Tag: rest (Page 1 of 2)

Holding My Breath and 3 Selah Prompts

June 2, 2022 /

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

When I started running, I became much more aware of the importance of rhythm and rest, and basics. Like breathing.  And not holding our breath til we, you know, pass out.

This is not about Sabbath, but Selah. 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.

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If, as Eugene Peterson says, Sabbath is a day of “shutting down and shutting up.” maybe Selah moments are those in your day where you stop to think about breathing.  Reorient, and remember that you’re not in control, but you know the One who is.

Maybe Selah is a chance to:

  • Let go.  Unclench your hands and surrender to the one who is God since we are not.  I have to pray the Welcoming Prayer as a reminder to myself:  “Holy Spirit, I let go of my need for approval.  Welcome.  I let go of my need for power and control.  Welcome.  I let go of my need to change any person, circumstance or emotion.  Welcome.”
  • Look. “Look at the birds of the air…” Pay attention to the miracles all around.   I’m trying to be disciplined in stopping, standing still outside and looking around, praying:  “Creator God, thank you for…”

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  • Listen.  Our speaking comes out of our listening.  What we say comes out of what we hear.  We can pray: “Lord, what do you have to say to me about Yourself and myself today?”  Listen to words about God’s character in Psalm 46 where Selah is written in the margin in most translations after verse 3.

Mark Buchanan put it this way: When we don’t rest we’re in danger of letting ourselves be “consumed by the things that feed the ego but starve the soul.”

Stopping to breathe in the goodness and sufficiency of God gives oxygen to our souls.

Selah.

You don’t have to hold your breath all day.  Consider setting an alarm on your phone to remind you to stop and breathe. (Isn’t it crazy how natural that is for kids?  And puppies?  They delight in the breaths of each moment.)

What does Selah look like for you?

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This is an edited repost from the past.  Because I need to remind myself to breathe 🙂

Are You Holding Your Breath?

April 6, 2022 /

Note: This is a repost from years ago – a reminder for myself.

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

When I started running, I became much more aware of the importance of rhythm and rest, and basics. Like breathing.  And not holding our breath til we, you know, pass out.

This is not about Sabbath, but Selah. 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.

lake2

If, as Eugene Peterson says, Sabbath is a day of “shutting down and shutting up.” maybe Selah moments are those in your day where you stop to think about breathing.  Reorient, and remember that you’re not in control, but you know the One who is.

Through history, some have been intentional about this by “praying the hours”.

But even if you don’t pray the hours, maybe Selah is a chance to

  • Let go.  Unclench your hands and surrender to the one who is God since we are not.  I have to pray the Welcoming Prayer as a reminder to myself:  “Holy Spirit, I let go of my need for approval.  Welcome.  I let go of my need for power and control.  Welcome.  I let go of my need to change any person, circumstance or emotion.  Welcome.”
  • Look. “Look at the birds of the air…” Pay attention to the miracles all around.   I’m trying to be disciplined in stopping, standing still outside and looking around, praying:  “Creator God, thank you for…”
556272_10150907827373701_692168700_9784065_117105065_n
  • Listen.  Our speaking comes out of our listening.  What we say comes out of what we hear.  Listen to words about God’s character in Psalm 46 where Selah is written in the margin in most translations after verse 3.

Mark Buchanan put it this way: When we don’t rest we’re in danger of letting ourselves be “consumed by the things that feed the ego but starve the soul.”

Stopping to breathe in the goodness and sufficiency of God gives oxygen to our souls.

Selah.

You don’t have to hold your breath all day.  Consider setting an alarm on your phone to remind you to stop and breathe. (Isn’t it crazy how natural that is for kids?  And puppies?  They delight in the breaths of each moment.)

What does Selah look like for you?

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Three Unusual Disciplines for a Refreshing Post-Covid Summer

June 17, 2021 /

This morning I met a young mom for breakfast at Turtle Bread, one of my favorites in the shady Linden Hills neighborhood near my house. Over slices of quiche we talked about race and faith communities, the unique differences in our kids, and what post-Covid life looks and feels like.

When I asked how I could be praying for her, she said, “I’m weary and burnt out from a year of pandemic and I find it hard to concentrate on spiritual disciplines. I want to connect with Jesus, but I can’t seem to focus. I also long to redeem the summer we lost last year with our kids.”

I hear the same words of fatigue and almost PTSD-type symptoms from many people I talk to! There is a tension between the exhaustion we feel and the drive to get out there amp everything up to “normal” again.

Have you ever noticed how many commands there are to celebrate, wonder, and rest (or Sabbath) in the Bible?

What if we take a sabbatical from some of the traditional spiritual disciplines and embrace the disciplines of rest and play and wonder?

These disciplines may mean we turn off the news, the computer, the TV, the podcast and show up completely present to God and others. Dive in. Breathe deep.

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted….stop and consider God’s wonders.

