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Footsteps in Grace

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I don’t consider myself an expert.  Please don’t call me one.  I panic just a bit, when they ask me how to parent their little ones. The assumption is, four will make you wise and these nearing adult children who share my name, their beautiful hearts are somehow all my doing.  I hesitate, and say I’ve made mistakes. The truth is, I peer back at the years behind me and see a trail of trial and error, so much error.
 
And you only get to do this once.
 
Still, these friends who share my coffee and time, they ask. They want to know. Hungry faces, eyes filled with liquid hope.  The only place my heart, their hearts, can begin, is with Grace. Everyday Grace. It’s there beside the time-out chair, and in the broken shards of pottery. It wraps around us, reminding us that shattered vases are easily replaced, shattered spirits, are not so easily mended.  It swirls around us in the things we forget to do, words left unsaid, the times when reason leaves and anger boils. And a thousand times a thousand in every second of the day, it whispers that we are forgiven and we can forgive. It cries for us to hear, see and touch it. The more we receive…the more we can extend.
 
Because we only get to do this once.
 
 I am braver now, than I was then. If there was some way to turn back time, travel to the places on the trail marred by my sin, fault, or ignorance, and fix them, I would. In my wistful backward glance, it lifts it head, that amazing grace. In gratitude, it allows me to open my hands, let go of the rear-view mirror and trust the God of the universe with all of those broken places. It points me to this truth:
 
I. Am. Loved.
 
When I know deep down, how much I am loved, I live differently. Secure in His love, I know who I was created to be and I can encourage my children in the same discovery. This much I know; Living loved, changes everything. Our worth does not come from early potty training, obedient preschoolers or model teens. The deep canyon in our spirit that echoes with a need for love,will never be filled by accolades for well schooled children, organized homes, and well planned lives. Our worth, need and expectations are in Him, only Him, the giver of Life. When we are rooted in love, our children’s lives,(their behaviour, adventures, and experiences) all become opportunities for us to walk with them in gratitude and grace, covering them in love. 
 
 
 Three year old tantrums swirl, and life is a beautiful mess of crayons on walls, angry teens, and hard questions. When the answer is love, it’s not about what anyone thinks of us, it’s about the grace and love of the creator our children discover with and through us. Those tentative footsteps in grace are leading us here: The best thing we can do for our children, is to know and experience how much we are loved by God.  It changes everything…I know that well. This life of deep love, sheltering grace and overwhelming gratitude is possible…
Because he chose to die once,
and for All.
 
Today, may we experience a little more how deeply, unconditionally and extravagantly we are loved by God.

 

Blessings on your day.
 
 
Katharine makes her home in Ontario, Canada where she shares life, and laughter with her husband and four children. She is on a journey with the God of the universe, discovering who she was created to be, and what it means to walk living loved, in everyday grace. She’s just released her first book Grace and Fresh Ink and she’s working hard on a second! Most days you can find her blogging through life at Just A Thought. Always listening for His heart and never without a cup of good coffee in a great mug!

Servant Meal

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“Servant Meal!” Dad calls out and we all know the rules for the coming dinner. No one is allowed to serve themselves. You may put your food in your mouth, but that is all. Someone else picks your food, puts it on your plate and serves your condiments. You can’t even ask for what you need or want. Why not? Well. . . because you are a servant, too, of course! A servant never asks to be served.

It is something fun we do as a family. The servant meal began as an activity at a youth retreat many years ago. When we saw the fun involved, as well as the spiritual application, we grabbed hold of the idea. The children enjoy serving each other and finding creative ways to make their needs known. The joy of serving often overflows into other parts of the day, which is our ultimate goal.

I have noticed that bloggers are a lot like the children sitting at my table. Words are set before us on a daily basis. There is no lack of posts to choose from. What bloggers need are for their words to be heard and to hear the words of others. How can the needs of so many be met when the table is so large and the meal so overwhelming? Just like in my children, I have observed various personalities in bloggers. There are the quiet bloggers who come to the table once or twice a week and don’t stay long when they do. There are the party bloggers who have a lot to say, a lot of places to go, and a lot of people to meet. I have also noticed very serious bloggers who have a lot to say and a lot of business to tend to, but they do not have much time for dessert.

