allume

real light living

For Those who feel smothered, stressed, and a little more dead than alive

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When all you want is life

To the right of our garage, we have a huge garden. The space is ample, the soil fertile, and the drainage excellent. Plants growing there receive just the right amount of sun and shade, and our set up makes picking fruits and vegetables easy.

The first 3 years of planting a garden, our harvest was bountiful. Beans, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and so much more filled our counters and afforded us another way to bless others. Plenty of breads and desserts and breakfasts were improved with our fresh raspberries and strawberries, and our kids learned valuable lessons in caring for a garden.

But the past three years our garden has looked very different. Instead of a charming space and lush crops, our garden bed looks like an overgrown nightmare.

No longer do we have rich produce and healthy plants. Instead, weeds have overtaken our garden and choked out the life that once generously grew there.

We’re talking about being alive here on the Allume blog this month, and I know the garden / weed / life analogy can be overdone in Christian circles. I can’t quote a number with accuracy, but it sure feels like the parallels number in the thousands and I tend to gloss over when someone begins another one. But God is the originator of this particular figure of speech, so I’m jumping on the bandwagon because here’s the thing: our garden didn’t get choked out because of malicious sabotage or a purposeful decision to walk away. No, our garden was overgrown because of a lot of distractions and a few missed days of weeding.

Sure I thought about how I needed to get my hands dirty and pull a few weeds, but slowly, those weeds become part of the landscape, and I overlooked them, turning a blind eye to the choking power of the weeds and not caring about the consequences. I missed our old harvests, but the work required to get back to healthy seemed too daunting, so I did nothing until we no longer had a garden of anything good. 

The slow suffocation can be true of our lives too. How often we’re afraid of what we find in our heart or we’re too busy and distracted to listen and obey God’s voice. We don’t get our hands dirty confessing the little seeds of bitterness or jealousy or anger or pride, until one day we are shocked to find the bitter fruit that has grown in our lives.

Sister, we have an enemy who is seeking to steal, kill, and destroy the gardens of our lives. He wants to distract us and appease us and lull us into complacency until soon we have nothing left. But if we belong to Jesus Christ, our hearts are never too far gone. Jesus died so that we can have life in Him and have it to the full!

Yes, it will take work. {No, our work does not save us. Jesus Christ did that and in His lavish grace it is free, free, free, never earned, only accepted. If we have repented and believed in Jesus, we are His. We are saved!}

But now the work comes. Now we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We are commanded to do the work of abiding in Jesus. Really, abiding is no work at all. Sure it might feel like work at times, but that’s usually only when we’ve allowed weeds to steal our oxygen. But when we breathe in Jesus, when we abide in Him, there is life and peace and rest. Jesus is the only way to the good fruit of joy, peace, and faithfulness.

Do you feel like busyness or bad habits or unexpected circumstances are choking out the life God intended for you? Don’t settle for less than what God has already given you! Fight the enemy! He might be waging war, but God has already secured the victory and we can live in that victory!

Here are 3 things you can do to start pulling those nasty weeds and begin to breathe again:

  • Confess — Get clean before God. What has become part of the landscape of your life that doesn’t belong? What sin, bad habits, and poor choices have you overlooked or turned a blind eye to? What in your heart needs weeding — what needs to be dug up, rooted out, and cleared away? What is choking  out life and growth and freedom? Ask God to search your heart and reveal your sin that you might confess it before Him and be free from its grip.
  • Believe – Get in God’s Word to renew your mind, reframe your thinking and hear His voice.
  • Obey – Act on what God says. Follow the commands in His Word and follow by faith what He presses on your heart.

When we confess, believe, and obey, we doing the “work” of abiding – rooting out the weeds and staying firmly planted in the rich, good soil of Jesus, and it’s never too late to start {or begin again}.

What Does Your Bridge Cost

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be willing

If you haven’t yet noticed, May’s theme for the Allume blog is “bridge.”  So of course the idea of a bridge has been rolling around in my mind for the past few weeks, and honestly, the 90’s hit “Love Can Build a Bridge” by The Judds is what pops into my mind every time I think about bridge as a writing prompt.

