Learning Along The Way

Is it Possible to Learn to Speak God from Scratch?

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Jonathan Merritt thinks so. In fact he’s written a book to help us consider how possible, and needed, it really is.

Learning to do anything is filled with starts and stops; like a toddler moving from crawling to walking. Yet when we have developed a way of doing something, it’s even more of a challenge to re-learn or to start from scratch. Even that saying is something that has become nearly outmoded; most kitchens are filled with pre-packaged meal ingredients, not the way my two grandmothers fed the family in the middle of the previous century. The way they spoke of God was different then, too. Maybe it’s time to re-think not only too familiar sayings without the proper context; maybe in this era of history we need to take time to re-learn how we speak about God.

Jonathan Merritt’s new book, Learning to Speak God from Scratch, helps me move further on my spiritual journey. The premise of the book is right up front in his well-crafted subtitle: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing—and How We Can Revive Them. One by one, words that have been overused are taken out of their worn context, polished up and seen anew. Story by story, Jonathan unpacks why this change of use, this change of understanding has happened, and suggests how you and I can make intentional choices to become more aware of God-speak and learn to use well the sacred words he shows us.

 

The first third of the book is filled with Jonathan’s setting the stage: helping us capture the sense of urgency, seeing the problems of current use of sacred language, and shedding light on a Way Forward. These six chapters give compelling evidence for the purpose, for the need to learn to speak God from scratch.

Jonathan takes a hard look at words that are familiar to those who speak God regularly, words that are sometimes so familiar we’ve forgotten their weight. He points out that to those who aren’t in regular God conversations, many sacred words have no power, no context and thus little impact in this era. In Jonathan’s words:

But in the midst of our struggles to speak God—struggles that are not unique to our generation—somehow God always finds a way to break through and keep God’s people talking. If God’s people have revived their vocabulary in past eras, surely there is a way to stoke these fires yet again. (Our Divine Linguaphile p. 38)

Reading each chapter led me deeper into recognizing the prevalence in my vernacular of ways I use words without context. This growing awareness was like pre-dawn light; noticing, acknowledging and then suddenly the sun itself appears illuminating the sky. Half-way through the book, Jonathan’s chapter titled Disappointment: Dopamine Roller-Coasters and Palm Branches served as the sunlight exposing a root struggle for me. His words:

Disillusionment is, well, the loss of an illusion. It is what happens when you take a lie–about the world, about yourself, about those you love, about God–and replace it with the truth. Disillusionment occurs when God shatters our fantasies, tears down our idols, dismantles our cardboard cut outs.it is the result of discovering that God does not conform to our expectations but rather exists as a mystery beyond those expectations. (Disappointment: Dopamine Roller-Coasters and Palm Branches. P 109)

Learning to Speak God from Scratch was a gift of learning for me this year. It’s an informative, well-researched book written in an accessible, journalistic style; you can hear Jonathan sharing not only what he learned, but he also shares his heart.

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts as you read this engaging book.

Be the Change You Want to See

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Not too long ago there were two boys living in our house.

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In a blink of an eye they’re both men living lives of purpose making a difference in their part of the world.

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Time feels relative right?

Our parenting style grew as they did: from teaching & correction, to guidance, to launch & let go. My own upbringing was rough; I purposed to do this parenting thing with intention, hoping for better results. Many voices influenced our thinking but this one stands out:

 

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Mahatma Ghandi: a man of peace. He advocated political and societal change. Ghandi didn’t have the same faith practice I do, but no matter. He believed humanity could change and live respectfully in peace.

That may sound grandiose or fall flat to your ears. I get it. Perhaps your life is hard in this season and you can barely rub two coins together. Or maybe you’re fighting a physical battle that takes all your focus and energy to stay upright. Changing the world is not on your radar now or maybe ever.

Is being responsible for changing the world really what Ghandi meant? Did he want all people to become social activists? What if his thought was for personal, internal change? For you and me to simply be people of integrity, who show kindness to everyone, who care for those less able to care for themselves? Perhaps his words are a call to simple living right where we are, regardless of our means or motivation to change the world?

