Alright, so instead of a wordy post about my thoughts on extending Grace to others....I'm going to give you the chance to practice it!!! I don't have a post today on extending Grace, I don't. It's killing me, trust me when I say, I'm fighting feeling like a failure. But I have to put this into perspective, while I'm assuming that there are people out there who enjoy reading my posts, I know that your world is not going to end because I didn't come through with a post on Grace today! At least I hope that's true, please don't tell me if your world falls apart after this!!! lol
So anyway, I decided to advertise locally for the sale of sugar cookies for Valentine's Day! I have several orders between this week and next, I'm still a newbie at this so I'm scrambling just a bit to fit these cookies in with everything else that I'm doing. It takes a bit of finesse so bear with me!!! I'd like to quickly say that I think extending Grace to others is being willing to let go of the expectations that we put on others when we see they aren't going to match up with what's actually happening. It's a tough one, especially if we don't extend Grace to ourselves in those same moments.
I'm still working on that! I guess, that since it is a process, it'll be a while, if ever, that I nail that down. I hope not though, I think we all need to get to the position of extending Grace to ourselves and others, simply because Jesus so easily and readily offers it to us and if we are following His example, we have no reason not to get to that place!!
Valentine's Day is next Thursday, which is also my son; Joe's 13th Birthday!!!!! I can't even believe that!!! But anyway, I think February is a great month to really contemplate what Jesus' love looks like, feels like and how it can transform us!!! Take some time to know Whose you are <3 Send a few Valentine's His way in your prayers this month and let Him tell you and show you how crazy He is for you <3
I was trying to think about what to blog today, and instead of me coming up with an idea... it was given to me! But first, a little back story. For my history class I need this book by, preferably, Thursday. However, I found the book super cheap but it wasn't supposed to be in until the 21st. Now, with USPS tracking, it's highly easy to find out exactly where your package is at that exact moment... and I love it! I love to be able to know everything.
I told God that I was going to trust Him with getting my book on time, however, I was faithfully checking the USPS tracking. In fact, I was probably being more faithful to the tracking information than I was to praying about it. So, in my panic stricken mood yesterday I thought through all of the options of how to get my book on time, or find another book to buy on time, etc. I prayed about the best way to go about acquiring my book, and then I said "Lord, I'm just going to have to trust you with this, in fact, in order to show how much I trust you, I'm not going to check the tracking service."
Of course, I immediately went into a frenzy, "Jessica, what are you saying? You have this technology at your fingertips, there is no reason you shouldn't check it." But how often do we say we trust God without actually giving up something or really taking a step of faith, as small as mine might have been? The answer is rarely ever. We say, "Lord, I trust you. In fact, I trust you so much because I just looked at where the package is and it already made it to Philly!" No, we need to trust God.
People now-a-days don't rely on God because technology can fix our problems. We don't trust God because we know all of the details ahead of time. Continuing with the story, I got home today and checked the mailbox... guess what was waiting for me! Mmmmhmmm....
I was banking on the "reliability" of technology, the same technology that told me the book would arrive on the 21st. After that, I relied on God, the God that told me my book would come on time if I just trusted Him. I want to encourage you to trust God and take a step of faith, step away from the "reliability" of technology and step towards the real reliability of Christ.
Hey gatherers!!! How was your weekend?? I spent mine with about 80 people, the majority of whom were junior and senior high students!! It was our yearly Winter Retreat and we headed up to the mountains for a time of deeper learning, crazy fun, sleepless nights and an awesome time making new friends and bonding with old ones!! I am exhausted but it was so worth the time and effort! What a privilege and honor it is to work with the leaders that I work along side of and to hang out and pour into these students who truly want more of God in their lives! What a beautiful environment for mentoring!!
So as I took a few minutes to look over last weeks homework, I was reminded that mentoring is like a relay race, where you pass the baton from one runner to the next. We older, "wiser" women (and men) have a glorious responsibility to run our race well and pass on what we've gleaned to the next generation! I'm thrilled that God has me in this place of youth ministry at this time in my life and I'm doubly glad that I have the opportunity to learn a bit more about biblical mentoring through this study and group with Elisa Pulliam!