Maybe that’s what we’re going for here, not the actual ballad of course but the idea of the song — love really can build a bridge.

In fact, Love did build a bridge. 

1 Timothy 2:5 tells us that Jesus is the bridge between God and man, and “this is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16 NLT).

Because God calls us as Believes in Jesus Christ to lead people to Jesus, we, too, are to be bridges!

But here’s the thing, if we want to be a bridge, we must first count the cost.

Being a bridge is not easy. Think for a minute about a bridge.

Bridges are walked on, taken for granted, and overlooked. A bridge certainly doesn’t choose who walks across, nor does it have any control over whether or not the person will make it to the other side. Sometimes the traveler will turn around and go right back to where they started.

Being a bridge can feel quite similar, can’t it?  The reality is that as a bridge, many times relationships and circumstances will be painful and thankless. We will feel overlooked and unappreciated, beat down and taken for granted.

Am I ready for that? Are you?

See, most of the time, I want to stand up and be seen. I want to be the signpost on the corner that people look to for guidance and whose advice they heed. But the reality is, if God has called me to be a bridge, then when I stand up, I just get in the way. I become an obstacle rather than a path.

God hasn’t called me to stand up and be seen but to lie down and be willing — even if that means I get hurt. Sure, bridges have boundaries, but even with boundaries, bridges are still walked on and used and many times unnoticed. But isn’t that what gets people to the other side?

Our love for one another will prove to the world that we are Christ’s disciples (John 13:35 NLT). Is love making me into a bridge?

We’re quick to remember that love is patient and kind, but that part about not being self-seeking or easily angered and especially the line about keeping no record of wrongs, that’s where our memories get a little fuzzy.

Love always protects, always trusts. Despite the disappointments, love always hopes. Regardless of the trials, love always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13)

Love lays low, often advancing through surrender, gaining by relinquishing.

Jesus laid down His life for us, and He has called us to do the same.

Love is the strongest bridge of all, crossing all boundary lines and connecting us together in ways otherwise impossible.

I might be the most persuasive speaker or eloquent writer. My knowledge could be unmatched or my wisdom profound. I could even have faith that could move mountains, but without love, none of that matters. (1 Corinthians 13)

Love is the bridge.

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).

Friend, being a bridge is not cheap, but God already paid the price.

 

Question for You:

In what ways do you struggle to lay down your life and be a bridge for others?

The Very First Step to a Focused Life

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The Very First Step to a Focused Life

Many of us are familiar with the old adage, “Jack of all trades, master of none” because we feel it correctly describes us. We know how to do many things with average ability, but lack the skill to do any one thing unusually well.

Our social lives tend to follow this same trend, though we’d describe it in different terms. With friendships, we aren’t a “Jill of all trades,” instead we lament that our circle of friends stretches a mile wide but only an inch deep.

Concerning our schedules, our calendars are so littered with appointments, activities, and obligations, we’ve become rushed, frazzled, and unable to focus. We are running, shaky and out-of-breath, and we are ready to collapse.

How do we begin to change?

The question is imperative because we can’t continue in this same approach, being rushed along with the current of our culture, allowing life to simply happen to us.

How do we begin to change? How do we begin to live a focused life?

I am asking myself these same questions because how many times have I lamented my overwhelmed schedule and my distraction-led life?

Ever since I was a little girl, my grandfather reminded me of a very simple concept — “Ordinary ability, when focused, excels.”

His wise advice applies to far more than skills and talents. Every time Grandpa shared this wisdom, he spoke to the power of a purposeful, focused life. One that starts, first, with seeking the Lord.

“One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:4).

Do you want a focused life? A purposeful life? A life that doesn’t settle for ordinary but excels and sparkles with the glory of God? Seek Him first.

"Ordinary ability, when focused, excels." {Dr. George Sweeting}

Spend time in the Scriptures. Pour out your heart to God in prayer. Listen for His voice, and walk obediently in faith. He will lead you. And as He does, trust Him in the process and the place He’s chosen.

