Ann Voskamp's Blog, page 74
September 11, 2020
One of the Very Best Goals for Every Parent: what if we started every day with these 7 words
Mark Batterson has already written numerous books for adults to help them walk through numerous sides of their faith, but recently he and his daughter Summer wrote a beautiful children’s book that will draw children closer to God and how He speaks to all of us, both big and small. This sweet book with lyrical storytelling will draw your little one’s heart closer to God, and I have a feeling you will be drawn closer to Him too. It’s a grace to welcome Mark to the farm’s front porch today….
If all the girls in the world were lined up, and I could only choose one to be my daughter, I would choose you.
Since she was a little girl, Summer has heard me say those words. And I mean it even more each time I say it. Why? My love for my daughter compounds interest every single day!
“The mystery of Calvary is this: He would have done it for one of us!”
As a pastor I spent many years taking every theology class under the sun, but all of that education doesn’t add up to the day I became a dad. Then, and only then, was I able to understand how beloved we are by the Heavenly Father.
Yes, the Father sent Jesus for all of us.
But the mystery of Calvary is this: He would have done it for one of us!
As a dad, I get it.
As parents, some of the most sacred moments we have are reading bedtime storybooks. Our kids are a captive audience, tucked into bed. Plus, they don’t want us to leave because it means “lights out.” We’ve got to steward those “tuck the kids into bed” moments, even when we’re all tuckered out.
I loved reading to Summer when she was a little girl, but I have to admit, getting to write a book together is even better!
The goal? Pretty simple: to help parents help their children hear God.
Is anything more important?
Joy Prouty
Mark Batterson
Joy ProutyA quarter-century of parenting has taught me a few hard-earned lessons.
“We’ve got to steward those ‘tuck the kids into bed’ moments, even when we’re all tuckered out.”
1. You’ll never be a perfect parent, but you can be a praying parent.
Prayer turns parents into prophets who shape the destiny of their children. But that is only one side of the coin. Half of prayer is talking. The other half is listening.
2. My kids need to hear the voice of God more than mine!
When our kids were small, I would sometimes speak in a very soft whisper. If you’re a parent, you know where this is going. My kids had to get very close to me in order to hear me. That’s when I would reach out, grab them, and give them a great big bear hug!
When God reveals Himself to the prophet Elijah, He lowers His voice to a gentle whisper. Why does God speak in a whisper? He wants us close enough to not just hear His words, but hear His heart. He wants us close enough to embrace us with His Almighty arms!
God is present. In fact, He is omnipresent. All that’s absent is our awareness. Like Jacob, we need to open our eyes, open our ears. We need to wake up to the God who is all around us all the time. Children are not too young to hear His voice. In fact, they might find it easier than adults. Not unlike learning a foreign language, kids are more amendable to new phonemes.
“His native tongue is Scripture, but God also speaks through doors and desires and dreams, as well as people and problems and even pain.”
Do you remember the story of Samuel? God spoke to him as a young child, but he confused it for the voice of Eli, the High Priest. Evidently, their voices sounded very similar! Do you remember what Eli said? He instructed Samuel to pray a very simple, very brave prayer: “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” What if we started every day that way?
Those seven words encompass our job as parents. God speaks in lots of different languages.
His native tongue is Scripture, but God also speaks through doors and desires and dreams, as well as people and problems and even pain.
And what is God saying, in that voice, still and small? That you, my dear are His favorite of all.
This past year, Lora and I had the joy of walking Summer down the aisle on her wedding day. When it was time to pronounce a blessing on them, as husband and wife, I reminded Summer of the words I’d whispered a thousand times: if all the girls in the world were lined up and I could only choose one to be my daughter, I would choose you.
Then I flipped the script, turned toward Austin, her husband, and said: if all the boys in the world were lined up and we could only choose one to be our son-in-law, we would choose you.
“God is present. In fact, He is omnipresent. All that’s absent is our awareness.”
At the end of the day, I want to be famous in my house. Success is when those who know you best actually respect you most. That’s my wife and my kids.
And while parenting is incredibly challenging, the goal is quite simple.
I want to help my kids hear God’s voice!
I want them to hear His voice in my voice.
I want them to hear His voice everywhere they go, in everything they do.
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
Mark Batterson serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. NCC also owns and operates Ebenezers Coffeehouse, The Miracle Theatre, and the DC Dream Center. Mark holds a doctor of ministry degree from Regent University and is the New York Times bestselling author of 17 books, including The Circle Maker, Chase the Lion, and Whisper.
