Learning Along The Way

Do You Wonder?

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Do you wonder?

prefumo canyon dirt

How life can get so tangled up sometimes, how so many decisions, choices and deadlines can block your sense of Light on your path?

I do.

Sometimes I wonder how all the little ‘yes I’d be happy to’ and ‘yes I can help’ and yes I can do that’ end up in the same week as a sick child with a science fair project due.

prefumo canyon road and fog

Do you ever wonder about where all this is leading?

I do.

I’ve wondered if all the busy-ness is really valuable or if it is a disease of America (or addiction) that we over-commit ourselves right out of a peaceful present and into a frantic pace that leads to an empty soul.

We have other choices.  They’re hard to make at first.  To say ‘No’ takes courage.  To say ‘No’ takes purpose. We can make different choices. They may not make us popular with the moms at school or with our bosses when they want to add more to an overflowing inbox or with our children who come to us with the bottomless pit of ‘but I need…’ It’s time to press the pause button on this pace of life.

Stop. Breathe.

Take a moment and look around you.  Inside.  Outside.  Find one thing that you hadn’t noticed.

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Whatever that one thing is, take this moment to give God thanks for that one thing.

We can be so busy running from this to that we neglect the Most Important task on our list: prayer.

Be still and know that I am God.

He is here, He is with you in your dashing about, He has promised NEVER to leave you or forget you.

We forget.  He doesn’t.

But He does forgive…

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and we are free to begin anew.  Make a new choice. Take the time to breathe. To be renewed. To fill your soul with His encouragement of peace and joy in your present moments.

To wonder at a big audacious God who loves, forgives, equips and abides with us…because of LOVE.

Now that is something worth wonder!

I’m joining in with Holley Gerth today; won’t you stop by?

 

“We’re in this Together”: Words from an Encourager

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There are few things I love to do daily.  In this short list is read. Book lined shelves grace each room in our home. The overflow books live in the garage; still accessible, waiting to be pulled down again.  Old books, new books.  Living authors and those who have gone ahead. Making time to read is vital for me. Words inspire. They instruct. Words shape my thoughts and imaginations. Often I am drawn to words written to encourage.

One author I count on for encouraging words is Holley Gerth.  Holley is an encourager.  She writes as if she is sitting across the table speaking words of comfort: “We’re in this together”.

Holley GerthWhen I received my copy of her latest book,         What Your Heart Needs for the Hard Days, I grabbed my own red & white polka dot cup, filled it with coffee and dove in with great anticipation.  I was not disappointed.

Holley has used portions of the Psalms to pen 52 unique, encouraging illustrations of 52 Truths.  Each one points our hearts to God who loves us best.  Every entry title begins with “God…”.  Each one ends with a personal prayer that Holley calls “What my heart is saying to You”.  She also has included a space for you to write a response which is called “What my heart is hearing from You”.

Now mind you, lots of people write and say encouraging things. Or at least they mean for them to be encouraging.  Sometimes the timing is off; especially on the hard days.  That’s what is so meaningful about Holley’s writing; she is honest about hard days.  You won’t find her telling you to simply pray harder or keep a stiff upper lip.  Holley is real with struggles to trust God, to find joy in tough circumstances.  But her honesty doesn’t point us to our circumstances; she points us to the Truth.  Acknowledging the hard and embracing the Truth.  What a beautiful combination.

I wasn’t far into the book before I sighed aloud over what I read:

You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry.  Psalm 10:17

I have felt afflicted.  Haven’t you?  Holley writes: “When the day seems difficult, when you’re weary, when you feel like a failure…God is encouraging you.”  She speaks honestly about many very real issues: depression, limiting beliefs about God, how we’re prone to criticism of ourselves and others, and in each hard topic she points us to God’s Word in the Psalms.

Such comfort.

Such encouragement.

