Sally Clarkson's Blog, page 142

Music As Story (An Interview With Terri Moon) - A New Podcast

In this episode, Holly Packiam and Jaime Showmaker interview classical violinist and violin teacher, Terri Moon. We were both inspired by Terri's stories of how she became interested in music and how she shared this passion with others.

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words, and that which cannot remain silent.” — Victor Hugo

Here are a few more thoughts from Terri Moon.

A love for music is an amazing gift you can give your child, a gift that will last a lifetime! Classical music is like a palace you are inviting your child into, one with many different rooms. Whether you find old favorites, or discover new places, you and your children will make memories together. Music is also the confluence of art, literature, and history because it reveals the culture of the time and place in which it was written. 

It might be helpful to know that most music can be divided into two categories — music that tells a story or paints a picture (called ‘program music’) and music that stands alone (called ‘absolute music’). As an entryway into classical music, you might find it easiest to start with ‘program music’ because you can easily tie it to a story. The musical examples I suggested are all ‘program music’ except the ones by Mozart, Haydn, and Bach -- those are ‘absolute’ music examples. However, once you begin the journey you will discover the ways that ‘absolute’ music touches your soul and creates feelings, images, and stories that are unique for each listener. 

Most of all, don’t feel that you have to understand everything about classical music in order to listen. Just let it speak to you, and share the experience of enjoying wonderful music with your child! 

CLICK HERE to listen to this new podcast.

What are your felt needs as a Mom? Listen to this wonderful story....

Leaders gathered from all over the UK when I visited London to encourage one another in Mum Heart Ministry.  

Hear from my friends. Listen to their hearts. God is drawing women from all over the world to a common calling--to walk with Him and to build a godly legacy. Watch and feel the bond of these precious mamas. (Or Mums!)

Read the amazing story of how God is on the move in England and Europe.

Oxford was a far off place of high-brow academic professors and aged halls of history in my mind. I never thought or dreamed that my children would walk its streets, become engaged in great ideas, get their degrees from such auspicious universities. Yet, God often has stories for us to live that are very different than we imagined. 

Our first exposure to Oxford came in 2003 when Sarah found a C.S. Lewis conference for us to attend. We saved our money for a year and Clay blessed me by sending Sarah and me to our very first conference together as adults, while he took care of the others. Celebrating 2 weeks of glorious days listening to inspiring lecturers, sipping tea in the shadows of ornate buildings from hundreds of years gone by and having our souls and minds stretched and inspired created a spark in Sarah that enflamed a larger fire later in her life. She dreamed of attending school in Oxford. 

Fast forward many years and eventually, Sarah and Joy would attend classes there the same year. As their mama, I wanted to visit, so I planned a trip. But, I also wondered if there were other women there wanting to hear the same messages we had been teaching in America and other international venues for many years. Because of our association with the C.S. Lewis society through all these years, we had become familiar with his home and those who lived there. They graciously allowed me to use his library and on facebook, I put a post that said I would be there and could host 40 women for a morning out. 

In less that a week, I had over 40 women respond and so we all stuffed into Lewis's library and I spoke for 2 or 3 hours. What fun to meet women from all over England, Scotland, Austria, Germany, and places beyond. I was so surprised, humbled and so very grateful.

As a young woman, I was challenged to invite people into my arenas--whether home or ministry venues--and then expect the Lord to show up. And He really showed up in Oxford. At one of these meetings, (i held 3 over the last few years), I met Jacqui, a sweet friend that I believe God had prepared to head up our ministry in the UK. 

Jacqui and me!

 

To make a long interesting story a little bit shorter, after becoming friends, having her in my home for a leadership intensive with her sweet friend, Amy, we planned and dreamed about doing a conference in London to begin spreading the training and inspiration with other sweet women.

Amy and her husband generously offered their church for us to host a conference without charge. We planned, they worked hard, and we had a sell out and could not take any more women in their fellowship hall where they had a wonderful English Tea.  One hundred 25 women from all over the UK and Europe showed up--we had 6 countries represented. The conference was so inspiring to me as I saw women from all over, different walks of life, different ages, different cultural backgrounds, but all enthusiastic to learn more about becoming strategic with their family's, children and ministry in building godly children for the next generation. I love these precious ones. 

