by Stacey | Mar 14, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
I registered for a 1/2 marathon, something I never thought I would do. That’s 13 miles or 21.1 KM. It involves a schedule of exercise three times a week, one of those times consisting of a walk longer than ever before.
And they just keep getting longer.
This new way of life began mid-January. I started on schedule, actually, ahead of schedule. My type A personality began a few weeks early.
Then – holidays arrived. A blissful week in the hot sun on a sandy shore. A week without training. I wasn’t concerned since I started early. I could easily finish my training schedule while taking a week off. But I didn’t account for the loss of momentum and how it would affect me.
Upon our return I didn’t want to carve out 1.5 plus hours three times a week to devote to training. Not even a little bit. But lucky for me, I’m training with three other women who believe in me more than I believe in myself. They won’t let me stay on the couch. They share their success and struggles and we cheer each other onward. I have no doubts that in June we will cross the finish line together.
Tonight, as I was back on the treadmill for 9 KM, Beth Moore’s words came to mind. “When it comes to Scripture memorization, think marathon – not sprint.”
Interesting.
While I was on holidays fitness wasn’t the only priority to suffer. I am now officially two weeks behind on the Romans Project. And because it has been so long since I have recited the verses in Romans chapter one, I’m losing the verses I once knew. The past few days/weeks out of routine have tempted me to give in and give up.
Think marathon, not sprint cycles through my brain with each step on the treadmill. This is a set back, not the end. I’m in training for something far greater than a medal after 13 miles. I’m after a crown. A well done, my good and faithful servant. A hiding of God’s Word in my heart.
I’m training with a God who believes in me more than I believe in myself. His strength is perfect when I am weak.
So, today is a new day. I pick up where I left off. The verses quickly come back. Fresh motivation surges through my body.
I’m in this for the long haul. It’s a marathon. A race to hide God’s Word in my heart. By His strength I will cross the finish line.
*Kate at her first cross-country meet earlier this year. She is learning to think marathon – in more ways than one.
by Stacey | Mar 7, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
It’s hard to rest. It’s hard for this multi-tasking, type A, homemaking mamma to stop and rest.
Day one of our holiday and I found it hard to be still. I was supposed to be doing something. An article. Editing. Cooking dinner. Folding laundry. I don’t sit. I do.
But I needed rest. And once I embraced the idea of rest –I slept. I slept all night with no little voices asking for water or one more story. I slept in the morning at the beach, in the afternoon at the pool, and at night in the hotel. It was good.
I can’t believe I fought the idea of being still for so long, and I can’t help compare this thought to how I fought resting on the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is a day set aside to worship God. To draw near to Him. To foster family and friend relationships. To rest. Somewhere along the line I slipped into the tread that used Sunday to catch up on laundry, cooking and other work pushed aside all week. About a year ago I noticed this trend and decided the best way to fight it was to tell my daughter my plans. Trust me, she holds me accountable!
She’ll remind me Saturday night after prayers that after we worship God in the morning the whole day is devoted to family and fun. She can’t wait.
Some of the things that have changed for me?
- No laundry is done on Sunday. And guess what – we always have clothes to wear. It turns out I didn’t need that day to catch up.
- We all enjoy some alone time for about an hour and a half. We can do whatever relaxes us and that looks different for each one of us. Some of us read, some nap, play games, or putter outdoors.
- We have a traditional Sunday dinner of a buffet of leftovers, fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, cheese, and anything easily pulled out of the refrigerator or cupboard.
- We watch a family movie over dinner.
- Go to bed and REST. Just the way it was meant to be.
by Stacey | Feb 21, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Unexpected news rocks the world. Certainty floats in the air, uncertain.
How do you pray for God’s will when you fear you won’t bear it? How do you pray for the person who wounded you, for the loved one that walked away, for the criminal that shattered your world?
How do you pray when the hurt is so deep there are no words? With your tears.
The one who created you hears your heart’s cry. He understands your fears, your wounds, and your hopes. He doesn’t need your words as much as He desires your trust in Him. Rest in the one God, the one Lord over everything, and the one who holds the future in His hands.
He is good.
He is wise.
He is just.
He is able.
You can rest on the Rock.
Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
First posted April 17th, 2011
by Stacey | Feb 7, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
After reading this bold and painfully honest post a woman wrote to her former self, I pondered what words I might have for sixteen year old me. Would we be friends? Would she even hear what I have to say?
To that 16-year-old girl, forever trying to prove herself, seeking acceptance, and standing at a fork in the road that her young eyes fail to recognize, I say: There’s hope Sweet Sixteen.
You’re going to take the wrong road. A road that will lead you to a day two years later where you weepingly confess to the Lord your wandering heart. A road that changes everything. A road that causes your dad to say, “Honey, it may seem like the end of the world, but it gets better.”
Sweet Sixteen. Dad is right. It gets better.
God in an act of marvelous grace will bring you back to that fork, and this time you will choose differently. God will redeem those lost years wasted on your own strength, on your own wisdom, forging your own way.
It will be ten years before some scars heal. More for others. It will be nearly fifteen years before you settle into yourself and really move forward. But Dad is right. It gets better.
Your sister really is the best friend you’ll ever have. Your brothers of few words are deep thinkers who love completely. Your parents are your biggest cheerleaders and family matters.
All things your young eyes sometimes fail to see.
You’ll marry the most wonderful man and wonder if you’ll ever have children with him. You’ll move away, and come home again. You’ll embrace life, even when it shatters you.
You’ll get back up.
