Taking on Extra

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
 
    I often take on additional requirements. I take on things that God is not asking me to take on. I add an extra meeting here, a helpful hand there and especially expectations.

    I find myself adding to God’s job description for my life. I add and therefore I burden. I burden myself and my addition also becomes a burden and hindrance to others.

    How about you? What have you added to your life that God never asked you to take on? 
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Not a Savior

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
 
    Grieving the change in a friendship, I find myself uncertain of what to do. Do I call for closure? Do I let it be? How do I heal from this change and loss?

    I have found myself dreaming about this friendship too. The latest was of me “saving the day” in her life. Reflecting upon it one morning I sensed God speaking, “You are not her savior”.

    I am grieving the loss of closeness, conversation, laughter … and being needed. I meet needs and she doesn’t really need me anymore. So, I need to let go of being her savior.

    How about you? How do you meet needs and love people well without falling into thinking you’re the only one who can and who should help?

    How do you help well yet hold that role in proper perspective to our great Savior? 
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Pushing Away

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

    Not being able to control something or someone we often push away. Not understanding how to respond to someone with mental illness or physical handicaps we avoid. I am convicted by how often I push others away in fear. I am convicted that I push away and avoid rather than enter into and love.

    I do whatever is the opposite of incarnate. I do not enter in, I pull out. There is wisdom in how all this is done and I recognize each situation is different.

    What I do know about myself is that more often than not I pull out rather than enter in.

    Is there someone you have been pushing away? Might God be calling you to enter in?

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

Healing Balm

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

    How can you be a healing balm to someone today? Who is hurting, whether they tell you or not?
    How can you love, serve and/or speak truth to a hurting heart, to a sick mind and a beat up body?
    How will you love all of a person – heart, mind, body and soul?

    My prayer is that we would be a healing balm to those around us, pointing them to the greatest healer – Jesus.
 
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Let God Lead

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
 
    How is God moving? What is He doing in the lives of those around you?

    Often we miss God’s movement. In a desire for someone to be in a different place or growing at a faster pace, we miss what God is doing.

    Instead of trying to lead the way of someone’s growth, how about paying attention to God’s movement in their lives? How about paying attention to God’s movement and then following His lead?

    This takes prayer, it takes discernment and it takes conversing with God. Take the time to love others well by looking for God’s movement and following His lead. Let God lead.
 
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Public Failure

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

    I have rear-ended someone with my car at least once in my life.

    Oh how I wanted to make an excuse, sugar coat it, make it look better than it was. Bottom line, I made a mistake. Sometimes I hate being a normal human who makes simple mistakes. Why? Because then I have to admit I am not perfect and that for some reason I am above everyone else in my capabilities.

    I want to look good. I want to look perfect yet time and time again I am not. I am reminded of my imperfections plenty of times at home or with forgiving friends, but in public, ugh. There is not hiding public failure.

    There is a humility that is required with public failure. If not humility, other options are shame or saving face. And neither good or true.

    How about you? How are you tempted to cover up failure? Save face?
Maybe you lean towards the opposite – you pour shame over yourself?
May truth break through today and humility lead.

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

Stripped

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
 
    Sometimes we get stripped. We have been holding onto something so closely and God decides to strip us of it. He strips away something we love and we are left raw. Sometimes our response is to start grasping, clinging to anything that is a semblance of what was. We clamor for what we have known. We grasp for things that have created our identities, the things that have taken the place of God.

    So God strips us. It is painful, it is unnerving, it leaves us vulnerable and exposed. We are lost.

    In all this He calls us to trust Him. He calls us to grasp onto Him even when we have no idea when we’ll feel stable and secure again.

    How has God stripped you lately? Will you choose to walk in faith, in the unknown and trust the identity you have in Him?
 
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Mindful to the Moment

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

    Moments come and go. Some seem big and others inconsequential. A way to be mindful to the moments we have is to begin by choosing to be mindful to God. How will you take the time to sit with God today? How can you choose to be mindful to his activity in your life and in the lives of others?

    Choosing to be mindful to God helps us to be mindful to the moment. May we not miss the treasured moments God has for us.

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

Faith Made Stronger

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

    Our faith is made stronger as we sit in the presence of Jesus. Have you taken the time to sit with Jesus today? This week? Presence has power and we are made stronger when we are with Jesus.

    No need to be super productive, just sit with Him and allow your faith to be made stronger as you grow in relationship with Him, in His presence.

    It is a discipline, no doubt. Sit with Him today.

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

Dream Big

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

    Being told to dream big sometimes I struggle. I cannot dream big because there are so many roadblocks in the way. There is doubt, there is pain, there is fear.

    Dreaming big sometimes means working through the obstacles, removing the roadblocks and clearing the path. It sometimes mean working through sin, hang-ups and struggles. We get to confront those things in our lives that if taken away would cause unhealthy responses.

    For you, what is an obstacle to dreaming big? What is getting in the way of opening yourself up to God’s big dreams?

