Encouragement

30 Days of Giving #12,13,14,15,16 & 17: Grace

November 17, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

Life is full even for a recently empty-nester. Deep conversations with friends far away…

Participation in online Bible study & book groups.

Tearfully praying for children and adults in the ravaged Philippines. Feathering the new nest. Finding my boots packed in a bag, in a box, under random stuff! Learning new ways of cooking for my vegan hubster.
(this is butternut squash & mushroom bruschetta made with vegan cream cheese and udi’s bagels)

All these things I chose over sitting at the computer and writing about the things that I have been prompted to reflect upon in my personal challenge of 30 Days of Giving.

I could get down on myself because I have not been “diligent” to write daily.
I could, but I won’t.
I am choosing to give my self the greatest gift: Grace.

For too long I have lived in bondage to my worth being tied to productivity.
I choose to show Grace.

For too long I have thought mean, unacceptable thoughts about me: thoughts I would not tolerate if I heard someone speak them to another human being.
I choose to speak Grace.

For too long I have neglected the need for rest when my body calls for it; thinking a nap is a shameful waste of time.
I choose to respond to Grace.

For too long I have lived under the burden of unrealistic expectations for daily accomplishments as if to prove how capable I am (and thus worthy of love)
I choose to receive Grace.

Grace is a gift. It is given by God freely. It can’t be bought. (think earned)

Like many gifts, this is given because of Love. And like many gifts received, it is often neglected or unappreciated or misused.

Grace is meant to be shared: with yourself and with others.

When mistakes are made (and they WILL be made) show kindness.
When things get broken (and they WILL be broken) show gentleness.
When you don’t follow through on something you said you would do (life happens) show patience.
When temptations come to do other things that take you away from commitments you’ve made (to others or to yourself) show self-control.

You might recognize some of these words: kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control. They are some of the listed characteristics of the evident life of the Holy Spirit in a Christ-follower.
The evident life of the Holy Spirit is a gift of Grace from God to those who name His name.
The greatest gift ever given is eternal life through Christ because of His substitutionary death. What?
He took my penalty. Your penalty. On Himself. He lived a perfect human life never falling short of the glory of God. How?

He is God Incarnate. In a human body. Jesus lived a life you and I can never live on our own.
He died the death we deserve because the distance from human to holy can’t be spanned by human beings.
And then?
He rose from the dead breaking forever the bonds that hold us in the terror of eternal separation from a holy God. Jesus made the Way for us to be brought across the distance between human and holy. He offers us this gift of undeserved, unearned favor, eternal life with Him, by Him.
And now?
If you know this Truth, and you believe this Truth, then you get to live this Truth on a daily basis because of Grace.
This is Good News! This is a gift to be shared; Grace to be lived and shown to the world through your life.
If you are not, if I am not, showing Grace to ourselves then our words are empty.
If we do not show Grace to others our words are hollow.
Grace is given. Grace is received. Grace is a gift opened up, applied and shared.

I choose Grace.
And you?

30 Days of Giving #11: Gratitude

November 12, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

Many of you followed the saga of finding a new home for our dog Tuxedo. I wrote about the hardest part in this post. Well today I am writing from a place of complete gratitude.

Tux was adopted!

As if that isn’t enough good news, the director of Woods Humane Society called me to tell me what a great dog Tux is. Apparently, as the story goes, there was some question by the Board of Directors as to why there is a practice of performing a behavioral assessment on the incoming animals before taking them into the shelter. Tux was chosen to be put through the demonstration for the Board. He was so well behaved that everyone loved him! I don’t know who adopted him, but perhaps the couple that did choose Tuxedo was able to see what a great dog he really is.

I just wrote out his life story and sent it on to the director; he said the new family would be happy to know Tux’s history.

He was loved and now has a new home to be loved on some more!

Gratitude: readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

We’re in a position to return the kindness of care and finding Tux a home that Woods Humane Society showed him. We are expressing our gratitude through a financial donation. If you have a local Humane Society or Animal Rescue consider giving them a donation either this month or next; it’s the end of the tax year and 501c3 organizations love to receive donations any time but in this season of giving remember those who need extra care…

30 Days of Giving #10: Reflect

November 10, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

Happy Day! Today is a day when people who claim the name of Christ as theirs gather together all over the world to corporately worship God.

