Category: Spiritual Lessons

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The Truth About Family Advent

It is day 22 of Advent and here is what celebrating actually looks like for us as a family of four with a three-year-old and 17-month-old...


A few weeks ago I posted about how we were planning to celebrate Advent as a family this year.  Lest you believe we are the poster family for spiritual and holy family moments, I feel an update is in order.  Advent is all about waiting, which for a toddler or preschooler is about the worst thing you can be expected to do. 

Last year for Christmas we asked for a wreathe with four candles and calendar with little Velcro nativity characters that you pull out of pockets and stick to the felt manger at the top.  A couple years ago we also bought a large beautiful Advent book that you read each day with doors that open on each page that tell the Christmas story. 

It is day 21 of Advent and here is what celebrating actually looks like for us as a family of four with a three-year-old and 17-month-old…

After putting on PJ’s and brushing teeth, my daughter slides down the stairs backwards on her belly to join her brother who is dancing around the living room.  She toddles to the tree and sits down with her tiny legs straight out in front of her.  Our son “helps” us light the candles by holding onto our hands while we use our grill lighter.  And by the time we are done lighting them, our daughter is up wandering around, draping dollar store necklaces around her neck and collecting random toys in the large Ziploc and old cooler bag she likes to haul around. 

We eventually get our son to sit down on the floor with us to read the Advent book and he insists on holding the door flaps open with his foot, which we ask him not to do.  He fills in a couple words as we read, shouting, “Immanuel!” and “Gabriel!”  He opens the next door in the book, leaving a wet streak from where he had his hands in his mouth.  He gets bored and my husband and I read the next few pages alone until he finally wanders back and insists on opening the door that we already read.

When she’s not trying to blow out the candles, my daughter shuffles in and out of the circle, backing up with all her gear to sit on our laps and occasionally tries to open doors as well.  We finally finish reading and sing a “Away in a Manger” as a family, my son picking his nose and eating it all the way through. 

After that, we bring over the wall-hanging Advent calendar where you are supposed to take out one king, star, shepherd or other nativity character each day and place it at the top.  First of all, the kids are having none of this “one a day” business, so it is a free-for-all to see how many objects they can grab and run away with before mommy figures out what they are doing.  And when I finally coerce them to stick their objects on the manger at the top, they inevitably fall off.

We sometimes pray at the end, but are mostly just ready to be done and for the kids to get in bed, so we let my son blow out candles and my daughter attempt to blow them out (mostly she just stares at them in a mesmerized stupor) and we herd them upstairs for books, songs, prayer and bed. 

But if we “forget” to do Advent one night? Oh boy.  This has already become a habit for the kids and though it is frustrating and we wonder if they are getting anything out of it, they seem to really want to do it each night.

I know it will get better in the future because our kids will not always be so little, but for now, it sometimes feels like we are just doing it to do it. 

And yet if we’re honest, isn’t this what much of being a Jesus follower is really all about–simply showing up?  We don’t always feel like pursuing God, but this doesn’t mean that we just give up all together.

Jesus doesn’t ask us to hang back until our hearts are perfectly in the right place before we pray, read the Bible or hang out with other believers.  He just wants us to make any small effort we can to inch closer to Him.  Sometimes we feel His presence, but many times we are just going through the motions, but this doesn’t mean we should stop trying.   

Life continues to be sticky, but God is here in the stickiness. 

He is in the chaos and the shrieking of my children as they fight over toys, in the repetition of meals, diaper changes and bedtime routines, and in the seemingly lame attempts at teaching our kids about God.

I wish that I could invite God into my immaculate “inn,” with shelves dusted and floors scrubbed clean, but right now all I can offer Him is this stable.  But I still invite Him in.  And He welcomes me to kneel at His side and worship Him right here in the dust.

And this is the God I love:  The God who came to earth not as a king, but as a carpenter; not in a mansion, but in a smelly stable; and not to a perfect people, but to a bunch of distracted, snotty-nosed whiners who needed to physically touch Him, hear what He had to say and see what He had to do for them. 

He didn’t come to people who were clean, worthy or even ready for Him, but He plopped down in the middle of messy life and allowed Himself to be known.

So this is Christmas.  And this is Advent for us right now.  It is not beautiful or filled with moments of enlightenment, but it is “God with us” in the stable of our living room, in the real stuff of life.  

How does your ideal celebration of Advent compare to your actual celebration of Advent? I’d love to hear some of your experiences in the comments! 

Previous Post~  Favorite Books of 2014 & 2015
Next Post~When You Feel Guilty About Your Blessings

It is day 21 of Advent and here is what celebrating actually looks like for us as a family of four with a three-year-old and 17-month-old...
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Keeping Secrets With God

Have you ever held a profound secret that only you and God shared?


I think Mary must have been an introvert, listening and reflecting more than she spoke.  After the shepherds stormed into the birthing room, marveling over the infant Jesus and (probably) loudly relating their story about the multitude of heavenly host that recently had them surrounded, everyone else in the room vehemently discussed the shepherds’ story and wondered what it meant. 

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart (Luke 2:19).  She didn’t speak, just collected this news, mulling it over quietly.  She already knew she was in the middle of a magical story that would include every essential element of a riveting plot: strong characters, conflict, and the triumph of good over evil.

This was one of those moments that Mary and God shared privately, because who could really understand?

Have you ever had any moments like this?  Moments where life is a bottomless well of meaning?  Moments where all you know to do is to place them in the treasure box of your heart and marvel?  In her book Wonderstruck, Margaret Feinberg describes these moments as being “sprinkled with pixie dust.”

Have you ever held a profound secret that only you and God shared?

I have felt this way only a few times in my life.  The first was when I decided to move to China.  My roommates at the time were engulfed in life and death.  One was in love and the other had a family member who was dying.  And my impending move was not happy news for my parents, who hoped that God’s will for my life would lead me down the street, not across the world.  So I celebrated in isolation, rejoicing that God had made His way clear.  And I silently wondered how He would enable me to take this leap across the world as a single woman.  I considered how He would use me and whether or not He would seem different to me in another country. 