All personalities have a purpose and make blogging interesting. There is one type of blogger that stands out from the crowd,the servant blogger. She comes to the table as much as she can, but she is often busy in the kitchen, working behind the scenes. At the table, she only speaks when she has something meaningful to say. When she does speak, everyone listens. She knows how to make other bloggers feel special, serving up what each one needs. The servant blogger rarely leaves before having dessert because that’s the best time to share a good laugh and make someone’s day. If you haven’t seen her in a while, you can be sure she’s busy serving her family, church or community.

You know that because. . . well, that is who she is. While I don’t think it’s necessary to have a servant meal at the blogging table, I do think there is something to be learned from the servant blogger. If we follow her example, blogging can be just as much fun as the servant meal is in our home. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that small bloggers need your service as well as well-known bloggers. While there is value in serving those you look up to, the heart of Jesus is to serve the least among you. Here are some ideas to get you started.  

In Social Networking

Share a post if you gained something from it, be it a lesson learned or a good belly laugh. Spread the word when something exciting happens to another blogger. Befriend new bloggers and help them find more friends. (#FF on Fridays is a great way to do this on Twitter.) Remember your manners. Say, “Please, thank you, your welcome and I’m sorry.”  

On Your Blog

Respond to comments. Sometimes just saying thank you is enough. Quote other bloggers and link to the post you quote from. Feature favorite posts of the week or introduce blogs with a kind review. Invite lesser known bloggers to write a guest post. (Make sure you know the blogger fairly well and trust her to write with integrity.)  

Behind the Scenes

Offer to help new bloggers by answering any questions they have or directing them to answers. Leave friendly and encouraging comments. Send a private message if you notice something that might embarrass the author, like a bad typo or misinformation. Support business bloggers by clicking on or purchasing through blog ads.  

These are just a few ideas. Do you have more? How have fellow bloggers served you?  

Image Source: Microsoft Office

Tereasa is the author of His Pen on My Heart, where she blogs about freedom in Christ, healing from spiritual abuse and raising special children. She is a story teller, painting pictures with words and drawing the reader close to her heart. Her desire is to encourage those who are hurting and point all to Christ, the healer of our broken hearts.

Why Store Moments?

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I am a writer, a gatherer of moments. I look for things that inspire, for drops of grace, for moments of beauty around me, so that I can capture them and pass them on.  I see them often in my children. My mind records the snapshot with a “click,” and I return to it later and paint it with words.


And then I stop and wonder, why store moments?  Why keep my eyes and hands open? What am I collecting memories for?

Moments stored do not fill.

 
If I am constantly looking to fill up my heart with moments, then what will I do when the kid needs a diaper change or a spanking? I will grumble. I will do the hard work of parenting quickly and with irritation. I resent the hard jobs, and I will work to create an ideal home life. I will seek the house filled with people who smile at each other and make only happy memories together. I will spend my days chasing the impossible, trying to fill myself up: a glutton for moments.

Moment stored do not lessen future pain.

 
Once, I tried to fill myself up with moments to avoid future pain. I feasted on every second with my dear husband before he left for his tour of duty in Iraq. I wanted to spend every second with him, as if I could stock up on him so that somehow I would miss him less when he was gone. I feasted on him, and still, he carried my heart with him when he got on that plane.

Moments stored may age like wine and bless us later.

 
I have started a savings account of moments for my children, too. They are fluttering through the days with no thought for gathering, so I will gather for them. I will collect a few bright spots from their childhoods and save them with the other keepsakes. I’d like them to be able to look back through my eyes and see that they were loved and blessed and cared-for by God. They already know that, but I hope to help them know it even more.  We will be glad to gaze again on the faded beauty, and we will thank God even for the days of re-living. We will remember and re-thank.

Moments stored water my soul and help me to love.

 
But I don’t really gather moments for later. In picking them up, I savor them right now, because they help me love the people around me in this place, even today.

