tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82126895671343339412024-03-14T04:51:35.230-04:00Living On Purpose"Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good
deeds...encouraging one another" Hebrews 10:24-25Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.comBlogger514125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-10071629283390561652018-09-11T18:32:00.000-04:002018-09-11T18:32:06.812-04:00Fruitful in Affliction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over the summer I did a bible study on Judges and in one of the weeks, I came across something that caught my attention: how we use the seasons of life or life’s events to define the word blessing and where we tend to seek blessings in our lives.</div>
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In Judges 15 we find Samson burning down the Philistine’s fields and killing them in hot anger and revenge, an action stemming from his anger issues of the previous chapter. Judah hands him over to the Philistines, but he escapes and kills 1,000 Philistines with a donkey jaw. Afterward he is exhausted and rather rudely demands a drink from God. God provides the needed water and the text of verse 19 says, “And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived.”</div>
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The question on this section in my Bible study asks: “Samson assumes God will continue to bless him, no matter how often he gives in to his weaknesses. How about you? Are you more likely to assume God will bless you despite your disobedience or because of your obedience? Why is neither of these assumptions correct?”</div>
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So, my initial answer to that question was that it’s wrong to think either way because we are told to act in obedience to God - nothing more and nothing less. We don’t do what we do to wrangle something out of it for ourselves, it is simply obedience or not. And while this answer is correct, there’s more here.</div>
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The word blessing. The word has come up a bit recently with the realization of some long held dreams. Two years ago we bought and renovated a house we had dreamed of and had kinda given up wishing for - yes, we’d say blessed. That same year I was able to start my PhD program, a dream I’d held for almost 20 years at that point - again, blessed. And any of us could go through a number of things we’ve gained and hashtag them blessed.</div>
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But what is the ultimate meaning of the word blessing to God? I want to try to answer that in a round about way with an example, so stay with me. That fall semester of 2016, with the start of my PhD, began two years of internal turmoil. The stress at first seemed related to the level of work I was doing, but the turmoil didn’t stop when the work did. Suddenly, the way I had thought about and lived out certain things just wasn’t working any more (those details are another story for another time). Up and down a roller coaster of emotions - of thoughts consuming my mind and time, sorting them, digging for God’s truth, failing to take captive my flesh and thoughts, then succeeding, failing, and succeeding again - a process that never ends in life, but which was the focus of my life from then until recently. The addition of teaching, being a student, and caring for and maintaining a home and family all at the same time this was going on meant these people and responsibilities suffered too, as it became increasingly difficult to focus my attention anywhere but inside my head.</div>
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A trip to Israel and to South Carolina in the summer of 2017 both saw a reoccurrence of panic attacks that I had been delivered from and hadn’t seen for six years. God showed me how my fear had formed a comfort zone around me, it had kept my world small, and it wouldn’t change until He was my comfort zone. You’d think God speaking to you would be a pretty good point at which to turn around and make it all work, but in the months to follow, I hit ultimate lows - not with panic attacks - but just straight up struggling with my thoughts about myself, myself in relation to others, in relation to God, and other general fears.</div>
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<span style="color: #d0e0e3;">A few months ago I read in Come Matter Here, by Hannah Brencher, about fear being selfish. If you think about it, fear is self-centered. It turns your focus inward and keeps you captive there. It has kept me worrying about the state of my relationships, questioning my opportunities, and cramping my blessings even as they fall in my lap. Fear as a basis in these ways had been a part of my life for a long time - it’s where my anxieties sprang from - and it has made my ability to grow as a person and in God difficult. But come fall semester of 2017, it was amped up and I couldn’t escape it. I consistently felt like I was drowning in my own head.</span></div>
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The new year, 2018, brought more struggles, and this time not my own and so it was all outside of my control. I had no way to fix what was wrong, yet I was irrevocably involved. Thoughts flowed one after another as I daily struggled to find ways to change and control what was going on around me, looking for assurance and peace and yet working against myself in the same breath. And even as that struggle changed and then bettered, another began and then proceeded to get worse...again out of my control, yet totally affecting me.</div>
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In the opening months of 2018, fear was in charge and I spoke and acted as it demanded. In my desperation for answers and relief of what I was feeling, I voiced my thoughts, feelings, opinions, assumptions, etc., on anything and everything and often in the wrong ways and at the wrong times. Remember fear turns our focus inward on ourselves - it becomes all about “me” and what brings me relief or what I think is needed and right. I’m sure there were times they dreaded seeing or talking to me - I’m not exaggerating and not pitying myself here - I was a mess and because they were closest to me, they were sucked into it. And I’m sure there are even others affected by things I’ve said and done that I didn’t realize. I am not proud of it - I have a lot of regret over it and wish I could take it back.</div>
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Things began shifting in March - I can’t say how but something clicked. The struggles that were out of my control continued, but after all this time of fighting myself back and forth, succeeding and failing, but seeking God in every way I could, I began seeing my fear for what it was more clearly and how it was affecting me and those around me. I saw that I needed to trust God with my fears, feelings, and the situations out of my control or I was going to sink myself. I slowly began feeling better - less grasping, less desperation. What I can see in hindsight is a renewing of my mind...and when your mind is renewed you will find yourself transformed. The previous ways in which I lived and functioned had actually begun to change and I started to function more and more in God’s ways. And then in late March, with one step of obedience to God, my entire world opened up.</div>
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We volunteered to take in one of my students who found herself suddenly homeless. In the end, she didn’t end up coming to stay with us, but what I found in her absence from our home, was a space had grown in my heart and mind that could only be filled with the sudden action of fierce faith...a big faith ready to be all in and step out for God. By Easter (which was April 1st) this longing led to a random text to a friend, which led to a three hour transparent conversation with a complete stranger upon our first meeting. After that conversation, my new acquaintance reported back to her group and these strangers saw in me the missing piece to their puzzle and after a week in prayer asked me to join them in launching a new ministry. The crazy thing is, my mind was able to see the fit too, without doubt or worry. I’ve typically been good at stepping out when I feel God is telling me too - I’m an extroverted introvert - but it’s my inability to deal with fear’s emotional baggage that comes up in the process that has brought me down once I’ve stepped out. But this was all so coincidentally orchestrated, yet like pieces of a puzzle fitting together, and I suddenly felt so on track, it had to be God. </div>
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Which brings me back to this study on Judges...ironically, Judges is a book about sin cycles and Israel’s inability to break from them. Precisely what God had been dealing with in me over the past two years. It’s easy to criticize men like Gideon and Samson until God shows you yourself in them. Thankfully for them and us, God is still faithful. Who knew a study of one of the most violent and depressing books of the Bible would both speed up and confirm the journey God has me on? (See I told you this would come back around.)</div>
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Of the examples I’ve given you from my life here, the house and the PhD opportunity look like the best examples of blessings I could share by far. But I beg to differ...and I beg we learn to look at the word blessing in a different light. The question I asked before my story was, “What is the ultimate meaning of the word blessing to God?” To borrow from my friend Jessie during our Bible study, “God blesses first for His glory and then for our good.” I would add that <i>everything</i> God does is first and foremost for His glory. The very creation of us is good only because He is good and He is glorified by it. And then we know He works all things for the good of those who love Him...but why? Because it glorifies Him. But as soon as she had said this, that story of my past two years I just told you, ran through my head. In two years, God amped up a lifetime of living under fear and the false teachings and beliefs it had established in my life and tore it down. Being such an internal and uncontrollable struggle, it has been the hardest refinement yet and it’s not done, but I can say it’s been my biggest blessing. And I can see what Joseph saw in Genesis when he named his second son Ephraim, which means, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction” (41:52).</div>
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Because what is the biggest blessing we have? Jesus Christ. So what can be more of a blessing than seeing the fruit of the Spirit develop in our lives and becoming more like Him? Everything He uses to discipline us, refine us, change us, and grow us is the ultimate blessing. </div>
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Yes, my house is an obvious blessing...but it’s not comparable to a changed heart and altered mind set. It’s not comparable to the new beginnings of a fierce faith. It’s not comparable to the freedom only Christ can give. We need to learn to see blessings as spiritual, not just material. And we need to understand that blessings come in ways we never expect - sometimes through pain, suffering, and trials. I am not sugar coating this - I am not saying there’s something wrong with you if you can’t accept the idea of hardship as blessing easily. It is not easy or fun to grasp, even when you believe it. I’ve learned it the hard way - I’m telling you it can be hard, and I don’t doubt it can be way harder than what I’ve experienced. There were times in the past two years when life felt so particularly hard in my head that knowing God was working didn’t do me much good in the moment - there’s currently times that feel the same - but if you just keep moving forward, they become less, and it will change. </div>
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I’m telling you to live life with your eyes and hands open for and expecting God. I’m telling you to trust Him to know what’s best - when, where, why, and how too. I’m telling you the struggle may be real, but it is good because God is good. I’m telling you it’s all worth it. It’s a blessing if we will let God have His way because His way always works for our good. </div>
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And since we’ve talked about it so much...the remedy to fear? He’s taught me that too...and I could kick myself because it’s really the answer to most everything in life. Love. You might think the opposite of fear is courage or bravery, but it’s not, it’s love. Fear strangles the life from us, but God is love and love brings life. On June 22nd - the day after what I felt was another failure in my personal “war on terror” - with the help of a couple of graceful loved ones, I gave myself grace and got a new tattoo on my upper forearm, which reads “reduce me to love.” Real love focuses outward on God and others. You become smaller/less and God and others become bigger/more. You may recognize it in scripture as John 3:30, “He must become greater; I must become less.” Author Hannah Brencher says, “Gospel-living requires us to get smaller as we go, so that God can be amplified. Smallness is where the real work happens.” Fear does not allow you to love or become smaller because it focuses you on yourself and blows things up in your mind instead.</div>
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Not long after that, God revealed the underlying fear of all I had been experiencing. One day in the McDonald’s drive thru, I was questioning myself on why my mind seemed so stuck in one thought pattern and as soon as the revelation came to mind, it made sense, yet in all these years I’d never thought of it before. And yet, I’m telling you straight out, I don’t know how to solve it. But, this is where all I learned in the stretching, growing, and refining comes in...God does know what to do with it. As I’ve heard my Pastor say, “The Lord only reveals what He intends to heal.” And so I hand the revelation back to Him and ask Him to “Reduce me to love.”</div>
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Reduce me to love - which Brencher says she took from a woman she heard pray it once - is my reminder of how to fight fear when it tells me I’m both too much and not enough, that I’m unworthy, not needed, or unloved. It reminds me to turn my focus away from myself, to take it to God and then go love on others. We live in a fallen world and we are human, so we aren’t likely to escape fear - not completely - but we can determine to face it and fight. And we can determine to turn around at points of time in the future - a changed person, reflecting our Savior more than the day before - and say, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”<br />
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Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-199521677039744702018-06-01T09:51:00.001-04:002018-06-01T09:51:30.017-04:00Letting Go of Broken Identities<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My daughter Mackenzie went off to Prom at the beginning of May. If you know Mackenzie, she is much more tomboy than girly girl. But the girl was decked out - hair cut; nails and make-up professionally done; big, sparkly jewelry; and an expensive mermaid style, art deco dress in smoky gray and pale pink (thanks to her aunt’s “prom dress fund”). She looked like a Princess.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But, again, if you know Mackenzie, Princess or girly girl are not terms that come to mind generally. It’s not even how she would describe herself. But I watched her enjoy so thoroughly this whole process of trying on dresses and making appointments, and then getting ready for Prom, that I could see the Princess in her. She is a Princess. And I guarantee that’s how God her Father has seen her all along.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s also how He sees us. Like Mackenzie - I’m no girly girl. But, there are moments where I’d like to be or at least considered so. Times I’d like to start over with who I am. And it makes me consider, what are the names and descriptions we’ve given ourselves? What names have other people or life experiences given us? What limits have those names put on our lives?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God has dealt with this in my life for a couple years now - the process of just making me consider that maybe what I “knew” about myself was a lie took a good year. The week before prom, I picked up Christian author Jo Saxton’s newest book <span style="font-style: italic;">The Dream of You: Let Go of Broken Identities and Live the Life You Were Made For</span>. The title caught my eye because between the summer of 2016 and January of 2017 God started really digging into me through two verses. The first was Ephesians 2:10, “<span style="font-style: italic;">For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do</span>.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second was Psalm 139:14, “<span style="font-style: italic;">I praise you because </span><span style="font-style: italic;">I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well</span>.” During those months - when He gave me these verses - God also gave me His calling for me for the years to come and then He showed me how He had been digging up false identities in me and was now working to give me my real identity. But, you know how we like to hold onto things, so I’ve gone through the process in the past year kicking and screaming. But that’s what made me pick up Saxton’s book - I’m a reader, God speaks to me extensively through what I read - and I saw in the title what God has for me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Actually, what He has for all of us. In the Bible, when God brings new life, He gives people a new name to match that identity: Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, Saul became Paul. In her book Saxton states, “<span style="font-style: italic;">Whoever or whatever has named you does not have the power to define you forever. Are you ready to discover your identity and purpose, your name? Tell God who and what has named you, and who you have become as a result. Invite God to reveal the identity He</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> has given you. This is the name that will give you new life</span>.