Month: July 2019

This is my life story right here. I’m grieved when I look back and see all the years my pursuit of perfection robbed me of living. Wholeness by far is the better pursuit. For it is obtainable! Isaiah 53 speaks so clearly on the matter. The prophet tells us why Jesus suffered for you and for me. Verse 4 begins by saying “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.” All so that in verse 5 we could experience something unfathomable. It’s right here a promise for you and for me! “He was beaten so we could be WHOLE. He was whipped so we could be HEALED.”

Friends you will spend your whole life chasing the unobtainable if what you seek is perfection. But wholeness that is an entirely different story. It can be yours. It can be mine! One definition of wholeness is “Being completely free of wound or injury with nothing missing and everything complete…” Another version says wholeness is “the state of forming a complete and harmonious whole; unity.”

I don’t think many of us believe we can be wound free with nothing missing within us. One of my life verses is Psalm 34:10. It tells me that as I pursue the truest source of wholeness, I will lack nothing. “Those who passionately pursue the Lord will never lack any good thing.”

This, my friends, is a daily pursuit. It is learning to find your own rhythms of rest in his presence so that the grime of life doesn’t continue to build layer upon layer within your heart. I assure you I practice what I preach. I begin my day with rest. I sit in silence and stillness letting my body release the tension it holds from the day before and I find myself able to finally catch my breath.

Then I do what Julia Cameron calls “morning pages”. I let all my thoughts, the good, the bad, the ugly flow onto three uninterrupted pages. My inner critic does not get to make changes or point out mistakes. My thoughts are just allowed to spill onto the page before me freely and openly.

Next, I let God reveal what needs to be healed within. Maybe a little resentment here, little envy there, or maybe something much older like a childhood wound triggered from a hurtful interaction the day before. One thing is always constant. God never fails to lighten my load. He promises in Matthew 11:28-30 to do so-to carry away the burdens I bring to him and refresh my soul.

Then maybe I soak in the truth he revealed a little more and let it sink deeper or I return to a scripture I’ve already been mining. Mining means stopping to let every word bring life and new awe to your soul over a period of time. Maybe a week, maybe a month. Hey, maybe even a year if your heart so desires.

Then I might read a chapter in a book on a practice I’m trying to grow within me or listen to a song, or take a walk to end my time for the morning. But no matter what there is always a grateful pause, maybe only for a few seconds where I sit and soak in the blessing of what God did in my heart that morning.

It is refreshing to think my wounds don’t have to remain apart of me and I can experience completeness. Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I am not saying we will never be wounded. I’m saying the wounds don’t have to remain within us. By pursuing rest (ceasing from your way to open your heart to God’s) and time in his presence, he will lovingly show you want needs released so that you can receive from him all that your heart is longing for. Taking a good honest look allows you to let go. Because his presence is so inviting, accepting, and unbelievably loving you can bear to look.

You see this pursuit for wholeness was never was about what you can do. We always make it so. You won’t find wholeness in your own merit by doing more, accomplishing more or pretending things don’t exist.

No.

It is only found by pursuing wholeness through connecting deeper with God’s heart. It is in his presence that we find completeness for our weakness. It’s handing him what doesn’t belong so that he can show you what is truly within you! I promise it is beautiful. You just haven’t let yourself see it yet.

My hope is that you will begin to pursue and cultivate your own daily rhythms of rest. Maybe today you will pause for a few minutes longer than usual and soak in the beauty of what this passage in Isaiah 53 makes possible. Read it line by line starting with verse 1 and ending at verse 5. There is truth here you don’t want to miss. Truth that deserves more than a passing glance. You won’t regret it.

Be Bold ~ Be a Light

“So, this is how God works,” I laughingly say to myself under my breath. I prayed a prayer never realizing where it was going to lead me. I wrote in my journal, “Lord lead me to the place where no restraints can find me—where I learn to embrace all of who you say I am.”

I’ve been pursuing a new lifestyle. A lifestyle I want to teach others. I couldn’t possibly ask you to do something I haven’t first done myself. It began as three values that shape Shine Healing Ministries but now, I realize they have become so much more than that. They are my sustainable rhythms for a life well-lived. Three practice I cannot be without if I desire wholeness, peace, and purpose in my life. They are the rhythms of REST. HEAL. LOVE.

I had just experienced a wonderful rest-filled morning in my place of solitude and silence with the Lord. I was feeling settled, and really good about myself. Then it happened. Like a rushing river of angst. It flooded into my heart space so quickly. Ugliness, I often call it.  It is a feeling like a nagging acquaintance I have to tolerate. For me, it is often comparison, envy or jealousy when another woman is cruising along in the lane I want to be in. Instantly my heart blurts, “It is isn’t fair! What am I not doing for you Lord that she is?”

Obviously, God was answering my prayer. “You want no restraint hum…how about taking a look at this in your heart?” This is the HEAL part of the journey. I think more often than anything else we resist REST because it leads us to places in our hearts we don’t want to face; places and things we have to let go of that are restraining us from being LOVE. Without rhythms of REST & HEAL, we are often unknowingly kept from LOVING as he loves. We are told in John 13 that the indicator, the flashing sign of recognition that proves we are true followers of Christ is the Love we give away. I promise it is there. Written plainly in verse 34, “For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you’re my true followers.”