While in London, I was able to spend several hours with Jacqui. Then, I had the privilege of spending a whole morning with these others who are willing to try to start a ministry in their country where motherhood, children and marriage have been a battleground for many years. 

We are hoping to increase our conferences to at least 2, if not 3 or 4 next year. I am also hoping to spend significant time there in the next couple of years to help train leaders of regions and small groups to take these messages to mums who long for spiritual companionship and encouragement. We have over 325 women involved in our small groups now and hope to equip more women to start more groups so that they will not feel alone.

Please pray for these precious women as they are in a minority in their neighborhoods and churches. Pray for strength, wisdom, community and ministry through their lives. . Please pray for us as we seek to expand our ministry through Europe, Australia, China, South Africa, Asia and other countries where we have active ministries growing. 

If God puts it on your heart to help us expand our ministry around the world, please use the donate button on the sidebar and help us reach parents with the biblical messages of raising godly children who will become the adult leaders in the next generation. We hope to do some leadership training there in the coming year and need to find places for training, a place to stay and materials we can print to give to the various leaders. 

We are so very grateful for all of you who have given so generously to our ministry over the years. We wanted you to see firsthand what God is doing in this special place. 

Won't you leave a comment below to let these precious friends, who mean so much to me, know that you are praying for them and that you feel the same feelings that they feel?

A Heart for Work- The Gift of Purposeful Industry

Building a masterpiece of your own life requires hard work. Just this week, I realized that my adult children somehow miraculously learned to have a strong work ethic in our home even though I didn't think I was succeeding in building one. All four have had to work hard at jobs to afford paying for schooling, making it through challenging universities, writing books, creating projects because of lots and lots of hard work. 

Throughout the messy days of life, I could not always see what was actually being built. But perhaps just like in a building project, there is sawdust, scattered concrete, nails, glass, debri of every sort, and the finished product is not in view, so it is with our lives. We are indeed building but the building debri is in piles all around our lives, even though a great work is in progress. I will never forget these thoughts that played through my mind as I sat in West Minster Abbey. And like me, Joy was also inspired to great thoughts.

Angel voices echoed back and forth creating an heavenly atmosphere in the ancient shadowy cathedral as the sun began to set. Our eyes peered above to the shimmering lights of the stain glass saints as they seemed to come alive with the sun flowing through them at dusk. Dark shining glaze shined out on the intricate woodwork surrounding the windows, as the trilling organ wrapped its mystique of the bold bass notes around our willing hearts. For a tiny moment, we were swept up to heaven.

Joy, 15, was on her first mission trip with me. Having the opportunity to stop in London for 3 days, before we went to Europe, we took the opportunity to go to Evensong at Westminster Abby. Boys are chosen and trained in an elite private school to perform the closing of the day, evening service at the country's historical cathedral.

We walked quietly, reverently out into the night air and whispered quietly, still in awe of the vast beauty of the evening.

"Mama, I was looking at the cut stones and statues, the intricate carvings of all the wood, the stain class windows all around, the gorgeous tapestries, the brass candlesticks and crosses, and the flowers so elegantly placed throughout the hall. I was struck by how much work, planning, design, skill went into creating such a masterpiece of a historical church."

Any great work of beauty that is excellent requires a vast amount of work and constant care and attention.

"To build a home or marriage on a foundation of ideals requires sacrifice. It demands a lot of work that will never be over. These ideals don't come easily to anyone, but they come through battle. It is an illusion to think that any great work of beauty ever comes naturally.  It comes to life little by little by countless days of diligent hard work." 

(Own Your Life, Sally Clarkson)

 

A great life requires the same--hard work and fortitude. For a person to live well, to love deeply, to grow strong in truth, wisdom and knowledge so as to live with understanding, to become skillful at life and providing, to extend the grace of God into a ministry of outreach requires vision, planning and then lots of work and investment of energy and time. To build a godly legacy with children takes a lifetime of sacrifice. To establish a strong marriage requires years of growing selfless, giving deeply of love, compassion, forgiveness and growing in maturity. Integrity of a life that is filled with godly character and maturity requires many years of choosing to take one more faithful step in the direction of God.

