{Off | Day 22 of 31}

Ready? Go.

My teammates and I used to tell each other "Shake it off, make the next play!"  It's good advice, on the court and off the court.

It is so easy to be distracted and tangled up in what's going on around us. It trips us up, knocks off our game. I've had to shake off quite a bit over the last year. It's exhausting. Sometimes, I did fine. Other times, not so much. A friend of mine who saw me around Christmastime last year told me recently that she could see the heaviness in my eyes and could feel it in the air. It was always thick, suffocating. Eventually, our family moved away from the situation. That didn't go very well either, hurtful words and accusations were flung about and landed like daggers. But we figured creating distance would offer some relief. It did, for a second. But, it would creep back up now and then and try to entangle us. Even as recently as today someone said something about me that wasn't true or kind. Church hurt is one of the worst kinds of hurt, you know. I figured out that sometimes shaking it off is a process. And, without God's grace and help, whatever progress I make won't stick.

But then, there's this: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12: 1-3, NIV

Fix our eyes on Jesus. Do not lose heart. Yes. There's nothing else to add really. This is the key to everything. All the time. In every situation.

STOP.

{Five Minute Friday | Park}

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 {PARK}. This is also Day 21 of the 31 Day Writing Challenge! WOO!

Ready? GO.

I do love going to the park. There's a beautiful one nearby our home. It has plenty of wide-open space to run and breathe. Or, maybe not to breathe if you happen to be a bit out of shape. And, perhaps not so much running. But one can't argue that certain feeling of freedom that comes when you're standing in the middle of green space -- free and clear of all the things that make our cities crowded.

At the park, you can hear the wind blowing through the trees. I love that. Julia loves to count butterflies and grasshoppers. Some days we go just to play. We picnic. We lay on a blanket a find shapes in the clouds. Other times, I go just to sit and be still. Being in His Creation reminds me that God is one of beauty. It reminds me that He's very specific in what He does. (I mean didn't fifth-grade Life Science blow your mind? Or astronomy?) There's just something sweet about being in creation acknowledging the beauty of the Creator.

It reminds me of what Paul writes in Romans 1:20. It goes like this:  For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Maybe take a walk in the park this weekend and look up and around. Listen to the trees. Watch the clouds float through the sky. Count butterflies if you must! But, at some point, stop and know that God is God, and everything you see around you is proof.

Stop.

{Weekend | Day 20 of 31}

How about another list? Yes. Great! 20 Things I love to do on the weekend. Not all twenty, every weekend. But at least a few make the cut every weekend.

1. Sleep in. (You know, 9:30ish.)
2. Read a book. 
3. Go to the park with the kiddos. 
4. Sit on the deck and stare at the trees. 
5. Plan for the following week. 
6. Do a little writing.
7. Peruse blogs I follow.
8. Netflix a movie.
9. Stay up late and fall asleep on the sofa with my hubby. 
10. Clean the house.
11. Eat out. 
12. Visit with friends/family. 
13. Play.
14. Take a short road trip. (Usually involving volleyball)
15. Go window shopping.
16. DIY projects. (Which usually requires a trip to Lowes or Hobby Lobby. Yay!) 
17. Sit at the piano. Play. Sing. Play some more, without playing anything in particular.  
18. Blast worship music in the house while we cook/clean. (That's not specific to weekends!)
19. Go to small group which, for the time being, is church for me. 
20. Take a nap. 

I suppose I appreciate those weekends that settle into rhythm at a slowed pace. You know how I like space to breathe. What are your favorite things to do on the weekend?

{Notice | Day 19 of 31}

Ready? Go.

Jesus noticed things. He noticed people. Zacchaeus in a tree. The woman in the crowd who touched the hem of His garment. The man who laid lame at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years. The 5000 people who were hungry on the mountainside. He even noticed the thief who was hanging on a cross beside Him. Here's the thing: Jesus didn’t turn a blind eye to the hard things because they were hard and uncomfortable. I don’t want to do that either. Sometimes I get confused and think Christianity is supposed to safe, comfortable, predictable. But, it isn’t. I suppose the more we know Him and trust Him, we become less likely to play it safe with Him. 

I want to be the kind of girl who notices what’s going on around me. I want to see people the way Jesus sees and love them the way He tells us to love them. What if we all asked Him to help us with that? What if we look up and look around and notice? Yeah, what if we did that. 

STOP. 

{Neighbor | Day 18 of 31}

Ready? Go.

Seems like there’s a lot of disunity across evangelical circles these days. We live in a culture that feels entitled to have an opinion and hold that opinion up and affirm it above all others. Out loud. Often times on a social media platform. Sometimes at the expense of another by making derogatory comments and accusations. (Anyone else not enjoying this election year?)  It makes me sad. In Scripture, James talks about the fights and quarrels among us. He says they come from our desires at war within ourselves. (Interesting tidbit: the Greek word in the text for “desires” is hedone. Our modern word hedonism finds its root in that word. That says something, doesn’t it.) He also warns us against slanderous speech against a brother and sitting in judgment of him. He writes, “But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”

Jesus had something to say about being a good neighbor. Take a look at this passage from the gospel of Mark. 

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12: 28-31

This is a big deal. Jesus’s explanation tells us that the law can be summed up in these two commands (Matthew 22:40). James calls this the “royal law” and says we’re doing well if we get it right. I agree. Wholeheartedly. Here’s the thing: if you are loving God the way Jesus tells us to love Him, loving your neighbor as yourself will be a natural progression of that love. I’m not here to say that if we all just love each other all the other issues will go away. We’re human. I get it. But, I am saying that Scripture tells us that He’s given us everything we need to do what He’s asking us to do. We also have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that will go to work changing us so we can be Christians who represent and reflect God’s love well. 

I fear we love ourselves and our opinions more than anything else at times. I wonder sometimes if we don’t have too much of a “I’m just looking out for myself” mentality. Do we live in a space that says our thoughts and feelings are most important? Do we believe our security and stability is meant to be our first priority? This must be why James reminds us that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, and that if we will draw near to Him, He draws near to us. Those are two things I cannot imagine living without: God’s nearness and grace. James also gives us another bit of wisdom. He says to “humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you,” and “do not merely listen to the word . . . do what it says.” 

May I encourage you to join me in praying that God will help us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to be doers of the word, to love Him with all that we are, and to be a good neighbor by loving others well? Can we ask Him daily to guard our hearts from selfish pride, to help us recognize it in ourselves and repent? Ask Him to help us live the truth we say we believe. Can you imagine what might happen if as the collective body of Christ we focused all our energy on these things? I think it would blow our minds. 

STOP.