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maybe you already know what these names are or maybe this will take some time - either way, it’s something you pray through and consider and allow God to bring the truth to the forefront. Maybe even listen to those who are close to you and have been telling you for quite awhile the great things they know to be true about you. We have a tendency to underestimate ourselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If I can be real with you, I’d like to share some of the names and things that I have allowed to define me over twenty or more years and how they’ve made me into someone I didn’t want to be. They’ve come up from different relational interactions with friends and family, as well as situations and experiences that had profound lasting effects on me. Some are the ways in which I feel people perceived me throughout my life and some are straight up lies I’ve told myself repeatedly. Some may have even been truthful at one time based on lack of maturity, etc:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bossy, loud, overbearing. Shameful and disappointing. Emotional, difficult, needy. Selfish, not a people person, tries too hard, don’t quite fit in. Not a traveler.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Know what I see in that list now that I didn’t see before? Opportunities for redemption. Weakness that Christ may work through me all the more. Traits that have a positive side if God is with me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shame and disappointment? My past is a story of <span style="font-weight: bold;">God’s redemption </span>- Him turning my life around, redeeming me, my family, and turning my mistakes into a testimony of His love and faithfulness. With Christ bossy, loud/overbearing, and not quite fitting in become <span style="font-weight: bold;">unashamed, bold, and set apart</span> - personality traits God gave me that fit in His recent calling for me and enable me to proclaim Christ to my world. Emotional and tries too hard<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>- issues that, with His spiritual growth, become <span style="font-weight: bold;">love and acceptance and advocacy </span>for the people to whom God sends me. Needy and not enough - things in everyone, <span style="font-weight: bold;">needed to draw us to Christ </span>and that will help us continue to draw close to Him and which will only be satisfied in Him. Not a people person and not a traveler are straight up lies from the pit...these two <span style="font-weight: bold;">lies</span> have held me in a self-enclosed comfort zone that in my past tortured me through anxiety and panic attacks and tried to keep my world small. That last one - staying in a comfort zone - is one I still fight. But fight it I am - in June I’m headed to a four day conference in Indianapolis with women I have only known for about a month. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The only way to fight fear is to face it...you cannot conquer what you will not confront. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God has taken the lies of who I’ve thought I was for decades and turned them around. It’s easy to slip back into those identities and grasp at all the old habits that go along with it, but God is there to help you fight them, if you’ll only turn to Him at those moments and ask Him to bear the burden when you can’t.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you’re tired of living a life “stuck” with yourself, I urge you to invite God to look at your identity with you. To bring forth the lies that have named you and the ways in which they’ve made you someone you’re not. Invite God to reveal who you really are and how that identity serves the purpose He has for you, no matter how long it takes or what it takes. Saxton says - and I agree - “<span style="font-style: italic;">Don’t be afraid if you feel vulnerable when you begin to embrace your new name. It’s an opportunity to lean on God and to rely on His Word and power. He is redeeming your story.</span>” Because when you are living in the identity God has given, you are not stuck and you will only become and feel more and more who you were made to be.</span><br />
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Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-88815335273881820992018-04-28T10:33:00.000-04:002018-04-28T10:33:03.844-04:00Glorious, Unplanned Sabbath<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">My Friday, April 27th, turned into a glorious, unplanned Sabbath. And I am posting on the blog about it because I am so full of the thrill and joy of it, I have to tell someone! It’s a little longer than usual, but hang in there cause God revealed to me the Isaiah 58:13-14 verse pictured above the next morning (this morning, right before I posted this). I don’t recall knowing it before and it blew me away.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">The day started how I expected - I didn’t have work, so I slept in and laid in bed til 9:30-10ish. Took a shower. Fixed up the one final exam that I’d already written. It’s officially done. One more to go. That was all very much part of "the plan" for the day. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, I was so surprised at myself that<br /> I took a picture of my food!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But then, I got a craving for Golden Rye Grille and I went. It’s a quaint, local diner that I love and it’s right down the road from my house, but they’re only open til 2pm, so I don’t get to go much. When my food came, I realized that I always seek out company for things like this. I throw out invites and if no one can come, I don’t go. It would never have occurred to me before in certain settings like this, that if I wanted to do something, I could just go do it. The fact that I was at the restaurant and had ordered before I realized that I hadn’t even thought to invite someone? This may not seem like much to some of you, but it’s big for me. I’m not good at being alone and God is showing me in all the little ways what’s good about being alone - because being alone means alone with Him. And what better place to be? </span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">After lunch I knew I really needed to go home and work on my other final, but better things were calling. I literally felt the pull to follow. So, instead of going back home, I went for an hour+ long worship drive. I started doing these drives since renovating our house in the Summer of 2016. During the renovations, my husband and I, three teens, and three dogs were living in a two bedroom apartment and I had to find ways to escape! A worship drive for me means I get in my car and crank up the worship music through my phone, and make a huge circuit, driving along the outskirts of the surrounding areas: usually Columbiana, East Palestine, Mohawk, Poland, and back home to Springfield. Having lived here my whole life, I know the main roads and a number of back roads that journey through and connect these towns.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This time, however, once through East Palestine, I ended up in PA on a road I didn’t know. I figured </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">if all else failed I could use my phone to get back. But at a stop sign I saw something familiar - a sign for PA-551 - and I knew even though the immediate area was unfamiliar, I could find my way back on 551. You see, 551 is long, but it runs through the school district where I teach, so heading North I had to hit familiar territory eventually. Turns out the whole time I was in a little town called Darlington, which I’m familiar with. I didn’t know the side I was on, but I was closer to what I did know than I realized.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">And despite the booming worship music, the thought in my head comes through clearly, “See, you don’t have to know where you’re headed, just be alert for the signs of Me and follow.” Whoa. Side note here: Intentionally looking for His signs to follow is what I’ve desperately tried to do to sort out the hardness of life the past couple months and life in my head has started to sort itself out - I feel healthy and free. And life outside my head is about to take a new turn too...more on that another time. Back to my day.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">My drive ended at my kids’ school to pick up my son - something I never get to do cause I’d usually be at work. The smile that broke out on his face when I pulled up was priceless. Came home to fill up the bird feeders and inspect all the newly sprouting plants. My husband and I transplanted them from the old house last summer and I’ve had my fingers crossed they lived. Everything seems to be growing and I was excited to find the new Magnolia tree we planted full of blooms! I've wanted a Magnolia tree for a long time.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">I let the chickens out of their coop and into the backyard, but only four or five and the rooster came out and they didn’t go far. They’re still adjusting to being outside after being raised in our house the past four months, but they were so much fun in the yard. I doubt many people let their chickens out for the purpose of playing with them, but I do. They climbed up on me and sat in the grass, sunbathing next to me. Even the rooster came over to be pet a bit. After that, I spent the remaining couple of afternoon hours on the couch in my library, with my dogs, reading and watching my favorite woodpecker eat the suet right outside the window. Also a pair of cardinals, a robin, and more finches than I’ve ever had come and go. And I couldn’t help but wonder how I got so lucky to live here with so much good stuff - so much beauty - around me.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">My oldest daughter came home with reports of a day well spent on her own, enjoying friends, studying while having lunch, and coming to the end of her college semester with finals. My middle child, also a daughter, came home with a congrats letter in her pocket for making Flagline. We knew she would - it was the highlight of her year this past year. And next year she is a Senior. An acquaintance of mine - who my daughter doesn’t know - messaged me to say she was one of the judges and my daughter did a great job! My heart swelled with pride and love for my kids. </span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The day ended with my husband and I attending our 15th consecutive Mohawk Prom. The one time every year you can count on me wearing a dress! Maybe even make-up. And usually some kind of after Prom hang out with friends. But it’s a tradition we love with people I care about and spend a lot of time with. The community in which I teach is as much home as the one in which I live - and they are conveniently neighboring towns, very much alike and split only by the Ohio/PA state line, but not much else. A good number of this year’s Seniors I’ve had in class at some point, half have had me two years, and a smaller portion had me for three of their four years of English. I love these kids and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m going to miss them...one of them being my own nephew (who, of course, I’ll still see, just not </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">every day like I have for three years now...he's headed off to college).</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">And for the umpteenth time this day I stop to wonder at how amazingly blessed I am. And that my most amazing blessings are in the simple, every day joys of life. Over the past twenty years so much good stuff has taken up residence in my life and although I’ve been generally aware of some of it, I’m seeing it all and more with new eyes today. </span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">With God’s eyes. Doesn’t get better than that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Note: This morning, when I was about to post about my day yesterday, I first read through my email and there was one from author Shelly Miller who sends out encouragement and such through her Sabbath Society. Her email followed the same lines as my post here; she had plans for her day, but because she stopped and listened to God’s nudge, it became something else - a glorious, unplanned Sabbath (my words, not hers). The verse pictured above is from her email and her explanation - which thrills me because I totally experienced what it says - is pictured below. It’s confirmation - I did experience what I thought it was. All I can say is, when God asks you to press pause on your day, it’s worth it.</span></div>
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Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-7650657266080312682018-03-28T01:27:00.001-04:002018-03-28T01:29:05.684-04:00Spark of FaithI have not posted here since January 1st. That is the longest I’ve ever gone without posting since I began this blog five and a half years ago. Life has a way of running away from you...and everything falls by the wayside as you struggle to catch up with it.<br />
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Yes, 2018 has been a struggle. No sooner did I post about choosing joy, than I found what it really was to practice what I was preaching, so to speak. It’s been three months of struggling with myself, people I love, and God as new norms settled in. All of which has only been accomplished by drawing closer to God.<br />
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We always quote the Bible in saying God works everything together for the good of those who love Him. Perhaps the struggle of 2018 so far <i>is</i> to draw me closer to God. A circumstance that didn’t pan out left me wide open to and suddenly hungry for more opportunity to serve God in a different way. Not necessarily looking for big or small ways, but instead to serve radically and intentionally, with at least one foot outside of the box and an ear to God’s lips so that I might move in obedience. I’m coming out of March with a kindling deep inside. It’s just a spark, waiting to fan into flame, but it’s intense.<br />
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Two things come to mind to share here, because they are a good definition of where I find myself. First, this short sampling of words to the Matt Redman song “Gracefully Broken” has become a mantra of sorts - an earnest prayer - in the past couple months:<br />
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<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: white; font-family: , "helveticaneue" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>“Take all I have in these hands</i></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: white; font-family: , "helveticaneue" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>And multiply, God, all that I am</i></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: white; font-family: , "helveticaneue" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>And find my heart on the altar again</i></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: white; font-family: , "helveticaneue" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Set me on fire, set me on fire</i></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: white; font-family: , "helveticaneue" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Here I am, God</i></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: white; font-family: , "helveticaneue" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Arms wide open</i></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: white; font-family: , "helveticaneue" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Pouring out my life</i></span><br />
<span jsname="YS01Ge" style="color: white; font-family: , "helveticaneue" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Gracefully broken”</i></span><br />
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And this photo passage from Ann Voskamp’s inspirational quote book “Be the Gift,” followed by some thoughts of my own upon reading it:<br />
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Reading this excerpt, the question that unfurls my thoughts this week - and I pass on for you to ask yourself - is: Am I desperate?<br />
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Do I “hunger and thirst for righteousness”? Do I want Him above all else...to invade my heart, change my mind, and alter my life?<br />
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Do I know that the best I can offer Him is “my broken and contrite heart”...that my life is made abundant in obedience and sacrifice.<br />
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Do I realize that I am where I am for “such a time as this”...but that all He’s made in me to give to the world comes through my communion with Him first.<br />
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Do I want it? Do I want to play my part in this Esther generation...to be the hands and feet bringing the good news through any means God asks? Am I looking for “real meat for my starved soul, dirt under my fingernails, and some real sacrifice in my veins...holy more than hollow”?<br />
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Then what am I waiting for?<br />