Mark’s latest children’s book, God Speaks in Whispers, is co-written with his daughter Summer and explores the big question children often ask at the beginning of their faith journey – How does God speak to me?
[ Our humble thanks to Waterbrook for their partnership in today’s devotion ]
September 9, 2020
3 Big Truths to Raise Resilient Kids (& Be Resilient Ourselves) & What We All Need To Wing Through 2020
Right in the midst of a mess of storms brooding everywhere we turn, our hens take to brooding a clutch of eggs, and to say we stumbled into a miracle of sorts wouldn’t be clutching at straws.
It was somewhere about the middling to end of July that our 4 fowl ladies, Daisy and Sadie, Haddie and Lady, they took up nesting like it was nobody’s business, and our rooster, Strut, well, he took to what he does best, strutting around the coop as cocky as well, yeah, you guessed it — a rooster.
“In a season of death and heartache and frustration: New life!”
We counted down incubating days and kept our eyes on the calendar, and on the tally of coronavirus cases in our county, on how many weeks until school began, on any news of what this pandemic means for one kid with half a heart, one in nursing, working at long-term elderly care facility, and another kid with Type 1 diabetes, always with a bag of needles and insulin.
We sewed masks, wore them before the mandatory bylaw passed for our county, sweet-ached for summer to linger longer so we could gather with safely physically-distanced family and friends outside on front porches and around fire pits, before the cold drives us back indoors and into a bit of pandemic loneliness.
So when we heard the faint cheeps early one fine August morning as we carried out a pail of corn grits for our girls, and spotted little gold fluffs peeping out from under Haddie’s speckled wings, well, yeah, you guessed it — you could have knocked us over with a feather.
“Hope is a winged thing that rises every day with the sun.”
In a season of death and heartache and frustration: New life!
I’d knelt down in the coop with these three swirls of softness dancing in peeping song.
Hope is a winged thing that rises every day with the sun.
And there is new life, new hope, every time we get to wake to a new day without any missteps yet, knowing Grace Himself is always coming to meet us.
Levi Voskamp
The trio of fluffy peepers darting in and out, cheeping about, Daisy and Sadie, Haddie and Lady seemed to abandon the rest of the clutch of eggs and move on to scritch-scratching around the coop, the whole lot of them pecking for bugs.
So I kinda gathered that the abandoned eggs were duds.
“And there is new life, new hope, every time we get to wake to a new day without any missteps yet, knowing Grace Himself is always coming to meet us.”
Late that afternoon, I scoop up the remaining half a dozen eggs the fowl ladies had punted out of their nest and let them roll out the pouch I’d made from the hem of my shirt into a tiny pile, like a cairn, an ebenezer, a landmark, a waymarker, there at the edge of the wheat field.
Come evening, Baby Girl and I meander out to feed our wee flock of three sheep another heap of hay and check on the chicks.
And as I’m scooping some grains in a bucket for the sheep, Baby Girl tilts her head, raises that one eyebrow of hers, like she does when she’s lifting ideas up and hunting around for understanding:
“Mama? You hear that? You hear it? I can hear it – – like there’s a baby chick out here.”
And I smile – –
“You bet, Baby Girl. There are 3 baby chicks right there with their mamas in the coop” I nod toward Strut and his scratching crew of clucking hens – – “You see them? If you count the chicks right there — I bet you can count all three.”
She’s already shaking her head —
“No, Mama — listen — I can hear another one. I can see it!” She’s already made a mad dash toward the wheat field.
Girl’s not wrong.
I glimpse something move too.
When I catch up to her, look over Baby Girl’s shoulder — there’s a wet and flailing chick squawking beside the ebenezer of eggs I’d left there in the field. One of the shell’s cracked right in two. What in the actual world? How did one of the chilled eggs, rolled from the hem of my shirt into the hem of a field and into a little inukshuk of sorts, a waymarker, how many hours ago, end up being an egg cracked open all alone by one damp and mangled looking chick?
Our daughter kneels down.
Our daughter who doesn’t know her own miraculous birth story.
Our daughter who defied all the odds and three open heart surgeries, and whose brave half a heart still beats on.
Our daughter reaches out her open hand to hold the straggling chick hatched at the edge of a field alone.
“The brooding storms that feel overwhelming — can be exactly what moves us to live safe under God’s brooding care.”
Though we’ve contacted searchers in China to try, there’s no way right now to know the how or why of our daughter’s whole story, but this is what I do know:
Someone knelt down and stretched out an open hand.