The second time was when I fell in love.  Like being pulled along in a current where I couldn’t swim backwards if I tried or like a slide where you can’t fight gravity to get back to the top once you have begun to fall, love was more powerful than I had expected.  But I was 10,000 miles from my love and all my friends and family, so God was my confidante.  He alone held my questions, fears, and hopes as I stood in awe at the strength of a love that could propel me in directions I had never expected to go.

Years later, having a human being growing inside me was the ultimate secret.  My husband and I didn’t tell anyone I was pregnant for weeks and though my husband knew, only God truly shared the incredible mystery with me.  God knew my child’s name before I did and had chosen that egg and that sperm at that time to create the person He wanted to create.  And when my son came skidding across the bed and was laid on my chest?  Inexplicable love.  Wordless wonder.  The kind of moment where human fingers brush the clothes of the Divine and power leaks out. 

I aspire to be more like Mary.  To absorb more and pontificate less.  To meditate rather than act thoughtlessly.  To be a contemplative in a world that demands action.  And I want her awareness of the presence of God in a normal, dusty stable that smelled of horse manure and chicken feed.  I long for her peace when all around her screamed that she should fear the unknown and impossible.

I am not Mary.  I will never give birth to the son of God.  But I am a future character in the same story in which she is featured.  Lines of sacred and secular sometimes blur into holy moments of recognition and are added to my heart treasure box just as Mary added them to hers.  In these moments, all I can do is freeze in amazement because God, the author, is moving His divine story forward–whether I am aware of it or not.   


What about you?  Have you ever had any moments in your life where you felt like you shared a secret that was for you and God alone? 

What would it take for you to become more contemplative?

Next post~Favorite Books of 2014 & 2015

Previous post~Living the Sticky Life

Linking up with Velvet Ashes and #Wholemama and Weekend Whipsers

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Day 7: Sabbath Rhythms {7 Days of Soul Rest}

My friend and her family have decided to observe the Sabbath (called Shabbat in Hebrew) more formally and make this longer pause a part of the rhythm of their lives. Here is a bit of her experience.


Every life pulsates with rhythm.  Schedules of sleeping, eating and relating vary according to culture, but all people fall into rhythm of some kind.

And every musical rhythm must contain rests, or pauses, where the beat stops beating, even if just for a moment.

What are some of the natural pauses that already exist in the rhythm of your life right now?

In the United States, the larger rhythms of life might look like the school calendar, with rest for children during summer and winter break.  It also may include the 8 to 10 hour work day, with weekends off and church on Sundays.  But our rhythms can also be dictated by the church calendar of Advent, Lent and other holy days. 

The rhythms of a working parent may include pauses during a commute or lunch break and a stay-at-home parent may have brief pauses to nurse a baby or while a child naps.  Pauses may be at prayers before meals and bed or alongside other family traditions.  Those without children or with older children may have extended morning pauses, while parents of littles may have extended pauses in evenings if their children sleep early.

If we are serious about finding true soul rest, we need to be realistic with our goals.  One of the easiest ways to do this is to insert intentional rest into the natural pauses that already exist in our lives.

The purpose is not to fill these pauses with more “doing,” but to retrain ourselves to extend them into space to “be.”  Take naps.  Space out instead of pulling out your phone in the checkout line.  Exercise outside without music or headphones.  Walk slower than feels natural.  Drive in silence (if you don’t have kids shrieking in your car like I do).  Go to bed absurdly early.  Spend an extra three minutes in the shower.  

Extend your pauses. 

We also need to transform the natural pauses of our lives into sacred moments. 

What does this look like practically? 

Here’s an example of what not to do.  Today after I dropped the kids off at the nursery at church and made my way back to my husband for the service, I spent the majority of the service distracted, scribbling notes for this post on my bulletin.  The songs were words, not worship; and communion was bread and juice, not the body and blood.  My physical body was there, but my mind was not.  And I missed out.  This was a rare hour that I could have been meeting with Jesus, but because I was not intentional about using this time to seek Him, I missed out on making this a sacred pause in my week. 

And I desperately needed that kind of soul rest.

So to follow my own advice, I need to prepare myself for pauses.  Closing our eyes is a gift.  By moving tiny muscles in our face, we can physically tune out all that is around us.  I need to learn how to utilize this very basic gift of God to reclaim these pauses and transform them into sacred moments with the Lord.  In church, I can close my eyes when I enter and ask for help to focus.   

Most of the time, we don’t need to change our entire rhythm, but only to extend or capture the pauses we already have and make them sacred, but occasionally we need to allow God to rewrite the rhythm of our days to include pauses that weren’t there before.  

My friend and her family have decided to observe the Sabbath (called Shabbat in Hebrew) more formally and make this longer pause a part of the rhythm of their lives.  Here is a bit of her experience.:

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We celebrate Shabbat from Friday night sundown to Saturday sundown. We do this to join in the thousands of years people have celebrated it at this time. We have tried to set Shabbat apart by cleaning up before Friday night (which somehow makes cleaning more purposeful and enjoyable for me), making a fancy dinner and inviting guests over. 

We often light candles before dinner and say/sing a blessing. We often sing the Shema and take communion.  It is the time when we enjoy our bridegroom and He enjoys us as His bride as it is often said that Shabbat is like preparing for a king or the wedding of the bridegroom.

Shabbat is as much about delight as it is about rest.

On the seventh day God took delight in all he had created. It is a time to reflect on how God delights in us and all creation and we get to enter into that and delight with Him.

Along the lines of delight and celebration, we try to save any desserts for Shabbat so that we see Shabbat as a delight! We have desserts Friday night and often a big breakfast Saturday morning with chocolate chip pancakes.

One of the keys for us with Shabbat is to make it ‘holy’ and set apart from other days, so we do rest from regular work.  At the end of the Saturday night sundown, the house is usually a mess with dishes piled up and toys spread all around. Sometimes it takes discipline to not clean up, but by the end of Shabbat it is funny how you have new motivation to clean since you were trying not to. We also take time to pray, dance to worship music, play games, read Scriptures and go on walks. It is about ‘being’ with family and friends as we delight in God and His creation.

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This has been such a challenging week.  I hope that it has been for you, too.  If you are new to the series, be sure to read the previous posts on soul rest listed below.  Personally, I am going to take a reverse Sabbath and rest over the next six days before posting another blog post on the seventh day, so if you don’t hear from me, know that I am trying to practice what I preach (though I will be in contact with the winners of the audio book giveaway by Tuesday afternoon–you can still have a chance if you subscribe to emails or comment before Tuesday morning!).