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I don’t know where God intends to take any of this, but I do know I’d rather not be anywhere else than in His plan. If He can bring this from the struggle of a few months time, I can’t even imagine what He will do in the rest of the year or the year after that. <i>“All to Jesus now. Holding nothing back. I surrender.”</i>Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-28633079090207396622018-01-26T07:58:00.001-05:002018-01-26T07:58:07.603-05:00Guest Post: How to Interact with Teenagers in a Totally Awesome Way<div style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">
<span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Changing it up with a guest post on the blog today. My co-worker Sam recently started a humor blog called <a href="http://www.delusionsofpretension.com/blog/" target="_blank">Delusions of Pretension</a>, so I thought I'd humor him (haha) with a guest post opportunity. The man is truly comic relief in most every situation and his students and co-workers enjoy his wit. Work would truly be dull without him. So without further ado...</span></span><br />
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">If you talk to anyone who’s met me, every single person will tell you how mind-blowingly humble I am. Never once in my life have I felt the need to highlight my enviable personality </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">or </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">how my mere presence rejuvenates stagnant social gatherings. Some people are the life of the party; I </span></span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">am</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> the Party (like in </span></span><span class="s5" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">1984</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, except awesome). I fondly remember going to a birthday party for a 100-year-old cousin of mine. Her doctor </span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">had informed her that she would probably have a good five years to go. After I went to her birthday party, she</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">’s</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> lived to be 120, and she’s still not dead. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Being the literal life of the party is great and all, but I often feel that I’m doing the world a great disservice by not sharing all of the life-changing insight I’ve stored in my brain with as many people as possible. Weaker minds call me an egotist or a narcissist, but that doesn’t bother me; after all, one cannot feel hatred towards the shamefully uneducated--only pure, </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">disdainful pity.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">One of my many gifts is my godly socializing ability. Babies stop crying for weeks after interacting with me, even when they’re hungry. Why? Because I’ve changed their lives so much their brains have transcended normal human emotion. But since there are other people in the world besides babies, I really shouldn’t be greedy. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Therefore, to further change the world, I’ve decided to address the idea of interacting with teenagers while being an adult. Despite having been teenagers</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> at one point</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, adults are </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">embarrassingly </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">bad at reading teenage social cues. So, to enlighten those brave enough to admit that I know more than you do, </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I will</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> detail the top </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">five </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">ways you can successfully interact with teenagers as an adult.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">1. </span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Learn their slang</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">: While speaking with elevated vocabulary (or “lexicon</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">,</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">” as we intellectuals call it) is the best manner of speaking, it can get a bit stuffy at times. After all, even I need a break from my daily mind-expanding exercises, so simplifying my language is one way to do this. Teenagers love this, and you’ll connect with them on such a wonderful level that they’ll look up to you for decades. But, since I know that examples are the best teachers, </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I will</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> provide a perfect example:</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s6" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Wrong</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Teenager: </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Hey, how’s it going?</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">You: </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Pretty good</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s6" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px; text-decoration: underline;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Right</span></span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span></span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Teenager: </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Hey, how’s it going?</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">You: </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Yo</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> man, I’m </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">kickin</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">’ back and </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">chillin</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">’. </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Gotta</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> send a few Tweets to my peeps and </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">drop some love to my g/f.</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Anyone who tells you that doesn’t work is Communist. And if </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">t</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">alking that way</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> doesn’t work for you, </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">that’s no surprise</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, because you’re a Communist and shouldn’t have employees anyway, </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">you</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> oppressive bourgeoisie scum.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">2. </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"></span></span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Be Condescending: </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">There is a common misconception that teenagers want to be treated like real people. How this came about I have no idea, but it’s toxic, and it’ll ruin your soul, </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">increase the world’s temperature, and</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> make</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> all your</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">food taste bad. To fix this problem</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, use</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> simple words, speaking very slowly so they know you’re dumbing things down as much as humanly possible. Be sure to indicate that you’re using small words because their brains are incapable of handling anything more complex. You may notice that a lot of them will hate you for doing this, but just ignore them. It’s only because they’re too proud to tell you how much they really appreciate it.</span></span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">3. </span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Let Them Do Whatever They Want: </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Years ago, some idiot came up with the idea of “rules.” It didn’t take long for people to realize that rules only exist to be broken. So, rather than waiting for teenagers to get to their 20s, let them know early on that there are no boundaries, and that all rules are bad and were probably created by Hitler.</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> Or Communists.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">4. </span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Don’t Let Them Do Anything: </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">This may seem to contradict #3, and it does. But it’s okay. Adults are never consistent, so you have to make sure you live up to that idea. After all, it’s not like you’re going to have a major impact on their lives, so don’t worry about being inconsistent. Better for them to learn harsh truths young than to be even more disappointed when they get older. And it’s hilarious when they try to figure out why you let them do nothing and everything at the same time. The best tactic is to tell them it’s a Zen technique that will open their minds so much the universe will pour into </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">them </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">like sewage runoff.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">5. </span><span class="s4" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Ignore Them at Critical Emotional Moments: </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Every now and then teenager</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">s</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> will want to tell you about their “problems.” Since none of their </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">“</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">problems</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">”</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> are important</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">(or actual problems at all)</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, responding to their complain</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">ts</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">will just feed the idea that everything is about them. They might even say things like, “But I tried really hard to get a good grade but I still got a B,” “I’m feeling really sad since my boyfriend broke up with me,” and “It’s stuffy in the attic, please let me out.” These are all teenage mind tricks. Ignoring </span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">such baseless sentiments</span></span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> will make them better people and ultimately make you the most important person in their lives.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span class="bumpedFont15" style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I can guarantee that if you follow these five rules, you will sculpt teenagers’ minds in ways you never thought possible. And if they turn out badly, it’s probably not your fault at all.</span></span></div>
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Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-54797269850539259622018-01-01T00:05:00.000-05:002018-01-01T08:50:28.268-05:00Choose Joy<div style="font-family: ".sf ui display"; font-size: 21px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3px;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It just occurred to me that this is the third<br />
time I've tattooed the word "joy" on myself.<br />
Time to start listening.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">In the first week of the New Year of 2017, I wrote a post about a word God had sunk into my heart...about accepting who I am and embracing God’s truth of being <a href="http://livingonpurpose9779.blogspot.com/2017/01/fearfully-and-wonderfully-made.html" target="_blank">fearfully and wonderfully made.</a> I ended that post saying 2017 was going to bring so many good things. There were good things, but overall, it turned out to be a really tough year personally. It wasn’t an easy process, allowing God to bring to the surface truths about myself; facing those truths; knowing this process was necessary to lead me to true knowledge of what it means to be fearfully and wonderfully made; and finding out that He really means for me to live in it. And that was just the emotional and spiritual inside - not including the stress of family, school, work and the things on behalf of family and friends who had some tough times hit in 2017. Even for all the hardness of it, I have to say 2017 was a good year in the end because every word, step, event, circumstance, pain, happiness, etc., that draws us closer to Christ is worth more than we can realize in this lifetime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">And as for 2018? I really wasn’t sure what to think or expect from God for 2018 until the last couple weeks, as the time and thought consuming college semester came to an end and grades rolled in. I worked so hard this past semester. In one class in particular I invested sweat and tears, sacrificed time and activities, and produced what is probably my best PhD work yet. I hit most of the major elements of scholarly research and writing - some that I hadn’t done before and others I hadn’t done well before. I improved as the semester went on and even decided on my dissertation topic based </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">on the topic of this class and specifically the writing of this final paper that drove me crazy. Although I had started the class honestly unsure how I'd do, I ended it with actual hopes that I'd pulled off an A as I have in all of my classes so far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">My final paper grade: B</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">My final grade for the class: 89.3% B+ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Note: The professor rounds to an A- at an 89.5%</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">My second class of the semester, which admittedly received less of my effort in my attempts to give all I had to the other, ended with a final paper grade of A- and final class grade of an A. I know, it may be hard to relate to this on the level of school or academics, but think of it this way: have you ever given something all you have, put every effort and resource into it, and still come out feeling like you didn’t do enough? The class I gave my all to failed to meet the goal, while the one I didn’t give that same effort, met the goal easily. It’s beyond frustrating. The compounded feelings of frustration, disappointment, and anger began to sink my week and all the accomplishments that went into making that 89.3% B+ happen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">After a couple days passed and some of the emotion faded, during lunch one day the thought came to me, “Choose joy.” In this moment, you can choose to mourn something you can’t change and allow it to become bitter or you can choose to see the good in the experience and allow it to make you better. Bitter or better. I went back and reread the professor’s email comments for my presentation and paper. His presentation comments were nothing but praise for how I’d chosen a relevant topic, set up the research and </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">scholarship, employed good examples, and concluded with </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">an impressive twist - stating my work was worthy of PhD level. His paper comments were all constructive criticisms that will do nothing but benefit me in my writing, if I heed them. A second email response he sent told me, “You can do this....you just need to do it consistently.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">In my focus on the letter grade itself, I had blinded myself to the fact that a professor who has the absolute highest of expectations praised my work and told me that I have what it takes to earn a PhD. And I seemed to ignore the fact that he gave me what I need to improve - if I’d just work on the things he pointed out. In the end, those things matter more for moving ahead in skillful writing than a letter grade. What good is a letter grade if my skills never sharpen enough for my writing to be accepted in a dissertation or publications? I'll have the A, but I won't earn the degree.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">Isn’t this how we tend to go? We focus in on one thing </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">about our situation and react negatively because our one thing hasn’t gone right or isn't what we expected. Often, it becomes a prolonged reaction on our part. Sometimes our focus makes it worse than it actually is and, even if the situation really is bad enough on its own, we often drag out our reaction longer than needed, not allowing ourselves to make the shift needed to recover. All the while we stand blinded to the fact that we've been given what we need in the moment, if we'll let God use it to sharpen us. Don't misunderstand me, this world gives us plenty to react to and allowing feelings of general disappointment, sadness, mourning, etc., are healthy, but we can't live there. Living there dampens and eventually snuffs out the goodness of life God has given, namely Himself. If we’d refocus we’d recall God’s promise to work all things to our good, see all He’s given us to move forward with, and choose to allow that joy to come alongside our grief.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JOY - second only to Love as a fruit of the Spirit</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">I'm not talking about happiness, which comes and goes with feelings and circumstances. Joy cannot be defeated or replaced by anything else, unless we allow it. Joy sits within </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">us in hard times and buoys our spirits as much as it does when all is right with the world. Joy is an essence - a fruit - of the Holy Spirit (Galations 5:22-23). Where the Spirit of Lord is, </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">there are a number of things, but one of them is joy. The end of Nehemiah 8:10 says, </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext-italic"; font-size: 17pt; font-style: italic;">"...the joy of the Lord is your strength!”</span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> Do you have Jesus? Then you have the reason and strength for joy!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"When we lay the soil of our hard lives<br />