When you are following God’s lead — not what everyone else in the blogging world is doing, not what your best friend is doing, not what the mentor you so admire is doing — when you do what God leads you to do, you will not miss out. You will not get left behind. You don’t have to worry about measuring up or becoming a success.

On those days you’re worried you’ll never “make it” because your role as Mom is more than a full-time job, trust God to be faithful with the few.

Trust HIM to “build your house” — to establish your legacy, protect your reputation, build your ”platform” — while you’re faithful with the few to whom He’s called you.

We can lie down and sleep because it is the LORD who sustains us. Our ambition and success and accolades and social network will not sustain us. The Lord does.

There is rest, not striving, when we are faithful in the places God has called us.

When you’re feeling off-kilter and lopsided, ask yourself:

  • How is my relationship with the Lord? If I’m not spending time with Him by reading the Bible and praying, I must start here because everything else in my life stems from this. Once I am growing and abiding in Jesus, I move to the next question.
  • How is my home? What is the state of my relationships with my husband and kids? Am I letting obligations, distractions, or any other pastimes impede my relationships with my family? Am I living distracted, consistently missing opportunities to really see and hear them? Repeatedly sidetracked from the time we can spend together?

Once those two questions are settled, we can pray through our other obligations and priorities. We’re not striving for balance, we’re seeking a rhythm, and that rhythm feels much more fluid when those first two priorities are in order.

As we seek God, He will show us where to focus our time, energy, talents, and treasures. Will we obey?

Will we trust Him in the unseen, unknown, small places? Will we walk obediently — focused on Him? Seeking Him? Trusting Him with the results?

We have the time. We have the resources. We have all that we need to seek the Lord. What’s holding us back?

Asking, seeking, knocking with you,

Erika

erikadawson.com

When You Feel Overwhelmed

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When You Feel Overwhelmed JPEG

Two weeks ago, we welcomed our brand-new baby girl into our family.

By the grace of God (and in answer to many prayers from this heart!), our sweet Eleanor has been a great sleeper and a great eater. She has really been a dream-like baby, so far, and I am so incredibly grateful.

But I have to be honest. Today my husband goes back to working long hours, and it is my first day home alone with all four kids. To say that I haven’t experienced a good bit of anxiety thinking about this day, would be a lie. I have felt overwhelmed at the responsibilities before me  and the thought of jumping back into a day-to-day rhythm on very little sleep and a newborn!

I know we’ll get through it, but I want to do so much more than just get through the day!

I’m trusting God to be my strength, and I’m leaning hard into the Spirit of God to bear fruit even in the midst of my exhaustion, but those feelings of being overwhelmed continue to creep up.

As I’ve thought about the anxiety I’ve felt, I began wondering: are any of you experiencing feelings of being overwhelmed?

You may not have a new baby in your home, but maybe it’s too many commitments or a new responsibility you’ve accepted. It might be the struggles of juggling homemaking and pursuing a God-given dream at the same time. Maybe for you, the daily urgencies of life are crowding out what you know is most important.

Whatever it may be, if you have been feeling overwhelmed, I want to encourage you to surrender those feelings to the Lord.

The moment I feel the anxiety begin to creep in, I pour out my heart to God, admitting how I feel and confessing my lack of trust in Christ’s sufficiency. For me, this time of prayer is a time of  yielding, falling at the feet of Jesus, letting go of my plans, my fears, me, me, me, and grabbing hold of Jesus.

After this time of confession and submission, I grab hold of the Word of God and replace those overwhelmed feelings with the truth of God.

The Bible tells us to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).  If I don’t control my thoughts, my thoughts will control me. 

Instead of dwelling on those things that are making me feel overwhelmed, I meditate on the truth of God’s Word and hold fast to His promises.

These are a handful of the verses I turn to over and over when I am feeling overwhelmed. I’m praying they are an encouragement to you, too.