My Goals for Soul Rest

  • Observe the Sabbath as my friend did during the month of January
  • Plan a personal retreat next year
  • Stop pulling out my phone to “kill time” when I could use that time to pray or just “be” 
  • Choose one Bible verse to focus on each week (baby steps)
  • Be intentional about extending and using the pauses that already exist in my life to rest and seek God
  • Read and drink tea for 20 minutes a day, ideally while my children nap


A beautiful word I came across recently is fermata.  It is a long rest in the middle of a piece of music, like a sigh.  I pray you will allow Christ to carry your heavy load and rest in the sweet sigh of His freedom from doing because the most important work has already been done on the cross.  Rest, weary one, rest.  Let Him carry you.        

“Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you” (Psalm 116:7).

“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 62: 5-6).


What are a few goals you have for implementing rest into your day, week, month or year this coming year?   

Resources
The Sabbath Society: a society of women committed to observing the Sabbath each week

25 Encouraging Scriptures for Rest and Relaxation

Start Small, Start With Sabbath, by Sarah Bessey


If this is your first visit to 7 Days of Soul Rest, be sure to read through the previous posts listed below.  Please introduce yourself in the comments–I’d love to hear your story!

Introduction to the Series

       Day 1: Three Secrets of Soul Rest

       Day 2: Moms Are Not Monks

       Day 3: Permission for Self Care

       Day 4: Ordinary Moments

       Day 5: Creative Spirituality for Busy Times

       Day 6: Planning a Personal Retreat

       Day 7: Sabbath Rhythms

Linking up with #WholeMama 

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Day 5: Creative Spirituality for Busy Times {7 Days of Soul Rest}

Here are some ideas for connecting with God throughout your day, most of which do not require more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time.


My kids have magical powers.  I’ve tested it.  Every morning, I tiptoe downstairs while they are sleeping (unless they’ve already woken us up at 5 am, of course) and the second that I sit down and take my first sip of coffee, THEY KNOW. 

They are also currently on a sleep strike from napping.  So soul rest for me today took the form of strapping my two kids in the car at 3 pm after over an hour of not sleeping and driving up into the mountains so they could nap.  It took them about 5 minutes until they were out.  

God knew I needed that time alone in the car.  In the quiet, he reminded me of some things.

When traveling to another country, good practice is to alter your attitude when you encounter strange aspects of that culture and think, This isn’t better or worse than my culture, it’s just different.

I’m finding that in encountering new seasons of life, it is helpful to take the same attitude:

This isn’t better or worse, just different.

But instead of accepting that this season of life is just different, I have been fighting it.  I often think I just need to hold on until more ideal circumstances for Bible Study and prayer return.  But just as it is unrealistic to wish for snow in the middle of summer or tulips in the fall, it is immature for me to wish for an hour-long quiet time in the morning in this season where my kids wake up at 5:30 am.  Instead of fighting it like a toddler, I need to find out how I can grow not in spite of, but in the midst of this season.

“In acceptance lieth peace,” Amy Carmichael writes. 

Today, I feel like I surrendered my toddler-like attitude about my life and accepted that God wants to meet me where I am–in slivers of time, tired attempts to read His Word, mundane moments and scrambled prayers for patience and strength. 

I love how my friend with 9 children said she is “giving herself freedom to enjoy this season of walking with Christ.” 

Am I enjoying my season?  Are you enjoying yours?  Are you giving yourself freedom?

We are not meant to “get through” the seasons God brings us through, we are meant to thrive and grow closer to Jesus in EACH one.

Fortunately I have some pretty awesome friends that contributed some ways to meet God during their season of busy motherhood.  These ideas are not intended to add burdens or “shoulds,” but to provide some new ideas for running this spiritual sprint when we have been used to running marathons. 

Here are some ideas for connecting with God throughout your busy day. Most do not require more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time. 

Bible reading

  • Keep Bibles in every room in your house (and car)–open or bookmarked–to be able to pick up if you have a random moment or two 

  • Listen to the audio version of the Bible or a sermon while you are cooking dinner or in your car

  • Tape 3 X 5 cards or post-it notes with Bible verses anywhere you spend a lot of time

  • Download a Bible reading plan using the YouVersion App on your Smartphone

  • Read your Bible in front of your kids

  • Have your kids begin 5 minute “quiet times” in the morning where they can listen to a Bible story on CD (like The Jesus Storybook Bible) while you read yours

  • Visit Hobby Lobby and get a few wall hangings with Scripture verses to hang in strategic spots

  • Concentrate on a verse or paragraph a week, then move on to the next verse or paragraph once you feel like you’ve soaked in what you can of that one

  • Read your Bible while you are brushing your teeth or blow-drying your hair

Here are some ideas for connecting with God throughout your day, most of which do not require more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time.

Prayer

  • Pick something repetitive in your day that will prompt you to pray (I once read that someone prayed every time their child laughed!)

  • Write out prayers in a journal

  • Set a timer for 10 minutes and pray during the first few minutes of nap time if your kids nap

  • Keep a prayer journal in your kitchen and pray for the next item on the list when you have a moment (a friend of mine puts names on tongue compressors and the kids pick one before a meal to pray for)

  • Say 3 word prayers–make each word count!

  • Pray while exercising or aloud while taking your kids for a walk in the stroller (if you put your headphones on, people will just think you’re talking on your phone)
  • Download an app to keep track of prayer requests and send you reminders to pray


Community

  • Prioritize meeting up with a friend to go on a walk, to coffee or run early in the morning (without kids) on a regular basis

  • Call one spiritually encouraging friend a week

  • Join a weekly women’s Bible study.  Many like BSF, CBS and Precepts have childcare and some have wonderful programs for your children to learn the Bible as well

  • Join a mom’s group like MOPS

  • Go to church consistently (even if you are standing in the back with a baby in a baby wrap) and talk to at least one person afterwards (even if your kids are melting down)

  • Join an online Bible study


Read Books

  • Read books on your phone through Kindle or Play Books–while you are brushing your teeth, before bed, or whenever else you have a spare minute (a friend of mine only uses a separate Kindle because she finds she ends up getting distracted if she reads on her phone)

  • Read through a daily devotional like My Utmost for His Highest, or find one using the YouVersion app on your phone


Spiritual Disciplines While Nursing
Ok, to be honest, I spent my fair share of time nursing while watching TV or going on Facebook on my phone, but here are a few ideas that I did occasionally that I wish I had done more often in the almost three years total I have spent nursing a baby:

  • Think of your loss of sleep as “sleep fasting”–and just like fasting, resist the urge to announce to everyone you meet how little sleep you got! God will reward to your sacrifice, sister.