So I ask, “Lord, what do you need to speak into my heart about this envy, this ugliness?”  And like a gentle whisper, this thought bubbles up in the quiet where I can hear God’s heart more easily. “I am cheering for you all. I am pursuing every heart to lead them to greatness.” Yeah, yeah I get it, Lord. That makes sense. But I close my journal with still an angst to wrestle with. With questions unsettled in my heart.

That is when I heard it. A skirmish on the front porch. It jolted me right out of my quiet place and out the door I ran to see what was happening. Duke my dog and rascal my raccoon. Yes, I did say raccoon. What can I say we here on the farm we have a heart for all animals and poor little rascal was left all alone and needed a home. Anyway, back to the skirmish. They are 95% of the time, the best of friends. Wrestling and cuddling till their little hearts are content, but add food into the equation and everything changes.

Duke had a full bowl of food behind him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Rascal’s pile. This is where the oh, God your good, ah-ha moment began. I’m sitting there between them watching this play out and realizing all the while, I’m Duke. I’m stuck looking, wanting, and trying to grab more for myself and forgetting, dismissing, and being blind to this big bowl of provision right behind me.

Peering eyes are always longing to answer the questions, “Will there be enough for me? Does God love me as much as her/him?” Then a thought came to the forefront of my mind, “Do I want to pay the price for what is in her bowl?” Because believe me there is always a cost. We are all starving for something. At one point or another, we have felt life’s sting and we don’t want to feel it again. So we frantically reach out and try to grab what we believe should be ours, and fill the hole in our soul. All the while we are often blind to what we already have or what it cost them to be where they are.

God uses experiences, metaphors to change us, to free us, to get a message through to us if we stop long enough to notice.

That morning sitting between Rascal and Duke making sure they each had their fill, made me stop and asked myself, “Aren’t we all deserving?” We all paid some kinds of price. I realized this must be how God feels at times, stilling between his earthly servants trying to mediate and show us how much he has given each one of us. Lovingly he sits and waits for us to see how much he loves us, how much he is rooting for us both. Providing for us both. Wanting greatness for each of our hearts. He promises to not forget about you and to not forget about me. He promises that in his kingdom no one lacks.

There is enough for us all. And the truth is we’ve all paid a price for the story we are meant to share. Our lives are letters to others that can bring hope at just the right time along someone else’s journey. But the truth is there are places we must stop and reflect on. Rhythms we must incorporate into our lives in order to live a life of love. Are we willing to stop long enough to let God lovingly point out where we are restrained? Rest leads us to places we must confront so that we can heal and live from a place where there is no restraint on how much love we receive and give away!

So I ask you my friends, where are your eyes peering? What is keeping you from seeing what God is trying to give you through rhythms of REST. HEAL. LOVE?

Be Bold ~ Be a Light!

Busy, stressed, weary, restless, anxious, depressed, confused. How many times in the last week or month have you used a phrase like the words above to describe your experience? Henry Nouwen says, “We aren’t rest-filled people who occasionally become restless, we’re restless people who sometimes find rest.”

How do we flip this? How do we become people who live rest-filled lives instead of rest-less lives?

At one time in my life, Henry’s words described me perfectly. I was always working to obtain a sliver of rest for my weary and anxious soul. It wasn’t until my body suffered complete exhaustion that I cried out to God for a way out. For a detour off the beaten path of societal pressures and pursuits. That is when God showed me that peace, groundedness, and clarity only come from a place of rest. By learning to live in the rhythm of his rest, I found a gift my soul was longing for.

I’ve realized a freeing truth, that productivity does not determine my significance and because of that, my soul has found a secure footing. I now can work, create and live from a place of rest because I confronted the root of what was driving my hurried, pressured practices. It was fear. Fear of being insignificant. I had to uproot this fear in my heart and allow God the space to place his truth there instead if I ever wanted off this crazy train.

Striving for significance is all meaningless really when we discover that everything that makes us significant God has already placed within us. Weariness comes from striving for things you already have but fail to embrace. I thought my books, my ministry, leading a team of women, speaking, and growing a social media platform would all prove to God and you that I was good enough. It led to me falling flat on my face. It was humiliating for this perfectionist, determined and striving woman to fail and fall the way I did. But it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because in my failure I was forced to let go of control. I was forced to open my heart to the fact that God had a better way. He’d given me everything I needed, but I was focused on the wrong things. It took slowing down, and really listening to God’s heart to find that what I was longing for was within me all along.

He promises us his peace! It is a crazy thought in this fast-paced world that we are actually peace-filled beings. Our fears blind us to this truth but God waits. He waits for us to discover that all he wants to do is give us the REST REASSURANCE and RESTORATION our souls are longing to experience.

To all my weary friends out there, I ask you to pause and slow down long enough to rest in the beauty, worth, and peace that has been within you all along. In Psalm 23, God offers us rest. It is up to us to discover what fear has been whispering in our ear and robbing us of the rest he offers. I challenge you to practice daily rhythms of rest in your life and see what God reveals to your heart about how beautiful you already are!