Living with open hands and open eyes is a way of keeping my antenna tuned to what is important: to God and the people around me. When those precious moments come, free to me, like grace, I drink them in.

And as I drink, I remember:
 
  • I remember that the noisy, dirty creatures messing up my house each day are people, beloved by God, wonderful works of His hand.
  • I remember that I am a child of God—weak, and loved.
  • I remember that my Father sees me, knows me, cares for me.
  • I remember that I am here to receive love and to love.


And the grace swallowed down waters my heart and makes it soft and grateful, even when my hands are in the dish water again.


Thank you Jesus, for this moment.


 
 
Weak and Loved: A Mother-Daughter Love Story by Emily Cook will be FREE for your kindle on Amazon July 15-19. (You do not have to own a kindle to read the digital version.) Get it HERE.  Having trouble? Contact Emily.
 

How about you? Do you gather moments? Why do you gather them?

 

Emily Cook is an experienced child-wrangler and mother of six, who laughs and writes to keep her sanity. She is the author of Weak and Loved: A Mother-Daughter Love Story. Read more by Emily at www.weakandloved.com. She’s sure to make you laugh, think, pray, smile, or gag.

The Well-Intentioned Remark

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What she said was, “The phase you’re in is physically exhausting, but that’s better than mentally exhausting.”
 
What I heard was, “If you think it’s hard now, just wait.”  And, “I have it harder than you do.”
 
What I think she really meant was, “Whatever stage you’re in, parenting is never easy.”
 
What I learned from what she said was: she doesn’t know what it’s like to be in my shoes, and I don’t know what it’s like to be in hers.  She doesn’t know the dynamics and unique needs and styles of my four children.  She doesn’t know what it’s like to homeschool and parent three girls with vastly different personalities while my 18-month old son scales any combination of objects that his tiny hands and feet touch.  She doesn’t know my personal struggles–the things that I carry with me each day as I focus on pouring myself out to the five souls in my home.
 
And I don’t know what it’s like to have three grown daughters scattered across the country.  I don’t know what it’s like to not be able to tuck them in at night anymore.  I don’t know what it’s like to not know if they arrived home safely each night after work.  I don’t know her personal struggles–the things she carries with her each day as she misses the three souls that are a plane trip or train ride away, and the one she pours her soul into in her home each day.
 
What I wish she said was, “You are in a physically exhausting stage, but it won’t always be that way.  You are doing a great job, and I can see that in your kids.”
 
What I wish I said was, “It must be so difficult to have your girls so far away.  I will say an extra prayer for their protection.  You are a great mom, and they are blessed to have you!”
 
What I wish everyone knew: that there is grace enough to go around.  No matter what any given person is facing, each person is facing something.  Responding to someone with grace, compassion, and a word of encouragement takes a touch of humility and a bit of practice, but it goes so very far.
 
 
Whether you are in a physically exhausting stage of motherhood, a mentally exhausting one, or a stage of spiritual motherhood, how can I pray for you today?
 
 

My PhotoMandy is a homeschooling mom of four, married to Mark, her Mr. Tall,  Dark and Handsome, for 12 years.  She is learning to invite Jesus in to redeem her mess each day and to ONLY take on the things to which He has called her.  She blogs gratitude and encouragement at hissongtomeshalom.blogspot.com.  You can follow her on Twitter here.

Fine

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I’m going to be very real with y’all right now.

I found poop on my wall the other day. It had been there less than a week but more than a day.

Let’s visit a few important points about the sentences above:

1. I live in south-central PA and the “south” part of that statement makes it ok for me to say “y’all.

2. Also I like to drink out of mason jars. That’s southern. Right?

3. I have a 6 month old daughter

4. My life is a little chaotic at times

5. The wall is now clean

Now that we’ve gotten all the essentials out of the way, let me confess something else to you. It’s not easy for me to be real. I would much rather tell you that I’m fine, or tell you the funny “poop on the wall” story to distract you from the reality that I am struggling, feeling alone, and could use a hug. And some chocolate. Preferably dark chocolate with sea salt caramel.