To build a home of ideals means a life of sacrifice. It means a lot of work, and it’s never going to be over. These ideals don’t come easily to anyone; they come through battle. It’s an illusion to think that building a place of beauty ever happens naturally to anymore; it happens little by little…through hard work.

To build these habits and values of hard work comes slowly to our children, from young age to young adult. It is the rhythm of working every day that is the key to developing this work ethic in a child-becoming adult. When a child is used to doing chores, completing a school assignment, carrying their load, they will find it easier to take initiative in their work habits as an adult because it will be second nature.

But, you may not think it is taking root in  your home.

Sarah just finished her degree at Oxford having completed papers of thousands and thousands of words. Joy is in the midst of completing her Master's Degree and pondering more school after that. Nathan is filming his second movie this summer and has just completed his second book. Joel is writing a book, going to graduate school and working on the side on several music projects.

I never thought I was doing enough to create in them a value for hard work, but we "worked" on it every day and God was doing more in their hearts than it looked like on the surface. Be encouraged!

God has created us so that each person is capable of telling a great story with their lives, if they are willing to commit to living for His glory.

You are the masterpiece in the making, truly! One day, one baby step at a time builds a beautiful  life.

Hard work

Endurance

Fortitude

Sacrifice

Initiative

Love, wisdom and patience

All of these attributes and more are required to build the great life God designed us to live. The end result of such a life is to bring the healing light of Christ into the midst of our own sphere of influence. But, this great work also satisfies the soul.

Yet, not many become great because not many intentionally dedicate themselves to this eternal work of living and engaging in a great story that will be told throughout eternity.

Yet, all it requires is our will and our faith, as we determine to follow hard after Him every day. God delights in our vigorous engagement of life. And He is there to strongly support us each step of the way.

In 2015, how will you imagine the ways in which God created you to become excellent, holy, set apart for His purposes, by living a story that will inspire generations of your family to want to follow in your steps.

It starts with a heart of obedience, today, in the small things, the challenges, the beautiful deeds that require our best.

Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey me."  And obeying Him leads to living and exceptional, set aside holy life--available to all of us if we seek Him with all of our heart. How might our worlds be different if we lived into His amazing Spirit's design imprinted with us us to fulfill?

You might enjoy more inspiration by reading more from Own Your Life

Episode #89

This week Sally and Kristen discuss the idea of how we teach our children about the heart of work through companionship in working with us. They discuss the way that our faith and work are connected, how to give our children a kingdom vision for all they labor in, even the ordinary, and about how in a family, we can equip our children in this each day. Then, Kristen is joined by Ruth Simons, who shares about what its like to work from home with six boys, how she and her husband manage their work, their family, and celebrate each day's rewards together.

This week's Bible Memory Printable can be found here: WEEK SIX BIBLE MEMORY

PLAY EPISODE #89

Ruth is an artist, author, entrepreneur, and speaker. Ruth is most interested in how the gospel intersects her daily life, and longs to see beauty and truth together in any creative medium. She’s an unlikely mom to six young boys and wife to Troy, with whom she leads GraceLaced's small but mighty team. When not painting, writing, and casting vision for GraceLaced.com, Ruth is usually busy eating chips and salsa, sorting laundry, cooking for large crowds, not finishing her sentences, and discovering off-beaten paths in the wild with her guys. She is a devotee of pho, a recovering perfectionist, a converted four-wheeling enthusiast, and a believer in waiting upon her Redeemer through every season.

Ruth, Troy and their boys call both Los Ranchos, New Mexico, and the Western slope of Colorado, near Durango, home and spend their time chasing sunsets as much as possible.

Her first book, GraceLaced: Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart, releases September 1, 2017.

You're the Conductor of Your Family's Symphony!

The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming

I am counting the days until all of my sweet ones will be home with me. So far in 33 years, we have not missed a "Family Day" together, (as we describe in The Lifegiving Home.)

Joy will time her return from Scotland to be home as Thomas and Sarah fly in from Oxford while Joel and Nathan will already be home to greet them. I can't wait. I am already planning meals, fun times, movies, times in a cafe and late nights to sit on their beds speaking of dreams and soul issues. But, as always, it starts with a family ritual that happens every time one of us returns home. It is a home ritual that says, "We are so glad you are here. This is where you belong to a people and a life."

And so I remember other times in the past that hail to the times we are soon to have once again....