Each of our sons went through a season of living outside their integrity. We watched and prayed but did not pry. We didn’t lecture or wag our fingers. We knew they would come back to themselves…eventually. Watching and waiting aren’t easy skills in parenting; they’re skills that belong to the Father. We trusted our sons to the Father’s heart for them. In the waiting we grew to love and trust God more. We also grew to love and pray for our sons in deeper ways as well.

We trusted these young men to come back to center in their own time because we trusted God and knew they developed appreciation for Ghandi’s words, thanks to the influence of their great AP English teacher, Eldra Avery. Living outside their integrity wouldn’t allow them to be the change they wanted to see in the world.

 

Be the change you want to see in the world. Mahatma Ghandi Click To Tweet

Change begins with one. For me, change was my parenting. We made conscious decisions that steered our family in a different direction than the one I was raised in. Others might not catch what you’re doing. It doesn’t matter. That you live out the change you want to bring to your part of the world is the important point.

I call this let go and lean in. Let go of the broken ways and lean in to the Arms waiting to hold and help you grow and change. In that leaning you just might learn more about your part here.

What change will you be?

 

Living Things Grow; Growing Things Change

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Living Things Grow; Growing Things Change

I first heard these words on Christine Caine’s podcast; Coffee with Chris. I was on a walk through our new neighborhood and her words really pierced into me since we had just landed in a new area after 15 years in the same home.  What a challenging season that was. In some ways I am only now lifting my head consistently after almost 3 years.

I had lost the sense of how hard moving was; not just the physical, but emotional move, when leaving friends and family and familiar is involved. I had lived in the same area for almost 30 years! Changing residences always involved the physical hard work of packing and sorting; giving away and throwing away. But this move? It involved the letting go of the home where we raised our sons, the friends and church we had lived among for nearly 2 decades, our pets, and all the familiarity of streets, best coffee shops, outdoor opportunities within a moment of walking out our front door.

Letting go was hard for me. I slipped into the cavern of depression where light peeked in from far above me. Finding a place to rent that fit our simple list: 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a gas range and a garage was harder than you’d think. What we didn’t realize at the time, because we were strangers to this new area, was our ideal price range was not going to find those creature comforts.  Coming from owning literally 2 times the amount of space to renting for 3 times our mortgage at home made me angry. It still does. But it is what it is.

The anger over less than ideal rentals (we’re now in our second place; a story for another time) wasn’t helping my overall attitude either.  I’ve heard that depression is anger turned inward. I don’t know if that is completely accurate but I knew that I needed to get out of the cavern somehow.  Getting outside and active was a first step. Interject the words I heard on my walk: Living things grow; growing things change.

If I am living then I will be growing AND changing. Those two words are to be expected not rejected. This is not our final home; why do I keep thinking everything needs to be hunky dory all the time? Some might call this magical thinking. In coaching we call it mindset.  Part of my work needed to be in the arena of self-acceptance instead of self-recrimination. A change in mindset.

In letting go I had to acknowledge I was focusing on what wasn’t, instead of being thankful for what is.  That awareness was the first step to real change.  To really lean in I needed to embrace change instead of being mad at it.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-7

I look at these verses and I see the progression, the process of growth. Growth causes change. I don’t want to stay the same. I want to be in the process of letting go and leaning in; of becoming my utmost for His highest.

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In this season of Lent I am doing this very thing, one action at a time.

Where do you find yourself today? Are you in the cavern of depression? Or are you buried under a pile of to dos? Wherever it is you’re not alone. Reach out to someone who can bear witness to where you are and what you’re going through.

You may comment here; it comes to my inbox before going live. If you want to simply connect with me let me know and I won’t publish your comment.

We’re not meant to shoulder this life alone.

Learning to Cultivate Beauty in Unexpected Places

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This beauty has been slowly showing it’s leaves as winter is leaving our area; squeezing through and into a very crowded planter. It’s right by the front door where we live; since May. I haven’t seen this plant before. It’s been too hot and dry or too cold. But the much needed rain helped this hidden perennial take the risk to shoot forth its leaves and today, it’s first blossom.

Interesting: for months I didn’t know it was even alive. Now it’s a thriving beauty in a tight space. As I’ve been reflecting on this beginning season of Lent, I’ve been considering of what I have let go and where I need to lean in.

