The world says, “me.”
The Kingdom says, “others.”
The world says, “take.”
The Kingdom says, “give.”
The world says, “rule.”
The Kingdom says, “serve.”
The world says, “run.”
The Kingdom says, “rest.”
The world says, “entitled.”
The Kingdom says, “grace.”
The world says, “hold on.”
The Kingdom says, “let go.”
The world says, “hate.”
The Kingdom says, “love.”
The world says, “fear.”
The Kingdom says, “trust.”
The world says, “despair.”
The Kingdom says, “hope.”
This is a picture of my computer monitor at work.
Taped to it and just below it are some reminders.
When I was growing up, I remember my mom having index cards in various places around the house with scripture on them. I guess this is my version of that. I think it is important to keep the important things in front of us, and for me, that means putting them down on paper and literally keeping it in front of me. I spend a huge portion of my day sitting at my desk looking at my computer screen. By putting these important reminders right there in front of me, it almost guarantees that I will see and read them at least once a day.
Are the notes pretty? Not necessarily. Three of them are ripped pieces of paper. Four of them are my scribbles. I have had to add tape to the back of the sticky-notes to keep them sticking to the monitor. But that isn’t the point. The point is to remind me of the things that the Lord has taught and continues to teach me.
These are the ones that are most important to my life right now. There have been others in the past and I am sure that there will be more in the future, but these are the reminders for now.
How do you keep the things you are learning in front of you?
When we moved into our house about 11 1/2 years ago, my dad told me to never enclose the porch.
He wasn’t saying it because of how it would affect the value of the house. He was saying it because in this day and age we have lost our front porches.
The front porch is where you sit and have a glass of sweet tea with your neighbors.
The front porch is where you hang out with your family.
The front porch is a place of community.
And my dad is right, we have lost that.
Look around you, how many houses do you see being built today with big front porches? Not many. The front porch has been replaced with the deck in the back yard, and surrounded by a privacy fence.
It all leads back to the individualization of our society.
We don’t live in community anymore. We live our own lives, surrounded by our own stuff, and cut off from the rest of the human world.
We say we are more connected through social media, but we are not.
We have lost the art of face-to-face communication.
But that is where my front porch comes in.
I love to sit on my porch swing, read a book, crochet, and sip a cold (or warm) drink. But I love it even more when members of my family join me. I love it even more when my neighbors come outside and we chat for a bit. I love it even more when some of our friends and/or neighbors join us on the porch for conversation and a bowl of soup.
This is how you live in community – you make yourself available and you choose to interact face-to-face with the people around you.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my iPhone, iPad, Facebook and Twitter as much as the next person, but it feels so much more real to sit on my swing, laugh, share stories, and share life with the people I love, the people I live near, and the people with whom I live.
And these are the memories that stay with me, these real-life moments with family and friends.
How are you instituting “porch time” in your life? How are you purposing to spend time with the people you love and get to know the people who live near you? I would love to hear your stories.
When I was in high school, my aunt, who had seen the movie Pretty Woman, told my parents that it was a perfectly acceptable movie to take me to watch. And then in a crowded theater, where we were all separated because there were no seats together, my aunt slid further and further down in her seat as she watched the movie through the eyes of a teenager and her parents. And in the meantime, I found one of my all-time favorite movies.
You know why? Because it was a story about dreams and fighting through to follow a dream.
If you have seen the movie, you probably remember at the very beginning there is a guy walking down the streets of Hollywood saying, “Welcome to Hollywood! Everybody has a dream! What’s your dream? What’s your dream? Hey mister – What’s your dream?”
We all have dreams. As children we dreamed of what we would be when we grew up. As adults we dream of what we will be when we grow up. Our dreams can keep us motivated and focused. Our dreams can keep us pushing through the tough stuff of life.
Over the years I have had many dreams:
Some of these have come true and some haven’t.