  • Read spiritual books or your Bible on your phone (dangerous for me because I get distracted)

  • Pray for your children (one friend would pray prayers connected to the five senses of her children) and for anything else that is on your heart for the duration of your nursing


When Your Kids Stop Napping
Have them start a “quiet time” in their rooms.  Check out this article.

Music

  • Songs are usually only 3 to 5 minutes: sit down to listen and mediate on a song

  • Read, then sing through songs in a hymnal (they usually have really rich spiritual messages)

  • Listen to worship music in your house or car (I like to listen while I’m in the shower or cooking dinner)

  • Sing worship songs with your children and before praying for meals

  • Have family dance parties to worship music


Write It Out

  • Post-it Notes for: prayer requests, quotes, Bible verses, words for meditation, people to pray for and anything else you need to jot down

  • Journal:  one of my friends writes just one sentence every night just so she can keep track of the days.  Personally, journaling for me has saved us thousands of dollars in counseling.  I mostly write prayers, what I’m learning and anything that happened that is out of the ordinary.


Take Five
During some time when your kids are sleeping or being watched by someone else, set a timer and sit quietly with your eyes closed for five minutes.  Try to breathe evenly and if you think of anything at all, maybe mediate on one verse, phrase or name of God until the timer goes off.

Ordinary Moments
We talked about this yesterday, but here are some practical ways to be intentional about these:

  • Point out cool, interesting or beautiful details to your children and give praise to God with them for them
  • Take a picture and tag it #distractedbybeauty on Facebook or Instagram (a friend of mine has been doing this and I love what she finds)
  • Drive, walk, or run slower than you usually do and look for something to marvel at
  • Keep an on-going list of things that you are thankful for, either on a piece of paper or on a chalkboard at home and pray over the list whenever you see it


I hope that you are able to use some of these ideas to grow in your relationship with the Lord during this busy season of life.  If you are new to the series, be sure to start from the beginning and read the previous posts listed below.

Which of these would you like to implement in your daily life?

What do you think God is trying to teach you in the season of life that you are in?

Check out all the other posts in this series:

Introduction to the Series

       Day 1: Three Secrets of Soul Rest

       Day 2: Moms Are Not Monks

       Day 3: Permission for Self Care

       Day 4: Ordinary Moments

       Day 5: Creative Spirituality for Busy Times

       Day 6: Planning a Personal Retreat

       Day 7: Sabbath Rhythms


Resources:
How to Make Time for a Consistent Prayer Life

Spiritual Circle Journal, described in this article, Morning Quiet Time for Busy Moms

Here are some ideas for connecting with God throughout your busy day. Most do not require more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time.

Linking up with Mommy Moments and Momma Moments Mondays and Velvet Ashes

The Life Of Faith
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Day 4: Ordinary Moments {7 Days of Soul Rest}


I have always loved the book, 14,000 Things To Be Happy About, because it reminds me to pay attention and to be grateful for the little things.  I have added two pages from the book below, so I challenge you to read and try not to smile and nod as you realize that you, too, love some of those details of life. 
 
For this post, I’m going to step back and let you drink in some wise words from four of my friends.  I thought it was interesting that many of them hit on the same truth:  meet God in the ordinary, right where you are.

 We are learning that for soul rest to happen, we don’t need to escape our lives, but we do need to retrain ourselves to use thankfulness as a trigger for worship as we meet God in the ordinary.
My first friend, with 3 children, shared: 

“I am being challenged to keep my ears open throughout the day for ‘kairos’ moments.  These are moments where God breaks through into time and space to get my attention. Whether through something my kids say to me, circumstances that surround me or whatever other way the Holy Spirit stops my heart in its tracks and makes me pay attention to what He wants to say. 

It makes me uncomfortable to say that this is just what I need at this stage of my life because I don’t have as much time to focus on Scripture as the main way that I hear from God…but I know that the years that I spent studying God’s word, hours at a time, are what the Spirit is now using to guide my thinking as I submit it to Him throughout the day.”


A second friend of 3 said:

“Make every decision every day with Him in mind. Serving Jesus is not easy, but it is rewarding for your soul. When you change the fifth poopy diaper of the day, do it with Jesus in mind. Think: he’s called me to this servant position. He’s called me to serve my children in this way. 

When you switch your focus, it’s like finding instant rest…or at least it usually is for me. 

When I stop worrying about what I’m accomplishing during the day and instead stop and think about what Jesus wants me to accomplish, it’s a game-changer. Thinking this way always makes me stop and think about my attitude first. If my house is clean but my attitude is lousy, what am I teaching my children? What am I accomplishing for Jesus? Nothing. But if I have a good attitude, I usually end up accomplishing a lot, and my kids aren’t collateral damage, plus I end up feeling “at peace” with my day instead of regretting the angry words I yelled at my kids. For me, thinking this way just changes my whole outlook. 

I know that there is no humanly possible way for me to accomplish even life basics and still have time for actual quiet rest at this stage of parenting.

So instead, I look at Jesus. Take his burden. Ask Him to help me see what he wants me to do in each situation–even if that means choosing something that seems uncomfortable or hard. It’s always rewarding in the end.”

My third friend, with 9 children, shared:

“I am giving myself freedom to enjoy this season of walking with Christ.   Here are some beautiful and helpful words from Jen Wilkins’s book Women of the Word:

‘…any number of circumstances can usher us into a season where time with our Bibles happens in stolen moments at irregular intervals…for me, these seasons have sometimes lasted for years…some months, just keeping body and soul together for myself and my family seemed to occupy almost every waking moment…they deepened my desire for study…

Give the Lord what you can and trust that he will honor your faithfulness in the small things. Trust that the Lord knows your circumstances better than you do and that he sees your desire to learn and grow. And trust that those times are being used to mature you – to teach you that it is a privilege to be able to devote yourself to learning and studying and to write more deeply on your heart the truths you have already learned.'”


