Ch-ch-ch-changes

I think I'm a little ADD. I do want to share my life with you and hear your stories in return. I want to share what God's teaching me and hear about what God's teaching you. In my case, I think that makes my blog a frenetic, but here we are. Time for change.

Here's what's up:

Mondays--The new (temporary)topic will be announced in this post, but we have to do a little guessing game first.

Wednesdays--Lessons Learned on the Run. You might have read that I'm working back up to a 5 K. It's amazing the spiritual lessons I'm learning every day as I run, so I'm going to share them. Anybody going to join me in Wunning (the walking and running mix I'm doing)? I'll share the plan I'm on this week and also a visual that I'm going to use to motivate me.

Fridays--Ya'll are going to think I'm completely nutty, but I had a great idea for Fridays that is completely escaping me. I've been trying to make something up, but I decided to confess my scattered-brainness. (This is why not only do I LOVE a list, but it is NECESSARY for me to write things down.) Please pray that I remember by Friday or am redirected by God!

Also, if you're a speaker or teacher, you can join me and some of my friends for free speaking tips on Tuesdays at www.nextstepspeakerservices.com. My friends have some terrific tips coming up, so you can subscribe to make sure you don't miss a thing!

So let's get back to Mondays.

I'm such a fanatic about quotes. I love them for their motivation but also the insight they offer into the heart of the speaker. So until I get tired of it, Mondays are going to be some reflections on quotes from a specific man. I'll give you hints, and you see if you can guess. (Go ahead and shout it out when you figure it out. You don't even have to raise your hand. Sorry....it's the teacher coming out.)

This man was very important in the lives of many little girls who are now in their 40s and 50s.

He has passed away, but his influence lives on in our neighborhoods.

He made feelings and the land of make believe safe places for us.

He loved a cardigan and comfy sneakers when he got home for the day and issued an invitation to spend the afternoon with him.

Have you guessed yet?

Mr. Rogers Mondays!

Now you might think this is a strange topic for posts, but just hang in there and let me know what you think. My sweet parents gave Anson a book called The World According to Mr. Rogers as a gift for his 5th grade graduation. I'm not sure Anson appreciates it as much as I do, but I absolutely love it.

Mr. Rogers was a committed believer, and even though his words aren't recorded as scripture :), I believe many of his words reflect Jesus in a beautiful way. Enough said. Here's the quote for week 1.

"How many times have you noticed that it's the little quiet moments in the midst of life that seem to give the rest extra-special meaning?" --Mr. Rogers

Ahhhh...how true. I'm reminded of this truth and yet the busyness of my life lets me know that I haven't fully embraced it. Today I want to more fully recommit to radically preserving "white space" on my calendar instead of allowing it to fill to darkness with the scrawls of times and places. As my friend Jerome puts it, I need to preserve soul space--a place for my soul to expand, a place where God's whispers can be heard, a place where laughter with my family produces a bond like no other.

What happens in your little quiet moments?

Made to Crave Moment

Our group's 7 weeks have officially come to an end, but this won't be the end of my Made to Crave journey. That's never ending (as opposed to my "diets"!).

I think my one main revelation that I think is game-changing is that my food issues have a seed of rebellion as their root.

Rebellion seems like one of those loud and dangerous words, doesn't it? In this case, I'd definitely say it's been passive aggression.

Although I would have never said it out loud, or even consciously thought it, my attitude has been, "God, I have given you everything. Almost. Because I know that you love me no matter what, I don't think you care about what I put in my mouth and chew. So I'll just keep this piece of my life."

I have to be completely honest with you. I still feel some resistance to this journey I'm on. I'm not completely sure why, and I'm also not completely sure how to deal with it. I think pressing on and pressing through is the key for right now, so that's what I'm doing...making the next courageous choice (love that!) and moving the mountain one rock at a time (love that even more!!).

Just Thinkin'

There are times when I feel like my brain stagnates. Piles of laundry with stacks of man clothes don't require a lot of deep cognition. (Although sometimes it's soothing to let my busy brain rest while doing thoughtless, repetetive work.)

The last few days have gotten my brain to working overtime as I've parried around ideas with friends. We've grown ideas together on

The core of ministry

Spreading ideas

Life's priorities

Finding our niche for service

These are some of the topics that light my fire.

I've been thinking about Jesus. How His story and ideas have spread around the whole world. But He started it all by pouring His life into just 12 men. Big things from small things.