  • “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3 ESV)
  • “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7 NLT)
  • “O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge…” (Psalm 61:1-3 NLT)
  • “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” (Psalm 28:7 ESV)
  • “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)
  • “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 ESV)
  • “When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” (Psalm 94:18-19 ESV)
  • “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling…Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:1-3, 10)
  • “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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV)
  • “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

Question for You: What helps calm you when you are feeling overwhelmed?

 

Original Photo without words {Flickr Photo Credit}:  Sara V.

I Don’t Want a Balanced Life

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I don't want a balanced life

During the long drag of years before our youngest child went to school, my love for my family and my need to write were in acute conflict. The problem was really that I put two things first. My husband and children came first. So did my writing. (Madeleine L’Engle)

We strive for balance all day long — fighting to tip the scales and even the weights.

Pour out a little here, add a little there; pull back, jump in; commit, rescind — collapse overwhelmed. 

Life becomes a crazy two-step in which we’re only tripping over our feet in an effort to keep up.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve put so much energy into trying to find balance — praying and questioning and reevaluating, trying hard to know where, how, and with whom to spend my time, set my priorities, accept or decline commitments.

When should I say yes? How often do I say no? Am I attempting too much? Too little? Should I cut back? Where, when, how?

How in the world can I cut back? A new schedule? New routine? Tighten the reigns of self-discipline? Hire help? Just give up?

When I think about balance, I think of those old scales we used in science class — pans on either side of a fulcrum. We’d have to add or subtract weights on one side to make sure the scale didn’t dip too far on the other. In some ways, the two sides were in competition, and we were working hard to make them even and keep them balanced.

After all, that’s what balance is.

I did a quick search and found that the first two definitions in my computer’s dictionary describe balance as:

  1. an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady
  2. a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions

Sound familiar?

We do that in life, don’t we? Weigh our ministry against our family — or vice versa — and try to discern how to keep these callings balanced: “evenly distributed, upright and steady, in the correct proportions”?

But maybe life is less about balance and more about alignment. Less about our dreams and our realities competing with each other and more about them working in tandem, together.

Alignment is defined as:

  1. arrangement in a straight line, or in correct or appropriate relative positions
  2. a position of agreement or alliance

Life isn’t ministry or family; writing or mothering.

As we pursue God first and foremost, submitting to Him, and following His lead, so many of the questions dissipate because He orchestrates our circumstances and our dreams, using them in synchrony with one another, moving us toward the bigger story He has written for our lives.

He is our dream-giver, our moment-maker.

When our dreams and our realities are submitted to Him, He brings alignment in our lives.

That’s not to say there won’t ever be times of tension between the two — isn’t that part of the journey? of the surrender? of the living by faith?

I have competed for balance for so long, fought for equilibrium, searched to find my footing — to “remain upright and steady” and keep my life “in the correct proportions.” But I would much rather live a life of alignment, where every part is in its “appropriate relative position.” 

I want every part of my life to line up with the life God is calling me to live. I want to be set on a straight path, all the pieces in agreement and alliance, moving forward in the story God has written for me.

Maybe it’s time to stop striving for balance and stop investing so much energy in keeping things even. Rather, let’s allow God to bring all the pieces of our lives into alignment as we seek Him daily, minute-by-minute and walk forward in faith.

After all, maybe living in the tension is exactly where we need to rest, that we might stay on our knees, seeking the One who holds all things together and leads us forward on straight paths.

When You’re Afraid to Leave

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When You're Afraid to Leave

She could barely get the words out. Her tears soaked my hair as her little face rested against mine.

Bedtime started as ordinarily as ever last night, but as I turned out the light, fear spilled out of my little girl’s heart. These were big things — sickness and death and goodbyes. Cares a five-year old shouldn’t be carrying.

Worry oozed and fear gripped my girl.

I could see myself in her. Fear has always been a stronghold in my life. Even as a child, I couldn’t last the night at a friend’s house without being so ravaged by fear, I’d have to call home.

Homesickness, they called it.

The only way I could make it a night away was to open the Word and cling to Peace.

