{Five Minute Friday | Lose}

It's Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

This week the prompt is {LOSE}.

Ready? GO.

"What do we have to lose?" Before the words fully landed, I had a list of a dozen things. I didn't want to take this next step because it felt more like a crazy, insane leap into nothing. It felt like we had everything to lose.  I know what you're thinking. Thankfully, my sweet husband finds my flair for the dramatic endearing; and so, he smiles his sweet smile and nudges me along in the conversation to a point where I'm more reasonable than dramatic. But, still. Taking this step was hard. God knew. I was afraid, unsure, tired. He was asking me to say yes anyhow. He was asking me to do it afraid. He wanted to hear a yes even though I was unsure and tired. And so, I said yes.

 The Lord confirmed my yes with well-placed encouragement and perfectly-timed truths. One after the other.

Psalm 139: 5 jumped off the page during Bible study: "He hems me in before and behind - He lays His hand on me." And, then there's the verse of the day: "If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" (Romans 8:31) A few days later, a Bible study workbook took me to Psalm 27. "The Lord is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life -- of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1) Just yesterday, my brother sent me a link to a sermon packed with challenging truths like this one: "Why do we limit ourselves when we have a promise from God?" And, I can't overlook the words of wisdom spoken over our lives by godly, trusted friends.  

Before I realized it, my feeble "yes" had grown into a brave and bold "YES!" It wasn't because I realized there was nothing to lose in taking this next step; and, it wasn't because I felt confident in my abilities. Not at all. it's because I made a choice to believe that being a daughter of the Creator of the universe was enough. Besides, anything I might lose along the way was His from the start if I'm living life with open hands. Here's the thing: it isn't really about winning or losing; it's about BELIEVING God.

May I encourage you today, sweet friends? If God's asking something of you, trust Him. Believe what Scripture reveals about Him. Believe that He can and will do what He says. And then, leap. Just. Go.

Stop.

{Five Minute Friday | Haven}

It's Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

This week the prompt is {HAVEN}. I am a day late to the party, but I made it. Woo!

Ready? GO.

Haven. A place of refuge and shelter where you feel protected. It's some place you return to at the end of a long, weary day or during a particularly difficult season. It's quiet, perhaps, and offers a place to rest. When one seeks cover in her haven, she leaves feeling refreshed and encouraged, comforted. There's only one place like this for me.

Psalm 91 explains it perfectly. "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him."

Yes. Just, yes.

And, though there is nothing wrong with my initial explanation, over time, I've changed my mind about something. Do you see it, there in verse one? One four-letter-word. Live. See, God isn't someone I merely return to at the end of the day or when I find myself in a pinch. He's much more than that. My place with God -- it's where I live. Where I abide, dwell, stay, exist. With Him, in Him.

May I encourage you, sweet friends? We don't have to take a step without Him. Not one. He will never leave you without cover, without refuge, without the protection of His shadow. He is faithful. In Him, we have all that we need.

Stop.

{3 Things About Love}

I've been thinking a lot about love lately. There are all kinds of things that get mistaken and misrepresented as love. Some are way off base; while others are close representations, subtle perversions, making them especially dangerous. That's a topic for another conversation, really. For now, let's just say culture has made a mess of love. What about the Christians? How are we doing? I suppose we've all had someone say they love us in one breath while their behavior tells a different story. Paul offered a precise and pointed description of love in his letter to the church in Corinth. It's a beautiful passage, really, but does anyone else find it's also remarkably hard?  

Here are just a few of the ways love behaves according to Apostle Paul:

Love is patient and kind. It is not jealous, boastful, proud, or rude (or unmannerly). Love does not insist on its rights or demand its way. It is not irritable and keeps no record of being wronged. It tells the truth. It never loses faith. Should I go on? For heaven's sake, he lost me at the word "patient" and "is not irritable."  Anyone else feeling like you fall incredibly short? I do. Especially when no one wants to sleep in on Monday morning after a super-long, über-exhausting weekend.

But, wait. Just about the time we want to bury our heads in the sand for fear of never measuring up, there's sweet grace. Thank goodness, we can breathe a sigh of relief. See, God doesn't expect us to measure up to His standard by our own efforts and in our strength. We simply can't. When we follow His lead, though, well, that's a different story. One of the distinguishing characteristics of a Jesus-follower is love. It's the thing that makes us different. The world should be able to identify us because of our extravagant love for God and for others. Here are a few things He's been teaching me about the tricky business of love.