“Just left the freeway. Home in minutes.”

Nathan’s text set off a familiar flurry of activity as I hurried through the house, eager to complete every preparation before the car headlights bounced off the front windows.

Candles lit.
Check.
Favorite acoustic music playing.
Check.
House straightened.
Check.
Dinner on the stove, cookies in the oven.
Check. (It smelled wonderful!)

Joy, our youngest, was coming home from a semester abroad, her first stint to be overseas by herself for four months. Joel and Nate had been dispatched to travel the familiar hour of highway to the Denver airport and had sent the text as soon as they exited on County Line Road, two miles from our home. I had just enough time to light the lantern at the front door and write “Welcome Home, Joy!” on the small slate board in chalk colors of red and blue.

Standing just inside the door, I paused and looked behind me at the waiting house, my appreciation refreshed by seeing it through the eyes of someone who has been away. I so love this place that my family calls home, that embodies so much of what we have come to think of as “the Clarkson ways.”

Each piece of furniture, each architectural detail, each tradition and ritual sings to us of beauty, safety, and growth—and of the vision, planning, thought, and artistry that went into fleshing out the vision of home that captivated me from the very beginning.

Even as an orchestra needs a conductor to choose the music, lead rehearsals, and unite all of the instruments into a harmonious sound, so every home needs someone who conducts what I call the life music of a home—its atmosphere. The one who conducts is responsible for bringing out the swelling themes, the steady bass notes, the drama of percussion kept in its place, the soaring melodies and intricate counterparts—all the instruments sounding together in a symphony of grace.

In our home, for the most point, the conductor of life within its walls is me. This is the role I have chosen, the role that suits me best, though my husband, Clay, adds his own unique rhythms and melodies and the whole family helps perform the ultimate creation of our shared life. And even as an orchestra must practice the music—with mistakes and interruptions scattered along the way—so our home building has been a process that will take a lifetime to perfect.

From the beginning, the vision Clay and I had for our home was to reflect the reality of the living God—to embody His sparkle, pleasure, artistry, fun, and intimacy. God’s truth was to be taught, cherished, obeyed daily within the boundaries of our home. His love was to be the oxygen that each one of us breathed. Observing the words and life of Christ, I began to understand that a servant’s heart would be required to adequately meet the needs of those who stepped through our doors—whether those needs involved friendship, a place to rest, forgiveness and grace, guidance and instruction, a safe haven from the stresses of the world, or just a place to retreat from the mundane or the burdens of life. And this task began with a heart commitment to make home a holding place for all that is sacred, beautiful, valuable, and reflective of His reality.

Do you see yourself as the conductor of your family's symphony--your own magnum opus? How would envision yourself in that role change your life?














The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming

By Sally Clarkson, Sarah Clarkson

Read more about composing your family symphony in The Lifegiving Home!

Planting Shade Trees Through Story

It's funny that I don't even remember the man's name.  It was a Sunday night, and my husband and I had gone to church for an evening program with a Christian comedian.  Really, it was a rather ordinary day, ending with our regular Sunday evening church attendance. When we walked through the doors that evening,  I had expected to laugh.  What I did not expect, however, was to be hit to the heart with a vision that would become the mission of the rest of my life.

In between the jokes about choir bus tours and fellowship meals, the comedian became suddenly serious.  He began to tell a tale of his family history--immigrant great-grandparents who had to make their way in this vast, new land called America by the sweat of their brow.  And, considering that they settled in Texas, they sweat A LOT.  He spoke about the bush trees in West Texas, how they don't provide much relief from the sweltering Texas sun.  One day, when his great-grandfather was still a very young man, a neighboring farmer saw him out in front of the family home, meticulously burying dozens of acorns.  The farmer approached the grandfather, laughing, and asked, "what in the WORLD are you doing?"

"I'm planting shade trees," the grandfather quietly replied as he continued dropping seeds into the warm soil.

"Shade trees?" the farmer exclaimed, "Don't you know it will take YEARS before these things are big enough to provide any shade? You'll be long gone before then!" he stated smugly.  The grandfather continued planting--determined.

"I'm not planting them for me," he said patiently, "I'm planting them for my grandchildren."