“Happy are the people who know the joyful shout; Yahweh, they walk in the light of Your presence. They rejoice in your name all day long, and they are exalted by Your righteousness.”

I heard a teacher once say we are to be the reflection of Christ to the world. Much like the still water reflects the image of the hills behind it in the morning light.
Sounds lovely. Looks lovely. That works when you are completely still.
But what happens when you move? when the storms of life come? The reflection is blurred.
If we are only to reflect God to the world then we either have to sit still on the sidelines of life or we run the risk of a blurred reflection of God.
Which of course is what we do as we live our lives.

Emily Freeman has written a great book, A Million Little Ways, that brings out a different image of how we reflect God to the world. It’s actually not reflecting at all.
God’s life in us comes out of us as we are fully who and how we are intended by our Creator to be. It is the art of our life that most accurately shows God’s image to the world. in A Million Little Ways.
This book is a transforming book. A must read. I am thrilled by the freedom Emily’s words bring to my heart. Her reflection on God’s Word shows me how I can be free to move through the world being me; not stifled by trying to be a carbon copy of the most upright person I know or by thinking I am to stoically sit and reflect the image of God to the world.
Read Emily’s book.

30 Days of Giving #8: Laugh

November 8, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

The year I turned 50 was not a year full of reasons to laugh. My life sounded a bit like a country song: my mom died, my dog died, my dad died. And my only brother and I stopped speaking. Blegh. Tim McGraw? Brad Paisley?

But someone understood exactly what I needed to do. She not only brought a casserole, she gave me a reminder that I could look at daily.

My dear friend Sue gave me the wood cut out for Christmas that year. She is one person who knows how to do that well.

Sue consistently points out both the light-hearted things in life and asks me to think about what God has to say on the subject.

Today Sue and her siblings and as much of the Moore family who could travel, gathered to honor the life of wife, mom, and grandma, the woman who never knew a stranger. Sue’s mom passed away in her sleep two weeks shy of her 95th birthday. Now that’s a long life. Betty Moore was generous, hospitable and loved to laugh. All traits she passed down to her 5 children.

What a gift to give to the next generation: laughter.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Take time to laugh everyday. Even better laugh at yourself. If your anything like me there are humorous moments in everyday.

I’m sure there was laughter today hearing stories of family escapades. Remember the time…?

If you haven’t already been reading Sue’s blog, you can find her encouraging and laughing at welcomeheart. A shared recipe, a story well told and laughter. Now that’s a good friend.

30 Days of Giving #7: Read

November 7, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

It is so appropriate that on the 7th post in this 30 Days of Giving that Read is today’s gift.

I used to read to hide; now I read to be found.

Reading books has been a part of my life since I was 3. According to my Mom’s stories, her first born prodigy was reading Mother Goose alone out loud at the age of 3. I received a lot of encouragement to read.

And reading is what I turned to when life got chaotic.

Around the age of 10 my mother went back to school at night to get a Master’s degree that would garner a higher salary as a teacher. My brother was 6 and his special needs were revealing themselves at school: attention deficit and some processing disorders. A true spectrum child. In those days there wasn’t the level of knowledge or support either for home or school; emotional outbursts and disruptive behavior were seen as bad behavior not as a cry for help by a child trapped in a body that wouldn’t or couldn’t do what was asked.

My Dad was working 6 days a week at a job that wasn’t his passion; he was a man meant to work with his hands creating things. But there is no money in that. So between work that was passionless, a son that was out of control, a wife that was gone all day and late into the night, losing oneself in TV and beer was the best course.

All of this was too much for me, so I would get lost in books.

Upstairs in my room with the door open to keep an ear attuned to when someone was heading up the stairs, I would go away to Prince Edward Island. Anne Shirley became my expression of freedom and precocious behavior that I wasn’t allowed. I read every single Lucy Maud Montgomery book in succession. I had the entire original edition series in hardback thanks to my great-aunt Mildred who worked in a children’s bookstore in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Anne with an E. That’s me. Lisa Anne. My mother was Betty Anne. She refused to be called Betty. Her grandmother was Anne Elizabeth. Lots of Anne with an E in our family. I didn’t get to pass that along to either of my sons; somehow it just didn’t fit…

Reading allowed me a place of escape, a place of refuge, a place of enjoyment. Of course I didn’t realize all this at that time. Coming back from the imaginary lives of these well written characters to the reality of the chaotic life I which I was a real life character was jarring sometimes. Visions of cherry trees in blossom being called the Great White Way; Anne and Diana playing together were helpful internal escapes when the yelling and crying started.

