Epic Fail: On My Own

Total confession time.  Just between us, last week was not pretty.  Nope, not pretty at all.  Well, it had it's "up" moments for sure.  But, the lows were pretty low.  I was just struggling all week.  I WANTED to really make the most of having the kids home for Thanksgiving break.  I had visions of a fun and memory making week.  I even made some special plans--like going to ICE at the Gaylord.  But, all in all, the week just fell short.  I felt irritable and short tempered, fatigued and just all around beat down.  As is always the case, the children certainly reflected what they saw modeled.  Oh, I could sure take the high ground in a rather mature manner and point to the children to say, "THEY STARTED IT!"  But in hindsight--does it really matter which came first--the chicken or the egg?   Today's Bible study pretty well pointed that finger right back at me with this quote from Nancy Leigh DeMoss:

"The Enemy doesn't care if we 'believe' in God, if we are doctrinally orthodox, or if we fill our schedules with a lot of 'spiritual activities,' as long as he can get us to run on our own steam, rather than living in conscious dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit."

The reality last week was this simple truth.  On my own--without prayer and time in the Word--EPIC. FAIL.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Story of my life.  Over and over again--it all boils down to the screaming need for consistent and daily time with Him.  Devoted time.  Now, there were seasons of my life--when I had toddlers and infants--when this kind of time was hard to carve out.  But, there are no excuses now.  None.  So when am I gonna EVER learn this?  
 
This morning, I saw a picture painted through the words of Psalm 119 that pretty well drove this point home.  Imagine that you are on a sinking ship and have to dive into the water.  Would you REALLY refuse that life preserver?  Would you really say to that person extending it to you--"Uh, no thanks!  I'd rather chance it alone.  I just don't have time for such life saving resources."

Yet, all too often, that is what I do as I start my day.  I jump right into the water, thinking it's safe to go it alone.  I have somewhere to be and I was too slow getting ready.  I think--"Oh, I'll grab that life preserver later--when I have more time."  Then, before I know it, it's the end of the day and I'm just too tired to make the effort.  If I truly examined how those days went, I'd see clearly that I struggled to stay afloat.  


And all that struggle is simply unnecessary.  Every moment of every day, God wants to extend His life preserver to us--to avoid struggles, to avoid drowning in our own limitations, to avoid running out of steam because we refuse to call on the power of the Holy Spirit.  Just check it out.

I am laid low in the dust;

preserve my life according to your Word.

Psalm 119:25

 

Remember your Word to your servant,

for you have given me hope.

My comfort in my suffering is this:

Your promise preserves my life.

Psalm 119:49-50 

INTENTIONAL challenge:   There you have it, folks.  We have a choice to make every day as we wake up and dive into our day.  We can go it alone--and risk epic fail.  Or, we can grab the life preserver of His word, His power, His strength, and His grace.  I don't know about you--but I am not a very good swimmer.  Especially in the deep, shark invested waters of this world.  Oh, Lord!  Remind me every day to seek you in the morning!  To never neglect my time with you--to grab that life preserver and cling to it with all that I am!

  

The Busy Trap

Wow.  It wasn't until I logged on this morning that I realized just how long it has been since I last "spoke" with y'all.  It's not that I don't love you, my bloggy friends.  It's just this crazy task list I've been tackling.  Oh, how I could drone on with the excuses on just how incredibly busy this month has been.  But, yeah, my Bible study yesterday pretty much put a kabosh on any validity to the endless excuses.  Just check out this quote that opened the chapter I was reading in my Lies Women Believe book (sidenote: yes, I am still working to finish that!).

"In spite of countless time-saving devices and conveniences, most modern women (including Christian women) are living breathless, harried, frazzled lives and are believing that there just aren't enough hours in the day."         
                                      Nancy Leigh DeMoss

In case you missed the context here, Nancy puts this believe firmly under the category--LIES women believe.  Ouch!  But it seems so true in my own life.  I seriously created a spreadsheet a few days ago to help me organize the jumbled mess of tasks and deadlines floating through my head.  And, I don't mean from work--I am a SAHM, for pete's sake.  I mean for the next blessed few weeks of the Christmas season.  Christmas cards, shopping, gifts to mail, gifts to deliver, appointments, parties, blah, blah, blah.  It makes me think of something I read years ago in a fabulous must-read--Breath by Keri Wyatt Kent.  She talked about our need to establish wider margins because we live in a culture where we try to keep up with the Joneses--including our busy appointment calendars which give us a sense of importance.

I know, I know.  I've blogged about this sorta thing several times.  God even drove the point home to me through reading Keri's book several years ago, challenging me to give up my business, back out of commitments and go through a season of "no" as my friend Tara called it.  I'd be asked to help or volunteer with something, and I would call Tara, who was holding me accountable.  I wouldn't even finish the sentence, and she'd say, "NO!  It's your season of no.  Let your fields rest! Remember--farmers know that their fields need rest in between harvests."


I know I've lost sight of it a bit because this chapter yesterday drove the point home with great conviction.  As well as a great solution to this busy trap dilemma.  I just love how Nancy Leigh DeMoss points out that Jesus had a rather short time to complete a history changing ministry.  And what was the secret to his success?

