Learning Along The Way

Why? to What? Asking Different Questions Matters

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I’m a curious person by nature. I remember getting in trouble for asking, “Why?” 

I still ask a lot of questions. How about you? See? Another question!

Now I get to ask questions in my work. As a coach, I listen, ask questions of my clients, and help them discover their next action step in work, life & faith. It’s the best career for a curious person.

So here’s my question for you: What was a recent brave thing you did?

Was it getting out of bed this morning to face a daunting to do list? Was it dealing with a difficult person at work? Or facing the fact that your parent is declining quicker than anyone was ready for?

Being brave doesn’t just mean dealing with BIG struggles. Being brave can come in quiet ways, too.

My most recent brave thing happened today.

Today is my birthday. You might think, ‘How did you have to be brave on your birthday?’ It starts with a memory.

When I was little I used to announce a countdown to my birthday, beginning two months ahead of the big day! I wanted to make sure EVERYONE knew my birthday was coming and just how old I was going to be. My Mom would make whatever flavor of birthday cake I wanted, even if I wanted two flavors. One year, my 9th birthday, she made a layer cake with one layer of chocolate and one layer of banana cake with whipped cream and fresh banana slices in between with chocolate frosting all around. That was amazing, and obviously memorable. 

I suspect she went out of her way that year because we had just moved to a new part of town and I was in a new school. My birthday comes only a month into the school year and as a new student, I hadn’t made friends to ask to a party. Sad. So my Mom went out of her way to make our family time special.

Even as I write this I’m tearing up because I realize how the past 11 birthdays have not been the same since my Mom & Dad died. I guess I try to be brave and cover over the sadness so I’m not a downer, but in reality, I miss them. 

We had a crazy, complicated, and dysfunctional family. But it was my family. I’ve supported the livelihoods of several counselors through the years (other brave stories) as I’ve worked through family of origin stuff, but they were still my family, and in spite of the crazy, I love them.

My brave act today was smiling through the sadness. 

I’m so fortunate to have a wonderful husband who took the day off so we could drive to the coast and walk on the beach. I am so fortunate to have two amazing sons who both called to wish me a Happy Birthday. I am so fortunate to have loving cousins who sent me cards and SO MANY LOVING FRIENDS who mailed cards, texted, or commented on social media, sharing loving thoughts. Such a great birthday!

I still ask the questions of God though.

Why?

Why did they have to die so young? Why was life so complicated? Why so much pain?

All the questions of a curious person.

I saw this planter at the retreat center I visited last weekend.

It’s on a beautiful prayer path with a sign post that poses a new Way to be brave:

Instead of asking Why in the face of pain, move to asking, What? 

What do you want to do through this situation? What can I learn? What can bring you glory in these hard circumstances?

Being brave may be a private act of trust; looking to God in spite of the sadness we face and placing our hope in the One who redeems all things, which includes our sadness.

What brave act have you experienced or witnessed? As Annie says in her book, 100 Days to Brave

When we see brave out in the world, it inspires us.

Share what inspires you. It just may help someone else to be brave, too.

A Letter to My 25 year-old Self

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I spent time with a young friend online the other day, listening to her words and hearing her heart: the things that are bringing her joy and those that weigh her down. Singleness is filled with so many possibilities, life directions, places to live, all of it. I remember well that season of life. When I look back to my own single life, I don’t do so longingly; it’s more with the eyes of ‘if only’.

Since ‘if only’ and ‘what if?’ are not helpful in taking action in life, I’m learning to let the ‘if only’ statements go, to lean in to ‘what is’ and the results of choices of that season. No one has perfect knowledge except God alone, so we begin taking steps of faith, trusting He will do what only He can do, causing it all to work together for good, for those who love Him, and He has called according to His good purposes.

I think what I’d want to say to my 25-year-old, single self if I could write a letter with three decades of life lived; looking over the path I’ve traveled.

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(photo: green chameleon via unsplash)

Oh, sweet woman, 

You are good and beautiful in the eyes of the only one who really matters. Don’t let the imperfect image of God that you see in M be the way you see God. Jesus doesn’t judge you. Remember the Woman at the Well? Or the Woman caught in adultery? No judgment.