Your mother heart will come to appreciate your Mother’s heart, and all that she quietly did for you. And you’ll do it all for your children -quietly.
You’ll learn life, even your own life, is not really about you. It is so much bigger than that. The thought will both scare you and comfort you in a strange and intimate dance.
You’ll wish you could go back and do things differently, but you eventually accept your past as a piece of you, making you who you are. That drives you to your knees interceding for the three tiny souls entrusted to your care.
Sweet Sixteen. Dad was right. It got better. And the unconditional love he gave you paves a way of acceptance of unconditional love from your heavenly Father.
You don’t know Him as well now as you one day will. Like so many things, you won’t fully appreciate Him when the path is easy, but you will when the path gets hard. And it gets hard.
Sweet Sixteen. Your black and white world will accept some grey -in some things – but not others. You’ll come full circle and discover some things really are black and white after all.
When you come full circle, you’ll embrace the dance, Sweet Sixteen.
by Stacey | Jan 10, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Children never seem to lack confident energy. At least mine don’t. They scoop up the hairbrush and bellow with all their might, strum the umbrella guitar, bang the tissue box drums and sing until the windows rattle. They are sure in their ability to make a joyful noise – regardless of the sound that results.
Oh, to be uninhibited. To provide vocals and music, inspiring scribbles, and culinary creations with childlike enthusiasm.
My kids have never turned down a chance to try something new. Sometimes they succeed. Sometimes they fail. But they attempt with absolutely everything inside of them.
At what age do we lose that wonderful courage? The courage to step into the spotlight and perform with everything inside? The courage to try? The courage to succeed? The courage to fail?
I suspect many adults secretly wish to be capable of something… else. Anything else. But are afraid to try.
Never let fear stop you. Go ahead. Make some noise. Seek and discover the unique giftedness God has placed in you, then use it for His glory and with all your might.
“You have a ministry. However insignificant it may seem to you, it is very significant to God (Lori Salerno).”[i]
“I hope you realize how much your family, your friends, your church, your community, and this world need you. Don’t allow who you truly are to be lost, buried, or devalued… what is most truly you matters (Lynne Hybels).”[ii]
“If year after year our lives are consumed with activities we’ve been neither gifted nor impassioned to do, and we never have the chance to slide into the sweet spot of giving out of our true self, we pay a higher price in ministry than God is asking us to pay. And the saddest thing is, when we allow this to happen, nobody wins (Lynne Hybels).”[iii]
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive (Gil Bailie).”
How do we discover our unique calling? Tim Challies offers some sound advice in his book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (Crossway Books). He writes about five helpful principles to discover your gifts. These principles are: prayer, passion, asking others, trying, and trying some more.
- The obvious place to start when we are searching for wisdom is to go directly to the source of wisdom Himself. Ask God to reveal the areas in which you are gifted.
- You may find you already have great passion for an area of service in which God has gifted you.
- Asking friends that know you well, whom you trust to be mature Christians, may provide great insight and wisdom regarding your abilities.
- Try and try some more. The Holy Spirit may surprise you by uncovering a hidden passion as you try various activities and ministries.
[i] Lori Saleirno, Real Solutions for Ordering your Private Life. (Ann Arbor: Michigan , Vine Books, 2001) 52
[ii] Lynne Hybels, Nice Girls Don’t Change the World. (Barrington: Illinios, Willow Creek Association, 2005) Inside cover
[iii] Lynne Hybels, Nice Girls Don’t Change the World. (Barrington: Illinios, Willow Creek Association, 2005) 58
by Stacey | Jan 3, 2013 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
A new year stretches before me. 365 days of opportunity. The blank page full of possibilities. Will this be the year my agent circulates my book among publishing houses? Will my one year contract with the MB Herald be renewed for another year? Will we install new windows in our drafty home?
God willing, it will be a year of hugs, kisses, smiles and laughter.
On days like this, as I ponder the joy of maybe, the awesome responsibility of the absolutes hit home.
I am blessed to have three soft and pliable souls under my care. I don’t wonder if I will mother this year – I know. But the catch is, these kids don’t really belong to me. They are on loan from God. And He really cares about how I raise His kids.
That thought overwhelms. My knees buckle. No knows better than I how unworthy and ill-equipped I am for this task.
God entrusts five additional children to me as their parents work. Five more souls shaped by my responses. My tone of voice. My ability extend grace and love.
My knees ache but I remain. Bowed at His feet. Confessing my need. My lack. Dependent on Him.
This year, this blank page waiting to be written doesn’t need a book, a contract, or windows to be a success. It won’t be limited to kisses, hugs and happiness. There will be tears.
But hopefully, when I sit here next year writing a post at the beginning of 2014, I will not think in terms of achievement. I will think in terms of relationship. Am I closer to God? Do I trust Him more fully? Did I praise Him in the good and bad? Did my example illustrate to my children what it looks like to walk with Him?
You might remember my Thanksliving list – 1000 reasons to be thankful. This year my list is about possibilities. 365 positive choices I can make that God might use to change me or to change those around me. Today is the 3rd day of the year so we start with the top three:
- Instead of housework, I spent some time with my youngest playing trains. I pray this time together enforces how much I love him, cherish him and value these short but precious days.
- I responded with gentleness. I pray this is how my children remember their childhood. Gentle tones. Loving looks. Peaceful home. Patience. Fruit I desire for them.
- We turned off the T.V. and invented. Marble runs. Lego. Snow forts. Snacks. We engaged our imaginations where anything is possible. I pray for the energy to remain involved with my children in a joyful and encouraging way.
