Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, Mommies!

May the love of God go deeper and deeper still today and every day!
 

XOXO,
Laura

Merry Christmas!

    Merry Christmas, dear friends! God is with us! May hope, peace, joy and love be yours today and forever more!

    Grace and Peace,
   
     Laura

Overflow

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for as long as is available to you.**

    A prayer for us today:

"May our service to God come out of an overflow of his love and grace towards me."

    Take time to sit in God's love and grace today.

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

Annie

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

    Today is my little sister's birthday. She brings a sweetness to life and a reminder for the need of tenderness, compassion, patience and love. She brings the challenge of slowing down and thinking more of others than of myself.

    She also brings the challenges of sisterhood - stubbornness, each of us wanting to get our own way and me thinking she is far more spoiled than I am. I think this is just normal older sister/young sister stuff. :)

    It is difficult being around her sometimes because I am reminded of what I am not. I cannot put on a mask, I sin greatly and my actions do not match my words. She reminds me there is a lot of work that God has yet to do it me and sometimes I do not like to face that fact. I am far from perfect and I like thinking I am perfect.

    She challenges me to live like I say everyone else should. She challenges me to take my words to my hands and actually LIVE IT. She does all this without words. She does it all through being herself.

    She lives her life well, beautifully and also imperfectly and I am amazed at how God uses imperfection to move us towards Jesus, who is perfect.

    Today I am grateful for Annie, and I celebrate her life.

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

Your Bio

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

    How will your bio read? What will it say about your life? What will it say about your identity, your character and your call(s)?

    Maybe you feel like there is a lot of editing that needs to be done from previous chapters. Maybe you are excited, looking forward to the chapters ahead. Maybe you're nervous about the chapters ahead because they require you to trust the great Author more than ever.
God is the great Author of our stories and we get to participate in writing them as well. It is beautiful to watch the mystery of how this works.

    If you feel like there is a lot of editing to do ... lean into grace, into forgiveness and receive healing. If you are anxious about the chapters to come ... release them to God, rest in His great love.
   
    Wherever you are, enjoy the present chapter, actively contributing to your story and ultimately God's great story.

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

Loving Well

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

    I need help to love someone and especially to love them well. Sometimes it is easy to love someone. You are compatible, speak the same language, they are in your family, etc. sometimes it is not so easy to love someone. You constantly clash, have differing values, they are in your family, etc. Whether it comes easily or not, loving someone well we all need help with.

    Sometimes in my attempt to love well I miss what is meaningful to the person. In my attempt to love well I do not take the time to consider how they receive it, I just give and assume they feel loved. Loving someone well requires research, it requires attentiveness and observation, it requires doing and it requires dependence on God. We need help to love someone well.

    How will you seek to love someone well today?

 

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

Take Part

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

    There are times when our hearts are heavy, burdened by sadness and a deep sense that things are not the way they are supposed to be. Our hearts are weighed down as the reality of sin, the reality of evil and the reality of pain fill the headlines. Even if these realities aren’t in the headlines we see them in our lives and in the lives of those we love.

    A heavy heart is a sign to us that things are not as they should be. And as our hearts are heavy so is even greater the heart of God. So tell him about your sadness, vent your anger at injustice, ask him if there is anything you are called to fight for. And if you are, fight well. We get to take part in the good in the world.

    So take part in the world. Take part because you follow a God who desires justice, peace and wholeness.

    Take part because you love as God loves, in grace and truth.

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

Using Beauty

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**
 
    We all have our standards of beauty. Whether we admit it or not we have our preferences of what is beautiful. We have different tastes, styles, etc. This is understandable.

    As I consider what I perceive as beautiful I recognize that I value things of beauty that work, that function that give me something back that I deem valuable.

    For some reason I equate beauty with function, with what it can offer me. I rate beauty according to my needs, my wants and my demands. An ornate plate has lost its beauty because it is broken and cannot be used as a plate. A painting has lost its beauty because of age, scratches and mistreatment. A person has lost his or her beauty because he or she cannot function at the pace and ability of the rest of most of humanity.