It is crucial to make sure that we are explicity following Christ in our lives in order to be the mentors that He has called us to be! I've always been an encourager and I thrive on moments that I get to do this but this study is beginning to change the way I look at mentoring. It's giving me a bigger picture and its making me want to do a better job. Some of what we covered last week has to do with the acrostic "M- E- N- T- O- R- I- N- G".
M- eeting: This covers prayer, time, place, format, purpose, boundaries and permission; being prayerful about entering a mentoring relationship, praying before and after the times spent with your mentoree. It's crucial to remember that this mentoring responsibility is not about us but God; when we prayerfully consider the role of a mentor, we must be mindful that it is not in our power that we are able to encourage and influence, but it's God's power through us that allows this to even be possible.
E- ncouraging: This tackles the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It's important to understand how your mentoree recieves love and how you give it! I personally love to give words of affirmation and also give gifts....this is key in how I will be able to relate to the person(s) that God puts in my life for mentoring purposes. It also covers the need to encourage biblically. Looking at Philippians 4:8-9 covers what we should be thinking on and talking about and 1 Cornthians 13 gives us the biblical floor plan of how to love those we mentor.
N- oticing: Paying attention to more than the words that are spoken, digging deeper, beyond the surface to the heart of the matter and learning to read those God entrusts to us is all essential to being a good biblical mentor. This can be a challenge in todays fast paced life...most of us don't have time to even notice if our clothes match let alone what someone's body language may be saying. A challenge? For sure! Impossible? Not a all! Important? Absolutely!! Anniversaries, Birthdays, other important dates, their overall appearance, little things they say and much more can lead us to a spring full of information that once uncovered can lead to a beautiful story of healing and recovery. Slow Down & Pay Attention!!
T- eaching: This speaks for itself, although I can't just leave it here alone!! We looked at Titus 2 3-5 for instruction on the best way to be a teacher! I love The Message version of this verse....you can find it here!!! Continue reading beyond verse 5!! What a great and plain way to put it!! In this catagory we also looked at what our skills may be and how we can effectively teach these skills to the people that we mentor. I love how God is able to use every part of us for His glory!! From the pain and brokenness to the skills and gifts that He's given us, we are a well spring of opportunity if we make ourselves available!!
This week we will cover the rest of the acronym as we dig deeper into what biblical mentoring looks like!! I'm curious, have you ever been mentored or mentored others? Let me know!!!
It's February 1st and Valentine's Day is just around the corner!! It's been a few weeks since thoughts of V Day started swirling around the interenet, don't believe me, just check out your wall on Pinterest!!! Valentine's Day boards are bursting at the seams with adorable ideas to make the day even more special!! While I love Valentine's Day just like the rest of you, or maybe a bit more (I have a son that was born on VDay) I want to propose that we look beyond Saint Valentine and even what that day stands for based on history, if you even know (I don't) and let's look back to the cross.
We love each other because he loved us first.
1 John 4:19
We are even capable of loving others because of His gift on the cross. We have the ability to truly love beyond the Hallmark Cards and boxes of Russell Stover's Chocolate (which are awesome), but there is a love that goes wayyyy beyond that my friends. I want to challenge you to dig a bit deeper into your ability to love, this month is a great time to dedicate to really loving!!!
Simply love. It's going to be my focus this month. Taking my theme of Simple, I'm applying it to loving others, simply. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 13 to get a better look at what it means to truly love yourself and others. Here, I'll include it here, so you don't even have to go looking, cause I love you!!!
If I speak in the tonguesof men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind.It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.For we know in part and we prophesy in part,but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
It's a pretty tall order, I can't even say that it's always easy to do....to love like that! But remember He loved us while we were still sinners, so we can't wait for people to clean up and get it right before we can love them like Jesus. Truly giving others all of ourselves is what He requires....just like He gave all of Himself to and for us. What I'm saying is, there are plenty of distractions out there that keep us focused on the great I am....nope, not that one, I'm talking about you! Me! We seem to be the true object of our affections and in order to be effective for the glory of the Lord, that has to change. Take some time this month, maybe make 1 Corinthians 13 your devotional for the month. Sit down with your husband, boyfriend, fiance or even your children, anyone really, and digest this passage and talk about creative ways to let This love shine!!