My doctor friend said: 

“I find spiritual growth really hard because the mornings are so rushed and early getting up with the kids and also getting out the door for work. I try to find time either during my lunch break at work or during nap time on my days off to read and pray. It is really hard though, and I often feel pretty spiritually tired. 

 I feel like God often speaks to me through interactions with my kids, friends, or a verse. 

One thing He is teaching me, too, is to give myself grace and not fret about not being able to have long quiet times–He can speak through the chaos/busyness of life.”

I met God through the gift of this sunrise one morning when my kids were up at the crack of dawn (literally).


I have been reading through the book, Wonderstruck, by Margaret Feinberg.  She asks,

“What are the wonders of God in your own life that you fail to marvel or even sleep straight through?  How often do you pass by God’s presence and handiwork unaware?” 

Later, she says,

“And so I prayed for wonder.  Palms extended, wide-eyed with expectation, I waited for an answer.  And God did not disappoint.  For me, a prayer for wonder asks the Lord to expand my capacity to see and savor the divine gifts all around…I still relish the striking and curious ways…God employed to alert me to the beauty awaiting in the most mundane moments of life.”

Lord Jesus, we pray that you would meet us in the ordinary and in the mundane.  Please open our eyes to the beauty that is already all around us and teach us to use those divine details as a trigger for worship.  Show us how to abide in You and find our rest in You and You alone.
 



Resources:
Psalm 19

Four Ways You Can Create a Life of Awe and Wonder

One Thousand Gifts:  A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, by Ann Voskamp
Do you have any other resources to add to this list?  How do you meet God in the ordinary?

Check out all the other posts in this series:

       Introduction to the Series

       Day 1: Three Secrets of Soul Rest

       Day 2: Moms Are Not Monks

       Day 3: Permission for Self Care

       Day 4: Ordinary Moments

       Day 5: Creative Spirituality for Busy Times

       Day 6: Planning a Personal Retreat

       Day 7: Sabbath Rhythms

 

Linking up with Faith-Filled Fridays and Literacy Musing Mondays

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Day 1: Three Secrets of Soul Rest {7 Days of Soul Rest}

Sitting on the couch, the sun slants in the windows as I sip coffee and half-heartedly attempt to read my Bible. My one-year-old daughter toddles over to me, her arms overflowing with "stuff." One at a time, she hands me a train, a purple rubber band, a board book, a sippie cup, an old broken cell phone and her blanket. Finally, she raises her tiny arms and waits for me to lift her up. Lately, as I've been mulling over the subject of soul rest, this scene seems to be God's message to me during this chapter of my life as a mother of two teeny children. Give me everything you're carrying. And then let me carry you, He seems to be saying. Before I launch into this series, which I hope will be helpful on a very practical level, I need to ask you some personal questions. What are you carrying around with you? Before we can even hope to have the kind of soul rest we long for, we need to unload. Here are some ways we can do that.

Sitting on the couch, the sun slants in the windows as I sip coffee and half-heartedly attempt to read my Bible.  My one-year-old daughter toddles over to me, her arms overflowing with “stuff.”  One at a time, she hands me a train, a purple rubber band, a board book, a sippie cup, an old broken cell phone and her blanket.  Finally, she raises her tiny arms and waits for me to lift her up.

Lately, as I’ve been mulling over the subject of soul rest, this scene seems to be God’s message to me during this chapter of my life as a mother of two teeny children:

Give me everything you’re carrying.  
And then let me carry you.

Before I launch into this series, which I hope will be helpful on a very practical level, I need to ask you some personal questions.

What are you carrying around with you? 

Before we can even hope to have the kind of soul rest we long for, we need to unload.  Here are some ways we can do that.

1. Confess

As an evangelical, the churches and groups I associate with tend to focus more on grace and less on spiritual disciplines, so I was surprised when I asked my Catholic friend how she finds soul rest and one of her ways was through confession.  Here is what she said:

“I know this is very Catholic, but experiencing the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) always lifts a huge weight off my shoulders. I try to go every month but don’t usually meet that goal. The act of someone speaking in the name of Jesus and saying that my sins are washed away is always a hugely emotional moment and is in its own way incredibly restful. I think the restfulness comes from experiencing tangibly that it is God’s grace that covers my sins, and that my failures are gone. They do not define who I am from now on. And although I walk out of the confessional with the firm intention of not repeating my sins, I will fail again. But I am not steeped in depressing, burdening history. Soul rest at its finest!”

The film, The Mission, has a powerful scene where mercenary and murderer (played by Robert De Niro) does penance for his crimes by carrying his armor and weapons in a bag strapped to his back for many miles.  Filthy, he struggles with the weight of his burden up a hill until he is cut free by a Jesuit priest.  Released from the burdens he has carried, he weeps in the arms of the priest.

We cannot experience true soul rest until we are freed from the weight of our failures, guilt, regret, and shame.  

Audibly speaking these aloud or writing them down and then burning or burying them are physical ways we can express our confession.  Taking advantage of the opportunity of reflection during communion in church is also a good time to ask God to convict us of anything we are carrying that we don’t need to be.  Jesus has paid the price for our freedom and only He has the ability to cut away our heavy burdens.

When is the last time you confessed your sins to Him? 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).

 2.  Give Him Everything Else

But even after we hand our heavy sins to God, we are still not empty-handed.  God wants more.  He wants our hopes, dreams, longings, desires, will, anxieties, fears, goals, plans, careers, spouses, children, parents, friends, health and even our life. 

I have so much more respect for people who choose not to follow Christ because they know deep down in their soul that following Him will cost them everything. 

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

God wants it all–the good, the bad, the ugly, the worries that keep us up at night and the fears that threaten to paralyze us.
 
Is there anything you’re holding back from Him?

3. Let Yourself Be Loved by God

In Jesus’ final hours with His disciples, He washed their feet and ate with them.  The disciple John, called “the one whom Jesus loved,” sat next to Jesus and is described as “leaning on His breast” (Jn. 13:23).

In the Western church, our “Christianeze” for drawing closer to Christ has been to say we are going to “sit at the feet of Jesus,” as Mary did in Luke 10:39.   