I think that might be my mission in ministry. I think I'm personally called to help a small number do big things while some of my sisters in ministry are doing things on a big scale (and I rejoice with them!)

These are some of the things rolling around in my brain and heart today. How about you?

Making Peace Monday

Do those pictures bring you peace and thrill your soul like they do mine? They are, of course, from beautiful New Hampshire, and my talented niece Megan took them. (She's only 16, but she also took the picture that's in the banner of my blog!) I just wanted to share before writing the last weekly installment of Making Peace Monday.

As a review, here are the 4 steps given for Peace Making as outlined by Peace Maker Ministries:

• Glorify God--The first step is to ask the game changing question of ourselves, "How do I glorify God in this situation?"
• Get the Log Out of Your Eye--Before confronting anyone, we have to consider our own contribution to the problem. God is always faithful to shed light on my dark places!
• Gently Restore--This is the step where I really struggle. It's where we have the one-on-one conversation to try to work through the conflice
• Go and Be Reconciled--I realized that this is the step I've often left out completely. It's working to move past the conflict with relationship completely restored and even strengthened. It's where forgiveness sprouts feet.

Here's the quote that has grabbed my heart and shaken, "Our forgiveness show what we think of God's forgiveness."

Oh my! When I'm not willing to forgive, it's a reflection of spiritual pride. I've forgotten how much I've been forgiven by God. Lord, help me to walk humbly, dispensing forgiveness and grace the way you've lavished them on me.

I hope this series has challenged you like it's challenged me. Mondays are going to change focus now, and I want to give you some hints. I'm going to do a series of quotes from a person from whom I've been soaking in wisdom. Put on your sneakers and your cardigans to get ready for upcoming Mondays! Any guesses?

A Southern Girl Goes North

Hey, all! I was traveling in beautiful New Hampshire on Monday and Tuesday, so I'm behind on posting. It was a fabulous trip on so many fronts.

My 16-year-old niece, Megan, went with me, and we had a ball. She is so much fun and yet so mature that she had everyone thinking that she had already graduated from college. I was proud to have her with me, and it was a blast showing her off. Her love of history was fed in a state that oozes our American heritage everywhere you go. Thanks, Lesley and Glen, for giving us such an amazing tour. Pictures to come soon.

I learned a lot on this trip--especially about sharing God's truth in areas unlike our own. I wrote all about it at the Next Step Speaker Services blog, so I hope you'll hope over and read.

Made to Crave Moment

I'm in mid-sweat scurrying around to get ready for 9 teenaged boys to spend the weekend in my house. (Which in and of itself is hilarious--do I think they'll really notice?!)

There is a tie-in to Made to Crave, because I'm buying massive amounts of food. This time in addition to all the junk that man-children love, I've included lots of fruit, nuts and yogurt. It's an interesting experiment. I know their mamas feed them well. Let's see what they choose.

At least I'll have some good choices in the house as I soak in the presence of these sweet young men. Will ya'll pray for good choices and God's spirit to prevail?

Grace

One of my favorite weekends of the year is coming up--Metamorphosis!

Meta is our youth group's in-town retreat, and Clayton King is our speaker every year. I always feel like it's a weekend of growth for me as well as for the kids.

This year the theme is "Grace". Would you pray as hundreds of kids hear about God's love for them and the grace He pours out?

I'm going to be hanging on every word, because God's immeasurable love for me and walking in grace is two areas that God is trying to drive home to me this year. Since I'm recovering from a virus today, I'm going to refer instead of write today.

Emily Freeman of Chatting at the Sky did 31 Days of Grace back in October. I encourage you to follow the link and soak in some grace.

Peace Making Monday

This technology of ours--email, Facebook, Twitter, etc--is both a blessing and a curse. Do you agree?

It's a blessing when all is working well. It's a curse when glitches occur.

It's a blessing when it saves me time. It's a curse when it sucks up all my time . (Hmmm....is it the technology or me? That's another post for another day.)

It's a blessing to communicate with loved ones. It's a curse to communicate with loved ones.

Huh?

As I was reviewing the notes from week 7's video of Peace Making Women which covered gently restoring, I came across this element of effective communication for conflict, "Talk in person whenever possible."

There's nothing more devastating than receiving a nasty-gram via mail or email. There's also nothing worse than the sinking feeling of post-"send" regret. I've been the recipient of both of those feelings.

Peace Maker Ministries encourages us not only to first recognize our own sin in a conflict but to gently restore those whose sin has fueled a conflict. Whew!