Jesus doesn’t compare the condition of your physical body to any others He has created. You are uniquely beautiful as you are. He’s given you gifts and talents in a combination that no one else in His creation has ever had, nor ever will. Let that rest on you sweet girl. 

Get close to Him. He alone will sustain you in the years to come. No man will be able to hold your heart, heal your broken places or fulfill your little girl dreams. Only Jesus. He is enough. In fact, they need to learn to lean in with Jesus themselves. However, that my dear is not your job. Let God be God. Remember what Jesus said to Peter when he asked about John? “What’s that to you? You follow Me.” Stop being impetuous like Peter and grow in your faith as Peter did. 

Get outside regularly in His creation. You know you’ve always loved the beach; He put that appreciation in your heart. Not all His girls care about nature the way you do. Don’t lose sight of how you are filled up with awareness of God when you walk in the mountains or by the sea or through your garden. He is with you, present to your thoughts and longings and caring for you deeply. Look to Jesus.

Walking with Jesus doesn’t make the pain go away or magically keep bad things from happening. In fact, He told us to remember we will have hard things in this world. But the good news? He has overcome all the bad things and has the power to help us through them. One.Step.At.A.Time.

You’ll need to remember that dear one. There will be a lot of unknowns coming your way. Your marriage will fall apart. M will leave you with your unborn son. Your theology will be faulty but Jesus doesn’t falter. He will walk beside you as you continue to take feeble steps toward Him. Keep walking. There are no unknowns to God. He’ll give you just enough Light for the next step. You and your baby will be ok. You’ll be loved by some amazing emissaries of His love. 

Let go of the expectations of others that keep you from looking honestly and humbly at who you are. Those expectations keep you from accepting how you’re made. You are here for purposes much bigger than the small potatoes that some people want you to believe. Let go of the lies that you’ve been told that you are not enough. Or the lies that you are too big or ask too much of people. You are enough in Him. Let it be.

Remember two things: Love God and Love Others. That’s it.

Oh, how I wish I had had all this wisdom at the ripe old age of 25. This is why I am passionate about being available to speak into young women’s lives. Not because I have all the answers. No. But I know the One who does. I am confident in His love for each one of us. Just as we are. In the messy middle of our journey toward the Father heart of God. Click To Tweet

Do you have someone speaking into your life? Are you willing to be honest and risk the vulnerability that sharing your heart brings? Don’t miss the opportunity of sharing your story and hearing another’s story. You might just see how your two stories fit into God’s big story together.

3 Ways Perseverance Trumps Perfectionism

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Life lessons unfold while watching plants grow.  I don’t mean literally watching all the time. I have a life outside of the garden! But seriously, there’s wisdom we can glean. I’ve witnessed how perseverance trumps perfection.

In the spring, on a whim I threw some sunflower seeds in the ground shortly after we moved into our latest rental. I say latest because I’ve begun to realize all things are temporary and some things shorter than others. So I might as well try to make a garden grow. Somehow gardening gives me hope.

Seven of the seeds sprouted. They fought their way through the not so great soil managing to take root. When they were about 3 feet tall I noticed their leaves had some holes in them. A farm girl I know told me to get some bone meal and put it around the base of the plants; it would deter the bugs that were evidently enjoying the tasty leaves. Being a dutiful learner I bought said bone meal, sprinkled it around and kept an eye out for the bugs.

I pictured tiny bugs being thwarted from their diabolical plant eating plan. Instead? I witnessed a surprising pest: a goldfinch! Who knew? Sunflower leaves are dessert for them.

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These birds tried to destroy the sunflowers. So many leaves were chewed up I thought for sure the plants would die. They looked shredded and unsightly. I tried wire mesh to encircle the plants but I couldn’t keep the birds away.

Then out of nowhere a feral mama cat and her three kittens began visiting our quiet, secluded backyard.

They circled around our yard twice a day. I think the beautiful bird feeders with 20 or so finches consuming birdseed got the mama cat interested in our yard. The kitties watching birds began to protect the sunflowers from getting picked and pecked. Better pest control than I could have planned!

