Being Mean

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    Our minds have endless opportunities to worry. We worry about finances, loved ones, children, swimming pools when our kids cannot swim yet, car accidents when they are driving, how we look, terrorists, random violence and attacks. (Do I need to continue??)

    As my minds downs the spiral straight downward into more worry I become really mean. My mind plays out potential pain and death scenarios and I snap at those around me. I am so fixates on a made up future than I spend my emotional, mental and physical energy on the unknown rather than the known that is in front of me. Not only that, the known in front of me receives the worst part of me.

    How about you, how does worry effect those around you? How are you living in an unknown future rather than the known present?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

A Way Out

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    You may be looking for a way out today. A way out of a situation, a way out of a diagnosis, a way out of a relationship. You are desperate for a way out yet God is not offering one. He offers no escape, no relief and no answers. You long for God to provide a way out like He has for a friend, for a neighbor, for a person from a distant story. You long and God does not provide a way out.

    You are weary and afraid. Will God show up? Will He provide a way out?

    I do not know if He will provide a way out but I know that He is with you. He is with you.

    In your fear, your frustration, your weariness, your blood-shot eyes and your rage, God is with you.

    Sit silently, let this truth sink in and rest.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

God Works Through Us

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
    "God, please work in spite of me. Let me get out of the way so you can do your work." I hear these well-meaning words in prayers, from leaders and in books. These words come from those I believe genuinely seek humility and to serve God. Well-meaning words but one of my greatest pet peeves.

    God desires to use us, God has created us and called us to certain works on this earth (Ephesians 2:10). God works through us NOT in spite of us. He does not call us to get out of the way, He is not thwarted by our sin. Sure, we mess up, sure our actions can have negative consequences on others but that does not mean God cannot use them. Exactly the opposite and an amazing thing about God … He redeems and resurrects sin and death. He does not work around us but through us … no matter what.

    How will God work through you today? Perfect or imperfect, be on the lookout for how God uses you and uses others to serve Him!


**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Vision Thwarted

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    We have pictures, ideas, vision for how we would love things to turn out. Maybe you have had a goal in mind and something or someone stops you. Maybe you have a picture of how something should be but you cannot quite get there. Maybe you have to wait and the timing of your achievement has been thrown off. This is so frustrating and deflating! To have a vision thwarted can lead to discouragement, lost hope and even despair. Are you there today?

    If you are there, take a deep breath, allow yourself to vent, grieve, voice your disappointment.

    Talk to God, be real, share your frustration.

    Take hope in this: God’s vision is never thwarted. God completes that which He sets out to do. In the grand scheme of things, God has got things under control. You may not, but He does.

    My prayer is for you to rest in God’s love because ultimately this is what our frustration and disappointment may be all about – the struggle to rest in God’s love. Take a deep breath, be real and rest. He’s got you.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

A Greater Trust

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    As we live life with God He calls us to greater trust. Something erupts in our lives or the lives of someone we love and He calls us to trust. Someone is taken away and He calls us to trust. The future is unpredictable and He calls us to trust.

    God continues to call us to greater levels of trust and we follow Him. There are times we would love to plateau and we say, “God, don’t I trust you enough?”

    How are you being called to greater trust?

    In times of weariness to trust ask God to help. Ask Him to be your strength, your strength for faith and trust. Allow Him to meet you and you step into the unknown. He is there.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Terror and Terrible Things

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

“Terror can make people feel like all they have is terrible choices.”
                                      – Ann Voskamp

    This line struck me as I read a blog post by Ann Voskamp. “Terror can make people feel like all they have is terrible choices.” Feelings of terror and fear lead us to desperately grasp for a way out, any way out of the feeling and reality of danger. The feelings of terror and fear lead me to feelings (and the reality) that I am truly NOT in control. So in desperation I reach for anything that will give me a sense of control, anything that will shelter me from the pain, from the fear, from the vulnerability … and this “anything” is not usually good. I grasp for control because I ultimately believe I am in charge of the my own security. I grasp for control because it makes me feel safe although this is far from truth.

    As I grasp for anything that will take away the feelings of fear and vulnerability I settle down into a self-made security that can crumble at any moment. Recognizing the instability of self-made security I continue to grasp, I continue to control.

