Tag: beloved

3 Truths for Dealing With Covid Chaos, part 2

August 3, 2020 /

Everything is just hard these days.

If you’re like me, every new email in my in-box makes me tired before I even read it.

So I decided two things: 1) I’m going to send this series to you in short posts, one a day and 2) Then I’m going to stop posting for the rest of the month.

Before diving in, may I make a suggestion? Maybe read these in the morning, or whenever you are doing your devotions? Take a little time to soak up the faithfulness of God through His Word.

Last Monday I wrote about dealing with chaos as a spiritual practice that God may use to make us more like Jesus.

Kind of like alcoholics admit they are powerless over alcohol, I suggested that a first step is to admit we are powerless over much of the chaos swirling around us in this season.

via GIPHY

That doesn’t mean that God is powerless, or surprised, or not at work on our behalf!

I believe we have two choices:

We can choose to live BOTTOM UP – starting with our circumstances and projecting onto God (That is…If things are bad, God must be bad.)

OR we can choose to live TOP DOWN – starting with the character of God and trusting Him to bring the meaning to our circumstances.

As I live in the tangled mess of uncertainty that is my life right now, I remember three truths a friend shared with us years ago – you have nothing to prove, nothing to lose, and nothing to fear.

These truths are rooted in the character of God. But it’s only as I trust Him, living top down, that they make a difference.

I’d like to share these with you accompanied by a bunch of Scripture that I pray will bring some calm to your chaos.

Truth #1: You have nothing to prove.

We each have an ego-driven self that is bent on proving our control and worth, and if we ever had a year that showed us the futility of that it’s 2020, amiright?

Circumstances are tenuous for everyone – schooling options, job opportunities, health, family dynamics, Covid restrictions, finances… When you lean into these to define your worth you’re living out of your false self. But…

God is EL ROI – the One who sees me.

Circumstances change, but what will never change is God’s presence and the way He cherishes you. No.Matter.What.

You are a beloved child of the creator of the universe. This is your true identity and you don’t have to prove anything.

As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah 65:2

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you  with singing.”

zephaniah 3:17

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

psalm 139:1-12

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork…

Ephesians 2:8-9

Which of these do you need to hear most today?

What does it say about who God is and who you are?

One Crucial Question to Ask Yourself

February 20, 2019 /

“I made cookies for you guys, but I decided they weren’t good enough to bring, so I threw them out.”

I look around the circle of women gathered in the graciously appointed living room for Bible study as my new friend continues. “As I was walking out the door I told my husband, ‘I really don’t want to go. Everyone wears their designer clothes and I look like a slob.'”

I am so grateful for this out-loud honest confession, because it would have been easy for me (in jeans) to feel the same way. As it was, it prompted all the other women around the circle to share how each feels insecure or inadequate in some way (no matter how polished or glamorous they look on the outside).

We may impress people by leading with our strengths or a shiny exterior, but we connect with them through our vulnerabilities. And that’s what happened in the room. It diffused the power of “not good enough” and led to further discussion.

How often is this the voice you hear in your head? How often is this the refrain Satan taunts you with?

Do you remember what God said to Eve when she said she was afraid because she was naked? He said, “Who told you that?”

This is the crucial question my friends and I have learned to ask each other when we’re down in the mud and muck, discouraged by comparison or inadequacy.

What if we invite Jesus into the conversation? What are the true things that He would remind us of?

You are “My beloved” (Romans 9:15)

I delight in you. I rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

I chose you. (1 Peter 2:9)

I call you by name. You are mine. (Isaiah 43:1)

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)

You are My handiwork. I have good plans prepared in advance for you. (Ephesians 2:10)

Can we agree we’re all insecure and battle the “not good enough” voice in our heads sometimes? Let’s help each other with this. When you hear a friend disparaging herself, ask: “Who told you that? What is the TRUTH? What does Jesus say about you?”

One of the places that can promote joy, but can also be a comparison trap is Instagram, which is why I originally posted this there. I really, really want my Instagram feed to be a place that inspires, encourages, and delights. I want it to be lovely, fun, AND authentic!

Dear Magpie and Other 20-something Friends

October 15, 2014 /

Today is our youngest daughter, Maggie’s 27th birthday.

Maggie is the shiny one who has friends all over the world; some she just hasn’t met yet.  She’s the one “car dances” and who keeps us laughing at ourselves and playing games and celebrating life with hoopla. She’s passionate about injustice, and traditions, and a good glass of wine.

