Sally Clarkson's Blog, page 11

The Reward Of Learning To Endure

The only way to get through life with grace is to mount up over the challenges, seeking to live a focused life that fills us a little every day, with a heart that is valiant and unwilling to give in to the woes that tempt us. We have choices to make, a life to tame, but living in the joy of God is possible.

The best part of learning to endure through difficult seasons is the legacy I now see in the lives of my four children. They watched our responses of keeping growing, keeping faithful, growing stronger, and becoming wiser over many years. Now they are standing on our shoulders because our attempted faithfulness has gifted them with wisdom and courage to keep pushing for excellence in their own lives.

Read more about this in Help I’m Drowning.

Help, I'm Drowning: Weathering the Storms of Life with Grace and Hope By Sally Clarkson Buy on Amazon

Tea Time Tuesday: Kindness Saved My Faith

Click here to play today’s new podcast episode.

“And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

Matthew 10: 42

The day a cup of tea and kindness saved my faith.

Weariness...

Of a husband with a ruptured disc, always in pain.

Three teenagers amidst hormones and anxiety.

Selling a home in one state and moving to another with not quite enough money to get the place we felt we needed.

Trying to give my youngest daughter an innocent, focused childhood amidst the bigger issues that consumed our lives with teenagers.

Feeding everyone every day, being responsible for their well-being, health, emotional life, spiritual life.

This found me depleted, discouraged.

Clay was holding down the fort in Tennessee with me looking for houses to rent or buy in Colorado. Our other house had sold. I had 2 days to find a place for us to live. Lack of sleep from worry, fear, pressures of life left me exhausted.

Staying with a friend, I tiptoed downstairs early in the morning to be sure not to awaken anyone.

There, on a little table in her breakfast area was a beautiful feast: a wisps of a flower in a small drinking glass, two tea cups, 2 stemmed juice glasses, a slice of fresh apple bread, a card that said, “I just wanted you to know you are precious to the Lord. He sees you, loves you, will provide your needs. I am here today to be your friend, to help in any way I can. Be encouraged, you are not alone.”

Tears began to flow. It had been so very long since someone had thought of me — to encourage me, to think of me. I did not even know how depleted I was until this act of kindness opened the floodgates of my heart, and the realization that I had felt so alone in life.

One little act of kindness gave me the energy I needed to trust God that day, to keep going, to have hope. That day, that moment, hope began to fill my heart.

I looked up the definition of kindness in the dictionary — kindness: benevolence, humanity, generosity, charity, sympathy, compassion, tenderness, good will

Why kindness is at the heart of what we need to pass on to our children, not moralism.

More on today’s Tea Time Tuesday podcast: the heart of discipleship, food, a song.

Helping Your Children Attach To The Vine

In John 15:1-6 Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing". That's an eternal truth I must take to heart if I want to give our children the gift of faith.

To me as a parent, this "vine" reality has two implications. First, I must do what I can to stay connected to Jesus. Only when he lives through me will I have the patience, love, faith, strength, perspective, and understanding I need to raise godly, faithful children. Spiritual fruit in the lives of our children even depends—up to a point—on my staying connected to the Lord.

But the other side of this truth is that eventually my children must attach themselves to the Vine, not to me. I can love my children, nurture, comfort, teach them. I can model for them what life as a "branch" looks like and show them ways to stay "attached." But I cannot be their "vine," and I cannot play the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

My children must learn how to walk with the Lord without my help. But they won't be alone. As Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit will be with each of my children every step of the way.

Knowing the limitations of my responsibility as a mother has actually been quite freeing to me. I can be God's agent for cultivating the hearts of my children; in fact, I'm supposed to fill that role. But only God can give them life, strength, and divine guidance.

Read more about this in The Ministry of Motherhood.

The Ministry of Motherhood: Following Christ's Example in Reaching the Hearts of Our Children By Clarkson, Sally Buy on Amazon

Walking As A Spiritual Practice

For me, walking isn't so much a form of exercise as it is a spiritual practice. It calms my nerves, gives me perspective, and draws me so much closer to God. It offers me a kind of peace in my heart and grace of my soul. I often pray, release my burdens, ask for wisdom. I have been walking as a way to center my life for over 35 years.

Is there a daily practice or rhythm in your life that does the same for you? Tell me about it in the comments.

Our Way To A Well Lived Life

Acceptance, choosing contentment, practicing faithfulness over countless moments of a life time, learning to enjoy the glimpses of beauty sprinkled into our lives every day. It is then that our lives begin to make sense.

Our satisfaction and fulfillment flow from love given and obedience demonstrated in big and small areas.

Our unfettered commitment will shine through the blessings of our life and leave a lasting legacy, a story worth telling.

The gifts of a well-lived life take the stage when we are finally willing and wanting to please Him with our whole heart.

Read more about this in Well Lived.

Well Lived: Shaping a Legacy of Gratitude and Grace By Clarkson, Sally Buy on Amazon

Tea Time Tuesday: Building a Safe Place of Belonging

Click here to play today’s new podcast episode.