I have brought you glory

on earth by completing the

work you gave me to do.

John 17:4

In his short 33 years on earth, Jesus was able to say, "It is finished" on the cross because he kept his focus on ONE thing.  What work did GOD give him to do?  Nancy says, "the truth is that all I have to do is the work God assigns to me."  Oh, I like that!  I can get really bogged down when you ask me to list all my activities and task and then prioritize and eliminate.  I get confused on which to get rid of?  I mean, I'd love to ditch things like laundry, house cleaning, dishes, and cooking...but I find them rather necessary to my role as a stay home mom. 

INTENTIONAL challenge:  But, one thing I can definitely do. I can definitely wake up each day and say, "Good morning, Lord.  What do YOU have for me to do today?  Keep me on YOUR tasks!"  And throughout each day, as I start to scurry between activities and tasks, I can say repeatedly, "Lord, show the work YOU gave me to do in this day.  Direct my attention there, and keep me there."  I can climb into bed at the end of the day and ask Him to show me where I got off track.  And, I can rest that when I seek Him in THIS way, He will direct my paths.  When I seek, I will find Him--He doesn't play seek and hide.  He's a seek and find God.  And in time, I feel confident that I will have made adjustments, according to these gentle throughout-the-day nudges, so that my life reflects HIS work for me.  Oh, blessed freedom!  My cards may not get mailed (who am I kidding?  Of course they will...)....Okay, okay....I may find other things to let go of.  And honestly, I am encouraged by this truth--even if my activities and tasks don't change at all--if I can change my attitude by seeking His purpose above all else in how I spend my day, then everything changes.  Lord, I want to bring you glory on earth by completing the work YOU gave me to do...today.  Right now!

 

 

Won't Always Be This Way

Just in case you slept for about 4 months or summered in Alaska, let me give you a news flash.  It was a long, hot summer in Texas.  Very hot.  Record breaking hot, in fact.  70 days of 100+ temperatures.  The heat arrived early and stayed.  And stayed.  And stayed.  And, like most of my fellow Texans, our solution was simple.  We either spent the summer in air conditioning or in the water.  Except that there were days it was literally too hot to be in a pool.  Another thing we did was we let our yards go.  I somehow found solace in those icky brown and parched patches in others' yards.  I wasn't the only one who gave into the heat and gave up.  I chuckled right along with you whose August FB posts included pictures from our February ice and snow.  Because we all needed to be reminded that it wouldn't always be this way--hot, intolerable, parched, insufferable.

At my annual adoption training, we were discussing the hard adjustment that many older children and their families face when they first come to America from overseas.  The phrase repeated over and over again was to keep encouraging our adoptive families that it won't always be this way.  Because in the moment it certainly doesn't feel that this is true.  It feels as though life as we know it has dramatically and forever changed and the seasons of trial and hardship will never end.

I am so struck by how many of my friends are enduring hard seasons of parenting.  I've mentioned this before, I know--but oh my!  It seems every week that I see another sweet friend at a breaking point.  The heat is getting turned up, and the hope is evaporating.  Joy and peace are sucked out as the oppressiveness sets in with these fiery trials.  I know it feels record breaking--because things have never been this hard.  It's like our Texas summer--it feels as though it will never end.  It feels as though we can't endure another day of it, and the cool breezes of change feel too far out of reach.

But, let me assure you.  It won't always be this way.  Life is like our weather--the seasons will change, eventually.  Some seasons are long--longer than it feels we can endure.  Day after day, the same heated struggle.  We might look back at pictures from easier days and reminisce, feeling as though that past history is long gone, and a fresh, new hopeful season will never come again.  This just isn't true.  Here's a promise we can stand on.

 ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 ⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

 ¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹ To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 

1 Peter 5:6-10

INTENTIONAL challenge:  In the languishing days of fiery trials, it is hard to imagine you might ever feel a cool and refreshing breeze of change.  It's hard to imagine as you feel parched and scorched that you might ever need a warm coat again.  But you will.  Seasons WILL change.  A sweet friend reminded me of this above verse in the last couple of weeks, and what a precious promise to stand on.  After you have suffered a little while, God himself will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  And you know what I've found from the desert seasons of my life?  Things won't ever be the same again.  No--in fact, God brought me out on the other side--changed in profound ways for the better.  When you get to the end of your rope, ask God to tie a knot.  And hang on till this season passes.  Because it will. 

 

Frugal Friday--Shameless Self Promotion

I am giddy today.  It's like the night before Christmas...because it is!  Sorta.  Tomorrow is the 2nd Annual CREATE Christmas event at my church, and I have eagerly anticipated this event for a year.  Seriously.  The day after last's year event, I was brainstorming how to improve it, what projects to choose, and all sorts of other details.  Because nothing THRILLS my soul like watching others create.  Especially when said others complain that they aren't the least bit crafty.  Yeah, I've learned to pay no attention to that.  Because the truth is, it's in there somewhere.  We were made in the image of a pretty creative Creator, after all.  And, I think there is something so therapeutic and encouraging about making something tangible, with your own two hands.  To be blessed with having a tiny little part in that process?  Ah-MAZE-ing!