Have a blessed and loving weekend friends!! I'm off to love on some youth group kids as we head to the mountains for our winter retreat!!! A full weekend soaking in the word, playing ridiculous games, staying up late being chatty and strenghtening my bonds to these amazing people!!! God is going to rain down His love on us as we seek Him!!!! We'll see you back here next week!!! I'll be here Monday and Wednesday with more talk of biblical mentoring and Grace! Jess will tickle your ears on Tuesday and Thursday. I don't know what she's got up her sleeve for next week, but I can assure you it will be good!!!
After being homeschooled for the last 8ish years of my life, I'm starting to realize how fast a week, or even a day can fly by. Right now I'm waiting for my algebra class to start and I've decided to jot down some thoughts. The old feelings that I used to have when I went to highschool are coming back. I'm starting to think "Hey, I've sat in a classroom for the last 4-5 hours, what have I accomplished?" I know that I'm working towards an associate's degree by the age of 18, but sometimes it's hard to wait. Although, for me, something that isn't so hard, is being satisfied with where I am. Whenever I start to feel stuck or like I'm doing nothing productive, I look to where I'm going and I look to who I'm going through life with. A Chris Tomlin song says this: "and if my God is for me, then who can ever stop me." The song reminds me that waiting and feelings of a mundane life can't stop me from living the life he has for me.
I just want to encourage you all to look towards your future with God. Even if you can't envision anything beyond where you are now, know that what you see as mundane, God sees as overflowing with potential. Be satisfied in Him.
How has your week been? I hope and pray that you were able to take some of things that I shared here last week and begin to apply them to your life in the way that you treat yourself. As I talked to a friend yesterday about how hard we tend to be on ourselves, I shared with her that when we treat ourselves poorly, it devalues the Cross and that it's an extension of unbelief. Which can be hard to come to terms with. I don't think that any believer would say that they don't believe. I think that we take our belief for granted and when the rubber meets the road, we need to evaluate the depth of our belief.
To break that bold statement down a little let's look at the Cross. When Jesus died on the cross for us, He did so for the purpose of forgiving our sin and inviting us into an eternal life with Him. In that action, Jesus said "You Matter", He offers us forgiveness, mercy, grace and love. So, when we don't give ourselves those things, we are really refusing to take the gifts that Jesus died to give us. AND we're are saying that even though He did those things, they really aren't meant for us, OR that we somehow would rather be our own judge and don't need what He provided in His death!!
I don't know about you, but when I see it put that way, it changes my perspective on how I need to treat myself! I struggled eight years ago with post partum depression and it really made me look at how I treated myself. I had set these ridiculous standards on myself for how I lived, what I accomplished and what people would think of me. It was a devastating way to look at my life. Through many tears, a lot of pain and God's Grace, I have been able to lower those ridiculous standards without compromising my beliefs, ideals, ideas or desires.
I still have to give myself permission to accept God's grace....when I make a mistake, or I don't accomplish what I "think" I should accomplish. I've learned and really am still learning to trust God and open myself up to His grace....realizing that that is exactly what is waiting for me.....Grace. Not some heavy hammer that is going to pound my failures into me, not some disapproving judge waving a ruler above my head to gauge the level that I've accomplished or failed at. I, with the enemy's help, was the only one who ever did that. Jesus has only ever offered His grace and mercy.
Last year, my phrase for those troubled times, became "Just Breathe". In those moments of pausing and taking a breath, I was able to diffuse the situation that seemed to be reeling out of control. By breathing in God's grace, I was able to breathe out the chaos and the lies. This week, I want to challenge you to do something. Are you game?? Well I'd like you to take notice of the moments that you don't accept God's grace, and maybe write them down in a journal. Noticing is the first step to moving forward in a healthy relationship.....with yourself and with God. If you are really game, the next step would be to trace the lies that attach to the moments. Why, in that moment, are you not accepting Grace and being so hard on yourself? After that you would want to seek God's word to find a truth that combats each and every lie that you feed yourself!