The yelling and crying continued for the next 7 years and I suspect it continued after I graduated and moved away to college. I turned down UCLA because we lived too close for me to be in the dorms and I just couldn’t continue to live at home. The chaos was excruciating.

But the shelter of books changed in college. There was no time for pleasure reading to hide from the hurts of my childhood. So I chose to numb out in other ways while books became tools for grades and accomplishment instead.

As a teacher and later as a parent I reconnected with the joy of story as I shared my early- love of reading with children. Oh how I love to watch the faces of children as they listen to a good story unfold! Reading aloud to my students and my sons, helping children see with the eyes of imagination was my favorite part of working with children.

Reconnecting with stories and seeing with redeemed eyes has been the deepest pleasure; imagined story that connects with the One True Story giving way to seeing how our stories connect with His story…so good! Great literature does that well.

Books remain my best source of growth, imagination and relaxation. Reading is something I make time for daily even if it’s only ten minutes here or there; reading is still a passion even without external chaos.

Do you read? Is it a place of refuge? What do you like to read?

30 Days of Giving #6: Time

November 6, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

Time.

Have you ever thought of the myriad uses of this word?

Time out. (sports fans know this and parents use it for discipline)

Time is money.

Time to go.

Time crunch.

Not enough time.

Out of time.

Time sensitive material.

Time keeps on ticking.

There is pressure in the passing of time if you’re a to do list person, or a person dealing with challenging health issues, or a bride feeling the weight of the upcoming nuptials.

We are told to maximize time. Don’t waste time. Time is valuable. Time is a non-renewable resource.

With all these statements we could begin to feel the temptation to fill our time budget to the limit of the seconds of every day. Many people do. I know I did for years.

So when you come face to face with commands and invitations from God in the form of Be still; come away to a quiet place and rest, you might respond with I’ll rest when I die.

You might die because of no rest.

Time is a resource given to all of us in the same amount daily. 24 hours. And like money, you have the opportunity to budget the use of time. Many of us use our time the same way, eat, work, sleep and get up and do it all over again. But what if you started to think about time as a gift that you can share rather than a list that must be checked?

What if you shared your time with others who would be refreshed by your presence or encouraged by you giving them time?

Children. Youth. Elderly. Developmentally disabled. Community groups. Church. The list goes on.

What if we began to see the time we have here as a way we can offer something back for all that we have been given?

You might want to tune me out or click away from this post. I get that especially if you’re feeling the pinch of “not enough time” already.

But wait a second.

Think about how you are already giving time to others. Sometimes we give because we feel obligated. It’s our job. But is it possible to think about what you already do from the shift of giving a gift rather than fulfilling an obligation?

Your presence at the dinner table, fully focused on those around it. Or your presence with a client. Or the cashier at the store. Your full attention, your attentive presence is a gift of time.

Slowing down, taking inventory, being present are all ways to spend the budget of time we’re given. When we give an account of how we spent the time given us from birth to death what will be on your list?

What are you already doing that can encourage others? Please give us some ideas!

30 Days of Giving #5 Perspective

November 5, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

Hunting through digital photos is a sure path down Memory Lane. I am so thankful for iPhoto and its way of organizing for me by events. Of course I have to title and remember said event but it’s a start.

I am recognizing something about life from this side of half century: Perspective is Everything.

Some of you have already come to that party years ago, or maybe, just maybe, you haven’t arrived yet. So I will give you some of mine. Sharing is a skill we were supposed to learn in Kindergarten, right?

I found this picture last evening…It makes me smile. I told my husband a while back that I am no longer in my pink phase. I bet you can guess from this photo what phase I have moved into now.

What does this have to do with sharing perspective? Bear with me…

I took this picture this morning

I’m sure you can see the similarities. The differences? A year later and two different kitchens.

I’m sure you can see the similarities. The differences? A year later and two different kitchens. If you’ve been stopping by for awhile you know life changed radically this year for us. All good things but radical change.

Change is hard, but change is good.

Perspective is everything.

Why do I say that? Better yet How can I say that?