While the wild cats have been growing, so have the sunflowers. The early leaves that appeared to certify the demise of the plants were left behind and new strong leaves unfolded as the plants grew taller.

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I had considered saving more precious California water to let the shredded sunflowers die. Instead, when new leaves sprouted I kept watering, waiting to see what might happen with this gardening experiment.

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This isn’t my first foray into sunflower growth. In our longtime home I grew sunflowers and learned some lessons there too. But these sunflowers? I learned 3 important lessons that may help you, too.

1.) Growth takes shape over time with intention. Don’t give up when you don’t get the immediate result or it doesn’t look like you expected.

2.) Play the part you have been given. We’re not meant to make perfect things or be perfect people. The way something (or someone) looks at first may not be the way it looks when finished.

3.) Do the work and leave the results in God’s capable hands. So often we start something and have an expectation of how it’s going to turn out, don’t see the immediate results and then give up in frustration or disappointment. What if what our role is simply to start, persevere in doing the work and then Trust?

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“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

I’ve been watching these grow 5 months. That’s a very short time in light of eternity. But in our fast paced nano second results driven culture 5 months is FOR.EVER. I’m recognizing how vital time, intention, work, perseverance and especially trust really are for all aspects of life, but especially in letting go of the old dysfunction of perfectionism.

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Perseverance trumps perfectionism. Every time.

Eating Ice Cream Isn’t Sabotaging a Diet

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We’ve all had them. A day where one unplanned event after another piles on top the over full calendar items already weighing heavy. Juggling it all is improbable at best and sure to cause a stress melt down at worst.

I had one of those today. A little surprising since my day was full only with a few home things like laundry and grocery shopping with writing projects to be my focus. I like to plan little breaks in writing so getting up to move a load of laundry through allows my brain space to ponder.

Idyllic really. No one at home but me, time and space to accomplish these few tasks to bless my husband, as well as our son and niece who are here for the summer.

There were competing forces at work wanting to prevent me from being an effective, gracious Christ-follower. There were several attempts to bring down the stress hammer in effort to shatter my composure. But God.

You know that’s really all we have on our to-do list right? Let go of our need to control. Lean in to the easy yoke of Jesus.

My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

In the middle of all the competing forces the Spirit whispered Truth; reminders of the deep, quiet place in my soul to be still and know that I was invited to retreat to at any given moment.

Including the stressful ones.

I don’t always choose wisely. I want to. I want to be God’s woman in my circumstances. All.the.Time.

However my perfectionistic tendencies have kept me from taking the Spirit up on that sweetly whispered invitation on too many occasions to count. But today?

Today I chose to be still within trusting His wisdom while the waves crashed on the surface.

We make our plans, but God directs our steps.

The stories of Peter and Jesus, their friendship and Jesus’s gentle, yet firm interactions with Peter have always spoken to me. I’m of Peter’s temperament. Quick to speak, slow to listen and quick to become angry. Maybe James had Peter in mind when he penned the opposite verse:

Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

Peter was quick to act before thinking things through. Just like his reaction to seeing Jesus walking on the water in the middle of the night on a stormy sea. Based on the way Peter was portrayed in all the other recorded interactions my guess is he took exactly one nano second to say ‘If it’s you Lord tell me to come.’ I like to think of Jesus with a ‘I know how this is going to turn out yet I want to give Peter the chance’ tone in His response:

“Come.”

You may know how the story turns out, but there is a detail that bears a pause for reflection. Between Peter’s stepping out of the boat and floundering in fear: He kept his eyes on Jesus. The moment Peter looked around at his crazy circumstances and remembered he was defying the known laws of the universe, he started to sink.

As long as he focused on Jesus he walked above his circumstances.  

Peter was still out of the boat, walking on the water toward Jesus. Peter was above his certain death circumstances. The water was whipping and splashing on his cloak. His feet were wet. The wind was still blowing.

As long as he focused on Jesus he walked above his circumstances.

I know this detail is important. There are other places in scripture that tell us to fix our eyes on Jesus. To fix or focus is a way of demonstrating faith and trust. That’s why Jesus asked Peter

‘why did you doubt?’