open to the rain of grace and let joy<br />
penetrate our cracked and dry places,<br />
let joy soak into our broken skin and<br />
deep crevices, life grows. How can<br />
this not be the best thing in the world?<br />
For us?" Ann Voskamp</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">I know - that's all well and good for something small like grades, right? In deeper, emotionally charged, and/or more personal matters this concept proves more difficult, but just as all encompassing. James 1:2-4 says, </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext-italic"; font-size: 17pt; font-style: italic;">"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,</span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext-bolditalic"; font-size: 17pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext-italic"; font-size: 17pt; font-style: italic;">because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."</span><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;"> It says a lot about God's grace that He starts the lesson small before applying it to the gaping wound you assume (or pretend) has healed. A couple days after I started thinking "choose joy," a centerpiece of my past came before me...a centerpiece because I've made it so. The past year God has shown me that I reference who I am and what I'm worth by major failures in my past. I've been living off of mistakes God forgave and redeemed right before my eyes over the past twenty years. And now I know I can't ignore this any longer...when confronted with any of it, I must choose joy. It is in choosing joy - and His strength that lies behind it - that I give ultimate praise to God and persevere. It is in this perseverance that I will ultimately see my heart transformed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">A hard road? Yes, but as my pastor/mentor/friend Christian told me, "The Lord is always more concerned with the PROCESS than the PAYOFF, because in the process we become more like Him. The payoff is a promise, but it is what happens to us in the process and how we use it as an opportunity to minister to others and bless the Lord that truly is an offering of love to Him." Are you in a process of some sort? Maybe you've been there awhile or maybe it's just begun. Either way, it's never too late to persevere. To choose joy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 17pt;">In this New Year, let the thoughts we seem to reserve for Christmas stay with us. God gave the greatest gift of all: His only Son, Jesus. We speak that line in this season often, but do we know what that entails? If we have nothing else, we have Jesus. He alone is reason enough to choose joy. The only question is, will we do it? When the tough moments hit, will we stop - lift our eyes, hands, and hearts in a prayer of supplication - and choose joy? Because ultimately, choosing joy is choosing Jesus.</span></div>
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Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-7336675231317790372017-12-17T01:24:00.001-05:002017-12-17T01:24:21.959-05:00What You Need<div style="font-family: '.sf ui text'; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aunt Loretta...literally gave all<br />
she could and then some.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: white;">This morning I found myself sitting in a church pew trying to share about my recently passed Aunt Loretta to my younger two children. They had met her a few times, mostly when they were younger, but physical distance and time trickled by without them getting to know her. The collages of pictures gave a visual, but I was trying to capture the essence of who she was.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;">I filled them in on all we did with her as kids. Christmases at her house a pile of presents awaited you and you were allowed to eat all the cookies you wanted. She took us to wander down Santa Claus Lane, looking at toys and decorated Christmas trees at Kraynaks every year as well...we always left with a bag of candy in hand. The circus, sleep overs, games, and all the pop and TV you could want. The time and attention she gave...when you were with her you knew you were loved. </span><br />
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<span style="color: white;">And as I'm sharing my memories of my aunt with my kids, I hear myself say, "She was more like our grandma than our aunt." </span><br />
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<span style="color: white;">Here's the thing...my paternal grandparents, born in the early 1900's, passed away within two years of each other in the early 80s, both gone by the time I was four. Growing up I always felt it wasn't fair to not have the opportunity to know them, as our older cousins all did. Seeing pictures and hearing stories, I always felt my sister, brother, and I had missed out.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;">Sitting in that church pew I realized - or maybe re-realized something - in a very real way. God doesn't always give you what you want, but he always gives you what you need. If I needed a grandma growing up, God had it covered - my Aunt Loretta was it. She was a grandmother to my siblings and me in every way. And for the first time I felt a genuine peace about missing out on my grandparents.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white;">So if you're feeling this way - that someone or something isn't in your life as should be, a sense of loss or missing - stop and pray for eyes to see and ears to hear. Clarity to see that God will/has provide(d) all you need, not only in Him, but also in other ways and people around you. We just need to continue to hand it over to Him, be expectant, and have eyes that see and ears that hear His provision in our lives. </span></div>
Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-79567268370132248322017-11-27T11:37:00.001-05:002017-11-27T11:37:21.401-05:00Divine Direction - A Review<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Goodreads</td></tr>
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<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30649232-divine-direction">Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/50265.Craig_Groeschel">Craig Groeschel</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2182645040">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
I received this egalley from the publisher via NetGalley for consideration of a review.<br />
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Divine Direction by Craig Groeschel is perfect encouragement for those facing a hard season or those who have hard changes facing them. The book is based on the premise that, "Direction, not intention, determines destination." Every choice you actually carry out is what determines the direction your life heads in. And that's an accumulation of the numerous small choices more than the fewer big ones.<br />
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Groeschel asks us to consider a few things in determining our direction - all are based on God's plan for our lives. First, is there something you need to stop doing? "What are you doing today that’s not good for your story? Do you have some habit, a mindset, an addiction, an attitude, a thought process, something in your life that’s hijacking the story you want to tell?" You need to make the decision and take the steps - one at a time - to stop that thing and change your direction.<br />
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Is God calling you to go or to start something? Usually if God is calling us to something, it feels a little out of our league. Groeschel points out that "Maybe you’re thinking, I just don’t think I have that kind of faith. I for sure don’t have the faith to finish something like what he’s calling me to. Then I have great news for you: you don’t have to have the faith to finish; you only have to have enough faith to start. You need only enough faith for one step: that very first one." One step at a time is all it takes to move forward and God takes care of the rest. And God will even give the strength to make that one step at a time.<br />
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And possibly, is God calling you to stay where you are - stick it out? It could be a job you dislike, a difficult relationship, a project God called you to but has become harder than you thought, etc. It would be so easy and a relief to just leave the circumstance, but in staying, "After some time has passed, maybe you’ll be looking back, reflecting on your story, and you’ll realize that even though you didn’t know it at the time, God was using that very thing that you hated to rewire you, to change you, to transform your life." Being called to stay can bring about change as much as being called to go.<br />
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Listening to God's call to Start, Stop, Stay, and/or Go is the key. Groeschel also discusses his own life examples to these points and more, including how he and others have drawn near to God to hear from Him. Packed full of great advice, points, and reasoning, Craig Groeschel's Divine Direction brings the perfect mix of encouragement to face the giant at hand in your life.Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-53130661946787822712017-11-11T19:43:00.001-05:002017-11-11T19:43:56.581-05:00Small Beginnings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So I used a chainsaw today. It wasn't planned ahead. My husband and I had dropped off furniture to a friend's parents, had brunch, and pulled into our driveway talking about chopping leaves with the mower and the homework I still had to finish. Maybe it was the homework talking, I don't know, but looking into the backyard I said, "I want to cut down a tree."<br />
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Our yard is bordered along one side and in the back by a farm. All that separates us from the animals in the pasture (usually horses right out back) is a simple electric fence and a swatch of mostly dead trees, vines, high grass, and brush. In other words, a mess. And I had the sudden urge to take a chainsaw to the mess, creating a beautiful view of the horses.<br />
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Easier said than done. Once we got to it, we found that a lot of the tangled mess had briars and needed removed first to even get to the trees. A cut tree didn't necessarily fall because it was held up by the others around it. And under all those briars, high grass, and brush, lay plenty of heavy, already fallen trees that needed chopped up and removed. And once anything was uprooted, it took a bit of work to chop it all up and discard it to the woodpile or fire pit. In the end, of the whole expanse of the backyard, we invested four hours and had one tiny cleared corner to show for it...and that was just the trees!<br />
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Easier said than done...isn't that how it usually is? But does that make it not worth starting? Zechariah 4:10 (NLT) says, "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..." Think back to anything you've accomplished. Now, where or how did it start? To begin my current eighteen year journey of motherhood, it took nine long months and seventeen painful hours that seemed they would never end. My current place in a PhD program required that first step onto a college campus as a 17-year-old undergrad, twenty years ago. Our wonderful, dream, blessing of a house was a gutted, unlivable, foreclosed mess just over a year ago, that took four months of sweat and tears (literally both of those) to make it HOME for the rest of our lives to come.<br />
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And God nudges me in the observance of that small, cleared corner, "Isn't it the same with your heart?" He reminds me of my discoveries of my own heart - a mess much like what lies at the back of my yard. Things have died and fallen and rotted, and other stuff has grown over top and feeds from the decay below. A mix of briars holds it all solidly in place. Slowly He's revealed the top layer; but, much like the dead, fallen trees under the brush, with one layer revealed and removed, another is discovered. It's a convoluted mess in there, no earthly light at the end of this tunnel.<br />
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The line of dead vegetation extends down the length of my yard. Four hours. One small corner. Is the beginning too small? Is my time wasted? A horse comes to the water bucket...I can now see her approach and watch her drink from my house because the entire corner is clear of debris. And the answer comes to me, "God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).<br />
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Where was your heart this time last year? Three years ago? Five? Ten? Twenty? Twenty years ago I was an 18-year-old kid living for myself and facing the consequences. Ten years ago, I was a mom of three little kids, surviving the days as they came, but doing all I could, slowly building that relationship with God seriously for the first time. Five years ago, my heart had been flipped upside down with a realigned identity, deliverance, and new God perspective. Three years ago, my heart was on the verge of hearing and seeing God like never before. Almost exactly this time last year, God gave me a small glimpse of a future calling. A small beginning twenty years ago has led me to this point and now a new small beginning starts.<br />
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The fact of the matter is, we cannot effectively head into our futures and the callings God has for us without His refining fire. Change is hard and often painful, but He brings it in the best timing and for the best purpose. We wield our chainsaws (kinda like a modernized Sword of the Spirit, right? ) and trust that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to see it finished (Philippians 1:6). That mess? God will take the small beginning you offer up in obedience, and He will help you clear it away. Before you know it, time will have passed and you will stand gazing in wonder at the beautiful view of the horses.<br />
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Do not despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin...and so should we.<br />
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<br />Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-64122032692310419672017-10-02T11:28:00.000-04:002017-10-02T11:28:08.743-04:00Live in the Plural<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0A5Jr2O2qKy2wgbELjJwUscwzMY-Ewiz473fFXfSAD3Ek2U9hIgypz0z1k2B49CMO3EKzkCjuo1pDATlTRcGER-n1BfT01uy2nobQ1nR3pqxqu9wx_2gglfG5SyiwpriOryUlCb3CgtI/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="447" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0A5Jr2O2qKy2wgbELjJwUscwzMY-Ewiz473fFXfSAD3Ek2U9hIgypz0z1k2B49CMO3EKzkCjuo1pDATlTRcGER-n1BfT01uy2nobQ1nR3pqxqu9wx_2gglfG5SyiwpriOryUlCb3CgtI/s320/001" width="319" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://www.crownandcove.ca/2016/07/the-renewing-of-your-mind.html" target="_blank">Crown and Cove</a><br /></td></tr>
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A couple weekends ago I had a number of bad days in a row. Two errant thoughts/feelings from the week grew inside my head on Thursday, torturing me as I focused on them. So when Friday came around and work I'd done for my classes needed redone through no fault of my own I sank further into the pit. That Saturday brought hours of wasted time, as I worked on a PhD project using the wrong topic...initially missing the side note I'd added in class that week to clarify the requirements. I would have to start all over. By dinnertime on that Saturday I realized I hadn't really been in touch with anyone outside of my immediate family for three days. And even at home, I'd hidden away to avoid anything but my misery. And I thought, bad days happen, but what could I have done to avoid going on for days in misery and withdrawal?<br />
