Learning Along The Way

When is an End Also a Beginning?

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Since October 1 of this year, I have been reading 100 Days to Brave by Annie F. Downs.

When I began the book I thought it would be a walk in the park. I consider myself brave; I’ve faced hard things like all of us. Honestly, I didn’t think working through the devotional would require much of me. But in this simple, straightforward devotional, her writing has challenged and encouraged me to stretch and grow in a way I wasn’t expecting.

Right about the end of November, I began the section Brave Enough to Persevere. At Day 60, the very first verse Annie referenced was one I have spoken to others and to myself countless times:

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!” John 16:33

I love this reminder. When life feels hard or out of control or full of uncertainty I like to remind myself that Jesus has overcome the world. None of what any of us face is unknown to Him nor is any of it out of His control. (It still can feel like it to me, but Truth wins over my feelings every time.)

The next eight days it seemed that Annie kept poking at deeper, harder, more painful places than I had thought I’d be facing, again. And yet, I kept seeing the theme here: like Annie, I’m a 7 on the Enneagram and I do my best to gloss over pain, to reframe it so that it’s tolerable. I have gone around the same mulberry bush too many times to count. Then she started a new section:

Brave Enough to Pursue Healing.

Ouch.

If I am going to finish Annie’s book I am going to have to choose to be brave and face deep wounds for real, not just acknowledging their existence, but actually seeking God’s healing for my whole self.

Back into counseling I went, armed with more courage than I ever thought possible. Thank you Jesus! Shame and disregard were twin themes that I didn’t know had trapped my mind behind bars and yet in two different sessions each one was brought to the Light and seen for what it was, a Lie I had chosen to believe because of repeated stories I told myself. Enough of that trash!

Not only counseling but I am also working with a coach whose specialty is body trauma. I have a new book to read called The Body Keeps Score. And I have my one word for 2019:

God is making all things new. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I’m partnering with Holy Spirit to finish the healing work God began in me almost 38 years ago when He opened the eyes of my heart to my need of Him and His love for me.

So reading 100 Days to Brave has been one of the best things I could have started near the end of the year. I know some of you have been reading it too. I’d love to hear how God has been at work in your mind and heart through this devotional.

If you choose one word to frame your year, I’d love to know. Share here or comment on Instagram. I’d love to know how I can pray for your year.

There are new things stirring for me in this coming year; the end of this book will be the beginning of my new series. I’ll begin sharing it the first full week of 2019 so stay tuned!

In the meantime, Happy New Year!

How Do We Learn to Speak Truth to Lies?

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There’s a joke told among musicians and performers who aspired to the stage of the world renown venue Carnegie Hall:

“ How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, Practice, Practice.”

This is no joke when we consider how we learn to speak Truth to lies.

We must know what the Truth is. And then we practice, practice, practice.

In today’s entry in 100 Days to Brave, Annie recounts Jesus’ 40 Days in the wilderness and the temptations by the enemy. You may know this portion of scripture: Jesus is tempted three different times by Satan and in each temptation, of body, of power and of worship, Jesus speaks Truth to the lies presented Him.

Simple enough right? 

Know what the Truth is. Speak Truth to the lies we hear whispered in our ears. Repeat.

But wait! How do we know the Truth? 

This reminds me of what I was doing last weekend. Encouraging a group of women to search the scriptures to know if what they heard me saying to them was true. Like the people of Berea who were commended by Dr. Luke in Acts 17, we are to be “Berean” in the way we handle God’s Word. When Paul had to flee Thessalonica, he, Timothy and Silas came to the town of Berea and began teaching in the synagogue. The people of Berea began searching the scriptures to see if what they heard was True.

As Christ-followers it is our personal responsibility to know what scripture says. There are any number of teachers running around saying partial truths and claiming it is all truth. How do we know who to believe?

Search the scriptures. 

Where do you start? What tools are most helpful? What voices do you listen to? Isn’t there someone who can do all the work for me, so I can just do the things I want to do? What difference does it make anyway?

You may ask any of those questions. I’ve asked all of them at least one time in my faith walk. Asking questions is one of the best ways to learn! If someone tells you to stop asking questions, I’ll just say that person is either annoyed that you’re asking questions, or they’re trying to control you. Sorry that they’re annoyed. Don’t stop asking questions!

