my new favorite thing to do

April 8, 2010 | Books,Knowing Christ,Nurturing Family

I just talked with Denise. She’s hosting a Bible study for women in her home, going through the tough work of pushing past the past and moving forward as moms and women of faith. They have chosen my book, The Mom I Want to Be.

“Will you mind calling in and talking with the women?” she asked.

Are you kidding me? I love that. In fact, it’s my new favorite thing to do.

I love speaking. I feel privileged to write. But having time in a small group of women to connect, to listen, to talk about issues in a smaller group of friends is amazing.

I don’t have all the answers. But I love the dialogue as we find them together. I love prayer. I love encouraging each other.

If you are reading The Mom I Want to Be and are in a small group, please let’s set a date for a phone call. If I’m in your area speaking, let’s set a date for lunch or a get-together with your small group.

I’d love that.

Way to go, God

April 1, 2010 | Knowing Christ

I traveled to Fayetteville, AR yesterday to hang out with some new friends. They have been reading The Mom I Want to Be, and I got to hang out and have lunch with these women. We talked, laughed, and even had a footwashing ceremony (initiated by the leader of the group).

The ladies knew all about me because of the book, but I knew nothing about them.

“Will you share your story with me?” I asked.

“What do you want to know?” one said.

I knew the obvious. These beautiful moms and young grandmas had experienced a hard life. Addiction. Poverty. In some cases, violence. But they all had something in common, as well. They were learning how to be women of faith.

 One started with her story. Numbers: brothers, sisters, kids. Information that told about the others in her life, but not so much her story. As we continued, she and others opened up.

I heard from a woman who has dreams. A woman who sometimes struggles with people and with knowing who to trust. I heard another who sees herself much differently than I believe God sees her. And yet another who wants to know even more about this man called Jesus.

That’s when the Holy Spirit gently ushered in.

Through tears each shared what Jesus meant to them, what it felt like to have mentors of the group pour into them, and asking for prayers for real-life hardships in the midst of that growth process.

All I could think of as I listened was: Way to go, God. You are so much more than just church. Y0u are so not limited to what we make You out to be. You lift people from depths and lead them to destiny. Whether that destiny is breaking the cycles of the past, or setting a crack addict free, or taking my sometimes skewed view and helping me refocus on what it really means to know Jesus. All of these help us see You.

But also, way to go Potters House ministry women. You show that ministry is so much more than what we sometimes see on the surface. You showed me and you continue to show these beautiful women and their children that ministry is stepping into messy lives and living out Jesus in such a way that it sets people free.

It’s the modern-day version of washing feet, serving and loving in the name of Jesus.

cracked cisterns

March 30, 2010 | Knowing Christ

I want to be on Survivor, but I’m not sure I would make it. It’s the water thing. One-hundred plus weather. Harsh elements. Cracked dry lips. Brutal challenges.

If I play volleyball on a hot day my internal thermometer stokes up. My face turns beet red. My limbs start to feel like jelly. I don’t sweat like normal people. So, I can only imagine about 4 p.m. on my first day on Survivor, running in the challenge, landing belly up with a heat stroke, croaking the word “water. . .”. (more…)

Reaping with joy

March 24, 2010 | Knowing Christ

Talking to Your Tears
by John Piper

May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy! He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. (Psalm 126:5-6 RSV)

There is nothing sad about sowing seed. It takes no more work than reaping. The days can be beautiful. There can be great hope of harvest. Yet Psalm 126 speaks of “sowing in tears.” It says that someone “goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing.” Why is he weeping?

I think the reason is not that sowing is sad or that sowing is hard. I think the reason has nothing to do with sowing. Sowing is simply the work that has to be done, even when there are things in life that make us cry. The crops won’t wait while we finish our grief or solve all our problems. If we are going to eat next winter, we must get out in the field and sow the seed whether we are crying or not.

This psalm teaches the tough truth that there is work to be done whether I am emotionally up for it or not, and it is good for me to do it. Suppose you are in a season of heartache and discouragement, and it is time to sow seed. Do you say, “I can’t sow the field this spring, because I am brokenhearted and discouraged”? If you do that, you will not eat in the winter. (more…)

stop reading your Bible

February 24, 2010 | Knowing Christ

Don’t you love it when Scripture comes to life? My friend, Lysa TerKeurst, shares how the Bible had become a duty in her book, Becoming More. She decided not to read her Bible anymore.

Huh?

She didn’t want to read it as a book, or mark it off on her to-do list. So she stopped reading it, and started seeing it as an opportunity to connect with God. She sat down and read maybe one Scripture, or perhaps that turned to much more. But her prayer was “show me how to live”.

And He did.

I’ve been studying Romans this week. Some mornings I talk to God about what I’ve learned through one scripture. At other times, I’m drawn into the story of Paul and his dialogue with skeptics.

His words are interesting because of his experience. Paul had arrived in Rome straight out of the crossroads, a place where he was in limbo for two years plus. Not free. Not totally imprisoned. Shipwrecked. Hurt by church people who once admired him. (more…)

Leaving some baggage behind at DEN

February 22, 2010 | Just thinking out loud,Knowing Christ,Living Free,Ministry Life

I sat in the Denver airport yesterday for six hours, and then another hour on the tarmac. That’s a lot of time to think.

I heard a lot of great speakers at the conference in downtown Denver this past week. That’s a huge benefit of teaching at these conferences, in that I am privileged to sit under the teaching and speaking of people I truly respect. Like Max Lucado. Kendra Smiley. Phillip Yancy. Phil Vischer.

One thing that I’ve learned about great speakers/pastors/lay people is that no matter how polished it is, or how great the powerpoint presentation or videos, if the audience doesn’t remember it the next day or know what do do with the message, then it’s just a message.

But if you wake up thinking about it the next day, and the next, it’s more than a message. It’s a call to action. Somehow those words transcended into a “you and God” moment, and you know that you need to do business with your Creator. (more…)