A measure of letting go for me is stuff.  If I have a lot of paper clutter, I am hanging on to unresolved issues of time, emotion or money. I recently started sorting through a file to give away, file away or recycle my too many cute paper products!  In the sorting I came across this reflection from several years ago…long before our big move.

What does one come to when all conversations seem to lead to argument?  No gracious benefit of the doubt, no overlooking a misspoken phrase, word or tone. When one realizes that all seems lost, does one persevere to the end, hope against hope?  Or does one take the coward’s way out and leave?

Better still and a higher road, the path of daily sacrifice of self: it matters not whether there was accuracy or right tone; do not justify oneself.

Give way sincerely without guile.

Allow the other’s interpretation to be accurate and do not defend one’s position. 

Give that to God who justifies

Keep submitting oneself to Him who judges justly.

Forgive quickly, sincerely, knowing that Truth wins in the End. One may not see it fulfilled here in this part of life eternal. but one day Truth does completely win.

Make allowances for the loved one; Give grace were none is seen. Be a peacemaker not a peace breaker Remember He keeps one’s heart in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on Him.

So Lord, I submit myself to your refinement I am far too stubborn and stiff-necked. These circumstances are meant for my growth and change.

Forgive me for resisting Your ways. They are right and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Change me.

He has in many ways and yet I am not done yet. That’s why I love this season. I am reminded of what has gone before, what still needs confession and repentance and where I may lean in and look for growth in unexpected places.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. For I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19

The cyclamen (the plant in the photo above)  is often treated like a hot house flower. You might see them out for Christmas or now for Valentine’s Day. But it is truly a hardy plant. It can look like it’s dead during extreme weather, but it has learned to bloom in tight, unexpected places.

I want to lean in and cultivate beauty in the unexpected places in my life. My marriage was that place many years ago. God saw and changed me. Thankfully.

Where is that unexpected place for you?

Can We Learn Hope?

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The end of the year is coming up quickly, more quickly than the amount of time left to accomplish all the big ideas and projects I had in January.  How about you? Do you look back over this year with a confidence in how you have stewarded time?

I do and I don’t. In many areas I have shown up for myself and done what I set about to do. But in all areas? No. I have not written as many words as I had committed to.

What has kept me from writing? Me. Plain and simple. I have dodged the discipline of writing for nearly 6 years since I first felt that perhaps God wanted me to write a book about grief.  Grief isn’t a light and fluffy topic; not one that would draw you in unless…

Unless you or someone you know has experienced loss.

Wait. We ALL experience loss of one kind or another. We all grieve because so much in life comes up against the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics—everything toward entropy.   Everything changes in this world. And not always for the better. And sometimes with change, we face loss. Who wants to lose something?

Change can be hard but it can also be good.  If you’re anything like me (and you are because you’re human) then change is great when you’re in control of it. But if change is foisted upon you without your permission? Well that’s another thing entirely. Depending on the severity of the loss/change we can develop patterns of behavior in response to future loss/change. Sometimes those patterns hinder relationships—with family, with friends, with ourselves and with God.

I’m going to use the terms loss and change nearly interchangeably because in my life experiences even good changes have come with a loss; a letting go of one kind or another.  With loss there is grief—even if we don’t acknowledge it. And really, that’s the purpose of my writing most of the time—to help us develop skills and embrace tools for dealing with loss/change of any magnitude so that we can come out healthy and whole on the other side.

Change comes in lots of flavors: annual — like birthdays & holidays; seasonal– like weather & vacations; vocational– like student to employee, or job to no job. You might look at these kinds of changes as simply ‘something to deal with’ and you’re right. But hang with me for a bit; HOW we deal with change is what this life is all about. Learning to have hope in the middle of change is a choice.

We all have choices when we face change. Not all our choices benefit us.  I will go so far as to say that many of the debilitating diseases, addictions and even suicides stem from a series of choices in how we deal with change/ loss.  And those choices lead away from hope.  I believe if we have awareness of how change affects us and tools to face change/loss then we can develop healthy habits to grow through change/loss. Then we can face change with hope.

I have picked up a lot of sea glass over the years I’ve beach walked. I distinctly remember looking at the first piece I found while walking the beach on Catalina Island in 1977 and thinking “I wonder what this used to be?”