Job 9:10, 37:14

What if we…

  • practice joy with dance parties, and slumber parties and picnics, recognizing God’s faithfulness?
  • read a verse together and then nap with our kids on blankets out under a tree?
  • take a walk without any noise in our ears and say, “Come Holy Spirit. What do you have to show me about myself and yourself today?” (this one’s my favorite!)
  • stop to soak up God’s creation as we pick strawberries, or gather a bouquet of flowers, or look up at the clouds ?
  • carry a breath prayer with us through our days Breathe in: Creator God, Breathe out: Refresh me.

Recently my small group took time to celebrate all God’s gifts that we had missed rejoicing over while separated by Covid.

What will you do to celebrate, wonder, or rest this summer?

Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.

Psalm 40:5

What Do You Need From God Today?

August 26, 2019 /

I love biking and walking the paths we have in abundance here in Minnesota. 

While I prefer the 5 months of the year when we get beauty and color and warmth, (and have been begging the trees to hold onto their leaves recently), I’ll go out in almost any weather conditions. 

As I walk or ride around our lakes, I notice that there are always stretches that are my favorite – the lush, wooded shady parts.

But there are also barren stretches that I’d really rather skip.  Very much like the seasons of my life I’d rather fast-forward through.  Thistly and ugly.

The other day I was riding my bike and there was such a stiff headwind that it was really difficult to move forward.  Struggling against brisk gales, I rode along a stretch where I had never been before.  A dead and ugly stretch. 

But then I noticed something odd and seemingly out of place in the dull brown grasses.  It was a bench with “Come to me and I will give you rest” etched on it. 

Next to it, someone had left a pair of sneakers. Perhaps a reminder that this was holy ground – a hard place where we remove our shoes in God’s presence and receive from Him what we need.

It made me think about all the times God says, “I will give…”

I will give you a new heart. (Ezekiel 36:26)

I will give you hidden treasures. (Isaiah 45:3)

I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

I will give you a new name. (Revelation 2:17)

I will give you an Advocate. (John 14:16-17)

I will give you words and wisdom. (Luke 21:15, James 1:5)

I will give you abundant life. (John 10:10)

I will give you the bread of life, eternal life. (John 6:51, John 10:28)

I will give you insight. (2 Timothy 2:7)

I will give you good gifts. (Matthew 7:11)

Are you in a thistle-y or barren place? How would you finish this sentence? Lord, what I need most from You today is __________________.

Soul Food for Vacation Time

March 3, 2016 /

It’s March, and you all deserve a vacation! At least you do if you live in my part of the country where the winters seem like an interminable movie in gray and white. It’s like God turns off the color, scent, and sound of life for 6 months.

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But we’re a hardy people and we will persevere to Spring which arrives at the end of May and lasts 2 days.

Meanwhile, maybe you’re planning a little escape to tide you over.

If you live by a school calendar you may be preparing for Spring Break.

If you don’t, you still may be planning a warm getaway.

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So this post is about resources for vacation (or even “staycation”) refreshment. Continue reading

When You’re Tired

August 3, 2015 /

I’m tired.

Tired, as in go to bed an hour early and wake up an hour later than usual. Tired, as in afternoon “power nap” required.*

This seems really odd because it’s summertime and that’s usually the season of easy living and filling up, but this summer has been a bit different for us.  Maybe for you too.

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Whether it’s emotional, or physical strain, now, or mid-winter, we all go through seasons of tired and need to be gentle with ourselves and refuel. Can I get an “Amen”?

We need daily and weekly rhythms of filling so that we serve out of overflow but I believe we also need seasonal and yearly rhythms of filling too.

This brings us to my favorite week of the year.

Approximately Wednesday, August 5th to Wednesday, August 12th.

Every. Year.

This week, new ideas, stimulating conversations, prayer, laughter, music, sun, wind and waves win over everything else.

Every single year we have two back-to-back, inviolate commitments – the Global Leadership Summit and right afterwards, our staff family retreat on a lake in northern Minnesota.

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The GLS brings together World Class Leaders to speak at a two day conference. It’s inspiring, challenging, encouraging, motivating. And this year our church is hosting as a satellite site so if you live in the Twin Cities and haven’t signed up yet, do it Here! (and if we haven’t met yet, come introduce yourself to me!).

Bill Hybels says, “As a leader, the best thing you bring to the table every day is a filled up bucket.” 

But this isn’t just true for “leaders”.
As a person, the best thing you bring to the world every day is a filled up bucket.

When my bucket is empty…

  • I’m more likely to speak too quickly.
  • I’m less likely to be patient.
  • I’m more likely to spin my wheels without listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.
  • I’m more likely to overlook God’s beautiful gifts because I’m worried.

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So how do you fill up?

Think of some the different areas of your life – spiritual, physical, relational.  What rhythms do you have that keep you replenished so that you don’t just deplete, deplete, deplete, and then madly try to fill up?

What’s one thing you can commit to today to allow God to fill up your bucket?

  1. Carve out 5 minutes of silence to remember God is with you. Just focus on His character. Check this resource.
  2. Sign up for a class or conference that will inspire or motivate you.
  3. Take a walk or a run and thank God for all the gifts you notice.
  4. Set up a coffee date with someone you want to learn from.
  5. Go to the Abide site or get the Abide app and choose a guided prayer topic that fits your circumstances.