One thing I notice about most of my dreams is that the impetus behind them is to speak into the lives of others and offer hope. That is what I always want to happen when I sing. That is what I always want to happen when I speak. That is what I always want to happen as I walk with others through life. That is what I want to happen with my spouse and children as we live life together. That is one of the reasons that law school isn’t off the table. That is what I always want to be a part of the relationships I am building with my cheer girls.
So I guess that means that all these specific dreams could be boiled down into one main dream for my life:
Have you ever made a list of your dreams? Have you ever looked at them to see what the “common thread” is that runs through them?
I think it is a good exercise – if for no other reason than to put down on paper what your dreams are.
Because sometimes we lose track. And often those dreams are things that the Lord has placed in our hearts, things that we desire because He desires them for us, and we need to be reminded.
Psalm 37: 4-5 says:
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
Our dreams are personal. Our dreams are ours. But they are also the Lord’s. So dream.
The closing lines of Pretty Woman are like the opening lines, “Welcome to Hollywood! What’s your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don’t; but keep on dreamin’ – this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin’.”
Dream on.
I John 3:16-18, 4:7-12; 16-23
16 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. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
I am sure that you have heard that there are many types of love and that love means different things to different people. I took a very unscientific survey last week and asked my Facebook friends “When you hear the word, “love,” what other words come to your mind? What does “love” mean to you? “ here are some of the answers I got:
In the above scripture we also learn that love is of God, a sign of knowing God, and it actually IS God.
But my favorite description of Christ like love comes from one of my college professors with whom I attend church now, who once told me that “Love is a deep desire to promote the well-being of others.” I liked that so much that I wrote it down on a piece of paper and have had it taped to the monitor of my computer for years.
This kind of love is like Christ’s love manifested on the cross. This is love that does something amazing for others.
Love isn’t just a feeling or an emotion, love is action. Something comes from it. It says that we will be known as God-followers as we show the love of God. And how do we show the love of God? Through our actions.
In the Bible, Jesus commands us to love God and love others, and if we are known as the children of God by obeying His commands, then our lives should be showing evidence of our love in action.
In other words, unless we are doing something active to show love, even to the point of laying down our lives for one another the way that Christ laid down His life for us, we are not loving one another in the way that we have been called to do.
This kind of love loves the unlovable, doesn’t expect anything in return, does self-sacrificing deeds that don’t make sense to the rest of the world.
So much of our culture tells us that if someone loves us we should get what we need from them, when in reality, if we are truly showing the love of Christ, we should be only concerned with what we are giving to those we love. And those we love should be all people of all faiths, of all classes, of all ethnicities, of all orientations. Everyone. Even those Christians that we don’t see eye to eye with.
You don’t have to agree with someone to love them. You don’t have to approve of their choices to love them. But you do have to love them. And show that you love them through your actions.
How evident is your love for Christ? Is it being shown in your actions? In your choices?
When people see you, is it like the song says, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, and they’ll know we are Christians by our love?”
When I ask these questions of myself, I truly hope that the answer is yes.
I hope that the cheerleaders that I spend hours upon hours coaching are learning something about cheerleading, but I pray that they are also feeling the love of Christ. A love that sacrifices a huge portion of my time between July and October.
I pray that each time our sponsor child has food to eat and goes to school he feels God’s love being shown to him.
I don’t say these things to brag on myself, but I share them as examples of ways that the Lord has shown me how I am effectively showing His love in action. But there are other ways that He shows me that I could be doing more.
I challenge you to ask the Lord today how you are doing in the area of active love and how you could be doing more. Really take the time to pray and listen to His leading.
Because don’t you want to be known as a truly loving Christian? One who follows Christ so closely and emulates Him so well that He is seen in all that you do? Don’t you want to be known as a person who truly shows that their love is a deep desire to promote the well-being of others, just like Christ’s love?
I know I do.
A number of years ago I took the Strengths Finder and was told that my top five strengths are:
These strengths are pretty spot-on (and everyone that knows me would likely agree).
So what happens when you are sick for a few weeks and your head is so full of mucus that you can’t think and you can’t focus on anything when you can usually buckle down and focus fairly easily?
Nothing. Nothing happens. Because you can’t focus long enough to make something happen.