That's when my heart skipped a beat, and God took the words of a comedian I don't even remember and began to reveal to me His plan for the rest of my life: PLANT SHADE TREES.

CLICK HERE to read more...

Traveling Together For Learning's Sake

Recently, a friend and I had a long phone call remembering a legacy we left our children that came about almost by chance. We had piled our seven children into her suburban several years in a row when our husbands were working and traveled together over many parts of the United States. Most of our time, we stayed in the homes of generous families that we had met online and we  look back now and realize that it gave our children first hand experiences at seeing historical heroes from a more personal point of view. And we made great friends with those we met along the way.

Our trip was so deeply rewarding, a sweet time of friendships for all of us, and mind and soul expanding, that we did it several more times through the years. We so enjoyed reading about historical heroes and then seeing their homes, walking through the rooms where they had lived courageous stories and expanding all of our souls with inspirational knowledge. I realize that not all people are able to arrange this sort of trip, but there are so many creative ways we can experience and see the lives of others in an authentic way. 

Is traveling with your children part of your family culture? Seeing, handling, touching, acting out, experiencing, reading outloud---these are the live experiences that made history feel real for our family. Since my children were very little, I purposed to plan ways they could really experience what we studied.

Because we still worked with many overseas, missions was not just be a story that someone else lived and we only read about.  I wanted my children to experience being in a foreign country and eating foreign food and hearing a foreign language, while seeing the great needs of others. Seeing the needs of others created thankfulness for what we had in our own home.

Of course, we can be on mission in our own countries, too. Serving in a soup kitchen or babysitting at a center for battered women makes needs more real, because children get to put a name to a face that they can pray for. Seeing how blessed we are as Americans is important, but when a child sees homeless or hungry children, they have a whole new understanding of poverty.

For this reason, since my oldest children were very small, I intentionally planned and purposed to give them real life experiences so they could have a more realistic understanding of those we studied. It is why we have been such travelers. Reading about historical figures is inspiring, but seeing places they lived or cities they built or where their battles were fought gives everyone a more realistic, concrete understanding of the ways of life, physical limitations, difficulties and also blessings of the people they have been reading about.

So travel has always been a central part of our lives. It wasn't possible in certain seasons of life, but I learned very early on that my little ones could be very happy in a car if I gave them things to play with, draw, munch on, or listen to; and so we have traveled our whole lives! Because Clay was particularly busy for three weeks working on our book catalogue every year, and my friend's husband had three very busy weeks with his animal husbandry business at a similar time, so we planned a trip together every spring. Finding museums, battlefields, cafes, art galleries, and more were our goal. We always would have two or three books on tape to listen to telling all about the places or people we were going to visit.

And so I'm remembering how our little history group one year took a trip to Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City. We studied the early years of American history for 9 months while we saved our money and planned, and made memories which will last forever--and also helped us understand more of the reality of the founding of our country. The stories of real live people who lived intentionally lives deep inside the souls of our children to direct them to live stories in their own world that matter. 

Have you ever taken a trip with your children to see America's historical sites, or the home of a beloved author, or to experience a foreign culture? Which adventure was your own favorite? If you haven't ever tried such an experiment, perhaps this will be the year!

Giving Your Children A Heart To Serve- Following the Model of Christ

Bending his knee on the hard, dusty floor, Jesus face creased in  deep thought as he grabbed a rough towel. Longing to reach the hearts of his beloved friends, He knelt to touch them, to serve them, to feed them, showing the depths of His love for them through his gentle, intentional gestures.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end ...Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. ~ John 13:1, 3-5

Jesus' call to His disciples was compelling; a call to lay down their lives, to serve, to experience rejection and even persecution. He was asking them to believe something that would eventually cost each one of their lives--that He, a carpenter from Nazareth, was actually the Messiah.

The darkness of the evening must have matched his heavy heart? And so what did He do ... before breaking bread and pouring wine, before letting Himself be broken?

He washed 120 toes.

What an example for us as we live life with our children!

"Jesus was going to transfer to His disciples the responsibility of taking God's message of redemptive love to the world. But instead of just telling them what to do, harshly commanding their allegiance with orders and threats or guilt and manipulative statements, He chose to tie the cords of His heart to theirs with the strong and unbreakable bond of a loving, serving relationship.