So last night, I did with her, what I learned to do so very many years ago. We leaned on Truth.

I looked forward to bedtime yesterday.

I had been eager to get writing. The deadline of this post loomed, but I knew that no naps and lots of fresh, fall air promised an easy, early bedtime for the kids.

But bedtime wasn’t what I expected, and as I sit here now, searching for words to fan the flame of excitement about Allume, all I can think of is how scared I am.

I am so excited about Allume — about seeing friends and meeting you and growing and learning and being challenged and encouraged. But I am afraid to leave.

I’m afraid to be so far away. I’m afraid of what could happen and the million what ifs that are traipsing through my mind.

These four people are my whole world.

The idea of leaving them behind as I fly across the country petrifies me. The thought that something could happen to one of them makes me so scared, I have honestly considered selling my ticket and not attending the conference.

Friends, call me weak, but I am afraid to leave home.

I know this post won’t be for everyone. I might even seem a little crazy to some of you, but in case there are a few others who are afraid to leave behind everything that makes this world seem right, may I just remind you, as I remind myself, what my daughter and I remembered last night?

I need to hear these words again and some of you do, too.

God knows each of our days. He numbered them. He wrote the story. He planned each day before even one came to be. And our God is a good God, who loves us and chose us and cares for each of our needs.

Everything that we experience, He has already filtered through His loving, sovereign hands, and He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Yes, in this world, we will have trials. We will experience pain, but God has overcome this world. In Him, we have a new and living hope, a hope that will not disappoint!

Dear Sister, if you, like me, are facing fear today, may we saturate our minds and our hearts in the Word of God. He will keep in perfect peace, she whose mind is steadfast because she trusts in God!

While we are away, when we are scared, can we strengthen one another with these words?

I will need you to remind me of God’s truth and of His character, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

What an opportunity we will have to encourage one another to hold fast to our God who holds us all!

May it not be said that we never feared. May it be said of us that when we were afraid, we trusted God.

Praying that each of us, by God’s will, will come with joy and be refreshed by each others’ company. May the God of peace be with us all!

-erika

erikadawson.com

 

Question for You: In thinking about the upcoming conference, what are some of the fears you are facing? How can I pray for you?

 

*I referenced quite a few Scripture passages in this post. These are a few I come back to again and again —  Psalm 139:16, Psalm 100:5, John 15:16, Ephesians 1:4, Philippians 4:19, Matthew 6:25-34, Psalm 103, Romans 8:28, John 16:33, 1 Peter 1:3, Romans 5:5, Isaiah 26:3, Psalm 56:3-4, Romans 15:32-33

 

Flickr Photo Credit: Angelo DeSantis

The Way to Spend a Life

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My grandpa is an amazing man.

God has used my grandpa to share about Jesus and teach the Bible to people across the globe. Speaking, teaching, writing, and leading, his influence for the Kingdom has been far-reaching, around the world and here in the States. Many of today’s Christian leaders regard Grandpa as mentor and friend.

Dr. Sweeting in Mountains

It seems contrary, though, to list accolades here, because if any words describe Grandpa, they would include humble, honest, genuine, and kind.

Many know his voice from a simple greeting, “Hello, my friend,” not only from his radio broadcasts, but because everyone he meets, he considers a friend. Grandpa is fun and funny, with a smile that lights a room and a matching sparkle in his eye. Family means the world to him, and he loves us so. very. well.

Dr. Sweeting and family 1986

My grandpa’s legacy runs deep and it runs long, and to say that I am proud of my grandpa would be the understatement of the year. He’s one of my very closest friends, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

My grandpa is truly an amazing man.

 Dr. & Mrs. Sweeting high school

But like they say: Behind every great man is a great woman.

No one would admit faster than Grandpa: Though he has received most of the public credit, we all know that his has been a ministry partnership all throughout the years, and Grandma has been the secret strength.

Even to this day, she stands beside him, supports him, and serves alongside of him. She prays with him and for him. They laugh together and talk together and sit long every. single. day.