When I was going through my day with so many reasons to look around at my crazy circumstances in stress and fear that was my choice point. Do I trust the whispered invitation of the Spirit to go deep with Him or do I doubt His Presence or ability and trust myself instead; trying to wrestle my way through the stress and make things turn out the way I planned?

Sounds like an obvious choice right?

Part of peeling off perfectionism is taking the risk to not pretend to be in control.

Part of peeling off perfectionism is making a different choice: to trust God and not myself. Click To Tweet

So that’s what I made effort to do at every new layer that was added today; all the unplanned items that needed immediate priority while still making other prior commitments work. I would have had a meltdown if I’d been operating in my own strength. But listening to the whisper, paying attention and choosing to let go of control & lean into the easy yoke made my day so much better.

In fact, when the obligations were done, My Father and I celebrated by having my favorite treat since childhood.IMG_9295

It wasn’t sabotaging a diet to eat this ice cream. It was a celebration of trust!

Perfectionism is prevalent. You and I can learn to peel it off and choose differently.

Keep an eye out for my e-course launching in August. There will be opportunity to gather with others who are in the same place; desiring to be free of the false perfect way. We’ll celebrate the small victories like mine today. Not always with ice cream, but celebrate we will!

Please share your ‘wins’ in peeling off perfectionism: here or on the Learning Along the Way Facebook page. You never know who needs your encouragement!

 

Trust Building

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Yesterday when I was writing I had a bunch of thoughts running through my head about the topic of building trust. But I didn’t have a lot of time to capture those ideas.

Today as I sit here with lots of time and face a blank screen, I can’t seem to corral the thoughts that were running around yesterday!  It could be the difference in locations. Yesterday I was sitting at our kitchen table in complete silence. Today because of our sharing a car and morning, midday and evening obligations I am using a Starbucks as my writing place. Can you say DISTRACTION???

Not the most ideal setting but here goes. Picking up from yesterday…

Trust is like a muscle. It has to be used to grow. And it has to be strained to get stronger.

Some of you may be like me, with under used trust. We put our trust in what we can do with our hands and minds.

One of the hardest ways for me to trust God has been in the little things; I’ve had my responsibilities: schedules, homework, my work and housework and, and, and…why would I bother God with all of those things?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on you own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your path.

Unpack this verse a bit with me.

We’re told to Trust in the Lord.  How?  With ALL our heart (not part, not distracted, ALL)

What else? Don’t lean on, rely on, depend on your own understanding.  Why not? I don’t have the whole picture. I don’t see the longview, don’t know the results, don’t know the implications…God who is all knowing and all powerful does.

What else? In ALL your ways ACKNOWLEDGE (recognize He’s there, thank Him, talk with Him) and He will make straight your path.

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Trust is developed through experience with someone. How do we learn to trust God?

No Sunday School answers please.

How do we learn to trust God?

In hard places. In hard circumstances. We don’t need trust when life is easy. When things are going smoothly we don’t see our needs.

Perhaps that is why James said Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith(trust) produces endurance…

It’s not easy to trust when it hurts, when we are being strained and stretched. There are so many places in God’s Word that He encourages us to trust Him, to come to Him, to seek Him. He is faithful. He is all knowing. He is all powerful. He is full of mercy and grace.

He is trustworthy.

Go ahead, exercise the muscle of trust.

Building Muscle (Learning to Trust)

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Disclaimer: This is not a post about body building.

It seems the natural reaction to doing something for the first time is often fear.  Picture a swimming pool for a moment. You’ve probably seen a child standing on the edge of a diving board, looking down at the water and waiting. So much uncertainty. You may have also seen a child turn around and walk back off the board. Or perhaps you know one who refused to climb the ladder in the first place. Or get their face in the water.  The unknown can be overwhelming.

When I talk about riding a tandem bike with my husband I am met with one of three responses: “That would be so fun!” OR “That would be terrifying!” OR “I could NEVER do that!”  Interestingly when I first considered sitting on the back seat and actually riding the bike with my husband terror was what gripped me.  It wasn’t because I didn’t know what riding a bike was like; I’d been riding bikes since I was 7.  It was because of trust.  Or coming face to face with the need to leave my comfort zone and the real potential for getting physically hurt!  I didn’t say I would NEVER do that, but I did feel fear grip my insides.