But why don’t we ever say we are going to “lean on the breast of Jesus”? 

I think we clutch onto the image of sitting at Jesus’ feet because it fits in more with western culture and because we like our personal space–even with Jesus.  But when I think of my Chinese students all sitting on each other’s laps and holding hands with the same gender friends, I wonder if they ever talk about their relationship with Christ and say they want to lay on His chest?

I love the intimacy of this picture.  If we are leaning on Jesus’ chest, we hear Him even when He whispers and can have no doubt that He is near because we are touching Him.

In order to experience soul rest, we need to allow ourselves to be loved by God–and that means we must give up our personal space and allow ourselves to be held.  

Just as my daughter handed me her bundle, we must give God the burden of our sins, offer Him our fears, hopes and dreams and allow Him to carry us, our heads on His breast, if we want to begin experiencing soul rest.    

I realize that all of this sounds pretty abstract and you may be thinking some easier said than done thoughts (and believe me, I am too).  But personally, I am going to start with an honest conversation with God.  


“Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.  And you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”  (Mat. 11:28-29).

“He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young” (Is. 40:11).

A day after writing this, I “happened” to hear this song on the radio, by Casting Crowns.  If you can, take a few minutes and listen.  Here are the lyrics:

“Just Be Held”

Hold it all together
Everybody needs you strong
But life hits you out of nowhere
And barely leaves you holding on
And when you’re tired of fighting
Chained by your control
There’s freedom in surrender
Lay it down and let it go
So when you’re on your knees and answers seem so far away
You’re not alone, stop holding on and just be held
Your world’s not falling apart, it’s falling into place
I’m on the throne, stop holding on and just be held
Just be held, just be held
If your eyes are on the storm
You’ll wonder if I love you still
But if your eyes are on the cross
You’ll know I always have and I always will
And not a tear is wasted
In time, you’ll understand
I’m painting beauty with the ashes
Your life is in My hands
So when you’re on your knees and answers seem so far away
You’re not alone, stop holding on and just be held
Your world’s not falling apart, it’s falling into place
I’m on the throne, stop holding on and just be held
Just be held, just be held
Lift your hands, lift your eyes
In the storm is where you’ll find Me
And where you are, I’ll hold your heart
I’ll hold your heart
Come to Me, find your rest
In the arms of the God who won’t let go
So when you’re on your knees and answers seem so far away
You’re not alone, stop holding on and just be held
Your world’s not falling apart, it’s falling into place
I’m on the throne, stop holding on and just be held
 
(Stop holding on and just be held)
Just be held, just be held
Just be held, just be held



 What are you carrying?  Are you allowing God to carry you?

Check out the other posts in this series:

       Day 2: Moms Are Not Monks
       Day 3: Permission for Self Care
       Day 4: Ordinary Moments
       Day 5: Creative Spirituality for Busy Times
       Day 6: Planning a Personal Retreat
       Day 7: Sabbath Rhythms

Linking up with Thought Provoking Thursday and Velvet Ashes

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Running: Soul Rest and Slowness

Running: Soul Rest and Slowness. Running, for me, is rest. I am moving. I am outside (hopefully in nature and sunshine). And I am alone. This is when my brain works out its kinks and my mind becomes clear enough to pray.


Running, for me, is rest.  I am moving.  I am outside (hopefully in nature and sunshine).  And I am alone.  This is when my brain works out its kinks and my mind becomes clear enough to pray.  Lately, I come home from a run and scramble for a pen and paper to jot down the words that have sprung to my mind (ahem, the raisins that were “scraped” free). 

I am not a fast runner, but I run every other day for about three miles each time.  I notice a considerable shift in my mood if I don’t have this time to run or if I miss several days in a row. 

Running is my therapy. 

People always say that they don’t have time to run, but exercise is the type of priority that pushes out something or someone else:  time in the mornings lounging with family, commutes home from work (in Chicago, I used to run a portion of my train ride home from working in Chinatown) and sleep.  But the benefits of running far outweigh those moments I may miss. 

When I first started running, I would run for 5 minutes at a time.  Then 6, then 7 until I had built up to a time that was manageable for my schedule.  I usually tell people who are interested in getting into running to begin like this with 5 minutes, adding a minute each time–or choose a very close landmark, like a city block or run to that next stop sign or tree.  My mom started running this way 7 years ago and got addicted.  Last year she ran the Chicago Marathon at age 61.

No matter where I have lived in the world, I have at least attempted to run.  In college, sometimes it was at midnight in a “safe,” dark suburb.  In Uganda, it was at dawn before all the gawkers came out of their houses to watch the white muzungu run in her skirt.  In China, it was out of the city and through farms with houses made of mud and some homes carved into the sides of hills. 

In Chicago, it was along gem-like Lake Michigan with sailboats dotting the horizon in summer and ice rising into mammoth sculptures along the fringe of the lake in winter.  And now, in Colorado, I run in the foothills on a dusty path decorated with small mounds that I eventually realized belong to prairie dogs, who scuttle along from mound to mound, squeaking my arrival to one another.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I ran until I was 30 weeks along, eventually overcoming the embarrassment about what people might be thinking about me.  But by my second pregnancy, I no longer had the ability to be self-conscious and ran until I was 36 weeks along, my gait shifting to the weight of my bulging belly.  Each time after birth, I couldn’t wait until the doctor gave me the go-ahead to get back outside and begin to move again.

I would much rather run in a new place than drive or bike, because my slower pace allows me to observe life on a larger scale. 

Having two tiny children in tow all day has forced me to slow my pace in this chapter of my life.  You cannot hurry through life when you are waiting on a toddler. They put on socks, find shoes, pick up toys, climb into car seats, leave the park, or eat their food in their own sweet time, with no concern for their parent’s schedules.   

The past three years I admit I have fought hard against this slowness. 

But perhaps God wants to enlarge my view of Him as I take in life at this uncomfortably slow pace?

Instead of seeing less of the world, I am actually seeing more.  I now see daily life through the eyes of my children as through a giant magnifying glass.  My son is helping me re-learn how to be a noticer:  the black and orange boxelder bug defying gravity on the wall, pine needles staining brown lines on the back porch, the smell of cut grass on a walk and hundreds of geese wings beating the air overhead.  My son points them out, rejoicing over every detail.  Details that I might have missed.  