This practice will transform the way you treat yourself, the way you look at Jesus and ultimately, it will transform the way you treat others. Which we should be talking about next week, unless I need more work on giving myself Grace!!! Which could happen, I pray that it doesn't....but you never know what a day holds and we always have a choice!! Here's to choosing Christ in all situations!!
"There are 600 churches and 460,000 Christians for every one unreached people."
What is our excuse?
I promised you guys a while ago that I would write a little book review on this book, this book that took me many months to finish. It's not long at all, it's just so full of information that I could only take in a little bit at a time!
The back of the book reads: "Your life only make sense in the context of God's plan to finish the Great Commission. God has given us the direction we need to make our lives count and leave our mark on eternity. When we find it, we move from merely existing to truly living life on purpose."
I love Amazon's summary of it as well: "The aim of God’s entire biblical story has one mission, reaching all the
nations, and one method, all believers. Finding your life purpose only makes
sense in the context of God's plan to reach the world. Discover the part you
were meant to play in God’s epic plan."
If I had to summarize a review for this book in one sentence it would look like this:
If you are not willing to have your life interrupted and if you are not willing to change the course of said life, don't read this book!
Now that that is out of the way, let's continue. This book is going to change something. Whether it changes your mindset, your life goals, anything! You won't be the same. I can't recommend this book to anyone enough. People today are so self-centered and so unmotivated that it's not even funny. This book, I believe, can help change that. I don't want to put Live Life on Purpose on a pedestal and claim that it's The Bible, but I believe that it is the kick in the butt that people need.
I would love to give you a quote or two from the book, or tell you one thing that really stuck out to me, but I can't. It had too much of an impact on me to tell you my favorite part. The only thing I really know how to say is that you'll learn facts you never knew existed, be confronted with problems in the world that you didn't know of, and discover passions and interests that you didn't know you had. I have something highlighted on every page of this book and I'm sure I'll be reading it again and again.
Go ahead over to www.claudehickman.com to access resources, information about the author, and to purchase the book. Once again, I highly recommend this book if you're looking for something to be excited over again or if your life has hit a dull plateau.
I don't know about you, but it seems, for me, that as soon as I start something to honor God, the enemy rushes in with all sorts of attacks and plenty of ammunition!! The last two weeks we've tackled excuses and I honestly didn't think that I held onto any. Boy was I wrong!! These excuses aren't just related to mentoring, but they seem to spill over into many different areas of my life!!
That can be a very daunting thought to ponder. It can be difficult to move past those excuses, after all, they do give off the impression that you're completely stuck and incapable of moving forward in any direction. Praise God that HE offers us a truth for every lie that hangs over our head!
I think that one of the biggest things I've learned from the beginning of this study is to continue moving forward even if you believe that you can't!! Just go ahead and take that first step and then another one! Then tell someone of the struggle and trust that they will cheer you on and provide Grace along the way!
It's alot like learning how to walk! You try and try again until you gain skill and momentum. Then eventually you are stringing several steps together and find that you are walking on your own!! Sure, you are going to fall and stumble and convince yourself that you have no right to even try....and that is why you need someone on your side, so they can help pick you up and dust you off and set you back on your way!!
Funny how a study on biblical mentoring can provide assistance for other problem areas in your life! I suppose that when you set out to work for God, He's going to do whatever it takes to get you completed for the entire task and not just one small part.He's good like that and I'm so glad that He is!!
I am completely encouraged by this weeks reading assignment!! I need to keep a watchful eye on how I live my life and conduct myself, using Titus 2:3-5 as a guide:
"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine,but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
It's exciting to look forward to mentoring opportunities so that I can help pass along Gods' love and instruction to the next generation of women!! If I don't keep my focus on Him, the whole thing can be completely overwhelming. I must remember Philippians 4:13, which, by the way, is my favorite verse!! It says:
"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."
That pretty much eliminates any justification of excuses that we may holding on to!! Are you ready to let go of the baggage and cling to the truth? I'll do it with you and we can help each other!!
Join me again on Wednesday for more talk on Grace...I didn't realize that it was as big of a struggle as it is!! Stop back tomorrow too, for a word from Jess!!