Jesus spent His last night on earth with His disciples in service to them. How powerful their memories of that night must have been--the King of the whole universe touching and rubbing their dusty feet and gently drying them with a towel. Their Lord and Master breaking the loaf of bread and serving each of them for the celebrated feast of Passover.

Jesus' example of servant leadership set Him apart from so many historical religious leaders. He was not a God who lorded it over His followers and demanded they follow Him or coerced their obedience through authoritarianism and fear. Instead, He called them to the excellence of holiness and yet lovingly served them in order to win their hearts and show them the means of reaching others' hearts as well.

Contemplating the hearts of my own children and seeking to teach them about the grace of God, I realize my love and service to them must come before any of my great words, my teaching and training. My time, my attention, my "soft-tickling"--even when I am tired or have other "important" things n my mind--is what builds our relationship and prepares them to listen to what I have to say. Only then, once the wells of their need are filled with the grace of being loved, will my words to them about God's grace finally make sense."

Episode # 88For even the son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Mark 10:45"Make it a rule, and pray to God to help you to keep it, never, if possible, to lie down at night without being able to say: "I have made one human being at least a little wiser, or a little happier, or at least a little better this day."- Charles Kingsley

Do your children know that they have special gifts and skills given to them by God in order that they might bear his light and love to others? In this episode, Sally and Kristen discuss the heart of service and share about how to develop eyes in our children that are trained to see the needs of others, and understand that it is a part of their calling to meet those needs. They share how you can begin teaching your children to serve others from a very young age, and about how even among siblings, the gift of service can be cultivated intentionally. Then, Sally and Kristen are joined by Holly Packiam of Storyformed.com, and all three offer advice to help navigate challenges like consumerism and busyness faced by parents today that prevent them from developing this gift at home. They also dive into practical ways to help our children grow in how they serve at home, at church, their communities and the world. 

Play episode #88

Holly Packiam is a pastor's wife, a mother of four, a home educator, and the Director at Storyformed.com, a branch of Wholeheart Ministries that is passionate about capturing children's moral imagination and through literature. She and her family live in Colorado Springs.

 

Here's this week's Bible memory printable! Week Five Bible Memory

And we have a new calendar for you, too! Click her to download and print: Lifegiving July Calendar

Taking Stock of Your Soul, Bringing it Back to LIfe

Why don't the mountains make me cry no more?

They don't sing the way they did before
They're just piles of stone as dead as bones
Like corpses on a field of war
And they just don't make me cry no more.

Andrew Peterson

(a favorite singer/songwriter and dear personal friend of our family)

Recently, as we were driving along the freeway, a daily event,  I glanced over at PIke's Peak, covered in snow, bright against the summer sky. I knew in my heart it was breath-taking, the kind of beauty that used to stop me as a teen and caused me to stir in my heart that "Someone" greater than me had crafted the beauty that was bigger than me. Gorgeous natural scenes used to touch and move deep feelings in my soul.

Yet, this day, I had a thought that it must be beautiful, but at the moment my heart felt stark cold as though untouchable, unable to access the places that beauty used to stir in my heart. Music is the poetry of our generation, the voice of our fears, thoughts, emotions, giving reality to what we store in our hearts. And so, this song reflected my own heart's words on this particular day. Why don't the mountains make me cry no more. 

This passing thought reminded me of a year before when I had felt the same way. Sitting on the front porch, sipping tea in the late afternoon caught one of my kids and me creaking slowly in our white rocking chairs and trying to breathe in life. "Mama, I was so tired and worn to the bone when I came home from school this year, that I couldn't even feel how pretty everything was any more. It was like I was in a fog."

Remember when, as a little girl, you would see a shooting star or sit by the firelight of a bonfire and roast marshmallows or catch lightening bugs in the early dark of a summer's night and all was delight to your soul. Just being alive was exciting and every day had the possibility of something wonderful? Every child needs such times of wonder and innocence.

Yet, in the contemporary culture of constant reminders of terrible things happening in the world, our minds and hearts can take on the darkness and sometimes cover over the light, the beautiful. 