Dr. & Mrs. Sweeting sitting

They honor one another and sacrifice for each other. Grandma is the love of his life and together they have loved and served and sacrificed for Christ.

Here’s the thing: many people in this world might think that my grandma didn’t accomplish much in her life. After all, she hasn’t worked, at least not in the “getting a paycheck for all I do” type of way.

She didn’t climb the corporate ladder or earn many awards. Her name wasn’t etched on the front of a book. She hasn’t built a platform or become famous.

Grandma at table

Grandma might not be well-known, but to everyone who has known her? She has made a difference for eternity. She has cried with, prayed for, sat long, held close, and given away pieces of herself and glimpses of Jesus.

Dear Stay at Home Mom

Stay-at-home-Mom, do you ever wonder if what you are doing matters?
It matters.

Each dish you wash. and dry. and put away. over and over and over. Each pile of clothes, every bathroom sink and toilet and floor. Every meal and conversation and bedtime snuggle. Each interaction you have, each look you give. Everything you do, even when no one else sees? It matters.

Like my grandma, you are serving well and loving long. You are setting an example of what it means to
love patiently,
love kindly,
love humbly,
love generously,
love forgivingly,
love joyfully,
love honestly.

You are living what it means to support and believe and hope and endure.
You are loving like Jesus.

What you do matters.

Loving like Jesus

Is being a mom hard? You bet.

We are called to die to ourselves every day. Like hot wax on our sensitive, stubborn brows, selfishness is stripped away, little by little, each and every day. Our patience is stretched, our resolve tested. Our souls tired.

I know what it’s like to feel like no one sees you. But O sweet One, God does! We serve El Roi — the God who sees! And we follow Emmanuel — God who is with us.

I know you have needs today. Your heart is heavy, and you’re battling concerns and worries and irritations.
I am, too. I have been struggling with discouragement and depression and great spiritual attack.

But we can run to God together.

Let’s press in harder, hold on tighter, and believe Him for all that He has promised.

Lift up your head, dear friend. Let’s walk with power and purpose and passion and praise. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 10:11)

Some might look at my grandma’s life and wonder if it was worth it.

My grandma may not have worked, but she works! She pours herself into our family, into each one of us, and we are better because of her.

Because of the influence of my grandma – on her husband, on her kids, on her grand and great-grandkids, on friends and family and the people she meets — millions will be introduced to Jesus. My grandma leaves a legacy of faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these has been love.

Worth it?
There is no other way to spend a life.

Therefore, my dear sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

How to write something meaningful

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Stand up to Live Thoreau Quote

Original Photo Credit

I want to write.
I want to write something.
I want to write something meaningful.
Something meaningful.

In a world with so much noise and chatter, I want to write words that make a difference. I want to write words that matter.

I want to write words of truth and joy and life,
words that inspire, equip, and encourage.

I want to write words that lead to the Word.

But sometimes, the effort of creating concepts and writing words — and then showing and sharing and soliciting help — wrings me out and wears me through!

I work hard and steal away moments: I push and I push and I push,
only to come up dry. empty. flat.

Sometimes I’m pushing so hard to write something meaningful, I fail to live a meaningful life.

Friend, some of us need the encouragement to start — to finally be disciplined, diligent, and direct.

But some of us? Some of us need the courage to pause — to remember that we don’t have words to write if we don’t have a life to live.

Some of us need to be nudged out of our routines and off of our plans — we need to close our eyes and breathe deep, throw our heads back and laugh.

We need to seek wonder, see beauty, spontaneously move.

Sometimes, we need to be reminded to take. a. break.

If we want to write words that bring life, we must bring life to our words.

So the next time you want to sit down to write, make sure you’ve first stood up to live.

 

Learning with you,

e.

You are Already Enough

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Tiptoh-so-carefully

Flickr Photo Credit: orangeacid

Dear Momma,
Yes, you,
there,
cooking and cleaning and caring.
You who are carrying our future in your hands and in your heart,
wiping tears, kissing cheeks,
washing hands, and bottoms, and noses …

Dear Blogger,
Yes, you,
there,
behind the screen,
pecking out words in the middle of the night,
tucking away thoughts while working
and serving
and raising those Babes ...