    How about you? How does fear lead you to grasp for control, create your own security and rely on yourself? What would happen if you turned to God, the only One who we can find true security in?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Celebrating

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    This weekend we celebrated my son’s fourth birthday. So. Much. Fun. It was such a joy getting ready to celebrate him and celebrating with others that care for him so dearly. What a joy and a gift.

    If I could just bottle up my joy and then consider this joy as a fraction of how God celebrates over me I would live life differently. To live under the great joy of a great Father frees us to live fully. It frees us to live into our fullest selves, into our fullest reflection of God’s image and into the work we are called to in this life.

    The next time you think, feel or experience great joy over a child or someone you love, consider God’s great joy over you. Run with this image of a God who delights and rejoices over you!

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

The Gift of Life

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
    Precious, precious life. Life is delicate and resilient. Life is full and fast. Life is beyond what we can imagine and a reality that we live. Life is truly a gift. To touch, to see, to hold, to sacrifice, to love. Life is a mysterious gift given to us by a loving God.

    We are not guaranteed life itself, length of life, ease of life. Life can bring pain as it brings joy. It is a mystery and a gift.

    Will you celebrate life today?
    Will you choose to enjoy the lives of those around you?

    What joy it is to have life and to know the creator of life!

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Gratitude and Sadness

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    I am just so sad. West, Texas, a town we regularly drive through is in shock, mourning, grieving, struggling. I look for the helpers as Mr. Rogers is quoted and even the helpers are hurt and maybe even gone. I see more helpers and I am beyond grateful.

    And then there is Boston and the first responders, the investigators, the running community. And then there is the homeless of our city and the many who meet their needs. And then there is the human trafficking everywhere and the abolitionists who fight to free them. And then ...

    I am so grateful for those who respond, serve, protect, work, battle.

    Yet my gratitude and sadness take their turns. How is it possible to be grateful and sad at the same time? This is where we find ourselves - moving back and forth between sadness and gratitude. Is not this pendulum swing a reality? A great tension in life?

    But today I am mostly sad and that is okay.
    Will you give yourself time, space and silence to grieve today?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Called Out of Love

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    Some of you might be struggling to see goodness, worthiness and beauty. You might be struggling to see this in yourself. You look at the world around you and in your eyes, you don’t look that great. You compare, you get discouraged and you wonder if God’s call for you is out of pity. IT IS NOT.

    God does not call out of pity but out of love. God does not value you based on how you look, how well you perform or what you have accomplished. God’s call is based on His great love and He loves you unconditionally and not because He has to. He loves, that is WHO HE IS.

    My prayer for you today is that you would know the truth that is God’s love, the vast, overwhelming, unimaginable love that He pours on you. And from this love you would know and believe how He has called you to live in the world.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

No (Good) Answers

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    The older (and hopefully wiser) we get the more we realize how few answers we have … at least to the really important and difficult questions. Life becomes less black and white and the shades of gray increase. We realize we have limitations and our capacity is sometimes stops short of what we would hope to get accomplished.

    As I grow in faith I realize that I do not have many answers, well, good answers. I may be able to answer a question but it is not necessarily a good one. As I grow in faith I realize more and more how mysterious God is and how much faith He calls for; the call to trust. I read about God and the lives of those He loves in the Bible and sometimes have no clue what to do with a foreign culture, story and actions that overwhelm me.

    The answers I had as a child no longer work or at least I have new questions the old answers do not address. I guess that is all part of growing up.

    It is during these times that God calls me to draw nearer. He calls me to faith and to trust although I do not know. I have no answers, at least good ones, yet God meets me in my questions.

    He may not answer you as you expected but He is faithful to meet you in your questions.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Fear and Following

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    There are so many voices competing for our attention and following. Advertisers, friends, family, God, culture, etc. The noise is loud around us and it is difficult to hear God’s voice.

    King Saul said this about fear and following, “I have sinned … because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.”
   
    So often I fear what people think, what they will say or maybe even what they will do to me so I obey their voice. I obey what they think I should do, what they expect or maybe even something wrong. Because I care about self-preservation, being liked, etc and am afraid of people’s response, I listen to their voice. I fear and I follow.

    Many of us have heard God’s voice. We know what He is calling us to do. It may be spending time with your child rather than sending another email. It may be the call to teach and lead others rather than study alone and for yourself. Many of us have heard God’s voice but are afraid to follow because of what others will think, how they will respond, what they will do.