In this post-modern era, there are many people who choose to believe many different things about the Bible. I’m not a Bible scholar. I’m a Christ-follower who wants to learn from Jesus. For me to learn from Jesus, I need to read the Bible. So I do. A little every day. I read it a lot when I’m studying and preparing to encourage women from the Word.

A good place to start is to read the recount of Jesus’ life and ministry found in one of the first four books in what is called the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the names of the gospels. Pick one and start reading a little every day.

If you use your smart phone, YouVersion is an app that has many versions of the Bible and also has a lot of Bible reading plans if that is something you’d like to do.

this is the image you’ll find in your App Store

What tools are the best ones out there? I now use online resources to study. I used to have physical copies of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, and a copy of Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, but when we moved I donated a ton of books, hoping they would be a blessing to someone else. Blue Letter Bible is one of my favorite online resources for study and word origin references.

Bible reading and study isn’t something to offload. Here’s why: your soul is wired for connection with the One Who created you. Getting out into Creation and reading His Word are two tried and proven methods for learning what is True and being able to connect your soul with God.

How do all these things tie into being brave? Glad you asked!

It takes courage to realize you have a need. In this case the need is know the Truth. 

It takes courage to take a step to meet that need.

It takes courage to carve out the time to meet that need.

It takes courage to guard that time as a priority.

It takes courage to ask the questions of God; what do I need today? How can I grow more Christ-like?

It takes courage to begin to hide God’s Word in your heart. (Scripture memory is work people)

It takes courage to speak God’s Word to the lies that we hear whispered in our thoughts by the enemy of our soul.

Those are seven ways that learning what Truth is has impact on being brave.

Annie wisely suggests we combat lies with Truth through prayer. I’ll leave you with hers:

God, tell me the truth of who I am. I’m listening. I want to be free from the lies—do that for me. Rescue me. Bring truth like a waterfall.

What Inspires Courage in You?

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Happy First Friday in October!

I love autumn or fall, whichever you prefer to call it. The colors change, even in California. Certainly not as gloriously as other parts of the world but the crisping of the air, the change of the season inspires me.

I’m not sure why, but this time of year seems to carry me forward into doing new things instead of slowing down like the plants are doing as the temperature cools.

This fall, the new thing I am doing is recognizing the little ways I choose to be brave. I want to pay attention to the feelings of uncertainty, of fear, and instead of allowing those feelings to shape my thoughts and actions, I am choosing to take a brave step to deal with the issue at hand.

I’ve been reading 100 Days to Brave, by Annie F. Downs, her devotional published last October. Daily she talks about what brave is and invites the reader along on the journey to unlock your most courageous self. 

Today she spoke of courage. I love that word.  I am a word-nerd. True story: when I was a freshman in college, in my first semester, in the fall of 1975, I would go to the Library and read the Oxford English Dictionary of Word Origins. Maybe it felt safe to hang out where people were, even if I didn’t know them; a 17 year old kid who knew no one created a sense of belonging in the library. That is a story for another time.

I hung out in the library reading the OED of Word Origins not once or twice, but weekly for a couple of months. Not because I had a course requirement; I fell in love with knowing where words come from and a bit about how they came into being.

Courage is one of those words. Why did it stir in me a desire to stand up straight, square my shoulders and take a stand? There is a reason. It’s an awesome word!

The origin of courage is latin, the root is cor and it means heart. 

When you take courage, you are receiving strength of heart, of purpose, of meaning. 

 

Courage is similar to brave not only in meaning but also because we don’t think of ourselves as having courage or being brave in little ways. But somedays it takes courage to simply do the next thing. 

We need to be reminded. We need to be willing to ask God for courage and then to take a small step of courage to be strengthened to do the next thing. 

One step leads to the next. After a few courageous steps you may realize you’re stronger than you know. 

What’s most important is that we take that brave first step.

Will You Join Me in 100 Days to Brave?

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Brave.

A short word for a big concept. I used to think that to be brave meant to never be afraid. I also used to think that bravery was for other people since I had lots of fears.

I’ve learned that neither of those is true.