Having children has forced me to slow down and this, too, has been its own kind of soul rest.

Running, on a very practical level, is soul rest to me, but my children set my pace in this season of life and I can choose to either fight the slowness or enjoy the scenery as we mosey on our way.
 

How do you define “soul rest”?  What kinds of activities help you feel this kind of rest?  If you are a parent, what have your children pointed out to you this week that you would not have noticed otherwise?

Over the next week, I am going to be sharing a series, “7 Days of Soul Rest.” Please be sure to subscribe to receive posts by email so you won’t miss any!   

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Thankful for this Day

Right now, in this moment, I am thankful.


I sway with my 16-month-old daughter, singing her the same two songs I always sing before putting her in her crib, “Jesus Loves me” and “I Love you Lord.”  She reaches up, her face two inches from mine and touches the tips of my eyelashes, then my ears and nose, with her chubby little fingers.  She smiles her gap-toothed smile, her wispy blond hair bits escaping from her tiny ponytail on top of her head and falling across her eyes.  I lay her down and quietly tip-toe out of the room.  My three-year-old son has already quieted down next door and I no longer hear him singing and making noises.

I push the button on the electric tea kettle, rummage through the cupboard for a tea bag, plop it in the largest mug I can find, pour the steaming water into the cup and sit down here to write. 

Right now, in this moment, I am thankful.  I am thankful for the sun streaming in through the too-many windows and creating bright geometric shapes on the couch.  I am thankful for the tiny hand prints on the windows because it means that there are tiny people that live in my house.  I am thankful that both children are sleeping at the same time.

I am thankful for the Colorado sunshine that has proven to be as dependable as promised thus far.  After living in Chicago for nine years total, I am thankful for the change.  Though Chicago had its own appeal–the diversity, culture, movement, rhythm, promise and pace, right now I am thankful to not be there.  

Growing up in Florida, my soul seems to have been conditioned to need sunshine more than most.  I am a sun worshipper.  And so Chicago winters would drill holes in my soul through which joy seemed to seep out during the months of January through May.  Though I know that joy is not dependent on circumstance, I have also found God to be someone who graciously gives us even creature comforts at times when we most need them.  And He knew that I needed a little sunshine for my soul.      

After living in a third floor apartment with two tiny children, with laundry in the basement, no garage, dishwasher or yard and no ability to control our own heat, I am grateful for these new luxuries.  Instead of making 12 trips to the basement in one week, I can now wash clothes at my leisure, watching as my children arrange stuffed animals for tea parties, collect miscellaneous toys in any receptacle possible and scatter cheerios and raisins on the carpet. 

A garage means I won’t have to shovel snow off my car in the mornings.  I can put my children in the car shoe-less, and I don’t have to haul them back inside if I forgot something (or leave them briefly and fear that someone will call child services on me).  And I can open the back door after naps in the afternoon for them to run outside in our backyard that is exactly the right size for our family right now.

Our neighborhood is so dark in the evenings that we missed the turnoff the first few times we came home at night.  We can actually see stars.  Chicago’s skies were always pink and I may have seen three stars on a good night.  And there was constant noise.  Now, we can hear birds, crickets and the distant whinny of horses from the back porch.  A smile creeps across my face on days sitting outside when the scent of horse manure drifts into our yard because it means that we are not in the city. 

The mountains stand serenely in the background of most of daily life.  It caught me off guard the first time I came out of Target to have such a stately background for a common store.  I’m surprised I haven’t gotten into a car wreck yet from gawking at them stretched across the horizon as I drive toward home.  They are a constant reminder of my smallness.  I am thankful for the awe that comes in feeling overtaken by beauty, overcome by God’s creation.

As my parents did not want to live in Chicago and we did not want to live in Florida, Colorado was our compromise place.  My parents are volunteer rangers at Rocky Mountain National Park in the summer.  They now live in the mountains and to get to grandmother’s house we not only have to go over the river and through the woods, but over the highest highway in the country.  Instead of rush hour being our reason for running late to their place, it is more likely elk or moose or the tourists stopping traffic to take pictures of them that causes our delay. 

I am thankful to be living in the same state as my parents for the first time in 18 years.  Now that I am a mom myself, I seem to need them even more.

After writing about The Narrowing in my previous post, this time of giving thanks is a load lifter.  Jesus, thank you for blessing me over and above all that I could have ever asked or imagined.  Thank you for your peace that passes all understanding.  Thank you for your forgiveness of me before I’m even willing to forgive myself.  I know that one day I can expect suffering, sorrows, trials, sickness and death, but today is not that day. 
Thank you for this day.  

Lately, I have been trying to start the day with a better attitude and have been singing aloud,

This is the day, this is the day that Lord has made, that the Lord has made,
Let us rejoice, let us rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it.


This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Thank you, Lord, for your small and large gifts to us in this day.


What is the largest thing you can give thanks for today?  The smallest? 


Linking up with Thankful Thursday
 
 

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Love & Marriage: The Narrowing

Love & Marriage: The Narrowing

My closest friends know that I have a rebellious streak. And in spite of being a teacher by trade (and a rule enforcer by default as a parent), I may also be a little bit of a rule breaker.  So it should come as no surprise that I don’t do well with restrictions or limits.

Before getting married, I traveled to over 10 countries for various amounts of time (living in two). I learned Chinese, got my masters and planned to get my PhD (my Plan B since marriage didn’t seem to be an option–why not be super educated?). My “verse” was:  

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes” (Is 54:2).

And then I fell in love.

The Narrowing began with dating long distance, but became a real heading in the story of our lives when we got married and realized we had so much less time for ourselves and for relationships outside of one another. We were crazy in-love and happy, but began to notice our broad road narrowing as it sloped towards the horizon.

I suddenly felt like a bird tethered to the foot of another bird, exhilarated by the heights, but struggling to negotiate the tension that comes in flying while attached to another being.

Two years later, we had a child and The Narrowing became even more evident. We could no longer spontaneously go out with friends or stay up late. Our time for each other became more precious and our time for others practically non-existent. Baby number two came two years after that and the term “spare time” now elicited much eye-rolling and muttering of “must be nice” under our breath.