    With this utilitarian concept of beauty I cannot see the value of a person. I miss how they are created in the image of God and reflect Him. I show favoritism and withhold love from others.

    How does your perspective of beauty influence how you love others?  
**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.**

God Keeps His Promises

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

    God keeps His promises. He is good, He is in control. His promises bring great freedom.

    His promises include (and are not limited to) unconditional love, great hope, great joy, that He is good, that He knows your heart, that He created you just like He wanted you, that He delights in you and that He will never leave you.

    Will you believe His promises today?

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

The Most Excellent Way

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

    As you read the words below, think about them in regards to who God is.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

    A prayer for today: God, thank you for your love, the most excellent way. Thank you that love is forever and that your love fulfills the description above perfectly. May the life of love we lead find its beginnings in the love that you have for us. Amen.

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

Relentless Pursuit

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

    God is on a relentless pursuit of your heart. He does not give up. He does not throw in the towel. God relentlessly pursues our hearts, wherever they may be.
    Whether you feel near or far from Him, He pursues. Whether you are angry or content with Him, He pursues. Whether you have left Him or are coming back to Him, He pursues. Whether you think He is disappointed in you or proud, of you, He pursues.
    He will not stop pursuing us with His love and grace. He will not stop pursuing our transformation into the likeness of Jesus. God is a relentless pursuer.
    How does the image of God as a relentless pursuer encourage you?

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

Proving Ourselves

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

    I spend so much energy trying to prove myself. Prove that I am worth talking to, prove that I am good at something, prove that I deserve something. I want to prove myself worthy. I am worth your time, I am worth your energy, I am worth something.
    And so I do it with God. It is a lot more subtle than my relationship with people, but I do it with God too. I spend time and energy to prove I am worth loving, that I am worth having certain things. I perform for His approval yet His approval is in NO WAY dependent on my performance. God’s love and approval is not dependent on ANYTHING that I say, do or am. I’ve got nothing to contribute, nothing.
    This is freeing and scary. We do not get grace. His grace does not require anything and that is just weird to us … a foreign concept … it is strange … it is the exact opposite of how I work, yet it is how HE works. He works radically different than we do and is continually drawing us into His grace.
    How do you fight grace? How do you try to prove yourself worthy?

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

Guarantees

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

    I want guarantees. I work for guarantees. I get frustrated when I cannot guarantee myself or my family certain things. I want to guarantee that we will always have money, have a house, have food, be protected physically, emotionally and so on. I want guarantees especially for my children.
    We are not guaranteed health or comfort, money or security, food or shelter. We are not guaranteed anything and it can be exhausting trying to set up those guarantees. There is nothing wrong with those things and it is good that we protect, provide, serve, work, etc. It is the striving to make them guarantees that is wearing and futile. When I strive to make guarantees I am essentially saying, “God, I don’t need you, I got this under control”.
        God is the only one who can give us guarantees. The guarantees we have are based in who He is. He is true, He is good and He is so much more. In Christ we are guaranteed eternal life. In Christ we are also guaranteed hardship in this life (I don’t like this one). In Christ we are guaranteed the love of an amazing Father.
    Do you strive for guarantees? For securities? What is God calling you to let go of and trust Him with?

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

The Call to Love

**Please take one minute to sit, breathe deeply and seek quiet.**

    Humble, Dependent, Risky, Persevering. Love requires all this and then some. How in the world can we live the call to love as God loved us? It is easy for me to love when I am in a good mood or when the person receives my love without complaint and demand. It is easy for me to love when I receive recognition or get something in return. I would argue that this is not really love, at least love for God or another. This is me loving me.
    To be realistic (I know, you’ve come to expect that of me J), all of our love is mixed with a bit of self-love. I have not decided if this is a necessarily an all-bad thing, I just know it’s a real thing. Even if our love is mixed, we try to love, we attempt at humility and dependence. We take risks and we stay. We love like Jesus by humbling ourselves before him, depending on him, not calculating and persevering knowing that love wins and is greater than anything else.
    The call to love is challenging, it is mixed and it is not perfect but it is our call. Let us live a life of love that is more and more reflective of Jesus and we grow in believing His great love for us.