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I'm big on transparency and learning from each other - even if it's just among a small gathering or a few friends. So, on our FB group page, I asked the ladies of my church for their input on the following situation: <i>"You know those times you've held it together through a few things gone wrong in a few days' time, but then there's one more thing that goes wrong and it's one thing too many. And really crying - or at least throwing a fit - seems like the best option. But the problems are still there afterward...So where do you go from there? What are the things you think, read, say, and do that help you get back on track?"</i> Myself and a few ladies responded with the following:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Sometimes when we hit a bad day or thing we think we'll just push through and don't know there is possibly more [bad days or bad things] to come. So it's best to pray and be still about a "bad" day or situation immediately. Sometimes it's just that one thing that makes the rest look as bad as they do...and sometimes that first thing isn't even as bad as we think in the moment. Being still before God realigns us.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>We tend to push ourselves to hold it together and then we really lose it. Attitude is the first thing to go! Try to recognize what is happening and do some positive self talk to deal with it and not let it build up.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>It builds up because we try to keep everything in. We need to talk about what's going on out loud and get it all out and rest.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>After throwing a fit - cause sometimes that just happens - say out loud "Ok Lord, I can't fix this alone so you need to help me." Acknowledging out loud that we can't fix the issue and giving it to God then and there is needed because we know we can't fix it, but hold onto the possibility that we can anyway.</li>
</ul>
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These make sense and I see the use of all of them, so I wanted to share the collective wisdom of my friends in helping to relieve bad days and situations that get out of control. While I've collected their advice and pondered the way "bad days" get out of control in the couple weeks since my bad weekend, I came across another amazing help in such situations - this one more of a prevention than a cure. This past weekend I attended <a href="https://ohioministry.net/womens-ministries/" target="_blank">Ohio Ministry Network's Time Apart (a women's conference) </a>in Columbus, Ohio. We had an amazing speaker on Saturday,<a href="http://aliciachole.com/" target="_blank"> Dr. Alicia Britt Chole,</a> who spoke from her various writings, among them newly published <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Slow-Holy-Departure-Faith/dp/0718094301/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506953874&sr=8-1&keywords=the+sacred+slow" target="_blank">The Sacred Slow.</a> She and her husband have spent thirty years mentoring people in growing deeper roots in their walk with God. And her final point of the afternoon on Saturday hit home for me on this topic I'd been writing and thinking upon.<br />
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Her last point was simply titled "Live in the Plural." She says that when it comes to self-talk (conversations we have with ourselves - about ourselves - in our heads), we need to shift from thinking "I" to "we." In theological reality, we are never alone. We say that God is always with us; therefore, it is never an "I" who is doing and thinking, but a "we" - Jesus and I. Dr. Chole states that, "Every moment of every day is a moment to abide in Jesus. You need to think and live as we - 'Jesus and I.'"<br />
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Her point in this is that such thinking will affect how you talk about yourself and others when Jesus is involved. We may not have a problem looking in the mirror and saying, "I look so ugly today." But, as believers, if we are thinking and living in the plural, we find it difficult to say, "Jesus and I look so ugly today." We have no problem looking at others and thinking, "What is her problem?" But if we are thinking in the plural, it becomes more difficult to criticize by thinking, "What is her and Jesus' problem?"<br />
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That weekend when I realized I'd have to redo my work I was thinking, "My time is wasted and I don't know how I'll find time to redo it." If my mindset had been "we," the thought would have been, "Mine and Jesus' time is wasted and I don't know how either Jesus or I will find the time redo it." And at that moment, it would've all turned around before getting out of control. I mean really, is Jesus' time ever wasted and is it impossible for Jesus to find the time to redo something? Thinking in the plural in that moment would've turned me to Jesus immediately, lifting up my problem and moving on. (As it turns out, on Monday I had an idea to fix my problem and a co-worker in charge of the new program helped me fit my work into the new format required. No real extra work or time required. All that fret and the following days of misery for nothing?)<br />
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Live in the plural! Jesus is always with you and so nothing you think, do, or say is on your own. Placing Jesus directly alongside you in your every thought, word, and deed is a good way to do as His Word says in Romans 12:2 to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Cures are good, they are needed, but isn't prevention the best course to take when we can?!<br />
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<br />Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-16237921824665134812017-09-15T12:42:00.000-04:002017-09-15T12:42:15.410-04:00Old Things New<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWlGSdkUXhZNBUPM2m8RQgrmba3nDsp9ZrIXNGuI3Z8jPrux_kE2JrjegV8u_OYuK5iSGF_eXb6c2dqj14LGeOj9Q3PwYoJ0fZ5VqS2O05iUZk7g4uQSekTtJYCUOzQOnqskcNj0vLuA/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWlGSdkUXhZNBUPM2m8RQgrmba3nDsp9ZrIXNGuI3Z8jPrux_kE2JrjegV8u_OYuK5iSGF_eXb6c2dqj14LGeOj9Q3PwYoJ0fZ5VqS2O05iUZk7g4uQSekTtJYCUOzQOnqskcNj0vLuA/s320/001" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Brandon and I this year,at the 171st </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Canfield Fair. Every year I feel it's probably</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">romantic to ride the Ferris Wheel together...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">and every year after getting on I realize I hate</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">the Ferris Wheel and swear not to ride it again.</span></td></tr>
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Two years ago, my husband and I went to the 169th Annual Canfield Fair, a local fair that has been going on for, well at that point, 169 years. It's the full deal: good food that's oh so bad for you; rickety rides; rip-off games; farm animal shows and competitions; craft competitions; tractor displays; demolition derby; Grand Stand concerts; and pony rides. I'm sure I've missed something, but you get the idea.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fair time has meant "date" time for us the past couple years.</td></tr>
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This fair has obviously been running my whole life and is a stalwart tradition in the lives of just about everyone in the area - even after people move away, they often come back for the fair. Two years ago was the first time my husband and I had been to the fair without our kids. At that time they were 16, 14, and 10 1/2 and had gone with friends at different times instead. I remember the day well because it was my birthday too and we had fun, but it was also the beginning of a transition for us - a time when family outings no longer meant all five of us. And as most transitions are, it was a little bit sad.<br />
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This year, two years later, I debated going to the fair because unexpected expenses had come along during the summer and my school work had already piled up, but when my son wanted to go I took heed of the check in my spirit that said, "Remember last time? Who knows if you'll ever go with your kids again, if not now." Indeed, both of our daughters had already gone with friends on different days. So my husband and I headed off with him on the last day of the fair.<br />
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Not even 100 feet inside the gate, my son's friends come walking along and he announces they're going to go "hang out." We give him some money and he heads off to the barns where his friends keep their animals...because what can you say to a twelve-year-old boy whose whole excitement of life is wrapped up in this moment of a couple of hours with friends in a place of independence that makes him feel like a man (even if a little one, at that).<br />
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As he walks away I realize this was planned and I realize the disappointment of losing the time I thought we'd have with him that day. Also, that it seems my sacrifice of time and money (spent on my husband and me to be there) wasn't even necessary. My husband and I exchange little laughs about the situation and head off to run the route of the fair we run every year - first up, the Baby Animal Barn, known for its petting zoo appeal.<br />
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We walk in, petting the animals that look friendly enough to pet, until I come across a peacock. He's sitting with his fan-like tail closed, but thrust behind him in all its smooth perfection and color. And I can't help but stop and stare...and snap a picture between the links of the fence. He's amazing. Yet, it's weird - it's not like I've never seen a peacock before - but in that moment I am somewhat awestruck. <b>It's a funny thing about life - that the everyday events, things, and people of life can one day change before your eyes. Or maybe it's not that they change, but you do. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>Walking to the end of the lane, with a little duck cradled in my hands, I recall the Sunday a few weeks before where I had my head bowed throughout the beginning of worship and when I looked up it was as if I'd pulled my head out of a hole and suddenly certain people stood out to me and things looked different - more clear. Life had changed drastically in my own head that week before and I knew this was a sign that I would have to change the way I carried myself in that new knowledge. Knew right then and there that letting go of my previous focuses would be difficult and even painful, but that the change must happen to fulfill the purpose God calls all believers to.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQcLJlIvXz76jeod141lcVxatWu5G_LF6KOdO-VAVdXhKO7JI5P4Ok1ADF-SfUnfojPAoq-zer3oVznEhJCQxtUEz2yfCNG7ofKT0rxY-oCYnhfW1M_nseGHxE3LYjpEZloYw6BrW4CA/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQcLJlIvXz76jeod141lcVxatWu5G_LF6KOdO-VAVdXhKO7JI5P4Ok1ADF-SfUnfojPAoq-zer3oVznEhJCQxtUEz2yfCNG7ofKT0rxY-oCYnhfW1M_nseGHxE3LYjpEZloYw6BrW4CA/s320/001" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Perhaps, this too is part of it? If I am a new creation, if a stirring change takes place and continues to grow, then doesn't it follow that my perspective shift will see old things as new? </b>Everything we saw that day was wondrous to me. We even came across a floral barn, where people had entered single flowers they'd grown themselves for competition - a mass of perfection in color and design. I don't recall ever seeing it before. How had I not known or remembered this was here? I love doing landscaping!<br />
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We pet every horse we saw, fed them straw, laughed at the silly ducks, and smiled at the wily and cuddly goats. We walked through almost every single display barn - packed with the goodness of the talents and abilities of the people of our home. We sat on a bench with our fair food and continued to sit long after, watching people walk by. And the presence of life was awe inspiring. And to think I almost missed it, all because I'd allowed my focus to shift back to the old - the worry of the day instead of its possible glory. Lord, continue to give us eyes and ears that recognize your glory and are awestruck in the moments you give.Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-21948554677753509742017-09-07T00:08:00.000-04:002017-09-07T00:08:50.564-04:00Birthday Love<div class="yiv7122605105p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3px; padding: 0px;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>I'd say, especially yourself!</b><br />Source: Instagram @david.c.cook<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>"Our decisions, our relationships, and our preferences in large part stem from what we say to ourselves about ourselves."</i> Ruth Graham</b></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;">And what is it you have said to yourself about yourself ?<span class="yiv7122605105Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I'm not enough, smart enough, able enough, good enough...</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I'm not loved, understood, wanted, needed...</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I don't measure up, understand, have what it takes...</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I can't get it right, be what others need me to be, do what I should...</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I am alone, too different, too intense/shy...</i></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;">I've never made a big deal about my birthday and it hit me this birthday why not. Because of the things I've said to myself about myself over the years. The list above probably looks familiar - most of us have felt or thought similar things about ourselves at some point - but I've thought some of these things on a regular basis for most of my adult life. I allowed the results of wrong decisions I made as an 18-year-old dictate everything I thought I knew about myself for the twenty years that followed.<span class="yiv7122605105Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;">In her book <i>Me, Myself & Lies: What To Say When You Talk To Yourself</i>, Jennifer Rothschild states that, <i>"The words we say go straight to the core of our being. They shape the way we think about ourselves. They influence our emotions and our decisions. They resurface in our conversations with other people. They can spur us on to live meaningful, productive lives, or they can make us not even want to get out of bed!"</i> The sentiment is biblically based too - Proverbs 23:7 states, <i>"For as he thinks within himself, so he is"</i> (NASB). I had basically convinced myself at some point that I wasn't worthy of celebration.<span class="yiv7122605105Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;">The more I've thought about it, the more convinced I am that this has gone beyond birthday celebrations though and I've found myself in a weird middle ground. I try to work behind the scenes or within a comfortable group of people. Yet, at the same time, I have little fear of speaking up and speaking out and who doesn't like the chance to do big things and be recognized here and there? I believe there is a disconnect between what I am able to do and what I am comfortable doing because of the way I've spoken negatively to myself over the years. I long to charge forward in a big way,<span class="yiv7122605105Apple-converted-space"> </span>but only after I'm sure no one's looking. I've stalled my own boat, so to speak. The car is in gear, but I'm riding the brakes.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;">But this year things have changed. I feel differently than I have before about all kinds of things - especially myself. My time spent in God's Word, prayer, personal Bible studies, etc., has slowly reshaped my thought process. I'm stepping into leadership positions and making dreams come true, as well as stepping out of old mindsets and comfort zones - picking it all up as it comes with prayer and without overthinking. God gave me a verse at the beginning of 2017 that has come back to me on numerous occasions: "...I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well" Psalm 139:14 <a href="http://livingonpurpose9779.blogspot.com/2017/01/fearfully-and-wonderfully-made.html" target="_blank">(Click here for more about this).</a> I've seen more and more that I am how God intended me to be, so I need to learn to accept me and use what I've been given to make this life effective for Him. Otherwise, I'm wasting precious time and opportunities not standing by those whom I would be involved with if I weren't so busy holding myself down.</span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;">It has come about slowly, but I think it's picking up speed...this ability to love and accept myself. I've noticed in the past couple years even I've felt excited for my birthday, even though I didn't always make plans or spend it in any special way. I figure between this year and next, that gives me two years to get myself prepared for a super 40th birthday celebration! I will also (hopefully) be very close to finishing my PhD at that point and just months away from my 20th wedding anniversary, so I'm telling my husband and friends I have big expectations for "specialness" to happen!</span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1504755824339_1707" style="font-family: inherit;">But for now, do me a favor...look yourself in the eye in the mirror today, smile big, and say, <b>"I am fearfully and wonderfully made; His works are wonderful. I am who I am because He has a plan that gives me a purpose. And I can love myself because He loves me, as I am, more than enough."</b></span></div>
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<span class="yiv7122605105s2" style="font-family: inherit;">Then go into your day in strength of His promise.<span class="yiv7122605105Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br />
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Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-49224777686745912922017-08-25T12:43:00.001-04:002017-08-25T12:47:12.555-04:00My Whole Being Waits<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">source: Instagram @elizabethlaingthompson</td></tr>