I know sometimes it’s hard to receive encouragement.  Being in a hard place can be so dark a little bit of light is hard on the eyes (or ears).  Holley makes the Light practical not preachy. In #32 God Will Ease Your Anxiety she explains the physiology of how our bodies respond to anxiety and joy. Not in a heady science way but simply the practical stuff.  And she points us to God.  “God doesn’t take us from anxiety to calm. He can actually take us from anxiety to joy.  How does he do that?  Truth can switch the track in our minds. When we remember what God says, we change courses from thoughts that lead to anxiety to those that can instead lead to emotions like courage and even celebration.” Practical. Encouraging.

Reading Holley’s words I imagine hearing her warm, soft voice speaking them to me.  She is an author who writes in her own voice. I had the privilege of hearing her speak encouraging words at She Speaks 2013.  Holley is as sincere in person as she is in her writing.

Her latest project is available now.  Get two copies.  One for a friend and one for yourself.

It’s what your heart needs for the hard days.

Holley and me

“What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.”
― C.S. Lewis

 

2 Women Who Encourage the Masses

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I have been on an unadvertised blogging break for two months. The time has been spent reading & learning (I can’t help myself!). Of course there have also been great times with the Hubster, our two sons & one dear daughter-in-love at different times during the summer, but most often I’ve spent a lot of alone time reading & learning.

There are two women who consistently have crossed my daily electronic path and I think everyone needs to know about them if you don’t already. And if you do, give a shout out here to help others know them too!

I’m talking about Christine Caine and Holley Gerth. I’m not sure if they’ve made one another’s acquaintance but I read their words of encouragement daily. And I am either challenged or blessed or both!

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Christine is daily posting on Instagram, writes a blog, has a weekly podcast called Coffee with Chris and has a new book just out titled Unstoppable. She is a passionate voice pointing us to Kingdom work in whatever manner God has called you. Google her name; you won’t be disappointed.

Holley Gerth is also a writer, encourager and fellow coffee afficiando. Her blog is called Coffee for your Heart. Holley is a generous creative person who freely shares wonderful graphics like this one:

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Holley is a gifted encourager. It’s what she does. I have been blessed so many times in receiving her Instas or reading her blog. Google Holley Gerth and believe me you won’t be disappointed.

Yes maybe part of the reason I have been encouraged by both of these women is that they love coffee as much as I do. But more important than coffee (is that possible?!) is that these 2 Women have been given a platform for Kingdom building. They each faithfully step forward moment by moment and they share their journeys in a way that has helped my own.

I know God has plans for each of us to be involved in His mission and vision and His plans will prevail. Do you know what your part is? Are you stepping forward? Or are you searching, discerning or just waiting on the sidelines?

For I know the plans I have for you declares The Lord…

Behold 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.

God is at work. Join in what He’s doing in your part of the world. I’d love to hear what you’re up to!

How Do You Measure Change?

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A week ago I was in a different state. Not state of mind, although that is true too, but state in this country. All the way across the country from where I live. A day of flights, layovers and missed shuttle later and I was in a hotel with over 700 women gathering for what turned out to be an amazing 3 day conference:  She Speaks.  There were fabulous speakers, Lysa TerKeurst, Michael Hyatt, Holley Gerth, to give you an idea, and so much learning that I am still processing it all a week later!

Which brings me to the question, How do you measure change?  How do you recognize when something is different when it seems change happens subtly?

The change you’re experiencing may come in seconds like a set of waves at the edge of the ocean.

You may be caught off guard, the change comes and you get wet since you weren’t paying attention.

Or change may happen so slowly that you’re not sure what’s different, you just know something is.

Keep an eye on the shape of this creek…

There is a difference of a week between these two shots. Intense power redirected the path of this creek that leads into the vastness of the ocean. In.one.week.

The week before the creek was winding its way to its goal. Now it is a straighter path.

A week ago I was eager. Now I am reflective. I am full of learning and now slowly processing the impact of change.

How do you measure change? How do you know it’s happened?

Hezekiah on his sick bed cried out to God for more time on this earth; God heard and answered through the prophet Isaiah that Hezekiah would have 15 more years of life.  How was that change measured?  The shadow of the sun went back up the stairs 10 steps. (read the story here)

The change was measurable.  It was recorded for us to read.

How are your changes measured? Through your memory only? Or do you record change for reflection, for your family, for the future generations to look back on?

How are you capturing the changes in your life?

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