When this happens, we must look inside to see what is happening inside our souls. Taking the temperature of our souls is essential to staying alive. I have felt so crowded in my life, at times,  that I have hardly had room to breathe. Sometimes I know that the sunrise is beautiful, but my heart doesn't sing when I see it anymore. This is the moment I say, "No matter what, I will take time for rest for my soul, time alone, time away from machines, time for music and sleeping, and not answering the phone. Time for walks and lots of hot drinks, or a hot bath, or a moonlit walk under the stars.."

I have gathered delights that help me restore my own heart to wonder because I want to appropriately be childlike before Him to marvel, to breathe, to be amazed.

What helps you restore? What brings you back to your old true self? Keep stock of your heart now, so that you may stay alive to God.

"Guard your heart, for from it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23

To spread light, life and joy through the walls of our home requires that we are storing it up. How is your soul this season? What steps do you need to take to fill it with life and beauty once again? 

 

MORE Storyformed Q & A - A New Podcast

In this Storyformed episode, Holly Packiam and Jaime Showmaker answer MORE listener questions. 

Topics include:

Favorite picture books;Whether to read the same books over and over;Reading levels;Resources for good books;Great read-alouds for the whole family; andWhether to discuss stories after reading.

CLICK HERE to listen to this podcast and to view Show Notes.

What Kind of Friend Are You?

"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.
For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up." Ecc. 4:9

What kind of friend are you? I have a wonderful friend who is my "go to" friend when I need to be with someone who I know walks with the Lord. She is a kindred spirit, has a busy life, many responsibilities and we don't get to see each other very often because of our mutually busy schedules. But, I take the luxury of making special time to get together with her because I know I can count on the fact that she has been in the presence of the Lord and whatever we chit-chat about or whenever we share heart secrets, I know that I will be exposed to a heart that has been shaped by scripture, watered by faith and dwelling in the presence of the Lord. 

I know that just being with her will fill my cup, point me in the right direction, give me perspective. I also know that it has been her habit to walk with the Lord for years and years, one day--one devotional--one prayer at a time--so her wisdom is cumulative--years and years of experiences of seeing God's faithfulness and learning how to live by faith, and insight on how to look at life.

"He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm."

Prov. 13:20
 

I have had to look for these kinds of friends over the years. I once heard a leader say, "I will go to the ends of the earth to be around someone who makes me want to love God more and be more excellent. I will run quickly away from the kind of person who is always a drainer, complains and drags me down and depletes my desire to walk with God."

I have thought about this philosophy over the years. We must all minister to a wide variety of people. Yet, I have purposefully sought to find friends to spend time with, on somewhat of a regular basis, who have the life of Christ bubbling up.  This is to fill my own heart with wisdom from those who keep me seeking to pursue God in His holiness. Positive peer pressure, you might say. 

Excellent women are hard to come by, yet in each case, I find that these women are dedicated to pursuing God no matter what and their priorities show the investment they have made by making it a habit to spend time with the Lord on a regular basis--and then walk obediently, choosing to serve Him and His ways. Many of these women have terrible backgrounds and had to learn scripture and truth by pursuing it--but by pursuing the Lord in the context of His word and obeying it, they became reflections of Christ. Not about background, but about the priority of who you spend time with the most.

How do you become a "go to" friend? Determine that you will read the word every day. Choose to believe in God every day, every circumstance, because it is way to please Him. Pray for His guidance and live with His presence going with you. It is the engaged, loving heart--the one that hungers to know and live for God--that will become the heart that others will draw from. There is nothing else to replace it--no cleverness or self-strength or rules or formula can replace the palpable life that comes from living day by day, holding on to God's hand, and then being a well-spring from which other draw.

Do you want your children to draw from the Life that is bubbling over from your heart and mind and words and attitudes--then you must spend day after day with the Word of Life who will give you the true source of wisdom and love you long for. 

Even as a house is built one brick at a time and yet has the potential of becoming a mansion, so a wise woman builds her house one day--one brick at time into a home of spirituality that comes from rubbing up against Him so many times.

Thanks, sweet friend, for spending so much time with Him so that I could be with Him when I am with you. Thanks, too, to all of my other sweet friends who pour His life into mine. (Those who are in my stories, in my book dedication, in my ministry and projects and work at my conferences, my blog and email friends. It is a host of watching women walk with God that waters my own heart. I am so very grateful for you!)I treasure you. You have made it possible for me to keep going in this life of ideals and faith in my sweet Lord.

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