So, it's not too late!  Here is my shameless self promotion.  Okay, technically, a promotion of our church event.  TOMORROW people!  Do not let DFW Connector construction detour you--there is a way to get to the Church at the Cross in Grapevine, from 9-1 pm, come and go.  All projects are $5 or $10.  Make as much as you want, while supplies last.  Pay on your way out for all projects you made--and have some pretty awesome (and frugal) Christmas gifts ready to go!  Even if you decided to simply gift yourself with your creations.  Just check out the projects to choose from!

beaded cross necklace...or bookmark!  $5 each (includes chain)

 

photo board (24" x 5.5")... $10 each

beaded wall cross (8" x 12"...$10 each

glass tile necklaces (square, round, heart or rectangle!)...
$5 each which includes chain or cord 

 

 

beaded serving pieces...$5 per serving piece

burner cover memo board (magnetic!)...$5 each

INTENTIONAL challenge:  If you are at all interested in pinterest, if you have aspirations of crafting but hate getting the supplies, if you think you aren't crafty--THEN COME TO THIS EVENT!  Bring a friend, a snack or drink, and cash or checkbook.  And, come CREATE some Christmas yourself.  You'll be glad you did!

I'm Waiting, I'm Waiting...

Waiting.  For such a passive activity, it requires so much of us.  And, I think in our culture--we tend to think this requires TOO much of us.  Our family loves Tim Hawkins, and totally laugh at his jokes about the Taco Bell Express he saw--because regular Taco Bells take too long?!  Truly, we live in this fast food, fast internet, instant gratification society. There's an app for everything to make everything easier...even for waiting!  How useful we found the Disney app to help us plan our trips to the parks this summer so we knew how long the waits were.  So we could avoid the long wait.  Because WHO wants to wait--for ANYTHING?

Yet, most of us are in a position of waiting right now.  Most of us are waiting for something--for those who believe, we are waiting for answers and movement by the Lord in our lives.  We have dear friends waiting on a career move.  Not just any career move, but a new job halfway around the world that will dramatically alter their entire family's lives.  They are waiting with no clear answers on how long this wait might be.  Or, how about someone I love dearly who has been waiting on the Lord to bless her with a baby--for years now?  She has endured this wait with patience and faith, sometimes anxious and in process with fertility treatments.  Other times, resting on what the next step might be.  Several friends right now are enduring very difficult seasons with their children, and they are waiting for their storms to pass.  Personally, I am waiting on the Lord to show me the next season for me--besides mothering and being a wife--where, how and when does He want to move on these dreams and ideas I have?  I have a taste of how He might want to use me, but no open doors.  And, for now, I feel Him gently tell me to embrace the mundane and wait--I feel Him encourage me that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can conceive what He has for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

As I was reading my Bible last week, I was awestruck by a fresh mind-numbing revelation that I had NEVER read in this exact Scripture that I had claimed and marked and stood upon during many seasons of my life.  My Bible is marked up next to this verse.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I put my hope.  

My soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Christianese is full of platitudes about waiting on the Lord.  This is one of those concepts that feels BLAH, BLAH, BLAH when you are having to wait.  But, I saw something last week that changed all that.

Here's what I wrote in an e-mail to our friends waiting on that job in a foreign country:  

"This Psalm doesn’t tell us we are to wait for an answer or for direction or for guidance even.  It says we are to wait FOR THE LORD.

I felt convicted this morning that so often I am waiting for the answer.  I am putting the cart before the horse.  If I put the Lord in the cross hairs of my scope—make HIM my focus—and wait for HIM, then I am putting things in focus.  Then, I am saying, YOU FIRST, Lord—then the answers will come.  Just give me YOU.  I can wait in expectation for HIM to show up—He always will.  The answers are the afterthought that will come later—behind Him." 

INTENTIONAL challenge:  Wow-ee, wow, wow.  I just love that after decades of walking with Him, His living and breathing Word brings fresh revelation.  Need some affirmation as you wait on Him? That 1 Corinthians 2:9 verse is where Paul was quoting from a verse in Isaiah--and dwell on the difference between the two:

Since ancient times no one has heard,  

no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any 

God besides you, who acts on behalf of those 

who wait for him. 

Isaiah 64:4 

Do you see the promise to stand on here?  If we can seek to wait for HIM--not the answers to our questions--but HIM, then we can be assured that while we are passive, He is active.  HE ACTS ON BEHALF OF THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM!  You might feel that no progress is being made, nothing is changing, you're waiting and waiting and waiting.  But, let's focus our seeking in our waiting to Him--let's wait for the Lord as eagerly as a night watchmen waits for the dawn.  Oh, bloggy friend--you can be assured that He is acting on your behalf.  He is moving and shaking and doing and answering and recreating and planning and plotting.  He's got it all under control.   I promise you this--if we can wake up each day and wait for Him--seek Him, yearn for Him--He will show up in ways beyond our comprehension.