    How does fear of others lead you? How have you overcome that fear and allowed God to lead?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**
Have more than two minutes? Read the story referred to above in 1 Samuel 15

Faithfulness

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    It is so encouraging to read and hear of God's faithfulness! Being reminded of God's faithfulness encourages me to keep going, to persevering and to trust God's goodness.

    We need to hear stories of God's faithfulness over and over again. It is so easy to grow weary, to lose hope and stories are reminders of God's goodness and that He is faithful.

    These stories are found throughout the Bible and they are also found in the stories of Christians who lived before us in biographies. These stories can also be found today.
   
    Have you heard a story of God's faithfulness in the life of another recently? How does their story encourage you and give you hope?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

The Struggle to Live in the Present

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    The struggle to live in the present is common. We look to the former days of seeming ease or long for the future that promises rest. Sometimes the present is just too difficult, too demanding and too overwhelming. We long for a different day.

    In these times I turn nostalgic and wish for former days of ease and simplicity (or maybe just a different difficult). If I do not turn nostalgic I turn wishful for a future that looks different and I am sure is not as exhausting as the present.

    Yet we are called to live in the present, the reality that is before us. I struggle. I struggle to hear the story that is being told now rather than the story that has been told or the story that is yet to come. The desire to escape the present reality is so strong because the present is just too hard.

    Some of you know what I am talking about. You might be there now. You might have just walked through this type of season. You are not alone.

    As you struggle to live in the present know that you are not alone. May the love and grace of God so overwhelm you that you cannot do anything other than live fully.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

When God Doesn't Move

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    At times we wonder why God will not move. He will not take action. If He can do (fill in the blank) then why doesn’t He do (fill in the blank)? Why does God hold back? At the death of Lazarus people were asking why Jesus didn’t keep Lazarus from dying if He could open the eyes of a blind man. Two core questions are really being asked by these people and by us. Is God good and is God sovereign? In other words, is He both loving and great? There is a struggle to reconcile if God is BOTH good and great. There are times when God is obviously great but He doesn’t seem like a very loving God. There are other times when God is obviously good but doesn’t seem to have much power.

    The truth is that God is both, all the time. He cannot be good without being great and He cannot be great without being good. God is always loving even though the outcome is not what we wanted it to be. God is still sovereign even though the outcome is not what we wanted it to be.

    My struggle to reconcile these truths and my experience varies depending on what I am going through. Do you struggle with one or the other? Maybe you struggle with both? Talk to God, let Him know how you’re struggling and allow Him to meet you in your struggle.

Have more than two minutes: Read the story mentioned about in the Gospeh of John 11:28-37.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

He Knows Your Name

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

“But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.' When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, 'Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, 'Rabboni!' (which means, Teacher). John 20:11-16

    Some of us wonder if Jesus knows our name. Even in our pursuit of Him, for whatever reason, sometimes we cannot see Him.    

    I love this story of Jesus and Mary. I love her vulnerability and her pursuit of Jesus. I love Mary’s desperation to find Jesus. Yet in her great desperation she did not recognize Jesus. I do not know why she did not recognize Him. Maybe she was blinded by her pain, focused on her pursuit of Him, still reeling from the empty tomb. I do not know. What we do see is that she recognizes Him the moment Jesus says her name, “Mary”.

    Jesus knows our names as well. We cannot see Him but He sees us. You may be in a time of life where you cannot hear Jesus say your name. You may not be able to hear or feel anything. Consider Mary and remember that Jesus does know your name. He has not forgotten and He is with you.

**Sit in silence again for as long as is available to you.**

The Ordinary

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    So many times in life I doubt. I doubt whether God can change something around. I doubt that He has the power He says He does. It isn’t even big things I am expecting, it is in the everyday. I doubt He is in the ordinary.

    When I am so weary and unsure how I will respond to others in kindness and love. When I am so frustrated that I cannot view a situation any differently. When my creative problem solving ability has gone out the window and yet there is a situation that requires an immediate answer.

    These situations and many more are our every day. God meets us in the everyday and has power to work in the every day. He works spectacularly, yes. He also works in the ordinary and sometimes I doubt that He can.

    In your doubt, talk to God, tell Him your thoughts and feelings. As you do, ask Him for strength, endurance, creativity and what else you might need for empowerment to live in the ordinary.

**Sit in silence again for as long as is available to you.**

Your Leading Voice

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    Whose voice leads you? Some of us are led by voices from the past, the voice of a parent, the voice of failure or the voice of bitterness. Some of us led by voices that tell us we should have more, should be doing more or what it is we should be doing and how.