We are brave when we face a fear and take a step to move through it.

We are brave when we admit that we’re scared and tell a trusted person our truth.

I know a few things about being brave but I also know there is so much more for me to learn.

I’ve decided to challenge myself to continue to work through fear and learn to be brave by reading a devotional book that released last October called

Today is October 1, 2018. If I am disciplined to read and reflect daily I’ll complete this 100 Day journey on Tuesday, January 8, 2019.

Brave people don’t stop hearing the whispers of fear. They hear the whispers but take action anyway. Annie F. Downs 100 Days to Brave devotional

What will it be like to begin the New Year ready to live my most courageous life? What might God do with me if I’m more willing to say Yes when He invites me further up and farther in?

I’d love it if you’d join me on this journey! That would be so fun to have brave companions; maybe we can share thoughts here or elsewhere on social media. You can grab Annie’s book from LifeWay or Amazon or Barnes & Noble and join me in this adventure of 100 Days to Brave.

Let me know if you’re joining me; I want to make this fun!

3 Ways Both/And, Now & Not Yet are True

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I am not equipped for this task but I am both stirred and compelled to write.  I look up and out and seek wisdom…

It’s been a week since the world learned of the martyrdom of the 21 Coptic Christians on the Libyan shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

They did not recant their faith in Christ. They did not beg for human mercy; instead they prayed a simple, honest prayer:” Jesus help me.”

As a mother, I cry for their families who have lost a son. As a wife, I cry for the women who lost their life partner, the other half of themselves. I cry for the children who have lost their daddy. I cry for their church who have lost friends.

I cry.

ISIS might have thought they were sending death threats around the world with this new level of atrocity. Church, don’t waste this message. It is both an atrocity of global proportions and a reminder of what our real purpose is here in this day that we live.

#1 Both/And. This world is filled with atrocities that can overwhelm or motivate.

Please God, let this be a stirring up of Your people to pray. To stand firm in our faith and trust in You.

News travels faster now than it did when Dietrich Bonhoeffer was martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ. His penned words to the church at a time when Hitler was causing atrocities, speak out now in fresh ways in the 21st century:

“The messengers of Jesus will be hated to the end of time. They will be blamed for all the division, which rend cities and homes. Jesus and his disciples will be condemned on all sides for undermining family life, and for leading the nation astray; they will be called crazy fanatics and disturbers of the peace. The disciples will be sorely tempted to desert their Lord. But the end is also near, and they must hold on and persevere until it comes. Only he will be blessed who remains loyal to Jesus and his word until the end.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

This is both disturbing and encouraging.

Most of us as North American Christians have made choices to live out our faith as insulated, entitled people. Ouch! How can I make such a claim? I’m one of you/them. We may generously give of our material wealth but do we also generously give of the time we’ve been given? Do we radically demonstrate love of those who disagree with our beliefs or do we judge them and ostrasize them from our communities? Do we spend the time we have been given on our selfish, simple lives?

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What if we took our faith seriously and used the time we have here to pray? What if we live the words we believe: Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid for the Lord your God is with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. What if we were both appalled by the persecution of other Christians and compelled to pray for the persecutors, not that they would be sent to Hell but that they would come to know the risen Christ?

When I heard the news of the #21martyrs the Holy Spirit compelled me to open my Bible to Revelation 20:4 where it says:

And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God…

What we see now was prophesied 2000 years ago. I thank God that He exists outside of our limited 24/7 time continuum.

 #2 His words to us tell us that His kingdom is both now and not yet.

Theologians refer to this as Inaugurated Eschatology.

God saw all this happen before He created. He made a provision for humanity at the Fall. He came in human form to show us the Father, to show us how we can now live the life we’ve been given and He has given us Himself in the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit to guide, strengthen and remind us of what His Word says so that…

We may partner with Him in the work that is before each of us. The work? Intercession. Prayer. It is not the only thing you can do, it is the best thing you can do!

We can pray. Pray for endurance and perseverance not just for ourselves but for other believers around the globe.

Oswald Chambers spoke most of what we read as My Utmost for His Highest. His wife transcribed his talks and we have their combined work to encourage us. He said:

“Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen…Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe our hero is going to be conquered…”

Do you know how this story, the One True Story, ends?