I posted here about my issue with saying “no” and how I’m working on overcoming my need to please everyone and I’m realizing that this people pleasing persona that I’ve developed over the years has also turned me into a “fine” machine.

How was work today? Fine.

Actually it was wonderful. I was recognized by the CEO for doing a wonderful job and he wants to know how I would handle managing people. I also came up with a great idea that will save the organization money, and I bought a hot pink binder for the big project I’m working on. But that all sounds like pride and I don’t want to make anyone feel bad if they had a bad day or don’t have similar opportunities for advancement, so I’ll just stick with “fine.”

How’s the little one? Fine.

Actually she is the light of my life, but she seems to hate sleeping, has a cold, is a bundle of drool, snot, and – apparently – projectile poop. Sleep deprivation is physically painful, I feel like I never make the right decision with her, I can’t figure out when/how much/how frequently to give her baby food, and I think she’s teething. But since that all sounds like complaining, I’ll just say “fine.”

How’s everything going with your husband? Fine.

Actually the sleep deprivation and stress of having a 6 month old is putting a strain on our marriage and it’s not easy right now. He is my best friend and I love him more than life, but we’re concerned about his job security and he’s hit the burn-out stage in the school year. But since I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea or think we’re not both on the same team fighting through it all, I’ll just say “fine” so they aren’t worried for us.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think God wants me to be fine all the time. How do I rely on Him if I never have a reason to trust Him with the present or the future? And isn’t it a slight against the gifts He’s given us if we can’t use them for His glory? My love language, for example, is words of affirmation. If I’m always fine, am I keeping someone from using their gift of encouragement to speak love & truth over my life? And if I never give anyone a reason to affirm me, and my “love tank” stays on empty, how can I pour out into my family, coworkers, and friends? Let’s stop being fine, and start practicing being real.

So friends, how are you today?


 

Bio: Crystal Stine has a heart for encouraging women through the written word. She blogs at Shine where you’ll find posts about motherhood, marriage, friendship, God and more. Crystal spends her days working at a bank as a project manager and marketing officer and manages the worship band Stars Burn Down. You can follow Crystal on Twitter at @CrystalStine.

 

My Journey to 5000 Followers

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Today’s guest post is from Courtney of Women Living Well. She has some wonderful tips and words of advice for you!

 

I have been blogging at Women Living Well for nearly 4 years. This is my journey to the first 5000 followers BUT I want to give full credit to God because it is he who has given the increase. It makes me squirm a little to share my numbers but I want to help. I think it’s only fair that I share the progress. Okay – now that I got the disclaimer out of the way – let’s get to it!!!

I began blogging in August of 2008…late one night I registered for http://www.womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com. At the time, I had no idea that I had just chosen the longest and most difficult website address ever! lol! If someone found me and liked me – there was no way they’d ever find their way back to me without subscribing!

I started out blogging 5 days a week – Monday through Friday and I continued 5 days a week for the next 2 years straight with NO breaks – none! I remember blurry eyed nights and dark early mornings tapping away on my keyboard – praying that God would give me a word for my readers. I was not on Facebook or Twitter and Pinterest didn’t exist at the time, so there was not as much to “keep up with” as there seems to be nowadays.

One day – a year into blogging – I decided to make a YouTube video (which is no longer accessible…too embarrassing). I posted it and received next to no comments…but I did get a phone call from my best friend (who now runs Good Morning Girls.org) and she LOVED the video! I told her I was embarrassed and she said – “don’t stop – make another“! So I did…I made one titled “How to Be the Wife of Your Husband’s Dreams“. I completely winged it – it’s SO bad – I’m in my bathroom because it’s quiet there!

Obviously I had not read Problogger yet! But this is where my feeble preparation met God’s sovereignty. I posted this video on October 14th, 2009 and 15 days later I appeared on the Rachael Ray Show because a producer had found that video.

