Tag: One word (Page 3 of 6)

What’s Next Papa? part 1

December 28, 2015 /

A few weeks ago a reader posted Romans 8:15 in the blog comments:

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I love this Message rendition and it’s been playing on repeat in my brain since I read it.

It’s a good verse to reflect on in this in-between time. The now and not yet. You know what I mean.

  • You’ve now eaten your weight in Christmas cookies, but have not yet started your diet yet.
  • You’ve now stretched your credit cards, but have not yet started your new budget discipline because, HELLO! there are all the great sales going on.
  • You’ve now opened your presents, but the tree is still up and you have not yet cleaned your house.

We’ve celebrated Christmas, but it’s not New Years yet.

It’s a great time to look backward, for God-sightings, and forward with the assurance that He is with us and has good plans for our future.

We pray along with the psalmists:

Ps. 139: 23, 24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

Ps. 90: 12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

In the week between Christmas and New Years we want to ask, “What’s next, Papa?” But before we ask what’s next, we need to ask where we’ve been and where we are now.  Continue reading

Stronger Together

March 27, 2015 /

Where are you right now, as you’re reading this?

I picture you, like one of my daughters – a 27 and 29 year old, scanning this on their iPhone in a coffee shop or in front of their computer at work before they start their day, maybe needing a reminder that they are not alone, that they are part of God’s larger story and what they do today matters.

Or I see one of the young moms I mentor who may be scrolling through a post while they’re in the bathroom, because those are the only moment she has without kids clinging to her. And she too, longs for perspective in the midst of chaos and the reminder that God sees her and what she’s doing has eternal significance.

But the survey that many of you took the time to fill out (thank you so much!) says that while these are typical profiles, there are women (and men) of all ages who are joining us here. Teachers, businessmen, missionaries, students… And while most are here in the U.S., there are others in Uganda, and Israel, New Zealand, the U.K., Switzerland and Singapore…

But as different as we are, we share oh so much in common. I don’t know the details of your unique story, but I do know this…

We all long for safe places to be our totally messy selves and know there is grace enough for it all. We want to be honest with each other and know it’s ok. We want the reassurance that we’re not the only ones who often feel clueless or lonely or confused about our purpose. We struggle with the “shoulds” and fight not to compare ourselves with others.

We’re tired, busy, bored, seeking. We yearn for a date or a spouse or healing in our marriage. We all show up with our own brokenness, longing for redemption. We are precious. We are capable of more than we think. We are enough because God is enough, but we often forget that.

I believe that God has given us to each other. We need to tell each other the life-giving truth when the voices “out there” are shouting bad news and death. We need to say to each other, “me too” and “I’m listening”, and “you’re doing just fine.” We need to search together for those hidden moments of grace and redemption masquerading as everyday life.

So, this is what I want to say to you today… You are not alone. Whether sitting together at the long harvest table in my home, passing bowls of pasta around candlelight, or finding your voice in this virtual community, your story matters. Your voice is important. We need you because we are stronger together. God has given us each other.

We’d all love to hear from you, either here in the comments, or on our new Facebook Page.  If you haven’t subscribed, you can do that by filling in your email address in the sidebar. If this community is valuable to you, sharing posts on FB will invite others in.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for showing up here!

By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.Ecclesiastes 4:12 MSG

 

 

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What to Do When Discouragement and Doubt are Winning

March 6, 2015 /

My “One Word” for this year is Stronger. Two years ago it was Fearless. Positive words, full of possibility and hutzpah.  I picture them hanging out on the street corner of my life like tough dudes yelling, “Bring it on suckas!”

West Side Story 1_0

But this week it was all West Side Story and Stronger and Fearless got into a rumble, roughed up by Discouragement and Doubt.

I’m guessing I’m not alone. If not this week, some week this has been your experience. And you slouch in the alley and say, “What the what?”

Maybe the the street gang of “not good enough” has been winning this week because you were sucked into the comparison game and came up short. Maybe you’ve experienced a set back in your goals, or you’ve just felt trampled by the insensitivity of others.

And maybe on top of it you beat yourself up too. If only I could…If only I did… Continue reading

Stronger in the Rhythm of Everyday Breathing

February 20, 2015 /

We got back Tuesday night late from a long weekend in Florida celebrating my nephew’s wedding. Even though it was cold for Florida, there were bright colors like fuchsia and emerald that we forget during the never-ending Minneapolis winters of snow white and soot gray.  We didn’t have to wear 10 layers of clothes and spend 20 minutes just “getting ready” to go outside.  Mostly there was sun and the smell of fresh cut grass. We could breathe.  And we did.

We breathed in the love of family and friends and laughter and deep sleep and play – such delightful play.  It made me think again, of how much we hold our breath in the everyday grind of life and how we need to figure out a rhythm that allows us to breathe without waiting for vacation.

My One Word for 2015 is Stronger.  The rhythm of breathing is just one more area where I need to grow stronger, and I was reminded of these words I wrote awhile ago:

It’s summertime, which for me conjures up memories of being at the Lake House with my cousins, perpetually in a wet swim suit, rarely out of the lake.  One of the many games we would play was “who-can-hold-their-breath-longest-without-dying”.

Ok, it wasn’t a real active game, but you know…simple pleasures.  And nobody actually died so our parents considered it a win.

Sometimes without even thinking about it, we play life like this  “who-can-hold-their-breath-longest-without-dying” game.

I don’t write much about Sabbath.  And I’ve never written about Selah.  But as I’ve started running, I’ve become much more aware of the importance of rhythm and rest, and basics. Like breathing.  And not holding our breath til we pass out.

Selah is a term used mostly in the Psalms and a few times in Habbakuk that is a bit of a mystery.  Scholars aren’t positive what it means, but they think it means “rest” or “pause”.