When we were dating, I told Adam that my biggest fear was that I would be cooped up with an infant inside a tiny Chicago apartment in the dreary winter. Within a few years, that is exactly where I found myself. It is hard to maintain your rebellious streak when you are nursing a baby around the clock.

But lately I’ve been wondering if The Narrowing isn’t as much a restriction of freedom as a freedom from restrictions? What if I stopped seeing it as an end and began seeing it as a means to an end? What if I started accepting that God may want to prune branches so that new branches may grow?

“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” (Jn. 15:2). 

It is fall-become-winter time and my son has started asking me why all the trees are dead. They aren’t dead, I answer, they’re just preparing for winter. They are shedding their excess leaves to conserve their energy during this season.

I am a winter tree, stripped down to bare branches. Teacher, missionary, world traveler, student, friend- who-will-be-there-at-a-moment’s-notice and adventurer are no longer terms I can honestly use to describe myself in three words or less. Now, I am wife, mommy, cook, boo boo kisser, question answerer, pretend game player and bodily fluid wiper.  But perhaps one day vibrant new leaves will replace the ones that were “lost.”

In fact, lately I have noticed that the loss of leaves in our yard is opening up new views of the serene lake across the street, the expansive blue sky and the mighty mountains hiding behind houses that I couldn’t see when the trees were full.  Perhaps the loss of some of what I used to use to define myself is also opening up new views of God, myself and others in this season of my life.  

Any artist knows and respects the eloquence of empty space in a work of art.  The elimination of my extra road is teaching me to walk this narrow path with more precision and intentionality. 

I am being given the gift of lessening. 

Patty Stallings, in her article Pleasant Boundary Lines, pointed out that Jesus Himself was “unknown, hidden and unseen for most of His adult life.” He intentionally limited Himself and allowed Himself to take on the nature of a servant (Phil. 2:7). And we are called to be like Him. 

In the comments, she responded to my mention of The Narrowing:

“Leslie, when I first read your term “The Narrowing” on your blog a couple weeks ago, I thought how fitting for moms of young children. And moms of grown children. And women as they age. And women who take care of aging parents. And… well, the list could go on and on, right? The image that comes to my mind is squeezing through a narrow passageway and you have to shed all the excess “stuff” you are dragging along to fit through the narrow place. And as you do, your hands are freed up to welcome the new and the good on the other side of the passageway.”

My hands are freed?

Maybe this narrow road He has me on is not a road of restriction, but of freedom because I am walking within His boundary lines of love. The Narrowing frees me to walk with greater purpose, emptier hands and a lighter load. 
 
 “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance” (Ps. 16:5-6).


What about you?  I’d love to hear some of your experience with The Narrowing in the comments!


Linking up with Testimony Tuesday and Sarah Bessey’s Synchroblog prompt

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In Rhythm with the Spirit


Orange clay,
distant drumming,
straw mats
and flowering trees. 

Africa.

The year 2000.  
I am 21.
 
A bright yellow re-purposed jug poured onto dusty hands, fingers rubbed free of grease from chapati and samosas and ten children holding ten fingers on the walk home from the road.
 
The water thuds twice inside the jug like the beats of a djembe drum.  A familiar song.  What song could it be? And then I smile.  It ruminates there the rest of the night when the lights go down to three naked bulbs in this village house where I have brought no music for six months.
 
Though I feel alone.  I am never alone.  You are with me.  You are with me.
 
Two notes yank me back in step with the rhythm of the Spirit of Jesus.  
 
Just as we are often unaware that we are breathing in and out, in and out and that our heart is beating at 70 beats per minute, keeping us in life, so, too, are we often ignorant of the Spirit pulsing all around us, pulsing IN us.  God has set us in rhythm in life.  He has given us rituals, routines, seasons, tides, reproductive cycles, prayers, festivals, feasts, six days of work and a command to Sabbath rest so that we may REMEMBER.  Music and dance only jump into the rhythm to whirl and twirl and draw attention to what God has done.
 
Watching children is the best way to fall back into rhythm.  Mothers sway in church pews even after putting babies in the nursery because they have been reconditioned.  On a playground, witness the pulse of children whirling, swaying, swinging, rocking, jumping, thumping, laughing, tap tap tapping out the rhythm of the jump rope skip song, slapping hands to Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack all dressed in Black Black Black, skipping, tripping and falling into a heap of rolling rolling children. 

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

We, too, call out Daddy and are freed to play in the pulsing rhythm of life.
 
For freedom Christ set free.

But it is freedom to love, not hate 
have joy, not bitterness
peace, not anxiety
patience, not immaturity
kindness, not selfishness
goodness, not evil
faithfulness, not doubt 
gentleness, not harshness
self control, not self gratification
 
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Staying in step with the Spirit leads the melody of our lives and makes even the dissonant notes harmonious, for there can be no melody without rhythm.

Marriage requires in-step-ness.  When spouses are out of sync, all other rhythms of life are awkward.  Mind, body and spirit must align to trace one another’s steps, anticipate the next move and let go enough to melt into the freedom of the dance. 

For you were called to freedom, only do not use your freedom for the flesh, but in love SERVE one another.

Offering our minds to our spouse in conversation, our bodies to one another in love making and our souls in prayer together to the sacrificial God of love, keeps us synchronized in our marriage rhythms.

Rhythm for rhythm’s sake can feel like monotony. Bored, we step without joy. A musician knows too well the effect their attitude has on their art and first assumes the mood of a piece:  allegrezza  (cheerfulness, joyfulness), amoroso (loving), anima (with feeling), calma (calm), energico (energetic, strong).   

We wash our minds daily with the words of Jesus as we would wash our hands or faces. We pray for allegrezza attitudes as we play the music we have been given. We prepare for a day of dancing His steps and giving in to His rhythms.  We allow ourselves to be ones who are led.

You may feel you have lost your rhythm. 
Be still.
Listen. 
Surrender. 

Tap, tap, tap your toe to the distant rhythm of the Spirit at work in you and in the world and soon you may find your whole body, soul and mind aching to step along.  It is for freedom that you have been set free. 



Scriptures: Galatians 4 & 5, paraphrased
Song: “Though I Feel Alone,” Waterdeep

Are you in step with the Spirit today?  How is He at work all around you?


Linking up with Velvet Ashes

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