Gatherings

Some people love having large get togethers. I tend to like the small ones.

When there are a lot of people at an event I end up not really having a meaningful conversation with anyone because there is too much going on. Maybe because I am easily distracted. Who knows.

Of course, Jesus handled both large groups and one-on-one situations in an amazing way. He connected privately with the very vulnerable and publicly criticized the overbearing leaders. He spoke to thousands and healed one-on-one.

Sometimes we are required to be out of our comfort zone and participate in the size of gathering we are least comfortable in. That helps us to stretch and grow.

But it is ok to have a preference. And it is ok for your preference to change over time.

The important thing is to be sure to gather and connect.

Satan does some amazingly destructive work when he can isolate us.

If you have not been invited to connect recently, step out there and do the inviting! Take time out for a coffee or walk with a friend and catch up!

All in

I am on the road and I am all in where I am.

And when my schedule is disrupted and I get in the groove of the day, some of my habits get left behind.

So, here we are.

I have been prioritizing people for the last few days so the timing of my posts have been a bit sporadic.

But, let me encourage you to be all in where you are. Enjoy the sights and the sounds and the people. And let God tune you into the needs of those around you. When you are “all in” you can see and hear more. If you let outside interference distract you, you might miss some important bits of info.

As you plan your week, tuck your phone away and be present. The opportunity to connect is all around if you your eyes, heart, and mind are open to it!

Ruts and Roads

When traveling, your state of mind is everything.

Where are you headed?

Why?

Who will you see when you get there?

Who are you traveling with?

Sometimes it starts as one type of journey and morphs into another. If you are open to travel then you must be open to adventure. If you like things very predictable and just the way you like them, then don’t bother leaving your circle.

When I feel like I am in a rut, I like to get on the road. I am not too wild, but I try to be flexible and open to new foods and new experiences.

None of this may seem very spiritual, but it can be.

God can bring a sense to our journey — even if it seems haphazard and more like a 40 year wandering.

Lessons were learned in the desert.

Are you curious and open to learning what God is shaping in you today?

Offense or defense?

What is your prayer posture?

For me, it all depends.

Sometimes there is an immediate need or situation I am praying for: healing from illness or injury, peace in the midst of a difficult circumstance, or protection when I know someone is in peril.

Other times, I am just praying much more generally for someone — in advance of any need I know about, but will surely come their way. In terms of my kids or grandkids it might be things that occur in their lives after I am no longer on this Earth.

It is easy to see that praying for others can take quite a bit of time. As we get older and spend less time doing and more time being, we may more easily find the time to pray.

But, we can also start today!

Do you have someone you can pray for through all of their upcoming life stages? I have my grandkids in mind. We have two 5 year olds and a 3 year old. They have a lot of life coming up and I am praying for them and all their upcoming life experiences.

Whose life are you covering in prayer?

Sometimes it starts with seeing a need

Who do you pray for?

I have a typical list of people I pray for. And then I have the people I pray for by circumstance and situation — it’s more like a blanket prayer.

And then there are people I pray for that for some inexplicable reason they are on my heart. Of course, I can explain it. It isn’t inexplicable, it’s just that God put them on my heart for some reason.

I often know precious little about them or their situation. And, as I mentioned before, I don’t need to know the situation. I don’t even need to know them. My prayer isn’t a cop out for not physically doing something for them. It is doing something.

It isn’t a last resort, it’s a first resort.

In my opinion, praying for someone is a high honor. Saying their name before God and asking Him to protect them or provide for them in their need is important.

Who do you know that may not have anyone praying for them? In addition to your regular prayers, add them to your list. If you have a perspective to see their need — even if you are wrong about that — if you are moved to pray for them, do it!

This doesn’t mean you won’t ever take other action on behalf of that person or others. But, I believe that in the praying not only are you interceding for them, God is using your responsiveness to make you more aware of the needs of others. Who knows? He may be growing something inside of you that is an angle that He would like you to pursue.

Sometimes it starts with seeing a need.