That's a tough one and a place where I wonder if I'll ever get it right. When I thought back through conflicts in my past, I seem to either have erred on the side of being too harsh and judgemental or on the side of denial and avoidance.

Finding the healthy middle is challenging! Communicating face-to-face is one way to soften our words and project grace.

Made to Crave Moment

I had some small victories this week that I'm going to trust turn into battles that win the WAR...

Pulling out the left-over mashed potatoes that I made for the boys and stopping to pray before I reheated them for lunch. God said, "No" this time so I put them back.

Pushing the yummy, fluffy, buttery, garlicky biscuits (can you tell I was obsessively observing these lovelies?) at the restaurant across the table to the boys and out of my reach.

Choosing to go wunning yesterday even though I REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO.

I'm leaning on a quote by Karen Ehman in Lysa's book. "Define your week by obedience, not by a number on the scale."

For the first time in this journey, I really did feel empowered making those choices. Knowing that I was choosing out of a desire to please God and put Him first made the decision a pleasure instead of a drag. It's all a matter of perspective.

What's your M2C "aha" for the week?

A Former Couch Potato Runs the Race

Here's the public announcement...no backing out now...I'm working back up to running a 5K. It will be slow and ugly, but my goal is to jog without stopping.

Truthfully, I'm a little uninspired today. Here's a devo that I wrote 3 years ago. I hope it relights your fire too!

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever...”
I Corinthians 9:25 (NIV)

Devotion:
My friends Maggie and Rhonda are real runners. They run marathons and are teeny tiny. I have not, and I am not. Up until now, I’ve been a fairly well-confirmed couch potato. An upcoming birthday has changed all of that, though. Let’s keep this between you and me, but I’m turning 40 this year. I decided on my last birthday that I wanted to do something to combat the feeling that 40 was a marker for the downward slide. I thought and prayed about what I could do that I had never done before. The thing that captured my mind, heart and imagination was running a 5K for the Susan B. Kommen Foundation! My friend, Rhonda, wrote out a training plan for me, and I’ve been following it pretty faithfully. To my amazement I’m making progress. Here are some lessons I’m learning as I run.

1. You Can’t Finish if You Never Start- I have lots of ideas. In fact, my brain is on a constant spin cycle. Sometimes, though, I never muster up the resolve, make a plan and get started. Fear is one thing that holds me back. Even the thought of running a race boiled up some fear. “What if you don’t finish? What if you’re dead last? What if you’re not cut out for this?” Too often I also let the tyranny of the urgent push out my dreams. Instead of hearing God’s voice and obeying by making time for His plans, I let the day to day drive of my schedule push the lid down on my box of dreams until they die from lack of attention. I encourage you to get started! Pick up God’s dreams for you, dust them off and resolve to put His plans into action today.

2. One Step Builds on Another- I wanted training to happen quickly, but I can’t say that it has been easy at all. To run a race, I have to spend time taking one step after another and building up my endurance. To grow as a Christian, I have to commit to time with the Lord and practice putting His Word into action in my life. I shouldn’t be discouraged that I’m not a spiritual giant today, but I do need to be faithful as I increase my time and endurance in the practice of spiritual disciplines. Don’t be worry if you start with 10 minutes of Bible study and prayer daily. Be faithful and watch your endurance grow!

3. Fix Your Eyes on the Goal-One morning last week, I was tempted to quit before my time was up. In one last effort to build my determination, I focused my eyes on the trashcan at the end of the track. Every step was one closer to that trashcan and to the end of my run. We have a prize to fix our eyes on that is the ultimate in inspiration—Jesus! He is the King of Kings, the one true and perfect man, the giver of eternal life, the Beginning and the End, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is awesome, and I want to meet Him at the Finish Line. When my eyes are firmly fixed on Jesus, I find endurance and strength to run this race of life that defies my understanding. Let’s let Him set the pace and run hard after Him.

I still have some fears about finishing my 5K, but God has used the physical training to remind me of some truths about spiritual training. By the time you read this, I should have finished my physical race (I promise to tell you all about it!), but the spiritual race that I’ve embarked on will last my lifetime. I’m thankful that I have such an inspiring goal and that He is the one who will enable me to finish the race.

Dear Lord, help me to race for a crown that will last forever. Although the race is hard sometimes, I want to run well and finish hand-in-hand with you. I fix my eyes on You as the goal. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.