I have noticed when I am feeling “behind” I tend to dream about a huge idea and all the steps that can into it. And then I make it seem very insignificant or anti-climactic to just take the small step right in front of me.

And then I don’t take the step!

Gaaah! Why is that?

It isn’t that big ideas aren’t good. But those dreams or goals are built on many little steps. And those are the things that are directly in front of me. I am unmotivated to do them because they seem so insignificant, but they are not.

They are building blocks to the next level.

When I think of this in terms of my prayer life I think I need:

A big weekend retreat.
A schedule I do not waiver on.
A special place and all the things.
A new prayer book or Bible.
A sparkly new journal and smooth flowy pen.

None of those things are bad — in fact, they all have their place and can be very useful on the journey.

But, they can also be the thing that we are waiting for to get situated before we even get started.

Just a reminder, time with God does not require anything fancy. It just requires our presence. Don’t let some of those great resources get in the way of your time with God today. The most essential ingredients to a beautiful prayer life with you and God are you and God spending time together!

Blessings on your day!
Liz

We all have them.

Some things exceed our expectations. And some things do not match up.

From little things to big things, we all have expectations. And its not necessarily bad to have them. Even reasonable expectations can go unmet.

This is not how I thought my life (job, child, marriage, vehicle, retirement, ___________ – fill in the blank) was going to be.

And yet, here we are.

Of course, if something exceeds expectations, it’s awesome.

But, if we spent years dreaming about or Pinteresting our wedding, our career, our perfect home, our perfect children, and perfect life, things will fall short. Not to mention we can watch what everyone else is doing on IG and FB and feel like our corner of the world is falling apart.

And, even if we haven’t done that but have generally reasonable expectations, it can still be a shock to the system that things are not going how we kind of thought they would go.

I think it is important to notice that there is something that isn’t lining up. Adjust expectations where they can be and address the ones that are non-negotiable.

When I am disappointed by how things are going, I first acknowledge how I am feeling. Sometimes I go through a range of emotions like anger, sadness, frustration, or grief before I recognize that I am disappointed. Maybe a little hurt is mixed in there. I ask myself, “What is bugging me?”

Then I look at what I can do to make adjustments:

Am I expecting too much?
Am I expecting too little?
Am I off base altogether?

And then I ask God to show me what’s next.

If you have found yourself in a place where you are disappointed about the trajectory of the way things are going, check in with a few solid people and share your concerns.

Acknowledge your fears and frustrations, even if only to you and God.

And then talk with God about it more. Write it out. Speak it out. Whisper it out.

As you process your thoughts and feelings and pray about it, I trust God will give you His insight.

Blessings on your day!
Liz

Apparently I forgot to press “publish” on yesterday’s PrayerPoint so today you get two!

Wherever we are is a place where God’s work is happening.

You might dream of big adventures of serving God in foreign countries and those things might happen. But you can also faithfully serve God right in the spot you are in right now.

God’s work is always around us and the opportunity to be a part of it is, too.

Family, friends, neighbors — these are easy places to serve. Maybe not easy in the sense of the task but easy because these are the people right around us. If you keep your ears and eyes open you will certainly hear of or see ways to serve your family, friends, and neighbors.

Church and community — this is another close by and accessible. It’s not exotic, but I will guarantee you there are places to serve within your church and community.

Mission fields are all around us —

whether our bodies and minds are in top shape for physical serving, or
our finances can build in some monetary assistance, or
our hearts are available for listening, or
we have an extra meal we can share, or
we are intentional about encouraging and praying for others….
we are all here to serve one another and bring God’s good news to the people!

Have you recognized your experiences in life might have put you in the middle of a mission field? It may not have been a place you wanted to go or chose to be (death, illness, abuse, etc) but, as you walk through God’s healing process your heart can serve others who find themselves in similar circumstances.

What is your mission field? I would love to hear about it!

Blessings on your day!
Liz

I know that there is a future, I just don’t know what is in it. I have a good imagination, though.

And, sometimes, my imagination can get the better of me.

And so, I pray for what is to come.

There will be good, bad, and ugly. And only God knows what is coming into my life in the next week, next month, next year, and so on. My prayer is that He prepares me for the future by strengthening my connection to Him today. The experiences and insights I have today will be the wisdom gleaned for tomorrow. But, and mostly, it is the leaning on God for His peace, forgiveness, mercy, love, and grace and extending them to those in my circle. As I practice those things — and certainly imperfectly — I am letting God prepare me for my future.

The days to come will not need any less of God’s peace, forgiveness, mercy, love, and grace. It will surely only need more.

I will surely need more.

Sometimes I look at the day and the situation I am in the middle of and I completely forget to pray on it.

I have such short term memory!

Whatever is now I am busy doing — fixing, deliberating, stewing, contemplating, wondering, ______________ (fill in the blank!) But the best ING I can do is PRAY-ING.

Take a moment to pray about your immediate situations. Give them to God. Ask Him to share His perspective with you — and be willing to hear it.

Blessings on your day!
Liz

I have been annoyed, begrudged, angry, and hurt by the negative things that have happened to me (or that I have done) in my past.

For the record, it certainly was not all gloom and doom, but there some unfortunate things that happened to me — and has happened to everyone, so I know I am not alone there.