My mind started to wander over all the possibilities: a bottle? A window? A vase? Then I started to wonder how long it had been tumbling and over how many miles it had traveled.  Most metaphors break down at some point in relating them to life but sea glass has been a metaphor that God has used to help me understand the benefit of brokenness in my life and I dare to say in the lives of others. Holding a broken piece of glass that has been tumbled and resurfaced through the tumbling makes me think of how God has worked in me through times of hard change.

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I’m reminded of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome:

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

3-5 There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

The words above are from the Message.  In the Bible translation I read there is one word for the phrase “alert for whatever God will do next”.  That word is Hope.  I love this!  When we are met with change/loss if we remember to “be alert to whatever God will do next” we are demonstrating Hope.  In my translation it says: “and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

We can learn to have hope when change and loss come our way.  It is possible, because all things are possible to him who believes!

Need help with Hope? I’m linking up today with Faith Barista who is encouraging her Kindreds to share on Hope during this week of Advent.  Click the link below and check out what others have shared about Hope.

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A Very Special Day

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Day 4

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It’s officially fall.  My favorite season. School’s in session. Baseball and football overlap for a few weeks. The temperatures start to drop and the leaves begin to change color.

And oh the colors!  Even some California trees get in the color act, showing us change happens, even in California.

I first heard the quote on my photo spoken by Christine Caine on her weekly podcast in 2014. I was struck by it’s simple truth. Change is healthy. Change is good. Change is inevitable.

Then why is change so hard?

I literally had to convince myself that change is good.  I made it my computer password for a long while just to repeat it like a mantra.  Changeisgood  Changeisgood

Today I have completed my 58th trip around the sun.  And in those 58 annual trips I have grown and changed.

Mom & me at half dome

Mom & me in Yosemite campsite

SDZoo 1965

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And to think I was done growing up and considered an adult at this point!  There’s been more growth since this last picture than the 18 years in pictures. But not physical growth. I’m still vertically challenged as my sons tell me!

I don’t remember at what point in my spiritual learning I first came across Isaiah 61, but I remember thinking I want to be called an ‘oak of righteousness’ someday.

It’s in Isaiah 61:1-3 we see the purpose of Christ prophesied…and it is the portion of Scripture Jesus chose to read aloud in the synagogue when He began His public ministry ( found in Luke 4:18-19)

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim freedom for the captives

    and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]

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to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

    and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

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    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

    instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

    instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

    instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

    a planting of the Lord

    for the display of his splendor

Living things grow.  To have been planted by the Lord… to be for the display of His splendor… to be called an oak of righteousness…

Growing things change. I am not done changing; I have many areas left to be shaped and refined while I’m still here. But thanks be to God I am not the same person I was when I first met Him! He has given me the oil of gladness and a garland of praise!

Change is good.  Happy Birthday to me! Thank You Jesus for helping me change and grow and learn along the Way!

 

 

4 Words to Tell Yourself (again & again)

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Have you ever thought much about your self-talk?  The words you tell yourself in your head? They may come out of your mouth when you think no one else is listening.

Are they kind words?  Are you nice to yourself?  Or do you have the voice of “the Bad Girlfriend” as my coach calls it?

I hadn’t thought about how I treat myself until one day I overheard my little boy say something to himself when he dropped something.

“That was stupid.”

ouch.

My eavesdropping became an awareness to change something I hadn’t had on my radar.

Maybe that is something you need to be aware of too.

Change is hard.  But the good news about change?  It’s constantly going on all around you. You might as well join in!

I’ve worked on that self-talk change for almost 20 years.  I have learned a four word phrase that I’ll share with you that you can tell yourself too.

You Can Do This.

These 4 words have helped me again and again.

We sent one son off to college. You Can Do This.

My mom and dad passed away in the same year. You Can Do This.

My husband and I trained for 6 months to ride our tandem bike around Lake Tahoe.

You Can Do This.

We’ve watched one son get married and move away. You Can Do This.

We launched our youngest to college all the way across the country! You Can Do This.

We emptied our home of 15 years and moved away from our community.  You Can Do This.

See what I mean?

A very helpful phrase.  But it’s really a shortened version of the first Bible verse I memorized when I came to faith in Jesus Christ at 23 years old.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil. 4:13

If you follow Christ, You Can Do This.  Whatever He calls you to, He will be with you in it.  His strength is yours to rely on, to sustain you through the change.  God doesn’t change.