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<span class="m_-5728636128407239777s2">Hey everyone! I hope whatever this week has brought you, that above all your eyes have stayed on Jesus. It's been a weird week. The week began and continued to be bittersweet and filled with tears over our friends, the Bowers, moving to SC. I was able to keep it together with them all evening <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_652798692" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Wednesday</span></span> at church (their last evening with us), until we drove away and it became very real to me that we would no longer see them as we please. What can you do with the kind of hurt that wells up as a physical ache in your chest?</span></div>
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<span class="m_-5728636128407239777s2">This was also the first week back to school for me and with some new things in place for teachers and a new grade level for me to convert to our use of technology throughout the year, it crushed me. I've worked nonstop from the moment I walked into the building until the moment I've left. (Yesterday I made myself eat lunch without working and today took lunch to talk with all of you.) I napped after school the first two days and sat like a lump yesterday evening. My Kent classes start next week and I just wonder how I'll find the self-motivation and energy to make it through the next 39 weeks.<span class="m_-5728636128407239777Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="m_-5728636128407239777s2">And then there's just life in my head. What I know God has for me to do now, what I think is in process, and what I wonder it is all leading to in the future. And as my thoughts jumble over each other at any given time, my emotions begin to frustrate as well and I can feel them trying to take me down. My attitude changes in my head and in moments I become petty and even snippy with those around me. Even when it's good stuff, too many thoughts in too many places is overwhelming.</span></div>
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<span class="m_-5728636128407239777s2">But today ladies, today I awoke to a reminder in Psalms 130:5 <b><i>"I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope." </i></b></span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">In reading the Word daily, in staying in prayer, in worshiping, in weekly fasting, in surrounding ourselves with a Christian support system, we wait - or remain - in Jesus and we find our hope. A friend recently gave me advice in a hard moment to take it one day at a time, don't look so far ahead. And now I add to it that not only does one day at a time take away the overwhelming aspect, but in taking it one day at a time, we can better wait on the Lord. </span></div>
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<span class="m_-5728636128407239777s2">And suddenly my week looks differently. The bittersweet tears over the Bowers's departure becomes somewhat momentary in the fact that future visits are already planned and technology will keep my family and I in touch with them as always. And I'm reminded of the blessing just to have them in my life and to keep in touch so easily.</span></div>
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<span class="m_-5728636128407239777s2">I realized this morning that I've hit very few snags in my work at school this week - technology has cooperated and free trials of programs and apps have allowed me to transfer from old technology to new as easy as can be (there's just a lot to transfer). I have SO much done in preparation for the next month. So much done during work hours that I didn't have to take much work home and the naps, laying around, and time with my family didn't mean other work was going undone. I came to work today feeling ready to go in the days to come. And my Kent classes? Two semesters of actual classes left - there's a light at the end of the tunnel and the fact that I managed it last year. One day at a time.</span></div>
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<span class="m_-5728636128407239777s2">And my thoughts...the redirection in other matters has redirected my thoughts as well. I am content with now. Do what God has for now - spend time where and with whom God says, speak and write as God leads, do the best in the roles which God has currently ordained. Record away the upcoming he has given for later reference and don't worry about months and years in advance. If I can't wait in and live in and learn from NOW, God's future plans for me are delayed anyway and I'm left in a longer wait than even He intended. </span></div>
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<span class="m_-5728636128407239777s2">Being present where God has you now - especially if it's a season of waiting or transition season - is the only way to be. Wait in him and you will find your hope. And that hope will alter your perspective in all that goes on around you. </span></div>
Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-67173269601754752912017-08-10T17:47:00.000-04:002017-08-10T18:22:10.782-04:00New Purpose - Living On Purpose<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey everyone! I am writing today to officially switch over the name and purpose of this blog. I started my blog as Keep Inspired in July 2012 as a way to keep up some writing practice, thinking I'd focus on writing. I found I could only write so much about writing and within six months, changed the name of my blog to My Life in Books, which it has remained as for the last four and a half years. Recently, I started writing more about things that have come up in life and I wrote in order to process them. There was very little to do with actual books, so I started calling myself Keep Inspired again on social media. Overall, I just wasn't satisfied with the name. It didn't say all I wanted it to say; it wasn't intentional enough.<br />
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So, after some thought, I've decided to keep this blog to maintain my previous work, but change the name and purpose. Even the URL and contact email are new! Mostly this is a time factor. This idea didn't come to me until the busy end of the summer. Also, with my teaching and college courses starting one after the other in the next two weeks, I don't have time to learn a new venue and completely create a new blog. I actually started to, but then felt I was creating unnecessary stress for myself.<br />
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So here we are. Living On Purpose is the new name and blogging about life as it comes to me is the new game. If you've been around the blog in the past year, you've noticed I write fully within my Christian beliefs. As the basis for everything in my life, who I am, what I say and do, it's non-negotiable. But I've had comments made by readers that even without the same beliefs, they can see what I'm getting at. So I hope my blog can be a place where transparently living on purpose offers hope, encouragement, and love.<br />
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Hope you will join me!Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-59546570135916354332017-07-27T00:49:00.001-04:002017-07-27T00:49:33.242-04:00The Struggle is Real...and GoodBack in February I wrote about a particularly hard week and weekend I had, but unsure of my take on things and with my busy school schedules, I delayed posting and then just didn't. I reread it recently and I feel the same about what I wrote. And I've continued to experience it - brought to tears and the end of myself in the months since as God continues His work in me. So I left it as is from February 2017:<br />
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Ever have those times where life feels - heck, you feel - like a complete mess? Maybe there are external factors such as sickness, finances, or relationships involved, but with or without external factors, there is likely roller coaster emotions. You feel good one minute and then find yourself free falling toward sadness, despair, hurt and/or anger, maybe feeling helpless and hopeless. You find a pick me up or make some progress, but within days or a week later you've fallen off track again. Even if you like roller coasters, this one threatens to make you sick.<br />
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No? It's just me? Well, just in case someone else out there understands, know I've been there too. I'm there now, and I'll likely find myself here again in the future. Because only one thing in this life is consistent: change. Usually, if you're human, change brings with it struggle. Even though change is always around us, sometimes our lives hit seasons of greater or more change, and the struggle is more than a hashtag, the struggle IS real.<br />
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We know journeys and seasons of life change us...how could they not? And isn't that the point on more than one level? But "knowing" and "knowing from experience" are two different things. My sister for example, who knows my birth stories well, right after having her first child recently, asked me, "Why did you do this three times?!" (She was still a little out of it at that point.) She'd heard all the gruesome details about birth, she'd read articles, watched videos, gone to Lamaze classes...but none of them could prepare her as fully as the actual experience of giving birth.<br />
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I find more and more that I'm faced with this difference between knowing change happens and experiencing change - I'm strangely aware of myself now as I haven't been before. We are taught to know that God is making us like Him, but what do we know from experience? God has newly opened my eyes to moments where my tone of voice is off, my words don't glorify him, my intentions are not right, my insecurities and fears are carrying me away, I am being prideful, etc. Realizing these moments - knowing they've been a part of me for awhile - I wonder how I still have a husband and friends?!<br />
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That mantra for the past month - the struggle is real - drove me to prayer and to seek support. After a particularly difficult week that moved into a harder weekend, where I felt like nothing but a mess, I found myself revealing the horrible feeling to my husband and a friend. Both encouraged me greatly with truth, that things are not what they seem (thank God for husbands and best friends). The enemy whispers lies, blows things out of proportion, creates despair, and robs us of what God gives; God gives abundant life (John 10:10). Keeping this in mind helps us determine from which source we are receiving in any given moment...I had been listening to the wrong side more often than not that week.<br />
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That Sunday, with the swells of "How Great Thou Art" reverberating around the sanctuary, I whispered a prayer of thanks to God for just being who He is. And without thought the next words slipped from my lips, "<i>Thank you for the struggle.</i>" Somewhat surprised at my words, the explanation whispered into my mind - it is because of His sacrifice that we do not struggle in vain. <b>With Him we have the ability to struggle and with struggle we have the ability to find Him. </b>We cannot become like Jesus without drawing close to Him. Drawing close brings about a change of heart. And change of heart often brings struggle.<br />
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But take heart, there's a purpose. In John 15:1-5 Jesus states, <i>"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."</i> (NIV)<br />
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Cut off - ouch! And why prune what is already producing fruit? Is that really necessary? It makes one wonder, why prune fruit trees? Turns out, pruning fruit trees allows more sunlight and air to reach all parts of the tree, which focuses a tree's strength on the good branches that will bear and support even more fruit than it has already. Since fruit trees are all about the production of fruit, pruning is the successful means to that end.<br />
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Not always, but often our struggles hurt because they are evidence of God's pruning. If we are the branches remaining (or abiding) in Christ, He is not going to leave us as we are. He sees our potential, He knows what He has for us, and He is going to change us accordingly. He does so with precision, a step at a time, but it is up to us to remain in Him through the process. The struggle is real, but it is good.Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-70516722625028669212017-07-10T00:00:00.000-04:002017-07-10T00:00:53.776-04:00Praying the Psalms, a Review<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHx_-aoKBPQq9_ndG1wPaUYu6P3vhkWXyErrmFHms28pQeUrSW6QYynrAOX2Op2RxUeJVymrzGSdPG8Qd1kFk78qblgeZbtpYRfeZOpBGetYIWiCbtQ6ZD-n157yiwouZ7w4XbZVKF3dI/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHx_-aoKBPQq9_ndG1wPaUYu6P3vhkWXyErrmFHms28pQeUrSW6QYynrAOX2Op2RxUeJVymrzGSdPG8Qd1kFk78qblgeZbtpYRfeZOpBGetYIWiCbtQ6ZD-n157yiwouZ7w4XbZVKF3dI/s320/001" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: NetGalley</td></tr>
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<i>Praying the Psalms: Growing Emotionally Closer to God and Those You Love</i>, by Rick Stedman<br />
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers<br />
Publication date: October 1, 2016<br />
Category: Christian, nonfiction, motivational<br />
Source: I received this galley from NetGalley for consideration of a review.<br />
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Rick Stedman has written a series of books on prayer, the latest a teaching on how to pray the Psalms of the Bible. Early on in his book he gives a good description of what this entails and the benefits he sees in learning to pray the Psalms: "The Psalms are not church-lady approved, sanitized prayers. They are real, edgy, and authentic—even violent at times. In praying the Psalms, we learn to face our deepest hopes, hurts, and fears and to bring them to God in brutally honest prayer. We learn to identify and express a wide range of emotions, while at the same time keeping those emotions from ruling our lives. We learn how to handle hate and anger, overcome guilt and sorrow, and experience grace and mercy. After all, the only place to learn these skills is within real relationships, which is very clever of God. In the process, we find intimacy with God, deeper community with others, and—in what is perhaps the biggest surprise of all—we discover our very selves."<br />
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He provides a four step method for praying the Psalms, which consists of finding emotional words while reading a Psalm aloud, journaling the words in connection to personal experience, and formulating prayers from there. Stedman then spends a good portion of the book working through the first ten Psalms as examples of this practice. A number of word lists wrap up the book - emotional words found by certain categories to help you find Psalms that may be more relevant at a certain time.<br />
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For anyone looking for a new way to pray - and specifically to pray using the Bible - Rick Stedman's book is what you are looking for.Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-48517627977594174012017-06-27T01:17:00.002-04:002017-06-27T01:17:52.829-04:00The God Who Sees Me<i>In my posting last week, I found this post - written and ready to publish - sitting as a draft on my dashboard. I wrote it the week after Mother's Day and forgot to post it. Can't let a post go to waste, and even though Mother's Day was a month ago, the beauty of the moment hasn't faded. So here it is.</i><br />
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It's no secret that motherhood is hard. From the first days home, new moms find out they really didn't know the extent of the responsibility, hard work, or absolute love. And even though the workload of motherhood is not a secret, we live as if it is.<br />
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The Saturday before Mother's Day 2017, my great day ended a little bit in the dumps. At the end of a long week and dealing with the unique stress of parenting teenagers, with thoughts of what Mother's Day is all about swirling in my head, I felt unnoticed and unappreciated as a mother. Not guilty over what I do and don't do - simply unnoticed for what I do. <i><b>It is perhaps the biggest sacrifice of motherhood, to continue on whether or not anyone seems to notice or appreciate your efforts. </b></i><br />
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In an effort to ease these feelings, my husband posted a sweet picture of us and our great day together that Saturday to social media. Honestly though, by then my long week and stress were joined by the comparison trap - myself to others. Knowing this kind of thinking takes me nowhere but down has never stopped me from following the spiral previously, but somewhere in a corner of my mind I paused to whisper a five second prayer,<i> "God show me I'm noticed."</i> <i><b>Because in a world where we are all aching to be noticed in some way, Truth says there is One who always notices, whether we feel it in the moment or not. </b></i><br />
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By Sunday morning quite a few posts had popped up on social media feeds, some people I barely know, detailing acknowledgement of mothers for everything they do and everything they are. Of course, we love to see such women acknowledged, but mixed with our admiration, we need to be aware of feeding the comparison trap as well. The best way to combat something so strong is to <i><a href="http://livingawritinglife.blogspot.com/2017/05/when-girl-chooses-to-realize.html" target="_blank">make the choice</a></i> to step out in front of it, put your foot down, and say, <i>"This will proceed no further."</i> Already a step ahead of myself in taking the thought and feeling captive, wanting my loved ones to know I appreciate all they do as moms, I had filled out cards, mailed personalized notes, and sent messages a few days before Mother's Day. As God has aptly shown me in the past year, and to paraphrase Ann Voskamp, to live in your brokenness - given out to others - is to allow God to turn your brokenness to good, to perhaps even heal your own brokenness.<br />