What we see is not all that there is. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We are here to love radically. To pray fervently. To stay close to Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith. To persevere until He comes.

 #3 These Truths are examples of the now and not yet. He is both here by His Spirit, the Comforter, and not yet returned as He has promised.

“Therefore do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.”

Here’s one thing we can do.  Let us join today in praying for the global persecuted Church. Please watch this video.

21 Martyrs

 

 

The One Trait Needed for Success

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I witnessed this on Saturday.

loch lomondI was able to see 65 adults demonstrate this trait.

You might wonder if I was at a sporting event. No.

Perhaps some other type of competition? No.

I witnessed courage when 65 adult learners individually took the stage to read a portion of a story they each had written.

These adults have learned what many never are able to and most who know how take for granted.

AlphabetRead1024x768Before you castigate them for not paying attention in school when they had the chance to learn, you might want to hear some of their stories. Learning English as a second language. Too poor to attend school (in any country) during the era they grew up. Learning disabilities in a time when the only words linked to disability were “stupid” or “retard”. Had to work to help the family because he was the oldest son and that’s just what you did in those days.

They each had a dream. To read. To write. In English.

Their courage was (and is) inspirational to me.  There were many rounds of applause. There were tears shed. There were photos taken. There was success.

Yes, that’s it. The one trait needed for success.  Courage.

I don’t know about you, but when I am in the middle of something that is really hard, frightening even, I don’t think about being courageous.  I either sit and wallow in self-pity or I try to make a change to the situation.  I don’t think about courage.

But it’s courage that moves us forward and keeps us from being stuck.

Courage: the ability to do something that frightens one.

These 65 adults showed courage in front of hundreds. They showed courage for their families to witness.  In their courage, we were encouraged.  Many of them gave thanks to God for giving them the courage to learn. To read. To be on stage.  Hundreds of pairs of hands applauded. Voices cheered. Smiles and tears abounded.

Encourage: to give one confidence, support, hope.

So really it boils down to two things: we are either at the present facing something we are needing courage to get through or we are in the position to give confidence, support or hope.  Or maybe we can be doing both?

If you are lacking courage today, you are not alone. When I was at a very low point last fall, I reached out to others who needed to be encouraged.  I became a literacy volunteer.  It was something I knew and understood when all around me didn’t make sense.  I could give time and talent and experience to build up someone else.

Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said It is more blessed to give than to receive.  I was able to give my time,  but just the way a with-God life is, I received so much more.  I knew someone needed my presence weekly when I knew no one in this area.  I was inspired by the perseverance of the learners; coming week after week taking time out of busy lives to practice and practice and practice something most of us have taken for granted for decades.

I was able to encourage when discouragement came lurking.  I received encouragement that I wasn’t expecting.

No matter what you are going through you can find someone else who needs something you have to offer: encouragement.

Courage. This is a great week to think about what it takes to look fear in the face and step forward. Jesus did that very thing.  He showed us His fear and desire to not have to go through what He was facing as He prayed in the garden.  If He didn’t show courage, where would we be?

narnia wallpaperJesus showed courage. He endured so much anguish, pain and suffering for each of us. All so we could be bought back from what we deserve: eternal separation from the Source of courage.

This week, reflect on the thing(s) that frighten you. Reflect on the thing that frightened Jesus. Be reminded that as His follower You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.

GO in His courage.

ENcourage someone today!  Then pop back over to share!

 

 

No More Excuses

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It’s Friday. Friday is usually a day to ease into a slower pace for the weekend.
Today I am putting a stake in the sand and declaring:
NO MORE EXCUSES!

For longer than I like to admit I have succumbed to the Resistance. Steven Pressfield writes about it in The War of Art, and Do The Work.Check his work out here

I have accepted the lies of ‘you have nothing to offer’, ‘why bother’, and ‘not good enough’ for too long.

I choose this day to place that stake in the ground, to take back the territory that has been given me and begin again. In earnest.

No More ‘I Can’t’

Trusting Who has made me and discovering what He’s made me for is my focus.

A New Ending.

What have you been believing that is keeping you from living a purposeful, intentional Christ-centered life? Leave a comment so I may join you in the battle through prayer.

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