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

Hope ... More than a Feeling

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

    I have heard many describe hope as a feeling. Yes, hope can be a feeling, yet it is so much more.

    For someone whose feelings go up and down quite regularly, if I based my hope solely on my feelings then I would be a mess. Hope as a feeling may make us feel better but it is not solid, it wavers and in this life, I need hope to be strong.

    Hope is based on a person. It is based on the actions because of the love of this person. Hope is based on one sacrificing their life for mine. It is based on the surrender of their life for the sake of my life. Hope is based on the promises and work of God. It is a gift given to us that has a strong foundation based on unwavering promises and words.

    More than a feeling, hope steadies us and grounds us.

    Is your hope more than a feeling?

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

Disordered Attachments

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

    Something I love gets taken away and I get MAD! I cannot find what I am looking for and I get FRUSTRATED. Something does not happen on my timeline and I RAGE.

    So many strong, negative responses come when my priorities are misaligned and often they cause pain to another.

    Ignatius of Loyola calls these “disordered attachments”.  Attachments that are out of order. These can be good things, but there are disordered, not in the right order of priority. (aka “idols”)

    I would invite you to pray today. Ask God what your disordered attachments are. Pay attention to any great negative emotional swings. What is your heart attached to?

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

Anchor

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

    My son asked me what an anchor was today. My initial response was that an anchor is something that keeps us steady. Thinking more upon it, I realize my initial response was not accurate. One thing an anchor does is it keeps a ship from drifting away. While there is the constant unsteadiness because of the water around and underneath, the anchor keeps the ship from being carried away.

    I think about this and realize there is always opportunity for the waters around us to grow incredibly unsteady, fast and even violent. There is always opportunity for the waters to send us rocking, swaying and unsure. The reality of life is the reality of a body of water, the unexpected can happen any time.

    So we need an anchor. We need an anchor that holds us while we are incredibly unsteady, an anchor the keeps us from drifting, an anchor that will not move. That anchor is God, who gives us the faith to live each day with the waters.

    How has God been your anchor lately?

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

Gratitude

**Sit quietly, eyes closed in and silence for one minute before reading.**
 
    What are you grateful for today? Take some time to reflect and express to God out loud that which you are grateful for.
 
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Courage, Fear and Faith

**Sit quietly, eyes closed in and silence for one minute before reading.**
 
    Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is walking forward despite fear … with faith.

    When God calls us into the unknown (it happens often, my friends!) we often a mixture of emotions. We walk courageously forward in faith. Often our faith is general, holding onto the simple yet deepest truths of God. He loves us, He is good and He is sovereign. We sometimes do not get any others details! (I know, it kills the type – A’s).

    How is God calling you to step forward in faith? What fears do you have? Talk to God, tell Him your fears and ask for the faith that helps you walk forward in courage!
 
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Sharing Our Fears

**Sit quietly, eyes closed in and silence for one minute before reading.**
 
    How often do you share your fears with another? How often do you share your fears with God?

    In a culture that values “no fear” we are taught to ignore, avoid the reality that we do fear. To admit to fears communicates weakness.

    So, we are weak. You are weak, I am weak.

    So what do we do? We do not share our fears. We do not share our doubts because to do so would mean admitting we are weak.

    My prayer for us:

    “Lord, break us of our pride. Break us of our enticement to following the values of our culture. Bring us humility and grace. Help us to be people that share fears and graciously receive others’ fears. May we be compassionate people who love you, share our fears and minister to one another. Amen.”
 
**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Grieving Alone

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

    In sadness I want to be alone. In sadness I want to wrestle with God alone and I want to cry alone. I distance myself from those that love me. I am afraid they won’t be able to handle my grief or they will judge me for it so I grieve alone.

    We are so desperate to hide. We are so scared.

    It is terrifying to even begin to grieve because it is such a wild animal. When you grieve with others you admit sadness, hopelessness, and a host of other things you’d rather not talk about.

    Yet, as I look at healthy grieving in real life with support groups and in the Bible with people like Martha and Mary I realize that to grieve in community is the way to go.

    God calls us to grieve together. He calls us to enter another’s grief, meet them where they are. He calls us to allow others to minister to us in our grief.

    May God give you the gift of people, who share in your grief, who allow you to grieve freely. Do not remain hidden, do not fear. Grieve well…with others.

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

Being a Learner

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

    Being a learner means we take the posture to receive, to grow and to acknowledge that we do not know all. It means we make mistakes and fail … and sometimes that means a public failure. Being a learner means admitting we need each other.

    Being a learner means I am willing to be corrected, edited and challenged. Being a learner means I need others to sharpen my mind, heart, body and faith. Being a learner means I admit that I do not have it all together - Jesus does.

    Jesus has it all together and He is the best Teacher, He leads and guides us in truth and grace. We also have another, the Holy Spirit, Who leads and guides us in truth and wisdom. We also have the community of believers, those who have gone before us and are with us now and in some mysterious way the ones to come. They sharpen and encourage us.

    What do you struggle with most being a learner? How can you take the posture of a learner today?

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