Trust can be a fuzzy thing. We toss the word around so nonchalantly. We say things like “I can trust him with my life!” or “Don’t trust her she’s a practical joker.” But when fear wells up inside, your Trust muscle needs to take over.

I said trust can be fuzzy; I guess what I mean is that it’s a big idea that can be explained by experiences and other words that are also big ideas. It’s not like Tree.  You can look at pictures of trees. But to define trust you need experiences and other words. Faith. Belief. Trust. They are all synonyms and can be used to help bring clarity to the big idea.

When I realized I was afraid to trust my husband with all the control on the bike a new awareness began dawning on the edges of my consciousness. Not just that I was a control freak. I had had that fact pointed out on many occasions and not always in light-hearted ways. No, the new idea that began as a flicker of recognition on the horizon of my awareness was: if I don’t trust him, do I really love him?

Of course I wanted to be able to say I trust my husband. But at that moment when I climbed onto the back of the borrowed tandem 18 years ago my heart was racing and fear was running rampant and all I could say was “Try not to kill us!” Not a very trusting statement.  Fortunately all body parts were intact after the 10 minute ride through the neighborhood. That one ride didn’t cure me of my freak nature but it did build my trust a teeny bit. He proved he knew how to steer and brake safely. We didn’t fall down or crash. (All good things to avoid when possible)

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(my view from the tandem)

Trust is like a muscle. It has to be used to grow. And it has to be strained to get stronger.

My trust of my husband’s cycling ability wasn’t going to go off the charts with one 10 minute ride.  But if there was a meter to measure the increase of trust , I know mine began to go up that day. And as trust went up, my need to control started to loosen its grip on my life.

Aren’t we like that with God? We’re not sure if He’s trustworthy so we only give Him a little bit of room in our lives. When He shows Himself faithful (like He says He is) then our trust goes up.

Here’s a thought: You can’t fully trust someone you don’t know.

I’d been married to my husband for 6 years when we first shared that ride on a tandem bike. It wasn’t as if I didn’t know him. But I discovered then that I didn’t fully trust him.

My need for control in all areas of my life was revealing my lack of trust; of people, but ultimately of God, too. If I was going to be able to loosen the grip of the control freak role in my life I was going to have to exercise my trust muscle in new and harder ways. I was going to have to learn to trust.

I could learn more about my husband. I could practice riding with him. But if it’s true you can’t trust someone you don’t know, how do we learn to trust God?

You can get to know Him in a million little ways.  More tomorrow…

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The Push & Pull of Being a Control Freak

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It was May and I was in the 7th month of my pregnancy. Teaching 5th grade at a newly re-opened neighborhood school was such a joy; the students were at a great age to enjoy seeing the baby’s elbow move across my stomach while I was teaching.  The laughter and oohs & aahs were so fun.  I left school that Wednesday afternoon to head to my regular OB appointment; excited to hear the baby’s heartbeat again and know how s/he was developing.  Little did I know that was the last time I would be in my classroom that school year.

My doctor’s appointment didn’t go so well. What I thought had been Braxton Hicks turned out to be actual pre-term labor.  The doctor sent me home with a prescription to stop the contractions and strict orders to be “on bed rest”.  What was I supposed to do now?  I had a class to take care of and a nursery to get ready.  Magnifying the moment was the sad fact that my husband had moved out of our marriage & home two months earlier. I was alone.  And I would have to ask for help.

For some people that is no big deal; asking for help makes perfect sense.  We’re all wired to be in community and to be sharing and caring for one another.  Unfortunately I was not raised to be asking anyone for anything.  Helping others in need was a given, but it was NOT ok to be the one in need.  To find myself forced to ask for, and depend on, help from others was SO HARD!!!

I came face to face with my pride and my need for control in big ways. And they were not pretty. I had two dogs, a cat, a house, and a classroom that all needed care.  How was I going to ask for help with all this?  Who would have time? Why would they care? How humiliating!!

