From Chaos to Creating Calm
Are you in chaos? We want to encourage you. Are you looking for calm? Turn to The Comforter to help you.
Dear Family,
Is this a chaotic time for you? Teresa & I, want to encourage you to reach out to others who can help and encourage YOU! It is important during this time that we don’t try to go this alone. This is a time of physical distancing and creative social connecting.
Are you looking for calm? Turn to the Comforter, He can lighten our load. We pray extra patience during this time. May we extend grace and mercy to our children during this time, our spouse, whoever we are shut in with, and to ourselves.
Fathers, Mothers, & caregivers, remember if you are struggling, most likely, so are your children. Ask them. Share, appropriately, your feelings. Here are four things you can do to help them and you:
Together, look for the many blessings that our loving merciful God has given us such as food, shelter, and the love of family and friends.
Count your blessings, make an actual list.
Then, look for creative ways to enjoy your blessings more. But don’t stop there!
Look for more creative ways to reach out and share your blessing with others especially those who don’t have their basic needs met.
Sons and daughters, you are so important during this time. You are young, full of life, and you matter. Be a blessing to your family, look for creative ways to bless others and encourage your peers.
Remember when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, it's up to you how sweet it is! As you come to God ask Him for guidance and direction during this time. God can be trusted, take Him at His Word, His yoke is easy.
What can you do this week to comfort and bless your family and reach out to others?
Ask God to show you. His burden is light, let Him use you to lighten someone else’s load.
““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.””
Prequel to Share Joy
Happy New Years Family!
Well, if you’ve been following our post, you know we started a three-part series “Joy” & you may be wondering about part three. Well, before I could share joy something happened that made me realize that sharing joy isn’t always easy. That led me to write this prequel of the events that have kept me from sharing joy with you.
After I handed part three off for final proofreading, I received some unanticipated feedback, and doubt came along with it. Maybe you’ve experienced a similar situation. You’re blessed in some way, you’ve overcome a challenge, or you are navigating difficulty. You have an opportunity to share your story and...
If you, like me, missed it, there should be a flashing yellow light going off in your head at the first sign of doubt! Especially when it comes to sharing your testimony. Why, because the first trick we see the enemy use in the Bible is doubt. (Gen. 3:1)
So with one email, I missed the flashing yellow and forgot that it does not mean speed up!
Instead, I began struggling to edit the post. I prayed for guidance, silence. I finally passed the post onto Jannie without telling her about the feedback I’d received. Her comments were positive. She mentioned one thing the proofer said and told me to let go, or I’d get stuck. I should have been encouraged, but I got stuck, I focused on her one point that matched the proofer.
I lost focus (Matt 14:30), and I sank into silence.
There are plenty of examples of good silence in the Bible. But that is not what I did. You see, God is working out an area of my life where the enemy uses silence to his advantage. And when I lost focus, I severed the connection and returned to my will/way of handling a familiar situation.
But here’s the thing. Although it looks & feels like the same situation all over again. I am not the same person I was the last time I was in this place. (And neither are you.)
Personal disclosure: doubt & silence are areas God is working on in my life. So, I have to live surrendered to Him when I encounter them. How? Well, one way is by acknowledging the truth of my situation to myself and to those I trust around me (accountability) instead of running or hiding. In faith, my surrender is to:
stay connected & draw closer to God,
turn toward the thing that scares me,
accept the consequence (and there were some) of my silence, and
get back on track moving forward
The good news is that when I surrender to God, I regain focus and His strength through the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish my task, to achieve my goal, to handle the consequences, and to share my joy with others.
Now, this may not be your exact situation, the thing that keeps you from sharing joy with others. But whatever your situation, remember the enemy is real, and he has no desire for any Christian to live surrendered, and he certainly doesn’t want us to share our joy, blessings or experiences to encourage others.
This experience reminded me that God created us to be in relationship with one another. Yes, we are better together, but we are also stronger together. Standing alone can leave us lonely and vulnerable, and that can make us an easy, unsuspecting target.
Did you know your silence can be used by the enemy as a force multiplier to disrupt not only your life but the lives and relationships around you?
I cannot promise I won’t go silent again like I said God is working on me, but I am surrendered. Living surrendered doesn’t make me immune in this area. Instead, I’ve noticed a greater awareness of that still small voice. It takes less time to recognize the pitfall, yes, even if I’m already in it. And, I refocus and return quicker.
My joy? My Father in Heaven NEVER gives up on me, or You!
So what do you need to stop running from and or face so that you can share joy? Post your comments below.