The house doesn’t get cleaned. Only the work that absolutely has to be done gets done. There’s no planning or forward thinking. There’s no follow-through on personal goals. Nothing.
And then you know what happens?
Even in the midst of being sick, and knowing that there is an underlying reason for my lack of focus, I start beating myself up for the lack of follow-through, the lack of focus.
Here is an example from the last week.
I was scheduled to preach on Sunday. I have known it for weeks and have been thinking and praying about what the Lord would have me share, but nothing was coming, partly because of my lack of focus, i surmised. When I finally had an idea, and started working on it, it wasn’t necessarily flowing. To add to the lack of focus and lack of flow, my sickness seemed to take another turn for the worse. Ugh! I attempted to work off and on for a few days and by Friday evening I had some things typed up but there wasn’t enough. I didn’t have the ideas that tied things together or the ending. In my fog I wrote down some more ideas early Saturday morning while sitting at my daughter’s tumbling lesson and after another day full of football and cheerleading, I opened the laptop at 9:00 Saturday night to try to work the ideas I wrote down into what I had typed up. When I finished and read through what I had, it was ok. It was not my best work, but it was something.
I cried out to the Lord. I always need His help, His guidance, and the work of His Spirit when I am working on a sermon and preaching, but I really felt like I needed Him more than ever on this one. I even felt like the sermon itself showed just how much focus I was lacking.
As I woke Sunday morning and read through it again, I was still not sure.
Even as we were singing leading up to the sermon, I was struggling with my focus in the moment.
And then God took over. I preached the sermon and it felt like it actually flowed, like the pieces connected together.
And the people responded. They heard the Lord’s words, not mine.
And I was reminded again, that God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness. Even when my weakness is normally one of my strengths.
Thank You, Lord!
I would love to hear your stories of a time when you felt particularly unfit for a task but the Lord brought you through.
Have you ever worried about the upcoming generation of girls and what life is and will be like for them as they continue to grow and mature?
I know I have.
That is part of the reason I spend an enormous amount of time coaching and loving on fifth through eighth grade girls through Jr. Comets Cheerleading. These young girls need to be taught what it means to embrace who they are created to be and love themselves. They need to be taught how to encourage and love one another in a way that runs counter to all the world tries to tell them every day. They need to be taught how to respect others, particularly other girls and women, even when they don’t see eye to eye with them. They need to be shown the love of Christ, and if that can happen through my arms, I am glad.
Recently, I have encountered and become part of another way to encourage and teach young girls. It is called the Shine Movement. This is the dream of Deedra Mager, with help from a friend of mine, Megan Hall. I am excited about this movement and what great things the Lord will do in the lives of the girls who participate.
The website has this to say about Shine Movement:
Every girl wants to shine. Little girls dream of singing, dancing, acting, or modeling. However, the world’s definition of shining can often lead to heartbreak, chaos, and broken lives. The stories of most Hollywood child stars demonstrate that.
The Shine Movement hopes to assist young girls with their dreams of shining by teaching them about inner beauty, purity, godliness, modesty, and confidence. The main avenue of teaching will be through a two-day conference.
Shine Movement is a fun and interactive event that merges dance training and performance with biblical teachings and activities that promote godliness and purity in this generation.
This two-day conference reaches out to tween girls (ages 10 to 14). Girls will learn choreography and have the opportunity to dance onstage alongside Christian artists and performers. Break-out sessions will challenge the girls to walk more closely with God as we study what it means to glorify Him with our talents and lives.
Older teenage girls (ages 15 to 18) are invited to attend as mentors for the younger girls. While the tweens are in the dance sessions, the mentors will train to assist in the break-out sessions, with the hopes that mentors will continue leading the younger generation in their own churches and hometowns.
While Shine Movement is kicking off its inaugural tour this summer, it has lived in the heart of founder Deedra Mager for several years. In the summer of 2013, the Lord arranged a set of circumstances that allowed Deedra to begin pursuing the dream of launching Shine Movement. She shared her vision with friend Megan Hall, and the two were ready to start an adventure and encourage girls to SHINE for God!