Here are a few simple practices to get you started:

1. SCRIPTURE CHALLENGE
Pick one scripture to read daily over the
next month. Discover what God is trying to
develop in you and speak to your heart
through this verse? Let each day bring more
depth, understanding, and rest in who God
wants to be for you.

2. SILENCE CHALLENGE
Practice a daily dose of silence for the next
week. Begin with 1 minute the first day and
then build from there until you are up to
5-10 minutes on the 7th day. Discover what
God wants to reveal to your heart in the
stillness and how he wants to encourage
you as you disconnect from all the other
noises and distractions.

3. NATURE CHALLENGE
Take a walk in nature and soak in all the
beauty of the sights, smells, sensations, and
sounds. Find what is most soothing to you
in God’s creation and reflect on how you
can add more calming and peaceful
experiences into your daily life? Let this
time in nature allow you to pause and soak
in the reset, God is offering you.

4.  LYRIC CHALLENGE
Find a song that draws you right in. Pick a phrase
in the song that helps your mind focus on
what is good and true and right about what
God is doing in your life right now. Write it
out and re-read it every day for the next
month so that you intentionally focus your
thoughts on God’s view of you each day.

5. LETTING GO CHALLENGE
What is one thing you need to practice
letting go? Is bitterness, self-doubt, or fear
robbing you of the rest God wants to give
you? Focus on just one area in your life that
you need to practice releasing to God and
over the next month watch how he begins
to help you release it.

Let the REST begin…

Be Bold ~ Be A Light

There is something to be deeply learned by cultures who still do community well. Ubuntu! I recently came across this word. A South African word that speaks of humanity and compassion at its best. It is a realization that “I am who I am because of who we all are”.  Archbishop Desmond Tutu describes it this way:

 “It is the essence of being human—you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality —Ubuntu— you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”

This makes me think that this must be what the early church was like described in Acts 2.

“Every believer was faithfully devoted to following the teachings of the apostles. Their hearts were mutually linked to another, sharing communion and coming together regularly…All the believers were in fellowship as one body and they shared with one another whatever they had…They shared meals together with joyful hearts and tender humility. They were continually filled with praises to God, enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord kept adding to their numbers daily those who were coming to life” (verses 42-47, TPT).

Somewhere along the way we’ve lost the essence and innocence of Ubuntu! In a culture driven by success and every man/woman for himself/herself. A need to accomplish. A drive to be first. Being “the best” leaves no room for an “us”! Women are especially susceptible, as we have a great need to prove ourselves in this world. When fighting for our voices to be heard, somehow it never seems like there is ever enough room for us all. It always amazes me working as a counselor in a school how you can see it beginning—girls sabotaging other girls’ successes. Jealousy and envy spawn early. Till all that is left is a me vs. you mentality.

What if we truly are better together? What if what we are seeking is only found when intertwined as one? Having each other’s backs and cheering each other on is where the seeds of greatness are planted and nourished.

Too many times to count I’ve been tormented mentality by my inner critic. The voice of you are not enough, you’ve messed up one too many times, no one will accept you for who you are, no one cares about what you have to say. You’ve been there too. I know you have. We are all hurting and human just longing for someone to see the beauty in us and care.

I read where in certain South African cultures part of the practice of Ubuntu is to circle around a tribe member who did something wrong, and instead of pointing out the error they praise the good in them. For two full days, it is said that they unite to encourage the tribe member to reconnect with their true nature. Is this not just like the picture of our Father we are called to be image-bears of? I have found him to be my greatest cheerleader in the many moments that shame sought to sink its roots deep into my heart! He has always gently picked me up and pointed me back to the truth of who I am every time I’ve tripped and fallen into the dust.

What would our culture be like here in “eat or be eaten American”, if we only had half the tenacity to fight for each other’s greatness to be seen. “I have a dream…” to mirror the famous words of Martin Luther King a true advocate of counter-culturalism. I too want to dream big for a world where women can come together without feeling a need to hide or fake fine and speak life into each other’s souls. Where we see the good in each other, especially when one of us as has fallen and instead of secretly feeling a sense of relief that maybe there is room for me now, we help her rise again to even greater heights of beauty and glory.

This my dear sisters is the essence of what I feel called to create space for at Selah Ranch. A fireside cozy connected community of women who circle up around each other and fight for the greatness to spring forth in each heart. No longer accepting mediocrity. NO! Because we realize that great is the God who lives within us and together, we will ignite the “raging fire” of passion and love we are called to share with His world. This fire we are promised in Song of Songs 8:7 that “rivers of pain and persecution will never extinguish…{and} Endless floods will be unable to quench” (Song of Songs 8:7).

Hum, stop and ponder with me for a moment. What if we fully trusted God’s Word when it says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed” (Ecclesiastes 4:9)?  What would we accomplish? I believe the result would be greater than any of us could ever have dreamt alone.

Be Bold ~ Be a Light

*image taken from https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/how-the-babemba-tribe-forgives/