Feeling needy and helpless was so foreign.

Have you been there? I wish I could say ‘that was then and now I’ve grown past that and let me tell you how to get over it’ but the truth is I still battle the pride monster.

It’s a push & pull: trying to push past the scary feeling of needing to ask for help and trying to resist the pull back into the old habit.

Paul said it best in his letter to the Roman believers “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience? Yes I’m full of myself—after all I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.” (The Message)

One of the most challenging parts of living in tandem is learning to let go of being in control.  If you’re a person who says ‘I could never ride a tandem bike’ you might want to join me in working on control issues!  Our need for control starts for different reasons but what I think we’re all really facing is the same issue of trust.

This is no small thing.  

How have you dealt with issues of trust?

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#1 Investment Strategy for Parents

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Our economy is based on investments.  Short term vs long term; high vs low yield. Where is the best place to put your money? The answers vary; they depend on who you’re talking to, who you’re listening to. With so many voices it’s hard to know what is truly best.  That can be scary when you’re a young family saving for college, or an individual trying to make wise investments for the future.  So many variables; so many ideas.

Financial investment strategies are valuable but don’t have the long term pay off parents truly need.  You are wise to plan and save; there is no doubt about that.  But what legacy will you leave your family beyond the material?  What is the #1 investment strategy for parents?

I heard a great message on Tuesday from Sue Donaldson.  She spoke to a group of moms about A Mother’s Legacy.  Sue spoke with humor and wit but also interjected thoughts to ponder.

It caused me to reflect on my own sons and wondered what I have left for them.  Interestingly, within an hour of driving away from the event, each of my sons called me to touch base and ask me for something.  Prayer.

baby Matthew

It dawned on me that God was showing me what my legacy will be for them…that I was a praying momma.

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What a humbling thing, to be shown how one is seen.

I wasn’t always a woman of prayer.  I was a woman of worry, fear and mistrust.  I lived by ‘if it’s to be it’s up to me’ for so many years.

But God…

gave me sweet opportunities to learn from His Word as I sat rocking these baby boys. He taught me to lift up my worries to Him.  To ask Him for favor, for their salvation, physical safety, development of their minds.  He gave me words to pray back to Him like those at the end of

Psalm 91:14-16. I have prayed with each of their names inserted where the pronouns are:

“Because (he) has loved Me, therefore I will deliver (him); I will set (him) securely on high, because (he) has known My name. 

(He) will call upon Me, and I will answer (him); I will be with (him) in trouble; I will rescue (him), and honor (him).

With a long life I will satisfy (him) and let (him) behold My salvation.”

He gave me a sense of purpose to spend the quiet times like those lifting up my dreams of who these babies would one day be, of the men they would grow into many years in the future.  I developed the practice of using my laundry time to pray for the 10 year old feet who wore the once white socks; to pray for the arms that would go stronger over time, that they would become the men God desires them to be.

Now they are men.  One is married to a beautiful, Christ-following woman.  She was prayed for long before he met her.  They serve God in His kingdom building purposes as church planters in Utah.  The other son is in college, a sophomore Gator at UF, 3000 miles away.

I miss them. A lot. But God…

is with them, in them and guiding them in the lives He has planned for them.

Just as this simple momma asked Him again and again.

My prayers are not my prayers alone.  The One Who answers is also the One Who leads us to come be with Him in the quiet place where our soul can breathe out the burdens and worries and breathe in His peace in return.

God has taught me to rest in Him.  He has got these babies/boys/men.

Trusting God. Talking with Him about everything.  What a gift that He gave me years ago; the gift of prayer.

A gift of investment. Of time, of heart, of hope.  You deposit your meager prayers like I did.

Ask Him.  He longs to hear your words, pleas, worries and fears.  He will transform those investments (and you!) over time.

It is your #1 investment strategy that will pay huge dividends both now and eternity future!

Learning to Believe

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photo(33)I know life is hard sometimes.  Some days are worse than others.  Some Mondays you just want a do over by the end of the day.

There’ll be days like this my momma said…

But you don’t have to throw in the towel, or bury your head under the pillow, or distract yourself with TV or incessant snacking.