“Mama, can I take care of her?” Her upturned face is wide open with hope.
And I kneel down to kiss her button nose.
“Yes, Sweet —” I cup the sprawled chick in palms — then place its dampness in hers.
“She’s all yours.”
And she wraps herself right around that baby chick, tucking it under her warmth.
And in a global pandemic, in a wild world of unrest, with children learning to live with masks and upended plans, and teachers learning to manage direly fraught environments, and parents trying to navigate a whole new world of broken, we are never abandoned, but “the children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of [His] wings” (Ps 36:7)
This moment, I memorize this moment, her with her wing sweater, enfolding a disoriented chick, because this is what we hold onto right now, this is what we tell our children right now, this is the hope we pass on right now:
“The thing that feels like a shadow — it can be the shadow of God’s wings.”
The thing that feels like a shadow — it can be the shadow of God’s wings.
The darkness that feels too close — can be the darkening of what doesn’t matter, that draws you closer to what does.
The brooding storms that feel overwhelming — can be exactly what moves us to live safe under God’s brooding care.
I kneel down beside Baby Girl, and stroke the baby chick’s damp head slowly, willing it to be brave, to miraculously live, to not give up, to let herself be loved to life. And I choke it back, because Baby Girl is living this story.
We’d read it later in another story, in the pages of this book that have become an actual wing of hope for any child living through both the global pandemic of a virus, and an everywhere pandemic of distrust, each page carrying a child to wonder and wisdom they can always trust:
“…God is not just strong and powerful, but tender and caring too. He is a shelter and a refuge; a safe place that we can go to whenever we want. He like a mother bird who hides and protects her young underneath her wings. He holds us close.” ~ Tiny Truths, Wonder and Wisdom, Everyday Reminders from the Psalms and Proverbs
“The darkness that feels too close — can be the darkening of what doesn’t matter, that draws you closer to what does.”
And I think of how the Secret Place of the Holy of Holies had wings overshadowing the ark of the covenant…
And in the hardest of hard, our holy of holies is that secret place under His wing.
And I enfold her close, and she smiles underneath my own smile, and she whispers,
“Mama? You know how you named your sheep?
Can I name my chick?”
Levi Voskamp
Levi Voskamp
Levi Voskamp
Levi Voskamp
Levi Voskamp
Levi Voskamp
I nod and she doesn’t have to hesitate to think or wait, because she knows:
“Lovey. I’m going to name her Lovey — because I found her and I really, really love her,” she wraps her arms in her wing sweater around me, and I am wrapped in wings, and I know how this feels, to have found her and really, really love her, and God, how He knows.
“Lovey — is perfect.” Just — perfect, little Love.
“What feels like a shadow over your hopes, can be the shadow of God’s wings over your life.”
And I wrap up Baby Girl, who has her own hard story, who is wrapped close around a baby chick with its own lost story, and this the story that we have to keep telling our children, our people, our loves, in the midst of the hard, disorienting year that is 2020 so they actually feel it like a tender, enfolding comfort:
Darkness isn’t ever the presence of God leaving us — but the shelter of God always coming nearer to us.
What feels like a shadow over your hopes, can be the shadow of God’s wings over your life.
What feels like a shadow of all kinds of sorrow, can be the shadow of the Almighty tucking you under an all—encompassing shadow of safe.
And when you feel under any kind of attack, feel yourself under His kind wing.
This changes everything.
Levi Voskamp
Levi Voskamp
Levi Voskamp
Every night before I tuck Baby Girl into bed, she asks to read again from that book “that tells us that God hugs us under His wing like a mama holding us tight.”
“Darkness isn’t ever the presence of God leaving us — but the shelter of God always coming nearer to us.”
And I read the wonder and wisdom of the Psalms and the Proverbs again to her, to me, because I get it:
These are hard, big days for our kids, for us, and they, like us, need very real images, very tangible truth, of God’s closeness and care to fight the fear and ward off trauma.
When I finish reading again how God is the Good Shepherd who protects us, who watches over us and guides, again how God soothes and nurtures us like a Mother Bird who protects us under her wings, how God is bigger than storms and we are Never Alone but Always Loved — I turn out the light.
We lay there in the dark.
“You know what, Mama?” She whisper-lisps through that adorable gap in her teeth.
“When Lovey’s under my sweater, like the wing one? It’s dark, but she’s safe.”