    Whose voice leads you? Are you being led by the expectations of others? Are you being led by culture, however “good” this culture might be?

    Or is God’s voice leading you? How does God’s voice lead you in the noise of life? How does His voice stand out.

    Here are a few ways of practicing listening for God’s voice:

    - Read the Bible. Here you will learn to know what God’s voice says and does not say. Start with one of the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.
    - Spend time in silence, in quiet and resting. This allows your mind to stop spinning even if it is just for a few minutes.
    - Spend time with others who seem to be able to hear God’s voice consistently. Learn from them and grow with them.

    We have so many competing voices in our lives. May we learn more and more what the voice is of our loving Father and follow His voice.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Background Music

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    What background music do you have running in your head? Maybe it literally is music and maybe it is just a mental tape (or playlist) you keep on repeat. What are the words, phrases, illustrations being repeated and how have they become the background music to your life?

    Spend time throughout the day paying attention to the words, phrases or maybe an interaction that is on repeat in your mind. How is it setting the mood for your day? How is it setting you up to believe truth or believe lies?

    Be attentive, take note and bring your music to God. Ask Him to transform the background music towards what will lead you to life and truth.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Spilled Milk

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    It’s not that the milk has spilled it is that it has spilled for the millionth time.
I get so frustrated cleaning up milk. I am convinced that our carpet is dirty from two main sources – dirt from our dog and spilled milk. In all the brilliance in the world you would think someone could invent a straw sippy cup that did not leak!

    Again and again and again. Spilled milk.

    I do not know what the spilled milk is in your life today but my prayer for myself and my prayer for you is for the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to help us to clean up the spilled milk yet again. That we would go to God with whatever repeated frustrated and ask for His help because left to ourselves and our frustration it’s not going to be pretty.

    Prayer for supernatural power, however it is needed today.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

The Mundane

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    “Choosing to enter into the mundane with our children, who see playing ponies as anything but ordinary, is a sacrifice of love.”

                                       - Desperate by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson

    “Mommy, tell me the story about …” My son loves to ask me to make up stories. It is fun to be in the imaginative process with him yet I wear out so fast. I cannot keep up with his little mind and get weary. I cringe at the word “mundane” in the quote above because it is so superficial. How can we call anything mundane that someone takes great joy and fun in?

    Who am I to judge what is exciting and what is mundane? For me it’s the repetition that gets wearing and there does not have to be much!

    As I consider this very small sacrifice I think about God, who came to earth as a man, Jesus. If anyone made the choice to move from incredibly exciting, fulfilling, joyful to mundane it was God! He came into our world, now that is an act of sacrificial love!!

    This move of love was beautiful and sacrificial – to meet us where we are at, to choose to take on flesh and become like us. In the Incarnation, God chose to sit down on the carpet and play ponies and legos with His children that He loves so dearly.

    How will you respond to the “mundane” today?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Image, Intimacy and Identity

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    If I am honest with myself, I spend a lot of time keeping up an image. The image of intelligence, having it together, being trendy, at a certain status, etc. If I am honest I struggle to keep people impressed by me. I want you to be impressed by what I know, how cute I look, what I have accomplished, etc.

    When so much time is spent on an image, there is not time to spend in intimacy and intimacy is where we receive our true identity. In intimacy we sit and soak God’s great love for us. In intimacy we begin to see ourselves as God does and see ourselves as image bearers of Him.

    What does this intimacy look like? It can look like a lot of things! Meet God in His Scriptures, in the stories of His love and faithfulness. Meet God in prayer, talking with Him and waiting to hear from Him. Meet God in music, in the mountains, at a park, in the laugh of a loved one. Take time, however you want, to meet with God.

    How will you spend time with God and grow in relationship with Him? As you do, may you see how beautifully He has created you, who He has called you to be and how you are to live. What freedom to live in your true identity!

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

God's Music

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

“God lives in my home, but sometimes I ignore Him and I don’t hear the music He is playing just for me.”
                                    - Desperate by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson

    What music is God playing in your life? Have you slowed down enough, maybe even stopped to hear the music He plays for you?

    Music touches my soul like so few things can and I often find myself deaf to the music, very much unaware of the music that God is playing for me.

    Would you stop today, take a deep breath and sit with God? What music is He playing just for you?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you (or with God's music playing in your head. :))**