But, it occurred to me that while I could carry on with all kinds of thoughts and reactions to past experiences, I could also, with an open hand, give them over to God to redeem, renew, restore, and replenish. I can pray for God to show me the good that can come of it, the heart I have for a certain kind of person because of it, the way I can share with others who might also be in a similar situation.

I can decide how I want to go forward as I consider each misstep and mistake that tries to haunt me and for those experiences that were not my doing at all but impacted me negatively. Praying through these situations and giving them over to God to work out is my preferred way to move forward.

There are times I revisit the past in a poor frame of mind and fire up the frustration of the injustice of it all. But, that isn’t something that moves me forward and towards a sense of peace.

God uses the beautiful and the ugly, the good and the bad, the heartwarming and the heart-wrenching and showers me with His grace each and every day.

Blessings on your day!
Liz

I’ve been practicing my casting lately.

There are so many cares that seem to be piling up — within the family, within the family of the people I love, in the neighborhood — and that doesn’t even count the larger scale challenges in our city, state, country, and world.

I’ve been casting them on God but it seems to be all I do.

Maybe I will go to a river bed with smooth stones and skip stones as a visual way of casting my cares on God.

And, picture all of the casting that people are doing around the world. We are casting together with others — and that feels uniting in some sense but also overwhelming to imagine that I have my own cares I am casting but then so many others have so many other cares to be casting.

For me it is a mix of relief and still a bit of a burden at the moment.

But, cast away, I will.

God cares about what is on our hearts and minds.

And we should care what is on His. Not that we can claim to know all the ins and outs about the mind of God, but we can see His heart through Scripture. And we can trust that He is working in ways that we do not know, see or understand. There is plenty of things happening in the world that aren’t so simple. If I can see a simple solution you can bet that I don’t see the big picture.

And so, I cast and cast again. And I need to remember to let those worries be known to God and trust Him as He leads me in the next steps.

Blessings on your day!
Liz

Oh my! I have missed the warmth of the sunshine.

This morning I am setting in some delightful sunshine and I plan to soak up as much as I can because we are entering into a full week of rain. So, I know, I better enjoy it now.

It is so soothing!

I have my coffee and I am sitting on the couch and it feels amazing.

Every sunny day we set up a space in front of our bedroom window for our old cat — she’ll be 19 years old in November. She lazes the day away in a sunbeam.

I was going to say she has earned her rest but I don’t think we have to earn our rest. Rest is important. It is a part of God’s plan and there is no earning it. Running on empty is not the way.

I don’t have to feel guilty for needing rest or wanting it. It is not only a part of the human experience — God Himself rested on the seventh day of Creation.

So, find a window in the sun, take time to rest, recalibrate, and rejuvenate. Pace yourself. Enjoy the present.

Blessings on your day!
Liz

Sometimes we are involved in things for the short term benefit. We’re looking for a quick win, an easy fix, or cheap shot.

Other times, we get involved in things and they turn into a permanent situation. We might dabble with something and find out we are in it for the long term because, all of a sudden, that short term thing becomes a lasting thing.

We might not even think that the situations, relationships, or projects we are getting involved with are going to be long term until they are.

Life is full of these types of situations. But when we are “all in” we commit ourselves over a long period of time. We persevere through struggle, we look past the immediate circumstance to see what can be, and we are committed to the outcome.

I imagine God has shaken His head at me a time or two at my short sighted and immediate gratification goals. But, I know He has grown in me a sense of commitment and endurance. He really models the “long haul” mentality. And the Bible shows us countless examples of generational work. God knows things are rarely resolved overnight. And we can learn a lot from His level of long suffering and patience.

Blessings on your day!
Liz

I am always amazed at connections.

The people I know — and then the ones they, in turn, know. We are really only just a few steps away from one another.

And, yet, the Earth is huge! There are places I will never travel. “Corners” of the world I will never step foot in.

I am a little sad about that. I see so much beauty — and, truly, give me all the beauty.

But there is also a share of heartbreak. That is tougher for me to face. And, sometimes, a place is featured for its beauty but, underneath, it takes heartache to sustain the “beauty”. But this isn’t a post about that.

This is a post about God’s gifts, sprinkled throughout the world. It’s the people and the land and the resources that come from the land.

I am amazed at all the gifts God has tucked into various corners of the world. There are resources everywhere — from ever place — that can be utilized for our faith, encouragement, growth, development, and health. It seems just the right things were placed in just the right places. Almost as if by design.

And, there is also a bit of interdependence — and access — that we can now utilize. Prior to international travel, each corner of the world was it’s own little space and connected its own little group. But as travel possibilities expand, each remote place becomes a little less so. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to that. There is a lot to consider there.

But the variety of birds, plants, insects, animals, underwater creatures, foods, weather, and so much more! This whole planet is loaded with so many different kinds of creations.

And then there is the creativity of the mind — there is no end to it!

So, it is a small world in some ways. But I am so thankful for God’s creation of it and that He created it with the option of continuing creativity and beauty.

Thank you, Lord, for your creation — the people, the places, the animals, the plants, and all that is around me. Help me to notice more of the beauty you have placed in my corner of the world!

Blessings on your day!
Liz