Behind the Scenes

Scenario A: If you have ever been to a play or worked on a play or any performance, you know there are a lot of things that go on “behind the scenes.” There are sometimes double the people you see out front scurrying around in the back getting things where they need to be and taking care of technical things. The “scene” might look amazing and the “stars” may as well, but the real stars are everyone who worked together to make it happen, not just the people out front.

Scenario B: You surely have seen someone who created a picture perfect world either in real life or on social media. The posts are all coordinated and perfect and everyone looks darling but what it really took to get to that was some ugliness. The “behind the scene” is the sad reality. And the drive to present something completely different overtakes their life.

Scenario C: Maybe you have heard the fictional story about the person who talks to God about what a disaster their life is. They are comparing it to the “backside” of something like an embroidery project that is not designed to be viewed from that angle. And God reassures them that He sees their life from the top side. They are only seeing their life from “behind the scenes” with an awareness of the difficulties when He looks at all and what He is doing to bring it together to be something beautiful.

We all have things going on “behind the scenes”. Some of it is good, some of it is bad, some of it is neutral. Being a real person doesn’t necessarily mean you show every person every wart you have. But having a few people in your life where you can be real is really important.

God knows our hearts and longs for us to express our fears, failures, excitement, disappointments — all of it. There are trustworthy people out there to share with, too. When we are vulnerable and share the difficulties of our days with others, it helps them see our humanity and invites them to share theirs as well.

There are times we may have to “take the stage” and act as if things aren’t difficult, depending on the situation. But let’s not let that be the general way we are. Then reality gets confusing for everyone!

Psalm 139 is such a great place to start for real, honest conversation with God. He loves you and wants you to bring it all to him: the good, the bad, and the ugly. He is sure to work in and through us with it all to make something beautiful.

Measuring Progress

Yesterday was about measuring success.

Today let’s talk about Measuring Progress.

Two steps forward and one step back is progress. Over time, you will still get to where you are going. Sometimes it doesn’t happen as quickly as you want.

You might regress a bit, revert to a previous state, or return to spot while still, in the big picture, be making progress.

I read a book a couple of years ago “Start More Than You Can Finish” by Becky Blades https://www.beckyblades.com/

and it really shifted my perception….

of myself!

I sometimes start things and don’t finish them and can beat myself up over it. I can certainly learn something from making a commitment and following through. But, not everything I try is for me.

Maybe that is why I didn’t keep up with baton twirling when I was in elementary school. I took a class at the YWCA. I had fun and learned how to move the baton through my fingers — I still can!!!! But, that was the beginning and the end of my interest.

I thought I wanted to be a lifeguard and so I started working toward that in high school but then I just didn’t love the water that much. I still don’t. I like a jacuzzi. I am happy to hang out in a lake or ocean and go snorkeling but I am not a swimmer for swimming’s sake.

Sometimes a new project reminds me of an old project and I find my way back to it. Sometimes things just need a bit more incubation time before they are ready to be fully explored. Sometimes it is just a season of life.

You didn’t mean to set down that book your started to read or write but something interrupted you and you never got back to it. Life can be like that!

I want to encourage you to take some big steps back when you are measuring progress. Don’t get so focused on the immediate results that you can’t see the bigger picture.

One thing that strikes me about God is that He is the God of generations. He is the Creator. We each have our own bents and inclinations and He works in and through those. I am far harder on myself than He is on me. He knows my flaws so well and, yes, He wants me to leave sin behind. But, He also knows that I am a sinful human operating in a world filled with sin.

He loves me. And, He loves you!

Your progress is imperfect. Your life’s journey might be bungled with mistakes — I am sure that is the case for everyone. But the love God has for you is extensive and true. Rest in His grace. Keep moving forward in love — for yourself and for those around you.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV]

Measuring Success

When you look at anything — a goal, a project, a life — there are so many different ways to measure success.

This year, I am reading through the Bible. My goal is to do it in 365 days. I would have liked to have said I have been “faithful” every day but I have already had some days I didn’t do it. I got caught up. Does that count as success?

I am still on the course so we will see how it ends up.