**Please take as much time as is possible to sit and reflect.**

Love is Risky

**Please take one minute to sit, breathe deeply and seek quiet.**

    We tend to be people that calculate. What is worth what, how much should we pay for this or that, how much time should we spend with a person, money spent, energies, etc. Calculating is okay but often our calculating trickles down to other areas in which it shouldn’t, including love.
    To love means we open ourselves up to the possibility of loss, to pain, to hurt and suffering. To love means we take a risk, because love does not function in addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Love does not fit into numbers or measurements. It is wide, it is deep, it is long, it is high. The dimensions of love cannot be calculated.
    Yet it feels safe to calculate, to control. Yes, love is risky so we calculate it. We calculate how much we can give without getting hurt or least hurt. We hold back in fear of losing something or someone. We do not always calculate love but sometimes we do. This human response to self-protect is understandable. I want to prevent pain.
    Love is risky, yes. It means letting go of my deep, legitimate desire to prevent pain. It means considering that love is greater, deeper and richer than pain. Love is worth it and love does win.

**Please take as much time as is possible to sit and reflect.**

Jesus Stayed

**Please take one minute to sit, breathe deeply and seek quiet.**

“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human.” Philippians 2:6-7 – The Message

    He stayed a human. Reading this passage I decided to read another translation to catch a different nuance to these verses. He stayed human caught my attention. He could have escaped this life at any moment. He could have decided the moment he was born that it was not worth it. He could have decided at age 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Jesus could have abandoned his humanity but he did not. He stayed a servant and stayed a slave.
    So many times I want to escape when I feel like a servant, doing menial tasks, “unimportant” things. I want to escape difficult things, hard situations and relationships. Jesus did not run back to heaven. Jesus stayed. How can you stay, what is God calling you to remain and serve in?

**Please take as much time as is possible to sit and reflect.**

Merry Christmas!!

May you know and feel the depth, length, height and length of the love of Jesus more richly today and in the year to come!

Christmas Love

**Please take one minute to sit, breathe deeply and seek quiet.**

   Christmas love came innocent, vulnerable and as a servant. Christmas love came in humility, in downward mobility to meet us where we are. Christmas love came through a virgin-born, perfect baby so that we might live. Christmas love came as a subject and slave to anything and everything a human being might suffer.
    The vulnerability of a great God amazes me. He subjected Himself to a mother’s womb and human development, to a mother, father and human family to care for him, to dependence on others for food, clothing and a place to sleep. He put Himself in dependence on broken human beings. Not only did his love come in dependence, He knew he would be dependent on parents that made mistakes and were broken. The great God of the UNIVERSE put Himself in a place of utter dependence so that man could know him and live.
    Christmas love is Jesus. He is a God who placed himself in great dependence on men and women so that through Him men and women might live. A risky move if you ask me. A move He had to make for our lives.
    God’s love went to the greatest of lengths but it was not a risky move. He knew what He was doing and He knew it was worth it. He knew what would come from it and He came. This move of love brought light, hope and life to the world.  Praise be to God.

**Please take as much time as is possible to sit and reflect.**

Advent Hope

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    Advent is defined as “coming” or “arrival”. As we consider the Advent season of Christmas we look forward to the coming and arrival of Jesus.
    In the midst of other Christmas traditions, there is God’s call to sit, listen and prepare for the arrival of Jesus. I confess that I probably spend more time preparing for the arrival of a house guest than I do for Jesus.
    In Christian tradition there are four themes of Advent which include Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Various churches focus on these themes in the four Sundays leading up to Christmas and in various orders. I am following the order of our church and will start with Hope.
    Consider how God may be calling you to prepare for the arrival of His Son, Jesus through Hope.
Spend time in prayer today focusing on Hope. Ask God to show you whatever He would like you to see in relation to Hope and Jesus.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**