Clarksons belong to one another. Differing in personality, quirky, loud, messy, opinionated, introverts, extroverts — but we are one another’s tribe and we know we have a people we belong to. Through years, living day to day, I didn’t know how deeply we were building close bonds. Now, I see that through the decades of intentional living, we were becoming each other’s community. There are more of us now, and we continue to cherish any time we can be together.

Over a lifetime, we drank thousands of cups of the same brand of tea, listened to the same musical artists, watched the same movies, traveled and worked at conferences together, discussed and argued at the dinner table each night, enjoyed bedtime blessings and kisses, hiked often, and cherished whatever golden retriever we had at the time.

I remember one of the first times I realized how much we all meant to one another.

A crisp fall evening, with blazing sunset of reds, pinks, corals shouting for attention. We gathered on our deck, taking a moment to admire. As we sat in peace, the front door opened. A mid-20’s child, strode in with weary face and exhausted body.

“I just decided to come home after working all last night and today. I need ‘us’ to give me some rest and peace.”

Dinner still a half-hour away, I quickly cut some savory cheese, mounted crisp whole grain crackers on a plate, poured a cool drink, and gave my offering, “Just a little something to hold you over till dinner is ready.”

We ventured to our back deck, overlooking pine trees, lit our small gas fireplace and sat in the peace of a closing day. The furrowed brow softened and these words were whispered, “This is why I came home — I knew you all would fill me back up and I wanted peace and quiet for at least one night.”

One of the best powers of home is the life that comes from within that gives comfort, a “place to belong” and a place that soothes the soul, inspires the mind, and gives a moral compass through all the twists and turns of life. And we are the ones who create this belonging.

More on today’s Tea Time Tuesday episode: books I am reading, favorite meal of the week, music, and flowers.

Delighting In Your Child

To delight in your child is a step that happens in your own heart. Delight can be a challenge because there will undoubtedly be those days where the differences between you and your child will simply feel insurmountable, and you will wonder how you can find your way forward with them.

This kind of acceptance is a choice, and it is a habit we develop in ourselves as parents. It expresses truthfulness even if we don’t always feel the emotions of love and delight, but only if we practice an attitude of kindness and love in our hearts first. Only then can delight blossom and overflow into the lives of each of our children.

Read more about this in Uniquely You.

Uniquely You: Exploring Your Child's Extraordinarily Distinctive Design By Clarkson, Sally, Clarkson, Nathan Buy on Amazon

Bring Life Into Your Home This Winter

We have had a few days of single-digit temperatures here in Colorado. When the world outside is frozen solid, it is even more important that we bring life, warmth, and beauty into our world inside, our homes, where we will spend the majority of our time for the next couple of months.

Candles and hot drinks are always welcome during these cold winters, but one of my favorite ways to bring color back into my days is by placing vibrant flowers throughout my home. A beautiful bouquet never fails to remind me that spring will eventually come, and offers me joy in the meantime.

How do you bring life into your home during the winter? What helps you get through snowy, inside days? Tell me in the comments!

Lean Into Life As Something Beautiful

Trusting that God works all things together for good despite the challenges we face is a gift of worship we give to Him. Perhaps our marriage is different, or our children are in some ways mysterious to us, or our circumstances more challenging than we thought they would be.

Our unique puzzles are a place of His design. It is in our unique story where we bring His light and that we might add love, healing, hope, and variety to the world. And He can use our combination of circumstances — even the painful ones — for our good and His glory.

Read more about this in Different.

Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him By Clarkson, Sally, Clarkson, Nathan Buy on Amazon

Tea Time Tuesday: Be Gentle With Yourself

Click here to play today’s new podcast episode.

Tea Time Tuesday

Be gentle to yourself. Your discouraged or broken heart matters so much to God.

We are all fragile, vulnerable, limited human beings. We only have so much energy before we become exhausted. We have limited emotional and spiritual strength as well. Life is a constant drain on our personal resources. We mamas can be so hard on ourselves.

Yet, God understands those times when you are empty to your toenails and discouraged or feel that nothing you do matters or is making the difference you hoped for. Your discouraged heart matters to God.

Recently, I was doing a reflection and study about the vulnerability of Jesus as a human being living in this fallen, chaotic world and how often he felt a sadness in this world. We read in Matthew that Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”

When Jesus attended the funeral of his precious friend, Lazarus, and sought to comfort Mary and Martha, we read that “Jesus wept.”

At the end of His ministry on earth, most of Jesus’ followers left him and he posed a question to his disciples, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

In Hebrews, we learn that Jesus was tempted as we are and He understands our temptation to doubt, be discouraged, feel unseen, and so much more. We read, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

And there are many more.

As a child, we can rest in the arms of our sympathetic, loving Heavenly Father.

Join me on my podcast, today. Hear about 2 books I’m reading, blueberry cobbler, Starlink Satellite, and breathe in Jesus’ compassion, love and sympathy that he has for you and me.

Praying His grace-filled blessings for you, friends.