But, what if it takes me 370 days to do this instead of 365? Have I failed?

What is my goal? What am I measuring?

Am I using the right tool?

Measuring success for a timid toddler who needs to practice walking is getting back up again, after a fall — not perfect walking. At least, not yet.

Measuring success for someone who has been waylaid by serious illness or an accident might be to be able to feed themselves again and keep working towards independence.

Measuring success might be when your independent strivings cease and you are willing to be vulnerable and accept help from someone.

What is “success” in God’s eyes? Does He even measure that?

Sometimes we don’t exactly know what success will look like because it isn’t always easily measured. It can be about numbers, but it often isn’t.

Is it possible that what we learn while we are on our quest for “success” is more of the point?

Lord, give me a new perspective on success. Let me not be limited by earthly measurements.

Lapse, Relapse, and Setbacks

We’ve had illness at our house since February 1st.

Today is March 16th, and I am ready for a healthy home.

I have a cough that is hanging on a bit. But I really can’t figure out if Don’s illness has morphed from the original or he was on the mend but then had a relapse.

Of course, we won’t ever really know. And it doesn’t much matter. It’s just how it is.

But, it got me thinking about lapses — in judgement.

And relapses — which don’t always involve judgement but sometimes do.

And then, of course, setbacks which cover a wide range of things from mental, physical, spiritual, financial, and more.

They are all interruptions that take you off the path you had hoped or planned to be on. And they can be frustrating.

But, there is also some learning that can happen in those times as well. Are you teachable? Are you curious? Would you like to figure out how to get closer to solving that persistent problem?

And, possibly, is this that “thorn in your flesh” that I suspect we all have? The Apostle Paul talks about his in 2 Corinthians:

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. [2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV]

We are living on an Earth riddled by sin. And our sin contributes to it as well. What if this thorn in the flesh is actually something for our good — to keep us tethered to God and dependent on Him for our every day? At the very least it can be something used for our good, by God.

I am not a theologian. But I know God loves me. And I trust His work in my life.

Sometimes I cause my own grief and sometimes difficulties are thrust upon me. I lapse and relapse. I have and will continue to experience setbacks in all the ways.

But, I am confident in God’s work in and through it all. I pray you are as well!

His grace is sufficient for you, for His power is made perfect in weakness!

Cynics, Skeptics, and Discernment

A cynic is a person who habitually expects things to go wrong, or questions the value or worth of things; a person with a negative, pessimistic, or mistrustful outlook. [oed.com]

A skeptic is a person who doesn’t believe something is true unless they see evidence. Skeptics are doubters — they need to see proof before they will believe. [vocabulary.com]

A jaded person has seen enough of a particular situation to know when to move on and try to find something better, a cynic just has an underlying distrust of everything and therefore will not find anything better.

Discernment is the ability to tell things apart—to separate them, even when they appear to be very similar. People with discernment are able to make keen observations about things. Discernment is often thought to be an ability of those with wisdom or experience. It often involves making a judgment, especially about things that aren’t obvious. For example, it takes discernment to accurately judge someone’s character. [dictionary.com]

All of us have been in a situation where we have lost trust in something (an institution) or someone. How we move forward from that experience is really important.

I have certainly been cynical, skeptical, and/or jaded at different points in my life. And when a certain action brings up a feeling I have felt before, I tend to try to discern what the situation is.

I don’t want to be stuck in one of those modes because it truly is against my general nature. However, there are unhealthy people and unhealthy systems out there. During our lives we are bound to run into a number of them.

They are even in the church!

I won’t get into all the details, but, I have been up close and personal in numerous situations where “people of God” were doing some ugly things.

And somehow, my faith in God’s goodness and purity and love was not damaged.

I am so thankful!

Of course, my faith and trust in people has been affected. So, pardon me if I don’t trust so easily.

Having experiences where you come out a bit cynical, skeptical, or jaded might serve to sharpen your discernment. As long as you don’t get stuck in those places it can help you have empathy when people are there.

Let God use all experiences to grow your faith and understanding.