I am reminded every time I start to feel the “woe is me” mindset creeping into my thoughts of so many ways life could be drastically different:

death of a loved one

loss of a job

estranged family

loss of health

homelessness

mental illness

out of control debt

divorce

chronic pain

and the list can go on and on and on.

Perspective is everything.

A dear friend, and former youth pastor of our sons, has said on occasion “I want to glance at my circumstances and gaze at Christ.”

Now there is a dose of perspective.

Glance. Look at something briefly.

Gaze. Look steadily, intently, focused.

This is the perspective I give you today. Glance at your circumstances whatever they may be.

Gaze at Jesus. Through His creation (that’s everywhere). Through His Word (steadily, intently, focused)

Come back tomorrow for more in my personal challenge of 30 Days of Giving.

30 Days of Giving #4: A Picture to Ponder

November 4, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

It’s Monday. Some Mondays are easier than others. Today was a stay at home and gtd day. Are you familiar with gtd? I bet you are and didn’t know it. Get things done.

But I can be so focused on the gtd that I miss what’s important right under my nose or out the window or …

I ran across this photo taken from the street where I used to live. I added a thought to it for us to ponder. This is my gift to you today.

30 Days of Giving #3 Simple Ways, Simple Words

November 4, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

Life can be full. Sometimes full of my own agenda. So full in fact that I can miss God’s agenda for me.

Yesterday we went to a once a month event in our area The Alameda Antiques Faire. It’s quite an event. Hundreds of vendors with thousands of items for sale; some crafted, some re-purposed, some simply collected and available.

Part of living the art I am learning I am meant to live involves connecting with people. In a Million Little Ways God comes out through me when I am living fully me. Fully authentic.

So when I see someone’s creative work I talk to them about it. That’s part of how I’m made. I ask them questions. I connect. And I share words of encouragement.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to give to a man who has spent hours designing, building and preparing for sale some amazing furniture made from wine barrels. I did not buy his wares. I wasn’t in the market for this size furniture. But he was an incredible artist and I was struck by his work and attention to detail. And I thanked him for his art. His name is Andrew Parker. He loves what he does so much that he has made 33 videos teaching anyone how to make your own wine barrel furniture and accessories. If you want to see his work or learn how to make something yourself you can find him at The Level Plumb and Square.

Taking a few moments to acknowledge his work and not just walk past didn’t really cost me anything that isn’t already God’s. I spoke to Mr. Parker briefly. Yet the joy on his face for the time I shared, and the words of encouragement I spoke, stuck with me the rest of the day.

It was a reminder to me that this is a simple way God wants His life to come out to the world through me: by giving encouragement.

What is a simple way that you show the life of God in you?

30 Days of Giving-Day 2 Blueberry Muffins!

November 2, 2013 By Lisa Lewis

The saying goes: “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

I’m pretty sure the context is supposed to be the winning of said man’s heart.

Well I have been thinking of that saying differently since last April when my man had a heart scan that showed some plaque in an artery.

We changed our eating habits. Immediately. So the way to my man’s heart being healthy really is through his stomach!

Today, Day 2 of 30 Days of giving, the giving came in the form of blueberry muffins.

Gluten free, dairy free, sugar free. Yep. What would this woman do without the internet and sites like The Gluten Free Vegan?

Great recipes and fairly easy to put together.

I know there are many people who have health issues and need to make adjustments in the way they eat. It’s challenging to make changes of any kind but when you have to make hard changes (like eating habits) it’s so good to know there is someone else who is doing similar things and are willing to share what they’ve learned. So I share this site with you today and Megan’s recipe for blueberry muffins.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. brown rice flour

1/2 c. sorghum flour

1/2 c. tapioca starch

1 1/2 t. xanthum gum or guar gum

1/2 c. coconut sugar

2 t. baking powder

pinch salt

3/4 c. unsweetened non-dairy milk

1/2 c. melted coconut oil

1/4 c. applesauce + 1/4 t. baking soda

1 c. fresh blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl sift together brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, xanthum (or guar) gum, coconut sugar, baking powder and pinch of salt.

3. In another bowl combine melted coconut oil, non-dairy milk and applesauce-baking soda mixture. Whisk together to combine well.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine well.

5. Fold in blueberries gently.

6. Measure out evenly into the 12 muffin cups.

7. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until tested done. Let cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire cooling rack – or eat them warm!

I hope you’ll hop over to Megan’s site. It has many savory as well as other sweet recipes to try!