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Getting ready to attend my sister's church for her son's baby dedication the morning of Mother's Day, I received a text from my 15-year-old daughter to make sure I come into the house when I pick them up at grandma's (where they had spent the night). I told her daddy was coming, I was still getting ready, and why did she need me to come anyway? Her reply: It's for Mother's Day. <br />
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I showed up to my daughter and a beautiful, body length blanket she had stayed up until 4am - working six hours - to make for me for Mother's Day. I had gone to bed at 3am after my husband and I spent 12 hours away, driving our oldest home from a prom she attended an hour and a half away, quite mindful of that crazy bedtime hour with so much going on the next day. And here, my younger daughter had stayed up even later than that, sacrificing for me in the moment I was sacrificing for someone else?! The absolute feeling of being loved washed over me. The fabric is a heavy, ultra soft fleece - combining my love of warm blankets and dachshunds all at once. Plus, my mother-in-law had not only taken her to the store, but also purchased the materials needed for it to happen. Double the love.<br />
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And it hit me while singing "<i>I surrender all..."</i> in church half an hour later, God had heard my five second prayer the night before. I had sent it up in a quick moment, with barely the faith of a mustard seed and little thought of it afterward, and it came back to me in complete blessing. My child noticed me. My husband gave me a beautiful card - he had noticed me.<br />
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At lunch that afternoon I received a card from my sister, a new mother celebrating her first Mother's Day. It began with the words, "You might feel like no one notices..." and had a hand written note inside praising me and stating admiration that just blew me away. I struggled not to cry in my seat as I read it. I gave her a hug, told her the card was perfect, and spent a good meal with my family, loving on my nephew.<br />
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Back home after lunch, my youngest and only son approached me with a hand made and perfectly worded (all by himself!) Mother's Day card...complete with a stuffed dachshund (notice a pattern here?). The stuffed animal had been hidden in his closet for a month, waiting for today. Grandma helped him plan it.<br />
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Dinner was spent at a local Hibachi place with my in-laws, their treat. What a great meal, filled with laughter, and some of the precious little time we are all together at once. Complete with a beautiful card claiming things about me that I don't always believe about myself from my niece and nephew. A friend of mine, who didn't know of my specific feelings as a mother at the moment, but knew the challenges the weekend presented with my kids, schedule, and other conflicts, checked in with me a couple times to see how the days and events had gone. To top if off, my oldest daughter and I made it through a whole weekend of events we would potentially fight about without fighting! Even when I messed up her graduation invitations by forgetting to put the date and had to affix the date to each invite with an obviously added-on label made by a label-maker.<br />
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By the end of the day, so much unexpected love and appreciation had been poured upon me from my family; but, I'm unsure some of them realize exactly what they did for me. What I do know is today was more than the usual Mother's Day. Mother's Day up until now had been like any other day for me. I've received cards and gifts on past Mother's Days, so how was this one so different?<br />
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In my heart, I knew I was noticed. By the end of the day, it was more than just my family who noticed, it was God. I didn't try to find or manipulate anything or anyone for attention, I handed over the negative feeling, and I asked for Him to show me I was noticed and He made it abundantly clear that He had seen me all along. So clear that all the public posts in the world boasting praise of my motherhood couldn't compare. <i><b>What else matters when you know in your heart God sees you? </b></i><i><b>When you know the very people who make you a mother, wife, daughter, sister, and best friend see you.</b></i><br />
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"She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.'" Genesis 16:13<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrz1DeXw-lvm6af-2xkjwr0t2f3eIaAtpf39ZwG-42Uko-x4DEzijC9B0RHWWhG-9yUW6hActTuAkn4G4CLf6jpsHZO81na89qATMet8agYifrQpnDjAgcfe0jFa4WzCfW1ZkixEBRvk/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrz1DeXw-lvm6af-2xkjwr0t2f3eIaAtpf39ZwG-42Uko-x4DEzijC9B0RHWWhG-9yUW6hActTuAkn4G4CLf6jpsHZO81na89qATMet8agYifrQpnDjAgcfe0jFa4WzCfW1ZkixEBRvk/s320/001" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My nephew Maximus</td></tr>
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<br />Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-22410949731035794012017-06-23T00:44:00.000-04:002017-06-23T00:44:52.340-04:00Quietness and Trust<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmsilCWzfj4wvK7EOugmNRjeHw_t3OVQTM7JdtX7aRkyp1XEf53_eDa-6zbZ-GcZO1gUdQ6mngEQa_Of75d0GJQpJAIYNg46fPAs_nyU-Fz5BVZG2EtJg2HO5wjQ2oOQRI5AskS-iFS4/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmsilCWzfj4wvK7EOugmNRjeHw_t3OVQTM7JdtX7aRkyp1XEf53_eDa-6zbZ-GcZO1gUdQ6mngEQa_Of75d0GJQpJAIYNg46fPAs_nyU-Fz5BVZG2EtJg2HO5wjQ2oOQRI5AskS-iFS4/s320/001" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Pinterest.com</td></tr>
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This past Wednesday turned into a day where one thing after another (both big and small) went wrong like a snowball effect and made me come a little undone. The day had started out beautifully, but by dinner time I was pacing around, unable to sit or focus, annoyed beyond belief at the the accumulation of stupid stuff that had ruined my day. And worse, I couldn't escape it because where I went, there too was the anger and frustration.<br />
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The next day, Thursday morning, I read Isaiah 30 and verse 15 leapt from the page: "This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.'" Quietness + Trust = Strength, but indeed I would have none of it the day before. How many times has God pointed me to "be still and know" in the past year? To quiet myself and trust in His strength to fight for me, for my day, for my situation, etc. Yet, I continue trying to put my life back together on my own, causing more frustration.<br />
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Because Thursday I woke up to a new day, where the problems of yesterday were taken care of in part and the things still there didn't seem like mountains, but the molehills they actually were. Which means my upset of Wednesday accomplished nothing but ruining my mood and my day. If I had slowed, prayed, and trusted, how differently might my day have gone? And how silly to look back and see what upset me. Only one thing of the whole day was worth being upset about and even then, that problem was taken care of in the end.<br />
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And so I repent and rest in this truth, urging myself and everyone willing to hear God's call in this verse, to continue learning and living the art of abiding. To be quiet (still) and trust (know) that God's strength will pull us through. But it takes our choosing to stop and challenge the torrent running through our heads with trust in God's strength to be our own. At some point we have to muster the faith to take that trust-powered stand.<br />
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<br />Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-33001435110885817592017-06-13T02:08:00.001-04:002017-06-13T02:08:34.941-04:00Me, Myself, and Lies<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFClI6f7V1NVmUcgUWMnbI1fdBpBJE97ylz3w9Aw8M9u2MaenqU9alsaTwuM5TuQZR-zZPNNTe3TsGrJGTSsInuYK1pSTCmbbdJOxn4FW3te9BDnFz6xpz3U6c8lE82JVEUUEwHmz0YxA/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFClI6f7V1NVmUcgUWMnbI1fdBpBJE97ylz3w9Aw8M9u2MaenqU9alsaTwuM5TuQZR-zZPNNTe3TsGrJGTSsInuYK1pSTCmbbdJOxn4FW3te9BDnFz6xpz3U6c8lE82JVEUUEwHmz0YxA/s320/001" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Amazon.com</td></tr>
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Me, Myself, & Lies (for Young Women), by Jennifer Rothschild<br />
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers<br />
Publication date: April 11, 2017 (for Young Women on May 1, 2017)<br />
Category: Christian, nonfiction<br />
Source: I received this galley from NetGalley in consideration for review.<br />
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Sometimes a book's title says it all. Me, Myself, & Lies, by Jennifer Rothschild, speaks to the issue of negative self-talk. Lies we tell ourselves about ourselves - things that are essentially untrue. For example, you are not an idiot for forgetting to bring your grocery list to the store - you are human and humans make mistakes. Seems trivial? Science has proven that repeated actions burn new neural pathways in our brains. So years of accusing yourself or calling yourself names on even the "silly" level definitely sets you up to feel like and live like a failure in the end.<br />
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Rothschild references a well known quote I have on a plaque in my classroom. Although she quotes it with a different wording, my plaque reads:<br />
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Ultimately, the things we think about ourselves will form who we are. Yes, we may be successful in different areas in life, but your success does not define you. Proverbs even states that "For as he thinks within himself, so he is” (23: 7 NASB). To quote Rothschild directly, "In other words, the way you live is a reflection of the way you think."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: NetGalley.com</td></tr>
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Rothschild describes our minds as though closets and the thoughts as clothing we can choose to put on and take off. We must choose to take off the negative comments, relabel them with God's truth, and wear the truth instead. For example, you are not an idiot, you are beloved. The edition of this book for young women speaks to specific issues and examples pertaining to teenagers and young adults. Here she provides seven must-have "pieces" needed for your thought closet: daily maintenance, hope, water, memory, chill, perseverance, and heart. Each of the seven pieces is broken down in categories that deal with issues of anger, control, feelings, identity, and many more.<br />
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Overall, these books provide step by step guidance in fixing your thought process and guiding your mind onto a better pathway. A great resource for those who have wandered how to apply the well known verse that instructs us to, "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-10033368892546576462017-05-27T01:38:00.000-04:002017-05-27T01:38:04.669-04:00Out of the Box Summer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple weeks ago, I finished my first year of my PhD with straight A's. I went straight from finishing my college semester to focusing on finishing my school year as a teacher, which meant grading 86 research papers and teaching one more book in the remaining three weeks of May. Happy to say I finished the last of those papers today and besides another day and half of classes, I am free!<br />
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Well, free of my full time job for a few months, but not free from the ebb and flow of life. Next week will lead me straight into planning the rest of my daughter's graduation party: ordering food, making decorations, and putting together picture collages. She's a full time college student next fall and our relationship will begin to change. I don't know how to navigate it all quite yet, but I'm desperate to find a decent balance of parent she still needs and the friend I will eventually fully become.<br />
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The party at the end of June will give way to a few days of taking care of our friends' two boys while they are away on a trip. Bringing my two younger kiddos as back up, of course. Triple teaming them ensures we all come out alive and happy! Haha! I am looking forward to getting to know the boys better. The past year has definitely taken a toll on my connections to my close friends' families and I feel I've missed some milestones.<br />
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A week later, my husband and I are off to Israel for ten days. This is a trip of a lifetime for more than one reason. First of all, it's a pilgrimage for us - to walk where Jesus walked. I am expecting big things - to come back refreshed, fulfilled, and ready with a new word for my path. Second, my husband and I have never been on a trip together, not even a honeymoon. Although we'll be traveling with a mix of friends and new acquaintances, our kids won't be there and the evenings will be ours to do as we please. I get nervous when my kids take simple trips away, so this will be a challenge even as it is a dream come true. Third, besides Canada, we've never been out of the country. Besides a one hour flight to Chicago, we've never spent any significant amount of time on a plane. This is the Middle East! The flight is nonstop eleven hours one way! This trip tests everything I've said I would never do, because leaving the comfort and familiarity of home challenges me on every level - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Yet, even in my most nervous moments, I feel the desperate tug to go. </div>
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Two weeks after returning from Israel, my children and I are meeting friends just outside of Myrtle Beach, SC where we all rented a beach house for the first week of August. My husband just started a new job and they so graciously gave him unpaid time for the Israel trip (which he shouldn't have received), so he won't be going on the beach trip with us. I travelled once before without him, chaperoning our church's youth group to Ocean City, MD. But this feels crazy. The trip was meant to be one more family trip, as our oldest daughter's schedule will change more drastically as a full time college student next year. So in that vein, it makes sense to be upset my husband won't be there. But, this is how in a box I have kept my life: I can't fathom that I am driving my kids all the way down there myself...my husband always does the driving. I'm going to have family vacation photos without him in them? I can't fathom that I am spending an actual vacation without my husband...he's my comfort in my out of the box situations.<br />
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The week we get back from the beach, I go back to in-service days for teaching, my students come the following week, and my next PhD semester follows the week after that. And the crazy begins again...not that it's stopping over summer to begin with.<br />
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I typically don't like this much busyness...I likes gaps of break time between events. But this year is different. These events are all amazing and special in some way. They are all extremely personal to me for different reasons, but also for the same reason - I have to step out of my box and trust God. It's almost like someone planned it out for me - a summer of out of the box living. All of these events usher in endings that also serve as beginnings. One thing is sure - I won't make it to the end of the summer the same person I began it as.<br />