It was at this time that I decided I should get a Facebook page. So I started my page in November 2009 and the first record I ever wrote down of my numbers was in January 2010 (1 year and 4 months into my blogging journey). I had:

323 Feedburner followers

426 Facebook followers

I was averaging 300 readers a day…

Being on the Rachael Ray Show did not bring a barage of readers. My website was not mentioned on the show…so it did not spike my numbers (as you can see my numbers above reflect what I had 2 months after the show aired)…but it did give me confidence and some credibility as a blogger.

By the following January 2011, I had:

3,059 feedburner followers

3,824 Facebook followers

And I hit my first 5,000 exactly one year ago in May of 2011 (2 years and 9 months into my blogging journey).

What practicial things did I do to get to my first 5000 followers?

1. I wrote 5 days a week for 2 years straight. Which equals discipline (5 days a week) and diligence (2 years straight). Sometimes we may feel that someone got lucky -like being on the Rachel Ray Show…but don’t underestimate hard work.

2. Content is KING! People follow and spread “amazing” not blah. It’s not possible to create “amazing” five days a week but we can’t predict what post will spread like wild fire. Some posts I agonize and spend hours on and get 5 comments. Then others pour out in 15 minutes and they get 55 comments. I honestly have no way of predicting which post will get the best response (if I did – I’d write it everyday lol!) so keep writing.

3. I left my link after my name everytime I commented. I know that some may feel this is bad ettiquette but I welcome it on my site :)! I think if you are taking the time to read someone else’s content and are leaving a thoughtful comment (not a spammy comment) the writer is thankful your comment popped up. It’s a great way to introduce yourself to another blogger and their community.

3. I built friendships with other bloggers. I privately email many bloggers. Get to know them on a personal basis – brainstorm together, dream together, encourage each other, promote each other and pray for each other.

4. Try something that none of the other bloggers are doing – I made a video in my bathroom – I mean – who does that? lol!!! But seriously – it was a game changer for me. Don’t be afraid to be different and swing for the fences. I felt terribly awkward making videos! Without my friend’s encouragement, I would have stopped making videos…but now nearly 500,000 views later – I’m so thankful I didn’t give up on the ideas that were bouncing around in my head.

In year 2 everything changed! I joined Facebook and Twitter – made nearly 20 YouTube videos – and because a speaker was unable to attend Relevant – I was invited as a fill-in speaker at the Relevant Conference.

In year 2 these are some of the new things I did:

1. I participated in a gazillion link-ups! THIS was a traffic bonanza for me! And once I discovered it – I maximized it! I HIGHLY recommend you participate in these – they work! Ashley has a great list of link-ups – start with these.

2. I joined Facebook and began interacting. At first, Facebook was like a baby. I fed it every 2-3 hours! Some are going to have boundaries and not approve of this…but here’s my truth. My Facebook page is growing rapidly and it’s like a toddler. I feed it about every 4 hours, 6 days a week.

3. I joined Twitter because everyone else was doing it! I only visit twitter once a day to check for mentions and talk back. I have it set up so when I post on Facebook it automatically posts on twitter. Sometimes, late at night I’ll hop on Twitter and read 🙂 It’s an interesting animal.

4. Guest posting and contributing – In year 2, I was invited for the first time to contribute on two different group blogs. Participating in link-ups were more effective than contributing but it was an honor to be asked and I love the community and friendships I’ve made as a contributor on group sites.

5. I started a second blog with a partner. I had started Good Morning Girls groups on my blog and they began to take over my site…so I needed a second site to spin off and my best friend Angela was up for the challenge and has done a beautiful job running GoodMorningGirls.org!

All of the above brought me to the 5,000 follower mark.

Since then I’ve cut back to writing 3 days a week. I’ve done summer book clubs, created series and challenges for my readers, I’ve asked a real life friend to contribute once a week to give me a break, I’ve started a weekly Wednesday link-up, (open to all types of bloggers 🙂 – hint!), I’ve joined Pinterest and just started offering a free ebook to subscribers this year!