And she reaches up and clutches my face in her hands and I kiss my little Lovey and these are the days that we can all living the miraculous wonder and wisdom of safely winging it.
Because 2020 is the year our people need us to Stay in the Story to restore our hope.
And what better way to help to hide big truths in little hearts than these free framable printables for a child’s room and these finger puppets! They are designed to coordinate with multiple stories from both Tiny Truths, Wonder and Wisdom and Tiny Truths Illustrated Bible, giving you a meaningful way to act out and retell the stories over and over again with your little ones. We can’t wait to give your family this free resource.
With whimsical illustrations and engaging storytelling, Tiny Truths Wonder and Wisdom creatively and powerfully presents all your favorite Psalms and Proverbs, and ensures beautiful and needful diverse representation of all people.
Never have our kids needed this more: to see how the Psalms invite us to live close with God, vulnerably sharing our whole hearts with Him —- our fears and our struggles, our hopes and our praise. And in days like these, our children need the wisdom of the Proverbs —- how to live wisely and love well.
Perfect for this challenging year: Kids will want to return to these joyful, memorable stories again and again, building their understanding of God’s Word. And the practical lessons, reminders, and truths found throughout the stories make this an invaluable resource.
Who will be steadfast stewards of the Story for our children if not us?
Introduce your children to the incredible story of God’s enormous love for them with Tiny Truths Wisdom and Wonder and be the people who Stay in the Story and stay under His wing, because this will change everything for them.
[ Our humble thanks to Zondervan for their partnership in today’s devotion ]
September 7, 2020
How to find real truth and hope these days
Kim Adetunji is passionate about many things, including helping people discover Bibles that draw them deeper into Scripture. She is an encourager by nature and loves to spur others on in their faith. She is known for sending prayer texts rather than just saying, “I’ll pray for you”—especially when someone can’t find the strength to pray for themselves. It’s a grace to welcome Kim to the farm’s front porch today…
I’ve long struggled with being a deep feeler, and I’ve spent many years of my life trying to change who I am.
Instead of valuing the quiet, prayerful, kind, caring, and tenderhearted spirit God gave me, for a long time I placed a higher value on qualities I greatly admired in others but that I didn’t intrinsically have.
“I tried to “fix” what God had uniquely designed.”
I tried to “fix” what God had uniquely designed.
Although it wasn’t a conscious decision I made, going against my natural grain to try to be someone I am not took a great toll on my soul because I wasn’t fully embracing or valuing who God created me to be.
I was ignoring and numbing deep aches in my heart. I felt disappointment often because of high expectations I placed on myself and others. I put undue pressure on myself to be and do more.
I also compared my weaknesses to other people’s strengths, a soul-crushing endeavor.
Joy Prouty
Joy ProutyOh, how the Lord’s heart must have grieved to see His precious child—His masterpiece according to Ephesians 2:10—rejecting qualities he had intentionally and graciously given.
“Although it wasn’t a conscious decision I made, going against my natural grain to try to be someone I am not took a great toll on my soul because I wasn’t fully embracing or valuing who God created me to be.”
The Bible tells us just how much care God put into each and every intricate detail about us:
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” –Psalm 139:13
When I was five years old, I was given a hand-me-down shirt from my cousin Laura that said Delicate on it. It was my favorite shirt, but at the time I had no idea how profoundly true that simple statement would be in my life. I remember asking my mom, “What does delicate mean?”
I imagine God may have been smiling down from heaven at that moment whispering, “Oh, sweet child, it’s you. You are delicate. I placed a delicate heart within you for me to reside in so I could shine My love and light through you so powerfully into the lives of those who are broken and hurting and hopeless.”
I’ve often wanted to trade in my ultra-sensitive enigma of a heart for one that is much simpler to manage—or even one that doesn’t feel at all.
But now I can wholeheartedly agree with Psalm 139:14: “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”
Ephesians 2:10 doesn’t just say we are God’s masterpiece; it also mentions God’s purpose for us: “He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Our lives can uniquely point to God’s goodness and faithfulness—despite any weaknesses, insecurities, mistakes, setbacks, failures, pain, or struggles we’ve faced. In fact, God will use it all for His glory!
“God created me exactly how I am—free-flowing tears and all—and I’ve discovered there is immense beauty in that. The same is true for you.”
Anytime I start to believe the lie that my heart is my biggest weakness or that I’m not strong enough or when I don’t feel equipped to fight the battle before me, I remember 2 Corinthians 12:9: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”
I have found so much freedom and strength in knowing Christ and surrendering everything to Him. He is always my strength. I have nothing to fear because He goes before me. I don’t have to feel like the battle is ever mine, because He fights for me.