There are a million other filler-uppers. What favorites would you add in the comments?

*I love it that John Ortberg says, “Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.”

Road Trip – When you need a Rest Stop

July 6, 2015 /

Adventure starts where plans end.-3

As I wrote in the first post of this series, our family vacations were totally homemade-find-a-roadside-rest-stop-no-McDonalds-for-us affairs. And yes, we did eat peanut butter with egg salad sandwiches (those are not two separate kinds of sandwich 🙂 ).

In those pre-seatbelt safety days my dad was sometimes able to leave a narrow cubby hole in the back of our station wagon for one of us to stretch out in, but what’s imprinted on my memory is the three of us side by side in the back seat for hours on end, watching America out the window, playing the Alphabet game, Car Bingo,  and 20 Questions. I’ve tried to convince John that that enclosed, enforced family time without videos is the key to our conflict-solving skills. However it did mean that we were more than ready to stretch our legs and take a break from “He looked at me funny… She touched my foot…Are we there yet…”

Elijah is one of my favorite road trip stories, and it culminates in a rest stop – something we all need.

1 Kings 19:1-3 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. (Road trip!)

When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” (Rest stop)

Elijah wears himself out.

After seeing God’s supernatural display of power in His showdown with the prophets of Baal, and after years of being protected and fed by God, he’s afraid of a middle-aged woman – Jezebel!  He runs, not for his life really, but from his life!  He’s running from circumstances, not to God.  He focuses on circumstances and takes his eyes off God.

But he can’t outrun God. God loves him (and you and me) too much.

Wherever we are on our journey God doesn’t leave us alone.

5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

Just like a cranky toddler, God knows that Elijah needs a snack and a nap so he provides a “Happy meal” and lets Elijah go back to sleep.  John Ortberg writes about how Americans are the most sleep deprived nation in the world and says “Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is sleep.”

7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. 

The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

Elijah focuses on the negative and it’s an exaggeration…distortion of the truth.  God says in verse 18 that there are still 7,000 in Israel who haven’t bowed to Baal.  What are the negative “tapes” that play in your head when you get down?

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

Sometimes when we’re lowest God speaks softest – we need to lean in close to hear Him.

13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

I love it when we see God ask questions like this in Scripture!  He KNOWS the answer, but He wants a relationship with us and a relationship involves dialog…interaction…We are invited into a conversation with the Almighty God.

14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

Elijah repeats his “poor me” speech. He forgets God in his recounting.  He skips over the miraculous powerful way God has shown up time after time. When we get to overstretched isn’t this the same way we’re affected? We lose perspective.

Isn’t it incredible that God can take anything we dish out and is patient with us?  He lets Elijah vent and then calmly gives him new instructions.

15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.

We lose our balance and our joy when our output exceeds our intake, our talk exceeds our walk, our worry exceeds our wonder.

Questions

Bill Hybels suggests an exercise that has been helpful to me. Consider three gauges on the “dashboard” of your life, like gas gauges in your car. Where would you draw the arrows on each of these tanks? Towards the F for Full or towards the E for Empty?

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  • Which tank do you need most to address?
  • Are there ways you can take mini rest stops – a pause to breathe in summer and thank God?
  • Are there things you need to say “no” to that are robbing you of the joy of a balanced life?
  • Can you share some ways that you take “rest stops”?

When Life is Loud and Crazy and You’re Doing All of the Things

March 20, 2015 /

Confession: I went running on a tiny island in the Bahamas this morning and I felt guilty that we have generous friends who have lent us their home here, and we can take the time to enjoy it in this season of our lives.  And as I am running feeling all the guilty feelings, here’s what I’m thinking…

I’m wondering how many of you read the post on Wednesday about doing good, and you sighed deep, and your shoulders slumped, and you Just. Felt. Tired. Even more tired maybe than usual. Because for you it’s a season of weariness.

  • You’re a single 20-something working two jobs while trying to put yourself through grad school.
  • You’re a business owner with huge responsibilities to bring in revenue, and cast vision, and lead your staff well.
  • You’re a married mom working outside the home and raising kids while trying to keep your marriage alive.
  • You’re homeschooling 4 kids and volunteering as a coach or a deacon or a leader in some capacity.
  • You’re a single mom juggling job, daycare, car-pooling, finances, house repairs and….

You’re stretched to the max.

You read the post and wanted to throw something at the screen and yell, “I don’t need a kick in the pants! I need a latte and a massage!” 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

Holding My Breath

July 2, 2014 /

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

When I started running, I became much more aware of the importance of rhythm and rest, and basics. Like breathing.  And not holding our breath til we, you know, pass out.

This is not about Sabbath, but Selah. 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.

lake2

If, as Eugene Peterson says, Sabbath is a day of “shutting down and shutting up.” maybe Selah moments are those in your day where you stop to think about breathing.  Reorient, and remember that you’re not in control, but you know the One who is. Continue reading

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