For her on her birthday I want to shout “Huzzah!” and give her this sign I saw yesterday that said:

Always keep your beautiful imagination & exquisite humor.

I want to send a plane full of peanut butter M&M’s to scatter around her town so she’ll find them everywhere – nuggets of grace.

I want to go with her on fun new adventures to quirky spots like we’ve done in the past.

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And I want to remind her of what I wrote her two years ago because it still holds true – what I would say to her and to my own 27 year old self…

Dear Magpie,

Don’t let this discourage you, but the older you get the more you’ll know how much you don’t know…how little you’re sure of.  That’s ok though because it will help you to ask good questions, listen hard, and strain to hear God’s voice through His Word and others.

And as you do, you can remain certain of at least these three things.

1.  You really do matter.  The world is big and you’re so small, but even your little choices make a difference.   Don’t ever “despise the day of small things” done with great love.  Remember the theory that a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can set in motion a chain of events that will lead to a hurricane somewhere else? Flap your wings.  You matter.

2.  Everything really will be ok.  You’ve made mistakes before and you’ll make them again, and some days you’ll be sure the sky is falling, but the longer you live the more you will remember that the One who hung the stars is still on duty, holding them in place.

You’ll experience His mercies, new every morning.  Again and again.  Ever faithful.  He really does cause all things to work together for good, even when that’s painful.  And He really can redeem anything.  Anything.

3.  You are not alone.  Even when you feel most alone.  When someone has hurt you or betrayed you or you’ve lost something.  No, no one has lived your story, but others have had chapters with similar themes of loss or fear or conflict or joy, and God has given them to you as companions, as well as Himself.  He’s the sure thing. You are beloved.

Sweetie, anyone can write these words, but you will have to live them into your bones.  I know that you will.  You will stretch and ask and risk and hope and pray.

And you will run your race “not somehow, but triumphantly“.  Surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses” cheering you on.  With Daddy and me in the front row.

Happy Birthday Magpie.

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A Birthday, a Wedding, and Who You Really Are

June 10, 2013 /

May 18th my mom turned 80.  May 26th our daughter Maggie got married.

Two milestones for two amazing women within eight days.

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You would never know my mom is 80.  It’s a little demoralizing when we’re out together and people think we’re friends instead of mother and daughter.  She classy and spunky and fun and fashionable.  In short, she is remarkable.  And she has a remarkable relationship with both our daughters.

She just finished making 407 cake pops for Maggie’s wedding, ordering flowers,  overseeing a team creating 60 flower arrangements, and creating centerpieces.

That, and Maggie’s been known to borrow her shoes.  Yeah, she’s got game.

But the two things that are most inspiring about her are that she’s always available and she loves me unconditionally.  I know, I know, she’s my mom, and it’s part of her job, but wow, she does it better than anyone I know.

We were disciplined as kids, but I don’t ever remember her criticizing us. Her trust in us and her belief that we would choose well was powerful.

She always believes the best.  I don’t mean she is blind to our faults.  But if I was convicted of bank robbery I’m sure she’d visit me every day with her famous brownies.

She wouldn’t talk about how wrong I was to rob the bank.  Instead she’d talk about how great I looked in my orange jump suit, and how she was sure I would be the friendliest person in the clink.  She would be confident that I’d be the next Chuck Colson, turning it all around for good.

You would think with all this good lovin’ I’d be super secure in my identity as a beloved child of God – the truest thing about me and you.  The one thing that can never change.  In spite of this, a million people and circumstances every day try to tell me and you differently.

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Spiritual ADD

October 12, 2012 /

Often people ask me for suggestions of good devotionals or Bible studies.  It happened again this past week after John preached on the Bread of Life and it got me to thinking.  I’m delighted to share what’s been helpful to me, but with a few caveats and a request to hear from you too.  I am so grateful for my relationship with Jesus but…

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Auto-Incorrect

August 1, 2012 /

Ever had the experience of writing a text and having the auto-correct communicate something you definitely did NOT mean?

Yep, me too.

It can be downright dangerous.

I love the Ellen Degeneres segment titled Clumsy Thumbsy.  Viewers send in their funniest auto-corrected texts and she shares them with the world.  Here are a couple of my favorites…

In our family we have an acronym that the phone just doesn’t understand.

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