Everything around us may change but God remains the same.  Yesterday, Today and Forever.

You Can Do This.

My recent challenge?

Food changes.

This guy has had hidden health issues. A change in what he eats will improve the issues.

Colin at Apple

So we became vegan.  Not just a change like “eat less fats” or “cut out sweets”.

A plant based diet will reduce the scary numbers that say bad things could happen.

I had to change how I cook, what I buy and just about everything I knew about food prep.

Tempeh Tacos

You Can DO This!  (these are tempeh tacos)

You might be a passionate cook who looks at a challenge like this with great enthusiasm.  That’s not me.

I have to talk to myself. Daily.  I had to find new sources of inspiration (check out my Pinterest boards for proof!)

Here is a new favorite book

French Market

Remy would be proud (ratatouille)

Your change challenge may be much different than food changes.  Believe me, I know change is hard.

But change can be good.

You Can Do This!

I’d love to hear your changes so we can encourage one another!

Also, I’m linking up today over at Sue’s blog:

Tasting on Tuesdays

3 Subtle Changes as You Rest

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green hydrangeaChange in our souls can be subtle. So subtle that we may not even take notice for some time.

Come to think of it, change is often subtle with things like our weight loss or strength training or distance we can run/walk or gardening.

Hmmm…

blooming hydrangeaWe don’t see the changes even from one day to the next.  Change can be so slow we forget to stay in the process.  Or we give up because we don’t see any progress.

It’s counter intuitive to think that change happens when we rest.

We’ve been conditioned to believe that activity, action, production, achievement, progress are all gained by constant motion.

That’s a lie from the pit of Hell.

There. I said it.

So what is the opposite of constant motion and production?

Rest.

I’ve been reading a new book, Finding Spiritual Whitespace, by Bonnie Gray of FaithBarista. That I am reading a new book is not surprising; I’m known for reading.  And doing. And producing.

Not known for resting.

But I have gleaned 3 subtle changes (so far!) that happen when we rest.

1) Your trust level is challenged

Trust that whatever you are saying ‘No’ to will not cause the end of the world as you know it.  I know that may sound ridiculous but what are the reasons you don’t say No more?  For me it’s Fear. Fear of missing out. Fear of not being thought well of by others. Fear of being called lazy. Fear of letting someone down.  All because of saying ‘No’ and taking care of my soul.

My trust level is challenged every time I choose soul rest over a task.  It helps me to plan gaps of discretionary time in the day but schedules don’t always allow that luxury.  Trusting that pushing the pause button won’t cause the end of the world is BIG. But so worth it.  It’s getting easier over time, but the change is subtle.

2) Your ability to let go is called into question

We’ve all seen the bumper stickers ahead of us, “Let Go and Let God”. They may be so familiar that we respond with ‘yeah right’ because we believe “if it’s to be, it’s up to me.” This is the place where prioritizing rest, spiritual whitespace, really started poking me.  Who else will go to the store for groceries? Who else will get _________ done if I don’t?

What if getting __________ done isn’t as important in the big scheme of things? (where God’s priorities are)  What if I take the risk of letting that task go…for now…to allow my soul to listen to the still small voice for even a few moments?  What if?

3) Your willingness to listen to Jesus’ invitation to rest is also brought out of the dusty recesses of your mind & heart

You may know this verse by heart, “Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” 

Knowing a verse by heart and living out the Truth are two very different things.  I have been dusting off this memory verse and putting it into action.

All the doing in the world doesn’t give your soul much needed whitespace to breathe.

Whitespace comes when we push the pause button on activity and give our souls a chance to SLOW DOWN.

Change happens subtly…

flood of blooms hydrangea
one pause at a time to give your soul a chance to breathe…

Who knows?  You might be grown into a beautiful picture of Jesus at work in you and through you, to His creation, His children who need to know Him through you.

This book, Finding Spiritual Whitespace, is challenging, encouraging, hopeful and personal. Bonnie has shared her story courageously; that we may step forward in our stories as well.  She invites us to pull up a chair and share…won’t you join the conversation?