Dear Woman,
Yes, you,
there,
fighting to find your place,
find your way,
make a difference …

Even in the busyness of this day, with lists to-do and tasks to complete,

with your mind swirling or heart pumping or emotions rising,

just for moment,

stop.

 

Just stay still for a moment and let my Momma heart, my blogger heart, my living-life-just-like-you heart whisper to yours:

Friend, you are enough. 

You’re enough.

 

I know you’re trying hard, reaching out, and some days you don’t know how you’ll make it through,

but

while living and loving and walking faith-full and faithful,

while serving behind the scenes in the unknown, secret places where no one else sees,

while chasing this dream and pursuing His call,

when you’re tired and weary and you just want to collapse —

you. are. enough.

 

Whatever you’re chasing, missing, thinking you need, you are already enough.

You are known.

You are chosen.

You are loved.

You are called.

You, sweet sister, are enough.

 

So today, stop chasing after the wind,

stop trying to be someone or make a name for yourself.

Stop trying harder.

Lean into the One who has called you.

Trust Him.
Follow Him.
Abide in Him.

He will lead you.

Be faithful where you are, and leave the results to Him.

“Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. … It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.” (Ephesians 1:7-11 MSG)

Love,

Erika

What Are You Building?

By

broken bricks

Photo Credit: John Donges

 

Building a blog. Building a platform. Building a following.
In this blogging world, we read about building all the time, don’t we?

With each word and thought and post and comment,
each interaction, each tweet, each mention and share, we are building.

But what are we building?

I have wrestled with this question every time the idea of platform building is brought up, and I shrink back. The reality of Genesis 11 hits me with full force, and I wonder if my mind equates building my platform to building my tower of Babel.

“They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ … Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves…’ (Genesis 11:3-4).

A name for ourselves.

The barb of those words pierces me through.

That old slave of seeking approval and perfection and wanting to be accepted and liked and seen rears its ugly head, and I must flee!

The temptation to stack those bricks to make a name for myself can whisper loud at times, but may it never be! I don’t want to build with bricks. I am not called to build with bricks. I am called to be a living stone.

Living stones don’t build towers; they become altars. 

And those altars are beautiful because on them we pour out, lay down, give away, that our lives might become a living sacrifice.

Less of me; more of Him.

Sweet sister, can’t you already feel the freedom in that?

Even in this competitive world of blogging,
even in the desire to get noticed,

we can put off envy and division. Selfish ambition has no place. We can let go of vain striving and fierce competition. As we become that altar and pour ourselves out for His name, following His lead, we find the purpose and fullness and hope He has for us.

Bricks are made by man, but stones are created by God. I am not the builder, He is.

Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones” (Psalm 127:1-2 NLT).

What endless toil there is in laboring over a plan that is not God’s.

Solomon knew this well when he penned Psalm 127, one of the very few Psalms written by him. One well acquainted with meaningless striving (Ecclesiastes 1), Solomon recognized that all the effort and time and work spent on anything that God does not build is wasted effort. It is pointless. Futile. Meaningless.

It is just bricks.

“Imagine pouring your daily efforts into something completely meaningless. None of us wants our work to be in vain…The question we need answered is whether or not God is in our labor and indeed initiated it as His own building project” (Beth Moore, Stepping Up).

Are we spending ourselves on making bricks? Are our blogs just another way to build a name for our selves, or are we surrendering selfish ambition, following Christ’s lead, living lives marked by spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God so that we might be living stones?

We are not to build up for ourselves but pour out for Him.

We aren’t called to build, but to be.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

“I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him” (Romans 1:1-2 MSG).

Oh Sisters, may it be that our words, our blogs, our very lives follow God’s lead and be all about making much of Him!

“Not to us O Lord, not to us, but to YOUR name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness” (Psalm 115:1).

Soli Deo Gloria!

Erika

erikadawson.com

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