Everyone can get involved with helping the Shine Movement take off and become a reality. How? The first two-day conference is coming up November 8-9, 2013 at the Greenville Free Methodist Church. You can:
This is just one of the ways that we can stop worrying and wondering about the next generation and do something to assist the Lord in raising up the next generation of women to love and serve Him.
Let’s help them Shine!
Overall health doesn’t come because we make healthy choices in one area of our lives. We have to make choices that encompass all of life. The problem comes when we try to conquer all of those choices at the same time. When we do that, we get overwhelmed and then we either don’t do any of them well, or we quit altogether.
So what are those things that we need to do to be healthy?
This is a place to start. If you want to get healthy, pick one of these things and start there. When you feel like you are ready to conquer the next thing, add it in. You will be more likely to keep going when you don’t overwhelm yourself at the outset. There may be a couple of things that naturally go together that you could start with. For example, you might want to adjust your bedtime so that you can get 7-8 hours of sleep and feel rested so you can set that alarm to get up a little earlier and exercise.
But whatever you do, do something. Always be working on your health. It is worth it. You’ll feel better. You’ll feel better about yourself. You’ll be an example to others. And in this day and age where we are surrounded by unhealthy people and habits, it has to start somewhere.
Let’s put these pieces of health together in our lives and start a health epidemic!
I read this scripture again last week and was reminded again of what it looks like to follow Christ. We are offered the free gift of salvation – nothing in our power can reconcile us with God. But once we have received that gift, we have to fully embrace Christ in our lives so that there is fruit that comes. I think of that song, They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love, and that is the truth. When we are showing love to those around us, regardless of what we might receive in return, that is Christ living in us. When we love the unlovable, that is Christ in us. When we act in ways that run counter to the culture that we live in so that God will be glorified, that is Christ in us.
Read these words today, and ask the Lord to reveal any ways in which you are not showing Christ living in you.
“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.–Isaiah 58 (Italics Mine)
Life was insanely busy last week, and my body decided to tell me to stop at the end of the week, which is why I didn’t get any new blogs posted after Monday.
Life is still insanely busy this week, but one of the reasons for that is a very special event for a very special person.
One of my running partners has a daughter named Mary Ashley. Mary is 17, and is about the sweetest thing on the face of the planet. She is always ready to help anyone out who needs it. She loves little kids and can often be found helping out in the Early Childhood Department at church. There is always a smile on her face, and rarely does she complain about anything.
Last November, Mary suffered a stroke and spent a significant amount of time in the hospital recovering. What the doctors discovered is that she was suffering from kidney failure and would need a transplant. In the midst of transplant testing, Mary experienced more stroke-like symptoms this spring, resulting in another hospital stay, where it was discovered that she had another disease, this one in her brain. This disease, called Moyamoya, affects the vessels in her brain so that blood flow to the brain is a major issue. With both the kidney and brain issues, and competing blood pressure levels to keep both working well, it became important to do brain surgery prior to kidney transplant. Mary has recovered well from the brain surgery and now we wait to see when the brain surgeon wants to give the green light for the kidney transplant, as well as when he would like to do the other side of the brain to fix the Moyamoya issues there.
Mary’s family has had their fair share of medical emergencies in the past few years, and even with insurance, the out-of-pocket costs for Mary’s care – both past and future – are mounting. Some of Mary’s friends decided that we wanted to help in any way we could, so this Saturday, we are putting on the Run Mary Run Glow Run/Walk. Join us on Saturday, August 31, at 7:00 p.m. at Greenville College. (Get your race packs starting at 6:30 p.m.) It is going to be a fun evening of music, a glow run/walk, and even cool treats! If you are anywhere near the Greenville, IL area, we would love for you to come out and participate. You can register online here.
Even if you can’t participate in the run, there are other ways you can help Mary in her battle with Moyamoya and kidney disease. Here are a few ideas:
Even if you don’t know Mary or her family, please pray for them as this journey has just begun.