And now, here, is Part 3: Share Joy
And in case you missed them here is Part: 1 Find Joy and Part: 2 Choose Joy
Share Joy
Hello Family, Happy New Year! Whether you’re relieved the old year is over, excited about a fresh start or a little of both you have a reason to praise and a testimony to go with it. And that is a reason to share joy!
In the first two parts of our JOY series, Jannie & I shared how to Find Joy that's already inside you and reminded you that to Choose Joy you have to surrender to God's will and His plans.
But how can we share JOY?
“Fear not!” Those words the angels announced in Hebrews 2:10 were to calm the shepherds’ fear. And then, “behold” or take a minute, listen to focus. Not on the messenger or the delivery system but on the message. Can you remember your reaction the last time you received good news? No, great news. Did your attitude change? Did your outlook change? Did you share it? The good news the angels delivered was intended for all people, it was meant to be shared. And, it still needs to be shared.
So, how can we share joy amid real-life, the life behind our picture perfect FB/IG posts? I won’t pretend to have a perfect answer for you, we are all different and at different places. But what I want to share are two more practical things you can do to help you find, choose, and share joy.
#1 Share what you have and where you are with God. Just take it to Him. Yes, He already knows but this is an act of surrender on your part. Just as we had to accept Christ in our lives we also have to 1) accept God’s help, 2) acknowledge that “He can,” and 3) accept His help on His terms, 4) expect His answer but don’t lose sight of what He’s already given you to do until then.
#2 Live for God. Maybe this is just a reminder for you. If so, here’s your (and my) challenge. Keep this in the front of your mind… all day! Ahead of what your kids did that made you question their sanity or your own. Ahead of what your spouse did or didn’t do today or ever. Ahead of the neighbor situation, the political climate, your biggest disappointment, the crazy drivers, the inconsiderate person who “fill-in,” and this is important… ahead of how you “feel.” No, I’m not telling you to ignore any of it or discount how you feel.
I’m challenging you to talk to God about 1) your first response to any of it, 2) how to live through all of it, AND 3) how and when to share your story for His purpose.
#3 Share your story.
That night the angels came and shared the good news of Christ's birth and it was to bring JOY to all.
Family, as Christians we live in what happened next! After the blessing of Christ’s birth. We are living out the impact of His life, the grace of His death, and the power of His resurrection!
We have been reborn and our relationship with our Heavenly Father restored. We have been given a Helper, the Holy Spirit, and the power to accomplish or overcome things we could not do alone.
No matter what your past year or life was like... it is in your past. God is the only one that has already planned and established your future. (Jeremiah 29:11 & Ephesians 2:10) Trust Him.
We encourage you to make 2020 a year of renewed focus living for God!”
Lead with that and JOY (and everything else) will follow.
“Heavenly Father, thank you for the greatest gift I can ever receive. Thank you for sending your precious Son Jesus to live, die, and rise all to pay a debt I could never repay. Lord, thank you for bringing me to this point and not leaving me where I was. Lord, thank you for each day ahead that you have numbered for my life. Lord my joy is in you. Let me learn to choose joy and help me share joy with others. In Jesus’ name. Amen”
TODAY IS Your Do-over
Lamentations 3: 22-23 [ESV]
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a] his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Sunrise over AFA, CO
Not too long ago, after a very long day, no long week, I was feeling a case of the “would of, could of, should of’s” beginning to take over. I was distracted and wasn’t getting much of anything done. I knew if I stayed on this path too long I’d end up stuck or worse depressed. Sound familiar?
I was wishing I could just start over, I wanted a do-over, when the scripture “His mercies are new every morning,” came to mind. I had to smile because… God is faithful! In that moment, with just part of a verse, here are 3 things He reminded me of:
You have to encourage yourself in the Lord. I used to say (to others and myself) that I could not memorize Bible verses until someone reminded me of the power of my own words over my spirit. So, I stopped saying what I couldn’t do and started praying what I needed.
Be Careful… Don’t let believing you can’t
give you an excuse not to try, and keep trying!
It’s important to hide His Word in your heart. Now, God’s faithfulness pulls the Word that I do know out of my heart when I need it most. And, He continues to provide people, tools, and resources to help me learn, study, fill my heart more with His Word and grow.
Surrender what you have, God will do the rest.
We get a daily do-over. I don’t need to wait for the new year or the new week. What the Lord put on my heart was that today… and every moment I take a breath is an opportunity for a do-over!
No, I can’t change yesterday, last week, or that thing that happened years ago. But God has changed me. And now, whenever I choose to accept His STEADFAST LOVE and His INFINITE MERCY I get a do-over. I choose to walk in faith toward the promises HE has ahead for me.
Family, Today IS your do-over…what will you do with it?
Lord, thank you for your steadfast love and infinite mercy,
thank you for my do-over!
-Amen