{Thanks | Day 11 of 31}

Ready? Go.

The apostle Paul is one of my favorites in Scripture, and he had quite a bit to say about being thankful. He said things like “always be thankful.” Always? Surely he couldn’t mean that. But, he did. Paul didn’t have an easy go of it, either. Beaten and left for dead, unjustly imprisoned more than once, he had his fair share of difficult situations. But, there was something about Paul. For one, perhaps he understood that thankfulness and gratitude shouldn’t be attached to our happy. Do you know what I mean? He couldn’t have been happy about facing all the difficulties he faced. Yet he managed to find joy and be thankful. He was a man of tenacious faith. And, here’s what he said:

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

Our ability to be thankful in every situation comes from some place deep in us and is rooted in Jesus. It has to be. When you’re rooted in the One who is unchanging, unshakeable, and full of unfailing love then you find gratitude and thankfulness in the most unlikely of situations. That’s my prayer -- God, give me deep roots. How about you?

STOP.

{Unknown | Day 10 of 31}

Ready? GO.

Have you ever felt overlooked? Invisible? Misunderstood? Unknown? Yeah, me too. Relationships are hard and messy, sometimes even unhealthy. People are often quick to assume they know what you’re thinking when, in reality, they don’t know you well enough to make those kind of assumptions. But, it’s what we do. I can’t say that I much care for that. I don’t like to be misunderstood or misjudged. But, I can’t get stuck there. Because, there is One who knows me like no other, and loves me with an unfailing, unshakeable, and unconditional love. And, my identity is wrapped around what He says about me. Take a look at this beautiful truth. 

O, Lord, you have search me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down, you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem in in — behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain . . . For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your words are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed boy. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. (Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18)

Here’s the thing: I’ve never been unknown or overlooked or invisible. And neither have you. We were all seen and known by God before any of us existed. Let that sink in. It’s good for the soul.

STOP.

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{Post-It | Day 9 of 31}

Ready? GO.

Because I have no clue where to go with this particular prompt, I will make a list. I love to make lists. On post-its, in notebooks, in my calendar. But mostly, on post-its. I can imagine the suspense is killing you, so here are nine of my favorite things to do with post-its.

1. Leave love notes for my husband around the house.
2. Leave love notes for my kids on the bathroom mirror.
3. Leave notes with Scripture on my bathroom mirror.
4. Use them as bookmarks (multiple post-its in one book, color-coded).
5. Collect them (all colors, all sizes).
6. Leave reminders for myself in the car. (i.e. get gas)
7. Make a short shopping list, usually for Target.
8. Doodle (with a sharpie).
9. Doodle some more.

Post-its are the best.

STOP.

{Muddle | Day 8 of 31}

Ready? GO.

I had to look this word up because it immediately conjures up a picture of someone shuffling along, head down with little or no focus on where they’re going. The definition certainly makes room for that picture to be accurate. Words like confusion, bewilderment, disorganized, and disorder were part of the definition. Then I came to this one: to busy oneself in a confused and ineffective way. Well, then.

That definition landed in my gut with a big thud. Who wants to wake up one day and realize that despite being busy, you’ve been ineffective in accomplishing what you’ve set out to do? But, so many times in my life, I’ve ended up in exactly that spot. Busy. But, perhaps busy with the wrong things. Or busy with the right things, but going about it all wrong rendering my efforts ineffective. Am I the only that cringes at the possibility? Can I be vulnerable with you for a moment? It’s one of my biggest fears — ineffectiveness. I do not want to waste the time I’ve been given, nor do I want to waste what God has put in my hands to do while I’m here. So, what then, as a believer in Christ, can I do to guard against getting caught muddling along through my days? It’s oh so easy to do in the midst of dirty laundry, carpool lines, grocery shopping, and all the dozens of other things I have to do in a day. But, here’s something:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing songs, and hymns, and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:16-17, ESV)

Don’t muddle. Live with intention. Do you see it? We don’t have to compartmentalize God. And we don’t have to buy into the lie that we can only be effective for Christ if we’re doing something extraordinary. So maybe it comes down to asking this question: Am I representing Christ the very best that I can in any given moment? Just asking the question keeps me accountable. 

I love how Eugene Peterson says it in The Message paraphrase: 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. (Romans 12:1-2)

Yeah. That’s what I want. How about you?

STOP. 

{Five Minute Friday | Test}

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 {TEST}. This is also Day 7 of the 31 Day Writing Challenge! WOO!

Ready? GO.

For most of us, the word doesn’t conjure up happy feelings. Maybe once we’ve been tested and have passed the happy feelings come, but not usually before. Yeah, before a test there tends to be a lot of hand wringing and last minute studying. A test measures what you know, but it also reveals what you don’t know. Ah, there’s the value of the test. Identifying specific areas of weakness provides an opportunity for growth. I need this in my life all the way around — as a wife, mom, friend, as a leader, and as a girl who wants her life to reflect the best of who she is in Christ. Don’t we all? I'd say we do.

That’s why I appreciate the prayer attached to the end of Psalm 139 (one of my favorites).

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

Um. Yeah. Praying that kind of prayer takes a bravery of sorts because it’s another one God will always answer with a yes. And, it might hurt a little as God begins to point out areas where He needs to go to work in us. But even more than bravery, it takes an incredible amount of trust in and vulnerability with God. But see, David intimately knew God. He knew Him to be faithful and full of unfailing love, so David was completely at ease with giving God full, with the unrestricted access to his heart and mind. I want to be like that more often than I manage it now, the unrestricted access. I want to come before God and say here’s my heart, search me. Here’s my mind, test my thoughts. Then, correct me. The last thing I want is something that’s hidden in the depths of my heart or mind — some way of thinking, some sinful attitude or behavior to be offensive to Him or keep me from the path He intends for me. But those things are often the hardest to see and know about ourselves. But, here’s the thing: there’s always something that God can be working on in us. To say “no, I’m good” would mean we’re either perfect (um, no) or proud (that’s more likely). I’d much rather be saying Lord, keep growing me into the girl you meant me to be, rather than holding Him at arm's length insisting that I don't need any work. To believe for a second that I’ve arrived at a place where God's finished working on me means I forfeit the beautiful and wonderful things He has for me in the next season of growth. But we have to ask Him the hard questions and pray the scary prayers that invite Him to work in us. Who better to trust, though, with the testing of our hearts and minds? There is no one better than the One who created us. He had a vision and purpose for our lives before we existed. And He’s good. So good. 

I believe we have to be intentional about moving toward Him. So, may I encourage you today to take a step of faith toward Him by praying these verses of prayer along with me? Because, God, more than anything we want to be women who reflect the light and love of Jesus brightly. Do a work in us that only You can do. 

STOP.

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