Mark Batterson says, like in music, if Sabbath is a full rest, maybe Selah is a sixteenth rest.  A chance to catch your breath.

Or maybe Selah is the life jacket that helps us pop up above the water of everyday stress. Continue reading

How to Get Your “-er”

February 6, 2015 /

Choosing “STRONGER” as my One Word for 2015 definitely has it’s downsides.  It means I’m being forced to look at the WEAKER areas in my life and, you know…actually DO something about them.

My Weight Watcher leader used to say, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

So “-ER” means SOMETHING has got to change.

One of the glaring weaknesses in my character is around money.  I just don’t like to pay attention to it.

At all.

Start using words like “budget” or “overdraft” or “money market” and my eyes glaze over like a stoner from the 70’s.

It’s not like I’m a crazy spender. I’m not really a “shopper”.  But I just always assume there’s gonna be money there for me to give or spend – like the Tooth Fairy just takes care of my bank account.  This has led to a tad bit of, let’s just say, less than responsible money management (since there’s no “management” involved).

It’s like with weight and diets.  The more you know, the more you feel responsible.  I don’t want to know anything about money because I really don’t want to be responsible.

Ignorance is bliss baby!  To get your “-er” you need to do something different. Continue reading

You are Stronger than You Think

January 30, 2015 /

The other day, two things happened.  I saw this video and I realized I’m stronger than I think.

No, I’m never going to be a pull-up dancer. I know this might surprise you.  I’m not strong in that way.

But as I was driving along a person came to mind who brought me great pain in the past, and I felt…indifference!  Then I thought of an experience that had had great destructive power in my life, and I felt…fine!  Actually, I felt great!  I could think about the experience and appreciate what I learned without reliving the pain. I was strong in a new way!  Stronger than I thought.  I bet you are too.

STRONGER is my One Word this year, so it was weird when it struck me that there are areas where I’ve already grown stronger over the years.

Stronger can sneak up on you when you’re not looking.  We can say “Aha, Stronger!  I recognize you!”

Yes, it requires discipline and truth-telling and exercising flabby muscles over time. It’s a daily 3 mile run rather than a dash into the grocery store.  We do our work and God does His work and somehow we get better. Stronger.

We let weak win when we give power to people or experiences in our lives that don’t deserve it.

We get stronger when we say “Nope!” over and over again. “The only One who deserves power in my life to define me or carry me or approve me or interpret life for me is Jesus.”

We’re I’m so paranoid about seeming braggy that I sometimes neglect to celebrate the small victories of change. But the other day I felt it was time to celebrate and thank God for stronger.

So, what’s one area of your life where you can celebrate growth?  What is one way you’ve grown stronger?

 

Stronger in Marriage

January 23, 2015 /

The other night two things happened.  I had my favorite salad at a cute little candlelit wine bar with friends, and John and I needed a do-over.

In the salad is sweet potatoes, spinach, pomegranate seeds, apples, golden raisins, goat cheese, bacon, and sunflower seeds.  I would never have thought to put all that different stuff together, but it’s awesome!

And that’s the kind of marriage John and I have.  We’re really different, but we naturally go together well.  I think we have a super strong marriage and although there have been seasons when I thought we could use a little less goat cheese in our salad, all in all we’ve had it pretty easy..photo-1

Which actually can be a negative because we can get lulled into complacency.

Maybe, it’s because it’s usually easy that it was a little surprising when John and I hit a little hiccup the other day…a misunderstanding in how to love each other well and we ended up hurting each other instead of helping each other.

It was an opportunity for us to say “How can we grow stronger in our marriage?” Continue reading

Two Ways to Lean Into Your One Word

January 9, 2015 /

My friend Nancy has like the most awesome, toned arms of anyone I know.  And she’s my age which, let’s just say isn’t twenty-something.  When she is on stage sometimes it’s hard to concentrate on what she’s saying because I’m wondering what I’d have to do to get those well-sculpted arms in place of my soft, wobbly ones that cause me to shy away from anything sleeveless.

I know, it sounds a little whacky, but tell me you’ve never coveted a specific body part of someone else!  Anyway, stick with me here.

It’s not magic.  Nancy didn’t drift into arm amazingness. Just like people don’t drift into spiritual maturity.  Just like you and I aren’t going to drift into our One Word for 2015.

Change is a greedy, stubborn varmint.  He requires intention and attention if he’s gonna come through for us with sculpted arms, or growth in character.

I told you about my One Word fail last year, so I’m doing things a little differently this year with my One Word – STRONGER. Continue reading

One Word for a New Year

December 31, 2014 /

It’s New Year’s Eve day.  A day of goal-setting, resolutions, and One Word 365.  This is the third year I have decided to choose one word to focus on.  Call it “aspirational” or “anticipatory”.  If you’re considering this practice for 2015 here are some questions to ask as you pray about it:

  • What character quality do you think God wants to nurture in you?
  • What does your soul long for or what do you need?
  • What challenges do you think you’ll face in 2015 that might inform your word?

Continue reading

Hospitality: Ideas For those Who are Hospi-phobic and Those Who are Fearless Too

September 5, 2014 /

It’s One Word Friday!

Like I wrote recently, part of “Choose Life” means choosing to exercise our gifts.

And you’ve got ’em!  You’re talented and capable and you’re gamers.

Hospitality seems to be one of mine, (although it’s easy to see how others are doing it so much better).  Some of you may have this gift too.  I hope you’ll add your ideas in the comments.

For others the thought of guests ringing your doorbell makes you want to hide under your bed.

Whether hospitality is one of your gifts or not, it’s a reflection of God’s welcoming heart that we’re all called to live out.  I hope this post will give you some resources and encouragement!

4 Suggestions if you’re new to opening your home: Continue reading

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