Linking up today with FaithBarista over here:

21 Days of Rest: Finding Spiritual Whitespace

The Value of Listening

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Listening is underrated.  We want to talk.  About ourselves. Our challenges, successes and joys. But what of listening?

I mean really listening?  Uh huh. What did you say?

Half-hearted attention to the person speaking is not really listening. Neither is being able to parrot back the last phrase of what was just said. (I was really good at that)

Really listening requires an undivided attention to the person speaking.  As a Mom of one I was fully present when he was with me; I had to work full time when he was little so I treasured time and attention with him.  As a stay at home Mom of two I perfected the “listening without paying attention” behavior while my hands and eyes were directed elsewhere.  My youngest caught on and would reach my cheek and ever so gently pull my face toward him.  Smart cookie.

Whatever could be more important than the stories of children?  (I’m sure we can come up with a list. But really?)

I managed to grasp the value of listening by taking a parenting class where the basics of good listening skills were reviewed.

Eye contact.

Focus on speaker, free of distractions

I realized I had developed the skate by and appear as if behaviors.  It hit me: I wasn’t really being present.  I was giving away precious time to other truly less precious things.

I needed to be intentional.  That was in 1997.  I was 40.  A little too late to the party?

photo(70)This is one of my favorite quotes of George Eliot’s.  Illustrated by my favorite whimsical artist, Mary Engelbreit.  This has had a prominent place in my life for a.long.time.

There was hope! I could become a more attentive Mom. And wife. And friend. And teacher.  It’s never too late…

1997 was in the days before smart phones with all the social media connection points. For you history buffs out there.

I was once told I ‘could distract myself in a paper bag’ so that should tell you a bit about how much challenge lay ahead for me to develop the value of listening.  But being intentional, making the same choice again and again and again to focus my eye contact on who was speaking, to free myself (as much as possible) from distraction, to really listen; I began to change my behavior.

Being intentional.

I had the privilege of sitting next to a very intentional woman last evening. And listening to her speak about her life, her writing and her family’s intentional choices of simplicity.  Tsh Oxenreider shared with all of us gathered to listen. Eyes on her, with few distractions. And great value came from that time.  Tsh is very at ease in life; she confessed she doesn’t have all the answers and doesn’t want to lead in that way. She invites others to consider their intentions about family, money, priorities, schooling, travel.  Tsh spoke a bit about her newest book Notes from a Blue Bike and the group of young women (I was the outlier) listening gleaned much.  She also modeled the value of listening as she asked the group open-ended questions about their lives and was attentive to each woman’s response.

The value of listening.  We can glean much from one another.  What we do with what we take away is an intentional choice. Whether you’re a friend, wife, mom, sister, daughter, employee or employer, listening well is an intentional choice.

A step of intention.  Who do you need to value listening to today?

 

 

 

 

Learning to Risk

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Life is hard isn’t it?
I could stop there.
But then I would be leaving out the best part: this is only training.
Yep. You are in training for the future. While you are living your day to day life you are learning to risk.
Learning to lead.
Learning to follow.
Learning to let go.
Learning to be like the One who knit you together in your mother’s womb. And that means you are going to be changing. A lot.
Do you imagine that you’re saved and taken to heaven just as you are?
Nope.
We’re really not some good deal that God got when He chose us. He is at work changing us to be more like His Son everyday.
Sometimes change is easy but most of the time change like this is hard.
You are in a character reformation program that sometimes feels like a sander on a rough piece of wood; noisy, smelly and hot as the wood is reshaped.
Sounds pleasant doesn’t it?
One of the things I’ve learned in my own journey of reformation is that it’s a whole lot easier to go along with the process than it is to fight change.
Now I’m not talking about change just for the sake of change.
I’m talking about the kind of change that actually costs something. Like letting go of a friendship that doesn’t help you spiritually. Like letting your adult children lead their lives separate from your family; following The Lord as He leads them. Like moving away from all that is familiar to follow your husband’s career. Like finding homes for your pets because they can’t live in your new area. Like taking the risk of stepping out into the unknown future and Trusting the One who loves you desperately to follow Him wherever He leads.

Learning to Risk is practiced in little steps. Not in giant leaps all the time. He knows how much you are willing to risk. Funny thing though, He was willing to risk His very life for us.

How are you learning to risk for Him?

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