<br />Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-57159338591480005692017-05-07T14:48:00.001-04:002019-01-29T13:12:20.652-05:00When a Girl Chooses to Realize...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">In November I wrote a post called <a href="http://livingawritinglife.blogspot.com/2016/11/set-apart.html" target="_blank">"Set Apart,"</a>in which I discussed how my journey into my PhD often felt like because I had to give up things, or things changed on me, that I was being set aside. Yet, through prayer, Bible reading, and great encouraging Christian writers (namely Lysa Terkeurst in this case), I knew there was more to it. That I wasn't being set aside, but set apart for God's greater purpose. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Here, now, with my first full year of my PhD officially wrapped up (and the second semester easier than the first), the feeling of being set aside continues to pop up...it has become much more personal and has been an impossibly hard thing that, mixed with my insecurities and worry, has tried to take me down. Besides feeling left out, there is nothing quite like looking in on something from the outside when you used to be the one on the inside. Especially when you didn't realize quite how on the outside you had become. I know there will never be a time where we are completely free of such trials and challenges, but I'd hoped to have made an inroad on this particular challenge by now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It's glorious to think that in the midst of heartache, God has a purpose and calling for it. To think that the things we feel left out of may just serve to set us apart so we can prepare for a new purpose. But in the moment it just seems impossible...how in the world can this feeling mean good things on the horizon?</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1494178779577_2000" style="-webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-size: 12pt;">Today, as I experienced this yet again, in the midst of an otherwise happy day, Lysa TerKeurst's original phrase came to me in the aftermath of feelings:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: white;">"There is something wonderfully sacred that happens when a girl chooses to realize that being 'set aside' is actually God's call for her to be 'set apart.' This is true.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: white;">To be set aside is to be rejected. To be set apart is to be given an assignment that requires preparation.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: white;">Embrace the preparation. And remember you are set apart, beautiful one. Chosen. Adored. And reserved for a high and holy calling."</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I've read those words so many times - I have "set apart" tattooed on my arm to remind me for goodness' sake! <b><i>But let me tell you, you can tattoo yourself into a rainbow of beautiful, catchy phrases and reminders, but it will mean nothing until God sinks it into your heart. </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">As I drove away with a wrench in my heart, replaying the hurt, Terkeurst's words running through my mind, it hit me. <b>The key words in TerKeurst's phrase aren't "set apart" - the key words are "when a girl chooses to realize..." </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The set apart piece is God's truth - it is what it is. <b style="font-style: italic;">But I have to choose to believe and trust in that truth to activate it in my life or I will go nowhere with it. </b>If I do not stand up and literally choose to believe and trust, the hurt will continue to hurt and the next time will feel worse, and the time after that will be devastating. And the moment will come again - there's always a next time. Choice is the key - choosing to stop, take a deep breath, state what you know to be true, and pray. The next time, the hurt will be less and it will be easier to choose, and maybe a few times after that the situation will cease to wreck my heart at all...because I will <i>know</i> that I am not set aside, but set apart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">So today, with the stinging still in my heart, I am <i>choosing</i> to believe I am not set aside, but that I am set apart. I trust that, that place I used to inhabit, but now feel set aside from, will come to serve a fresh and new purpose in the future God is shaping for me. And if not, that I have served that place and people well in the time God chose for me to inhabit it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">He who has eyes to see, let him see and he who has ears to hear, let him hear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">#setapart #higheranddeeper #koinonia #eucharisteo </span><span style="font-size: 16px;">#nothingtolose</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> #everythingtogain</span></div>
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Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-75012090668085242492017-04-06T13:01:00.000-04:002017-04-06T13:01:54.151-04:00Rhythms of Rest<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nl9wvwVnDB8/WOZrTUGKcuI/AAAAAAAAGh0/hr5joiUQEoAPeFeL6ZgZfsevJ_KAZzoYACPcB/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nl9wvwVnDB8/WOZrTUGKcuI/AAAAAAAAGh0/hr5joiUQEoAPeFeL6ZgZfsevJ_KAZzoYACPcB/s320/001" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: shellymiller.com</td></tr>
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<i>Rhythms of Rest: Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World</i>, by Shelly Miller<br />
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers<br />
Publication date: October 4, 2016<br />
Category: nonfiction, Christian, motivational, How-to/self-help<br />
Source: I received this galley from NetGalley for consideration of a review.<br />
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Rest. Seems it's not easy to come by these days if you have any semblance of a life. Church, family, friends, work, school, fun, hobbies, domestic chores (from major repairs to laundry)...the list just doesn't end. Rest is like an elusive fairy tale, something from a long gone era. Who has time for that, as much as we want to?<br />
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Yet, it's a commandment - to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). This tells me two things: it is possible and it is needed. So how does Sabbath look in the lives of 21st century Christians?<br />
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Alongside biblical commandments, that "to-do" list above probably makes it obvious why I took interest in <i>Rhythms of Rest</i> - I know I need it and can't quite figure how to find it. In the past year of readjusting my schedule for schooling, I have come across a few moments where I chose rest over work and it proved beneficial, but I would like to make this a consistent way of life.<br />
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Among the first things Miller makes clear is that rest looks differently among individuals. And even for one individual, "<i>rhythms shift while remaining focused on what is most important.</i>" As much as most of us love routine for its ease and predictability, your rest is a rhythm that will not necessarily stay the same from one week to the next. Perhaps this is why we find rest so hard to do - it lacks routine. But good news, rest is scientifically proven: "<i>A plethora of studies show that the brain requires alternating periods of structured work followed by unstructured rest in order to maximize function.</i>" So right way, we need to forget the guilt factor - there aren't rules, just the need for rest.<br />
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Another point Miller touches on is that the idea of Sunday as the one rest day doesn't apply as it did before. Rest is any time of any day in which we take time to relax from our work, at times to spend it in solitude, or with family, friends, or God. Sabbath gives us a break to stop, clear our minds, and relinquish control:<br />
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<i>"When the mind is focused entirely a problem, we lose sight of God’s place within it. We pit ourselves against all the details as if the problem is ours to conquer immediately. Anxious and tense, we can wrongly assume that unless we achieve total victory, we will lose the battle and defeat will be our legacy. Sabbath provides space between you and your problems, enabling you to see from God’s perspective, often with surprising results, like a word breaking through your questions about life and awakening you to something more important. God is always near, but we often dismiss his powerful presence in the midst of pain and hardship."</i><br />
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Rest is not just for the purpose of regaining energy to hop back into the busyness - it's for the purpose of recollecting ourselves and going back into our schedules truly refreshed and perhaps even with new Godly perspective. And let's face it - none of us can go nonstop and make it through at our best.<br />
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Hopefully, you are convinced that rest is a need at this point - it should be top of your "to-do" list! If so, pick up Miller's book for further discussion on how our rest is met with resistance and even sabotage, but how we can stop trying so hard and maximize our rest.Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-80073355011846007052017-03-29T14:30:00.003-04:002017-03-29T14:30:48.592-04:00Called to Speak<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Lt-dxYAw8I/WNv5MdVbALI/AAAAAAAAGg4/BrDwcy_rFWoxB0cK_hdKeQuS7erbuTHEwCPcB/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Lt-dxYAw8I/WNv5MdVbALI/AAAAAAAAGg4/BrDwcy_rFWoxB0cK_hdKeQuS7erbuTHEwCPcB/s320/001" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: New Hope Publishers</td></tr>
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<i>Called to Speak: Practical Tips for Women's Ministry Speakers and Teachers</i>, by Edna Ellison and Linda Gilden<br />
Publisher: New Hope Publishers<br />
Publication date: January 2, 2016<br />
Category: nonfiction, Christian, motivational, How-to/self-help<br />
Source: I received this galley from NetGalley for consideration of a review.<br />
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Much like the last book I reviewed, <i>Successful Women Speak Differently</i>, Edna Ellison and Linda Gilden's book <i>Called to Speak</i> drew my attention because of life circumstances. As a teacher, I speak to groups of high school students daily, on an academic and personal level. Even though I've been teaching for twelve years, there are always ways to improve. Yea, yea, I know the subtitle talks about women's ministry, but I've often found that similar principles apply across the nuances of an overarching topic. At a basic level, speaking is speaking and teaching is teaching. So, if I had the chance to read a book on the topic, why not take it? And if it is as Gail Godwin said - "<i>Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre</i>" - then consider this part of my one-fourth preparation. Ha!<br />
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Written from a perspective of Christian principals, <i>Called to Speak</i> of course speaks to the need to cover all speaking preparation and activities in prayer and discusses how your relationship with God affects the what, where, when, and how. Each chapter speaks on a broader level as well. One of my favorite topics Ellison and Gilden discuss is purpose and passion. Your purpose is a specific topic, but it is also the fact that you speak for the benefit of your audience, not yourself. You need to have great passion for your topic and the people to whom you speak, or else your message will fall flat. I've heard adults say things like, "I didn't like English in high school, but my teacher made it a lot of fun." I guarantee that teacher was enthusiastic about his/her subject and loved working with teenagers. Passion/enthusiasm makes a difference. Ralph Waldo Emerson speaks to this point well:<br />
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<i><b>"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."</b></i><br />
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Besides passion and purpose as my favorite part of the book, other topics of interest discussed are: partnering with people, personality and the public, paths and possibilities, practice and perseverance, and more. I definitely highlighted more than I typically do while reading <i>Called to Speak</i> - great resource for those who have already started down the public speaking path as well as for those headed in that direction.Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-26445589968150103132017-03-20T17:39:00.001-04:002017-03-20T17:39:39.207-04:00Successful Women Speak Differently<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P06lk_dZ_Oc/WNBLS4iUhKI/AAAAAAAAGfM/rqvAxUj6pDAhtU7wB7YkJgKyXfxPgEfswCPcB/s1600/001" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P06lk_dZ_Oc/WNBLS4iUhKI/AAAAAAAAGfM/rqvAxUj6pDAhtU7wB7YkJgKyXfxPgEfswCPcB/s320/001" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Amazon.com</td></tr>
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<i>Successful Women Speak Differently: 9 Habits That Build Confidence, Courage, and Influence</i>, by Valerie Burton<br />
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers<br />
Publication date: November 1, 2016<br />
Category: Christian, nonfiction, motivational, self-help<br />
Source: I received this galley from NetGalley for consideration of a review.<br />
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Moving around in a familiar world made new, aka grad school, I found myself drawn to different topics. I watch my professors, how they choose their words and tone of voice, the level of professionalism they choose to maintain among each other and students, etc., and wonder if I would know how to speak, act, or sound if I found myself in a new place, job, school, social setting, or otherwise.<br />
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That's what drew me to <i>Successful Women Speak Differently: 9 Habits That Build Confidence, Courage, and Influence</i>, by Valerie Burton. I'm a talker, both verbally and written...I could text all day, write all night, and hang out with people in between. Unfortunately, I also have foot in mouth disease: Thought comes to mind, mouth opens, sound comes out, foot goes in, silence and regret reign. And I've always wondered what I can do on my part to improve the way I speak - whether it be to sound more professional or just to be more considerate.<br />
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<i>Successful Women Speak Differently,</i> shows how clear communication makes the difference in influence you have and favor you gain. A few tips given in the <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Successful-Women-Speak-Differently-Confidence/dp/0736956808/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1490040811&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon.com </a>summary accurately state the main purpose of this book:<br />
<i> * recognize the nuances in speech that can mean the difference between success and failure</i><br />
<i> * increase your influence by changing what you think and say in critical moments</i><br />
<i> * speak accurately about yourself so you don't sabotage your most meaningful goals</i><br />
<i> * boost your confidence by making simple tweaks to your everyday speech</i><br />
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Based on Christian principles, Burton's book gives great explanation and examples of how words, tone of voice, and body language play more into how others read you than you know. For example, when I am personally invested in a topic, my voice tends to become passionately elevated - aka unnecessarily loud. My family points this out to me in various ways, funny and serious, but being my family, I ignore their comments. However, Burton has a section about volume of speech presenting a person in different ways in different situations, loud not being good most of the time. Open mouth, insert foot. Lesson learned. And hopefully less tasting of feet in my future.Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212689567134333941.post-73023674265880256432017-03-01T18:09:00.001-05:002017-03-01T18:13:03.445-05:00Make Your Time Work<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Y1NYdfosaA/WLdMo-syymI/AAAAAAAAGes/KKfawr_agio5mJKXrJO4w4sXibXJ94agwCPcB/s1600/IMG_5989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3Y1NYdfosaA/WLdMo-syymI/AAAAAAAAGes/KKfawr_agio5mJKXrJO4w4sXibXJ94agwCPcB/s320/IMG_5989.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working smarter, not harder. Exercise bike while<br />
reading the homework I assigned for the next day.</td></tr>
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If I had a dime for every time someone said to me, "I wish I could (fill in the blank), but I don't have the time," I could fund my current tuition with it. Most often the blank is the amount of reading I do. And usually the person saying this has things going on in his/her life that I wish I had more time for.</div>
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Everyone says "I don't have the time to..." about something at some point. The truth is, if it's important, you'll make the time. Our lives are easily filled with people, places, things (and that's a whole other conversation), so the only way anything fits in is if we place it there. Sounds impossible, doesn't it?<br />
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I've decided it's not always quite as impossible as we think. Going on a big trip to Israel this summer, I realized my husband and I needed to start exercising so we could handle the excessive walking the trip requires. But where the heck in my life of family, friendship, teacher, student, and church would I fit exercise?! But did I really have a choice?<br />
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There were some questions I had to ask myself. In my current season of life:<br />
1. What do I HAVE to do?<br />
2. What do I THINK I have to do?<br />
3. What do I want to do?<br />
4. What can I let go, cause I frankly don't care that much about it?<br />
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Everyone's answers will vary because it depends where you're at in life and your preferences. For example, spic 'n span cleaning of my house isn't even on my radar. If stuff is picked up and there's no obvious mold issue, we are good to go. However, I did notice two things in answering these questions that may apply more widely - question #1 was a smaller list of items than I thought and question #2 was a larger list than it should be. And basically everything on lists #2&4, I can forget. Looking at my schedule, I placed the items from #1 and then fit around where I could items from #3. Yes, right now I do less of what I want than of what I have to, but I was able to fit in three hours of exercise every week!<br />
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And the big part to realize in all of this...if you still don't have time for something, then it's not as important to you as you thought right now. Life goes through seasons and things change. Don't give up on it, just put it aside for now. Quit stressing and keep your dimes!Jen G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17538822370778351872noreply@blogger.com0