it the opportunities that you may have received or not received? Perhaps you define yourself by your good behavior or religious activity. I can say that was my story. Yet, none of those things are what God uses to define us. Ephesians 1: 11 in The Message translation of the Bible says that "It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for." As you consider what defines you ask yourself if that is the measure you are using. Are you finding out who you are in Christ?
Read moreIt is Saturday of Holy Week. Good Friday has passed. Easter Sunday is yet to come. We wait in anticipation of that joyous celebration. But what did the disciples do on that Saturday after the crucifixion? They did not know that joy awaited them. They observed the Sabbath in obedience, but that day of rest from work was most likely anything but a day of rest in the mind. How could they do anything but continue to relive Friday’s horror and wonder how they would ever face, not only Sunday, but every day after?
It is in human nature to avoid the painful, but what if you and I took this Saturday to relive some of Good Friday’s pain? Might it increase our joy of the resurrection?
Contemplate with me the cruelty before the cross.
How does one describe unimaginable pain? Physical and emotional suffering beyond what any of us has ever experienced?
Read moreDo you ever wonder why you are on the earth? Rick Warren starts his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here for? with this statement: “It’s not about you.” It’s jarring to pick up a book about discovering my purpose in life and see those as the very first words. “It’s not about you.” Some readers might immediately snap the book closed saying, “Well, that’s not what I want to hear! What about self-fulfillment? Doesn’t God want me to be happy?” Of course he does, but God’s definition of happiness and yours might not line up with each other. Warren’s point is that ultimately my purpose in life, and yours, isn’t about being happy. It’s about fulfilling God’s design for life. Self-fulfillment and happiness will be found in the midst of seeking that purpose. So, whose ideas about happiness need to change? Yep! Yours and mine.
Then what is God’s idea of happiness? What is His design for life? God is happy when His people fulfill His purposes on the earth. Jesus pleased the Father by making His goal to fulfill the Father’s purpose. “Not my will but Yours be done.”(Mark 14:36 ) Hebrews 12 describes Jesus as the author and perfector of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) How did He do this? It says that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him. (Hebrews 12: 2) What was that joy? Our salvation: The restoration of hummanity’s relationship with God. God’s goal has always remained the same. He wants to see people restored to Himself. So then, your purpose and mine is going to be wrapped up in His purpose. What is God’s purpose? To restore people to Himself. What is your purpose? To restore people to God. Our mission is to help people on their journey of restoration. (Mark 16:15) Wherever people are on their journey, your purpose and mine is to help them get closer to God. ..
Read moreRoad trip! I love a road trip! On our road trips I have usually been the navigator. Years ago a long road trip needed a great deal of planning. After the destination was decided I would pull out my road atlas and determine the best route. The Internet made it easier when I could search a mapping website and print out directions. Now, I pull out my phone, type in the destination and let my GPS speak the directions turn by turn. Definitely easier! Yet each method of finding the way starts the same: I have to decide where I am going.
When it comes to your adventure with God do you have an idea where you are going? Not specifics. None of us really knows that in advance. With God we get the turn-by-turn directions as we go. But God does want to give us an idea of what direction to head in. Have you asked Him about it?
When you know what direction He wants you to head in you will find yourself motivated to keep growing. Growth doesn’t happen randomly. It happens intentionally. Where do you find your motivation to keep growing? Are you looking to please other people? Are you looking for happiness? Are you looking to fulfill a self-made dream? How’s that going?
Read moreIn the movie Chariots of Firethe runner Harold Abrahams has just lost a race to Eric Liddell. He sits in the empty stadium staring, depressed, despondent. He just can’t move on from the loss, reliving it in his mind. His girlfriend, Sybil, arrives and tries to encourage him. She tells him how marvelous he was in spite of the loss. He angrily tells her, “If I can’t win, I won’t run!” She wisely, and just as angrily replies, “If you don’t run, you can’t win!” Harold’s goal was perfection, to win every race. Up until that moment he had achieved that goal. Losing the race shattered his dream of perfection. What now?. Perfection was no longer an option. Why even try? In that moment he was paralyzed. He needed a different goal. But what? I totally get Harold’s thinking. I have often found that perfecionistic tendencies keep me from even trying. Could that be you, too?
Read moreI unsuccessfully attempted to become a runner for a period of time. I got up before the sun and shivered on the way to the gym where I found an empty treadmill. I put in my earbuds and listened to an app that coached me through alternating walking and running to build up endurance and help me to run longer. The voice on the app wouldn’t just tell me when to walk and when to run. At intervals the voice would encourage me. “Halfway there!””You’re doing great!” The app designers recognized that potential athletes would experience fatigue. They might feel like the physical challenge was just too hard, the running time too long. They might want to give up and needed encouragement to keep going. I never became a runner. I really prefer walking, not a leisurely stroll, but a brisk walk. However, while I was running that app helped me to push beyond what I thought I was capable of. I ran longer and farther than I had ever thought possible. I needed the coaching to help me do that, even a virtual one helped. Wouldn’t it be great to have a coach like that for life?
Friend, I don’t know what your challenges are right now, but I know that sometimes you might just get worn out
Read moreI’ll bet you wouldn’t peg me as a Star Wars fan. True, I am more partial to the original trilogy and have had a harder time warming up to the newer offerings. But, if a Star Wars movie comes out I want to see it. I want to know what happens in that universe. I want to see how the story progresses. Let’s be honest here, as long as the Star Wars franchise is making money the story will never actually end. That’s okay with me. So, what is it that grabs me, and so many others, into spending a few dollars to watch this crowd of familiar and fresh faces flying through hyperspace? What catches us?
There’s a moment in The Last Jedi, the most recent Star Wars film (not spinoff) that I think says it all. Finn and Rose (Don’t know who they are? Ok, “The good guys”) are on a mission to defeat the First Order (The bad guys) and they need help. They meet a few kids working in a stable and earn their favor with the acknowledgement “We’re with the Resistance.” The kids faces light up and they are in. There is something in all of us that wants to be with the Resistance, we want to be with the good guys defeating evil. That’s why we stand in line and buy tickets.
In Star Wars being with the resistance is a good thing. But resistance isn’t always good, is it? Sometimes resistance is the thing holding you back from accomplishing what you know God has called you to. Sometimes resistance is the force opposing you rather than the force opposing evil. So how do you handle that kind of resistance? What do you do when the resistance is fighting against you?
Read moreHave you ever been so afraid of making the wrong decision that you do nothing? That was my modus operandi for years.
One time as a teenager I had the opportunity to go to a conference on leading music in church. At the time I was a member of a music team at a denominational church and was being groomed to become the leader. Yes, I WAS a teenager. The thought of stepping into a leadership position was paralyzing. I had trouble making even small decisions. How was I going to be a leader?
I had never been to anything like that conference before, so the whole experience was new and a bit overwhelming. The conference included lunch in the college cafeteria where the event was being held. We could choose anything and it was okay. Hot lunch, cold sandwiches, salads, fruit, desserts. Whatever I wanted. As much as I wanted. For some people that may sound like heaven but, I was overwhelmed. Too many choices became a fear of making the wrong choice. I wandered through the aisles longer than anyone else on our team and finally sat down with two things on my tray. I don’t even remember what they were. Whatever they were, I couldn’t enjoy ithem. Did I make the right choice? What if I missed something better?
Fear of making a wrong decision clouded my ability simply to choose lunch! How was I ever going to become a leader?
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