1. On our own, we will never have the capability to love others well. Yeah, this one hits home for me. I know what it's like to lack compassion and genuine love for others when I'm stuck in my own pit of despair, concerned only with myself. Love doesn't do that, does it? Love is most concerned with others. Thankfully, Scripture says God is working in us giving us the power to do what pleases Him. It also says that we love because He loves. See, it's His love perfected in us and flowing through us. Once we experience the depths of His love for us and rest in that love, we can love others and love them well.

2. It's not just about the correct behavior; it's about the attitude and heart behind the action. You can say the right thing and even do the right thing without being motivated by love. For example, you can volunteer to serve in the children's ministry or on the cleaning team for your local church. No one would argue that's a good thing! However, you can't do the good thing and then complain because you have to do it! Chances are there's something besides love motivating you. It's just like when I look at my sweet, rock-star husband and say, "But, I want you to want to do the laundry." When love motivates you, you don't complain and do the good thing with resentment. Love and resentment can't exist in the same space.

3. If we believe God loves us, and we love Him, it will change the way we live. Here's the thing: Love needs to be expressed. It demands it. The most lavish expression of love known to man was carried out when God sent Jesus to die for our sins. And so, I want to do the same. I want God's love to compel me to action. I want everything I do to be a reflection of that love. Your heart will always give you away. And so, I pray that our hearts will be fixed on Him. That we love Him wholeheartedly, and that we remember how great His love is for us. It's the only way.

Be encouraged, sweet friends. He loves you so. Believe it. Know it. Then, love Him back with all you've got.

{Five Minute Friday | Grow}

It's Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

This week the prompt is {GROW}. I am a day late to the party, but I made it. Woo!

Ready? GO.

Just a few weeks ago, dandelions had overtaken our front yard. Seriously. It was bad. My husband, hoping to be thrifty, researched DIY solutions. The most promising solution: pull the weed up by the root. I'm going out on a limb here in saying whoever suggested this as a solution didn't have a hundred dandelions growing in their grass. If you're wondering, we skipped the process of uprooting them all. One pass of the lawn mower and they were gone! But, they can still grow because the root remains. So, I was thinking.

 We all grow throughout our lives. Growth means there's life, breath. Trees lose their leaves and regrow them each spring. Long after we stop growing tall, we still have the capacity for growth - we get smarter, stronger, more mature in our patterns of thinking.  Yeah, it's good to keep growing. I don't want to stop growing, but I want to grow in the right direction. There's something I can do about that, you know? See, what goes on beneath the surface hugely affects what's visible above the surface. Likewise, what goes on above the surface can either encourage or hinder healthy growth. There is verse after verse of Scripture that applies, but here are two of my favorites:

Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will be strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Colossians 2:7

Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:17

When you are rooted in Him, growth will be in the right direction. Why? That's easy. He's trustworthy. He's good. He makes it His business to grow us into something beautiful for His glory. And, He is ever so patient as He tends to my heart. For that I am grateful.

Stop.

{Five Minute Friday | Miss}

It's Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

This week the prompt is {MISS}. I am a day late to the party, but I made it. Woo!

Ready? GO.

Is there anyone else out there who loves a good plan? Yeah, me too. Sometimes, though, things happen that I couldn't have planned. Hiccups. Bumps in the road. Difficult seasons. Transitions. In those times, I find myself often looking up asking, "Is this part of the plan?" or "Lord, can we get past this point as quickly as possible?" There's something about the hard spots that make me want to rush through. It's like a head-down-running-as-fast-as-you-can kind of feeling.

Thankfully, the Lord is patient, and He taught me that I was asking the wrong questions in those moments. I learned that a better question was "Lord, What do you want me to see that I'm not seeing? What am I missing?" Yeah, that's the better question.

It's not that I stop praying for a change of scene or a swift resolution to the challenge at hand. I believe our conversations with God should be honest. But, Here's the thing: if we trust He's always working on our behalf, then we have to believe there's always something in every season that will be for our benefit. And because I know that He is good, and He's trustworthy, I don't want to miss the thing He has for me. I don't want to miss what He's doing or saying because I have my head down running toward the next thing as fast as I can. Besides, He always delivers on His promise to use everything for my good and His glory. You know what the best piece is? Lean in a bit so you don't miss this. You can always count on Him to reveal more of Himself, something more about His character, or about His love. And isn't knowing Him worth any momentary, light affliction? Yes, I'd say that it is. That's certainly not something I'm willing to miss. I don't ever want to miss Him.

Stop.