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.
by Stacey | Nov 8, 2012 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Have you ever known someone who lives in the past? It could be the guy who peaked on his high school football team. It could be a mother who constantly dresses like her teenage daughter. It could be a leader or politician who served God faithfully in the beginning but eventually strayed.
It could be a person like King Rehobam. You can read about his family in 2 Chronicles 11 and his depart from truth in 2 Chronicles 12. Rehobam began faithful. He started strong. But by his fifth year as King he had become unfaithful choosing to rely on his own strength instead of God. His days of pleasing God were history.
No one can depend on former correct actions to ensure a future relationship with God. God is concerned with the choices I make today. He is concerned with the current state of my heart.
No matter how I failed yesterday, today is a chance to start over. I do need to address yesterday’s failures and confess and repent as scripture directs, but they do not hold me back from restoring a broken fellowship with my Father. Furthermore, a former spiritual high or walking closely with God for years past means little if I chose to ignore Him today. God is concerned about the current state of our relationship.
Ouch! I know I’m guilty of coasting through days without picking up my bible depending on last week’s prayer to get me through today’s trial. The big question is: What am I going to do about it? How did Rehobam move from a faithful beginning to becoming a King who abandoned the law of his Lord? Did it start with a short stretch of depending on last week’s prayer? Did he stop listening to sound teaching and start listening to his own voice instead?
King Rehobam’s story contains a warning I intend to heed. I’ve started meeting regularly with three other woman. We all attend different churches, we all have slightly different opinions on various topics. But there are many things we have in common.
We want to be found faithful.
We want to glorify God in our actions, thoughts, and words EACH day.
We want to live without regrets.
We want to give sacrificially, love unconditionally, and deepen our walk with God.
We want to be held accountable.
That’s why we meet. That’s why we bring our prayer journals and share from them. That why we confess the ugly truth about our fears, doubts, and trials.
That’s why we hold up one another in prayer.
Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
by Stacey | Sep 13, 2012 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
“It’s not about whether I can do this but about whether I am willing to surrender and fall into my Saviour’s arms. It’s about whether I’m willing to let Him carry me through this moment and every moment from here on.”
There are days I feel like a complete and total failure. There are days I think I can’t do it anymore. There are days when the next step feels too huge to even try to take it. These days beg one question:
Will I trust God to carry me through this moment and every future moment?
When the job feels unproductive, when I run like crazy but get nowhere, when the diagnosis is grim. Will I trust God? Not just with my future, but for the strength required for each step?
You see, it’s not about whether I can handle any of these things, it’s about believing that God can handle them.
It’s not about doing my best. It’s about surrendering to God’s will and trusting Him for His best.
It’s not about getting stronger. It’s about knowing God is stronger and depending on Him.
It’s not about pushing through the difficulty on my own strength. It’s about trusting God to provide for each step, one step at a time.
Picture by Morgan Falk Photography
First posted Nov 15th, 2010
by Stacey | Sep 6, 2012 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Rainy days breed insanity. Maybe it’s being cooped up in the house. Maybe it’s change in the atmosphere. Maybe it’s the crazy mom banging her head against the wall. Who knows?
All I know is the odd rainy day is okay. But string a few together and add three to eight stir-crazy kids and I’m ready to jump onto the back of the loony wagon and hitch a ride to the funny farm.
All it takes for a dreary grey day to dampen my spirit is a few crying kids hanging off my leg, dinner burning in the oven, and endless phone calls.
These crazy moments always seems to coincide with my children wanting extra cuddle time or needing to engage in serious conversation. Some days two hands, two ears, and 24 hours feel dreadfully inadequate!
I regret missed opportunities. I lose my cool when asked the same question for the millionth time. I wonder if I’m expecting too much or settling for too little.
Misgivings like these send me to my knees grateful for grace. Grace that covers all my sins. I know I need to take every opportunity to prepare my children for tomorrow. I know I need to use every moment to reinforce how much God loves them and how He has a plan for their future, a plan only they can fulfill. I also know I accomplish this through His strength alone.
Large decisions loom ahead. Friends. Education. Dating. Spouse. Career. Our kids need self-confidence, faith, and wisdom to navigate through middle school, high school, college, university, and marriage. I will not guide them perfectly because I am not a perfect parent. But I serve a God who is perfect, a God who promises to never leave me nor forsake me, a God who promises wisdom when I ask and delights in my request. God loves my children even more than I do and He longs for me to I bring them before His throne in prayer confessing my inadequacies and claiming His sufficiency.
In chaos of the moment may I never forget God is with me. That doesn’t mean dinner will never burn or my patience won’t run thin. Trust me, it has and it does. It means I have someone to turn too in those hairy moments of life. I have the opportunity model what a real dependence on God looks like.
Based on Sept 27th 2010 post.
by Stacey | Aug 2, 2012 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Some days my thread of sanity nearly snaps. What keeps it strong is belief that my God reigns. He reigns in my life, in the world, in my heart, and in my mind.
For years I gave Him reign in life, world and heart – but held back my mind choosing to dwell in the darkness of worry. This manifested in a disturbing pattern. When plagued by worry I called friend after friend to discuss my options, what might happen, or worse, what might NOT happen. We would talk the issue to death.
After talking the issue to death I felt little need to bring the matter before God. Or if I did bring it to God it was in obligation or as an afterthought. My prayers told God what should happen.
As if I knew better than Him.
Once God shed light onto this sin, (Yes, I used the “S” word), He gave me the strength and desire to change. I pledged to no longer discuss worrisome issues with friends until AFTER I discussed them with Him and I made a choice – a choice to take God at His Word.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:6-8).”
In a final attempt to round-up wayward fears I made changes – changes that have sometimes been mocked. I have been accused of living with my head in the sand because I rarely watch the news or read the newspaper.
I believe both venues sensationalize the problems of our sinful world and feed fear. Most news stories are far from noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. I’m not saying it is wrong to watch the news or read the paper, but doing so puts me on a path toward worry and sin so I abstain. I refuse to dwell on images or words that push my imagination into overdrive.
I think the ability to feel deeply and wildly imagine contributes positively to my writing. A vivid imagination is a gift. But knowing I have the tendency to take things to the extreme makes me very cautious about what I allow into my mind.
2 Corinthians 10:5 “…take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