Last June I moved from that very long blogspot name – to WomenLivingWell.org. I added a tiny word at the end of my header ~ “Ministries.” My blog started out as a hobby, a passion, a joy, an overflow and a labor of love and it has birthed into a ministry. I encourage you to surrender your blog to God’s purposes, to never go to your computer until you have first opened your day in prayer and God’s word, and to remember that “the integrity of your writing starts at home. Your family is the first book your readers will ever read.”~Sally Clarkson.

Now let’s lock arms together as sisters in Christ and go into all the world and pierce the darkness!

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Walk with the King,

A Common Woman: An Uncommon Courage

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Courage by Nikole Rae Greer

I am constantly floored by how God chooses to grow and stretch me as I walk with Him through life. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t ask him… “Are you serious?”… “When can I just be over this?”… “Weren’t we done with issue awhile ago?”

As I continue to try and understand what God has for me in this life as an adoptee, adoptive mother, and Christ Follower, I become more and more convinced that I won’t ever figure it out until I’m face to face with Him and he is explaining this craziness to me.

Do you ever wonder, like me, why God chooses what he does to make me “up” my game? Why did it have to be this event, or that person, or another issue? Why does He think this is what I need to become the person He is trying to make me?

God seems to regularly remind me of the story of Esther. She was such an amazing woman in the Bible and she had immense courage!

  • The Event: A Jewish woman adopted by her cousin Mordecai and raised to unexpected royalty when King Xerxes chose her as the new queen.
  • The Person: Haman hated Mordecai and therefore wanted all of the Jews killed.
  • The Issue: Esther had to decide if she would have courage and risk her life by going in front of the king uninvited(cause for death in the day) to share the plot by Haman against her people.

This story romances my faith every time I read it because Esther was an adoptee… a different ethnicity from those in the land she lived… a “common” woman who loved God and wanted to honor Him above all ~ even to the point of death. My favorite line in this story is when Mordecai states;

“Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

That statement has hung with me ever since I read this story because every time I am challenged by this event, that person or another issue, I think to myself ~ “What if God put me here in this place for just such a time as this?

Will I have the courage it takes to risk it all for what is right in God’s eyes?”

What if I am an adoptee because God wants me to help other adoptees’?
What if I experienced prejudice in a foreign land so I can educate others and give voice to a sensitive issue?
What if I experienced an identity within the world and who the world says I am so I can relate to and comfort others struggling to make sense of who they are?
What if I experienced rejection multiple times so that I could minister to others that have felt they didn’t belong or fit in?
What if I am an adoptive parent because God wants me to voice the unique perspective of experiencing both sides of the adoption equation?
What if God planned for me to say “Yes” to Him later in my life so I could testify to the beauty He made out of the rubble, pain, and brokenness?
What if…?

What are your events, people and issues? Do you see any part of your own story through Esther’s? What prevents you from having the courage you need to act? What gives you the courage you feel in such circumstances?

Do you believe God put you in this place for just such a time as this?

I think He did because that is the beauty of His plan and not ours. If it were our plan there would be no event. no people. no issue. There would be no obstacle. no challenge. no pain. There would be no sacrifice. no forgiveness. no redemption. There would be no eternity.

Thank you Jesus for putting me in this place for just such a time as this!

I am a Korean adoptee, wife, adoptive mother and orphan advocate. It’s a privilege for
me to serve God and share the beauty of his redemption in my life. You can read more
on my blog “Smore Stories…life and contemplation in a racially mixed family.”

Telling Stories

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I see my little one struggling under the weight of this season. Dark clouds loom overhead. And it’s hard for this Mama to watch the rain.

How do I tell her that there will be more days like this? Hard seasons. Happy ones too. How do you give a daughter what she needs for the road ahead?

A few friends and I are meeting once a month with several younger women to tell our stories and share our faith. My friend Dianna said she wished someone would have been honest with her about this life with Christ, all those years ago. So we gathered, Friday night on Dianna’s back porch, and went around the room telling our stories.

The words spoken were pure poetry.

As I anticipated taking my turn to speak, I felt my face grow hot. I could have melted in the chair and faded away for fear. I looked at Dianna, who knows me inside and out, and hoped for a reprieve – maybe a “you-can-wait-‘til-next-time”.