So......... I totally planned on posting a book review, a day-in-the-life post, or something fun like that. But my first day back to college was yesterday, and I'm already slightly swarmed with school work. Between teaching Joe and college I'm busy!
The day before I went back to college I decided to look at Joe's history schedule and rethink it. He isn't enjoying school very much and that doesn't make me happy. So the day before school started I decided to pull apart Joe's curriculum and pretty much make a new one within the guidelines of Sonlight. That was fun... No, really, it was! Hopefully I can keep up with it, though.
If you guys remember my Spring Semester Resolutions you'll remember that I wanted to work on my time management, that's gonna be interesting this semester. However, I'm loving getting back into the swing of school work and learning. It's exciting! So today has mostly been spent doing school stuff, which is fine. I'm trying to get done as much as possible today so that I can use the weekend to relax a bit, blog, and just dilly-dally.
I know this is a really lame blog post, and I contemplated not even posting it.... But I think I'm going to... I promise to have something better next time...
As I think more about Grace, I'm seeing that I need to accept the Grace given to me and then extend that Grace to others! But why is that soooooo hard???? Well I think that it's hard to accept God's Grace because we hold on so tightly to our failures, sins, excuses, etc. We refuse God's forgiveness and in doing so we tell ourselves that we don't deserve that forgiveness or Grace. I picture this like a heavy cloak that represents sin, regret, fear or whatever we claim over ourselves. That cloak hangs on a hook in our room and every single day we choose to put that cloak of shame on, we cover up all that Jesus died on the cross for with that heavy, dark cloak of lies. We don't even see His grace or forgiveness.
I, for one, am tired of wearing that ugly thing....it's not attractive, it's heavy and wears me out and let's be honest....it doesn't match anything!!!!! Seriously though, wouldn't you agree that the weight of the sin that you carry wears you out, that it gets difficult to carry day after day and you get tired of seeing it?? It doesn't match the amazing, life changing work of the Cross!! Let's take a look at the differences between the two:
The Cross say that I am: The Cloak says that I am:
forgiven unforgiven
redeemed condemned
cherished despised
worthy unworthy
And that's just a few....You get the picture, yes?? If we cannot take off the cloak, we cannot receive His grace! If we cannot receive His grace, we cannot extend His grace to others!! So we must allow God to start the transforming work in our hearts, minds and lives, so that we can do what we were made to do!! Imitate God!!
In Sunday School this week, we looked at 1 Corinthians 13 and really broke down this love chapter. Everything, every.single.thing, comes down to love!! If I don't love myself, I cannot accept His grace for me, If I don't love myself, I cannot love others and therefore cannot extend grace outward either!
Let's quickly look at verses 4-8
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not dlight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
I am often impatient with myself, I am often unkind. I have a problem with envy, boasting and pride. I am rude to myself, in those moments I am self-seeking, angry and count my wrongs. There are even times when I delight in evil.....I think that looks like the times when I make a mistake or fail something and then that part of me laughs and says "yep, of course you did". I don't keep myself protected from the enemy as I should, I don't always trust in God, I lose hope and I want to quit.
I don't know about you, but all of those are in complete disagreement with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. If we replace the word "love" in those verses with the name of Jesus, or even our own name, it takes on a clearer image! (for sake of time and space, I combined the two)
"Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. Lorraine is not rude, she is not self-seeking, she is not easily angered, and she keeps no record of wrongs. Lorraine does not delight in evil but rejoices with the Truth. Lorraine always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Jesus never fails."
Try it for yourself, that is, if you struggle with this like I do. It's time that we get down to the nitty gritty of our lives and really work out our salvation!! We must demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 There's another version that says "vain imaginations"......are you a story maker?? Ohhh I am, for sure!!! I love to create an entire scene of what I think will happen......most times, all times, I am completely off base. I need to take those vain imaginations captive and force obedience to Christ!!
We are on a battlefield.....Jesus died to give us His grace and forgiveness....who are we to refuse that? I leave you with Big Daddy Weave and "I am redeemed"! Let the words soak in and let's see if we can't start receiving His Grace today friends!!!! We'll do this again next Wednesday!! Be sure to come back!!