Nope. You have other choices. Choices for your growth. For your good. For others’ good too. You can choose learning.  Learning to Believe.

Learning to Believe you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.  Learning to Believe God’s plans for you are for your welfare and not to harm you. (even when today doesn’t make sense) Learning to Believe you have the capacity to forgive the hurt that poured out on you from another today.  Learning to Believe Truth.

Someone once told me that Faith is like a muscle.  You need to exercise it to strengthen it.  How do you exercise Faith?

Learning to Believe what may not make sense at first. Sometimes we need reminding of Truth. Actually, daily we need reminding. Why? Because we are forgetful people. Something doesn’t turn out the way we thought it would or should or could and we freak out. Why? Because we are broken people. We need reminding!

Reminders come in so many ways: a beautiful sunrise (if you’re up early!); birds chirping; a time of silence when the littles are napping; an email from a friend; an entry in Jesus Calling. He reminds us to Believe Him. To Trust Him. To grow our Faith in Him.

We need people around us who can be our co-workers in learning to Believe. We need people who can be like Aaron and Hur were to Moses; helping him lift up his hands in prayer to the Lord while the battle raged on in front of him.  It’s a great story: read it in Exodus 17.

Who are your encouragers? Your prayer partners? Your cheerleaders? You’re co-workers in learning to Believe? We all need them.

Sometimes the hardest part of learning to Believe is being willing to risk sharing our very real needs.  Instead of being authentic with others we believe a lie: we don’t want to impose, be a burden, or too much trouble; yet if someone asked you for a listening ear or for help, would you turn away from them?

Learning to Believe you are worth the trouble is sometimes one of the biggest hurdles of faith.  Somehow we aren’t treasured and affirmed the way God sees us and we believe lies about ourselves.  Learning to Believe God’s Truth about who you are is an exercise of faith. Daily.

Don’t give up! You can do this!  Like any kind of learning, it’s filled with practice and mistakes.  The best part of this is: God has got your back!  He is in this learning process with you for the rest of your days!

What are you currently learning to Believe?  How may I be an encourager to you today?

Deep Breath

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photo(57)This is a view of San Luis Obispo this past Saturday as my husband and I walked across the Jennifer St. Bridge to meet a friend for dinner; our last dinner as residents of SLO.

*sigh*

The SLO life has been my life for 28 years.  That exceeds many people’s lives (including my two sons).

Since then we have moved.  I wrote about this process a couple of posts ago, but my focus now is not what is behind but what is ahead.

God promises and He comes through.  The prophet Isaiah told of things to come:

“I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,
In paths they do not know I will guide them.
I will make darkness into light before them
And rugged places into plains.
These are the things I will do,
And I will not leave them undone.”

Some will tell you this prophecy is for the nation of Israel but when I read what Jesus promised and I look at what Paul also says in 2 Corinthians 4:6

I think God is telling us He will make things new in us and through us.

But I can get in the way; I can hinder the work of God in my life.  I have done it many times over many years. *ouch*

This time I said Yes. Our gracious, merciful God has done big things!

My dear husband has been the humble servant of his family for 2 decades (and change).  He has taken jobs that allowed us the stability of one home as the boys grew; but his career path really needed to lead out of SLO and far beyond.  We tried the long distance commuting life for a time a couple of years ago but that wasn’t good; too tiring and draining rather than life giving.  He was patient; not demanding his own way or that his needs be met. His leadership is gentle.  He is truly a humble man.  I am blessed.

Yesterday he started here in a dream job for an engineer.photo(58)God saw my husband’s humble way and provided this opportunity out of the blue.  He wasn’t looking for them; they found him.  He was ready.  He was thrilled.

And because God has been at work in me to let go and say yes to whatever He has for us we are now living in a new area.  Which is big and crowded and different.

Guess what?

God is bigger.  And right here with me.  And He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  God is trustworthy.

If you read this and think “I could never do that” you’re right.  I didn’t do it either.  All I did was say I am willing.  And I begged God to do the rest.

The adventure with God continues.  Want to come along?  Let me know what God is doing in your part of the world!

 

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