Didn’t happen.

Instead, she prompted me to start at the beginning, “Lynnie, why don’t you start when you were a little girl and your parents divorced.” I swallowed hard and began my story when I was seven years old – the place when I became keenly aware of my need of a Savior.

The tears welled up as I poured out my heart and dark, red splotches covered my neck and chest. Raw emotion tumbled out in what felt like root ball clumps.

There it was. The “me” that’s underneath the mascara and hairspray. Exposed.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV

It took several days to recover from all the uncovering.

Why put myself through the whole nervous ordeal? The love of Christ compels me. Stretches me. It takes me out of my comfort zone of religious platitudes and shallow conversation.

Love is the overflow and expansion of joy in God, which gladly meets the needs of others. Love is not merely the passive overflow, but the aggressive extension and expansion and completion of joy in God.

John Piper, The Dangerous Duty of Delight

Christ’s love compels me to share my story in order to spill His love on to someone else – maybe someone sitting on a back porch on a Friday night…or a daughter.

 

I’m a wife, mother, lover of Jesus and yes, a former beauty queen. I write about life, messy faith and real good food over here. You can also visit me on Facebook.

Why You Need to be Desperate

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It seems I have a taste for Discovery Channel’s reality shows that involve desperate searches. This year it’s “Gold Rush”. Families hit by the economic downturn make a mad dash to Alaska to find fortune at best, and at the very least, money for mortgages.  They are somewhat rookies.I’d say they are brave ones too.Who wants a camera following your every move, highs and lows and then broadcast them for an entire nation to see you in all your “glory”? Who would put themselves on the line to tell their story especially when someone else is in control of editing and production?

Who would be willing to take a chance that might fail in front of millions of viewers?

Desperate folks, that’s who. I watch “Gold Rush” and think, this is when you can appreciate blogging small. Failure is limited in {small} numbers.

But I’m challenged; not only as a blogger, but as a Christian too.  We always fear man or his/her opinion of us. We fear judgment, especially unfair ones. We fear our reputation ruined by gossip. We fear others not liking us. We fear raw writing. We fear failure. We fear success.

We fear. Fear. Fear.

We’re not gladiators bleeding for an audience for entertainment. We’re not victims looking for sympathy.

As Christians {and bloggers}, there is a purpose.

But we are called to die, not just once {at salvation} but every day. If we’re real honest, to sacrifice like Jesus, is hard.  Some days it can be downright fitful.

Death may be agonizing for a season. We may bleed from the process. We may feel abandoned at our greatest need.

But we must continually be buried and resurrected.

Isn’t this what being a Christian is all about? Humility that dies to our reputation and fear of man. We can’t do it alone, in or of ourselves. It takes His power. And practice.

We don’t have to go to Alaska to be rich in Christ. We don’t need to dig for gold nuggets to pay our “mortgage” to Him.

We are endowed with riches through His power.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Ephesians3:16-17 NIV

But it’s not the kind of power-hunger we human-flesh seek here on earth.

This kind buries us.

Oh sure, He rolls the tomb stone of our rock-hard facade and raises us from the stench of death. But first, we are humbled on the cross.

Humility isn’t timid and weak. It’s bold and courageous. Because humility doesn’t care what man thinks, only what God thinks.

Humility sets out to do whatever He says, even when the cost is our self.

Desperate seekers of God count the loss as the way to gain and richly live, despite the risk {or their fear of it}.

“Our right to ourselves in every shape and form was destroyed once and forever by the death of Jesus, and we have to be educated in to the realization of what this means in all its fullness.”Oswald Chambers, “The Philosophy of Sin”

 

Tammy blogs at If Meadows Speak where she looks for the Creator while living in two worlds, the natural and the supernatural. She once said she’d never move back to Texas, yet that’s exactly where she lives today. So much of her past is a smattering of dark spots but she’s found God quilting them into Christ. She’s discovered {God} dreams really do come true for us, even ones lived in Texas.

 

 

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