God, in His infinite power, chooses to use my weakness to display His awesome glory!
I got a tiny glimpse of this several years ago at a camp for precious foster kids when my tears spoke volumes to a young girl who needed to be reassured she was loved and so incredibly special. In that moment I learned a valuable lesson: I don’t need to be embarrassed or try to hide my tears.
God created me exactly how I am—free-flowing tears and all—and I’ve discovered there is immense beauty in that. The same is true for you.
God can use you mightily just as you are for His Kingdom purposes—often even more-so through whatever pain has brought you to where you are today.
“Carving out space to read our Bible, sit before the Lord, and invite God to speak to us through His Word and through prayer is not only life-giving—it is life-changing.”
A favorite verse I like to pray is Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
I used to run to people first to understand my heart; now I run to God.
In the Bible, Paul tells us to never stop praying. Praying continuously means I never lose sight of God’s presence. I am constantly communicating with Him, listening, surrendering, asking for wisdom, giving thanks, worshiping, confessing, course-correcting, listening to promptings, and noticing His hand at work in my life or in others.
Our world is filled with so much pain, isolation, heartache, chaos, and division. Our hearts need hope. We need refreshment. We need truth. We need to hear from God.
Joy Prouty
Joy ProutyGod speaks through His Word. The more I hide God’s Word in my heart and pursue Him earnestly through prayer and the more I sit quietly and expectantly before Him, the brighter He will shine in and through me!
Time spent in God’s Word and in prayer is invaluable. It grounds us, gives us strength, and equips us as ambassadors for Christ.
Through this pandemic, my dependence on God, trust in His Word, and commitment to prayer has only intensified as I strive to put my full trust in God each day.
Carving out space to read our Bible, sit before the Lord, and invite God to speak to us through His Word and through prayer is not only life-giving—it is life-changing.
We cannot leave the presence of God unchanged.
Kim Adetunji is a Brand Manager at Tyndale House Ministries. Throughout her 16-year career working on Bibles, she has enjoyed witnessing the transformational power of God’s Word at work in people’s lives throughout the world.
One of her favorite Bibles to recommend is Inspire, which is the bestselling Bible for coloring and creative Bible journaling. How do you keep your time with the Lord fresh—and prioritized—without getting distracted, discouraged, or falling into a rut? Bible journaling and recording your prayers could be one way to help spark new joy in the Word, ignite your creativity, and help you document your prayers.
The all-new Inspire PRAYER Bible is the third unique edition of Inspire with the widest margins yet! Enjoy even more space in the three-inch-wide margins for journaling through word or original art. This unique edition of Inspire features an all-new set of full- and partial-page Scripture line-art illustrations to color; 32 colorful vellum pages with prayers; and 142 prayer prompts.
Bible journaling is your creative expression on the pages of your Bible in response to what you’ve read and studied in Scripture. Find Bible journaling inspiration and view sample pages from the all-new Inspire PRAYER Bible, plus stay informed about upcoming workshops and events.
All features in this special edition of Inspire (2 different cover options available) are aimed at helping the reader focus their heart on prayer and enhancing their coloring and creative-journaling journey through the Bible.
[ Our humble thanks to Tyndale for their partnership in today’s devotion ]
September 5, 2020
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins for Your Weekend [09.05.20]
This weekend? Feels like we are walking into new hope, new change, new possibility!
Some real hope in these days — for us all to the real, sustained, needed work & more of the real Kingdom of God to come into a hurting world. Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything — and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))!
Serving up only the Good Stuff for you & your people right here:
Mary Anne Morgan
Mary Anne Morgan
Mary Anne Morgan
Mary Anne Morgan
Mary Anne Morganevery day is gift! enjoy the wonder of your weekend
September 4, 2020
Finding the Rhythm of Prayer
After reading anything that Chrystal Evans Hurst writes, I feel like I have just finished a conversation with a good friend at a cozy coffee shop. Her warmth and authenticity creates a table for us all to gather around. Chrystal has a way of breaking down major aspirations that seem mountainous into bite size baby steps that are practical. This is exactly what she does for us in her book: “The 28-Day Prayer Journey.” It’s a grace to welcome Chrystal to the farm’s front porch today…
guest post by Chrystal Evans Hurst
What does prayer look like for you these days? A quick 5-minute “Thank you Lord” as you crawl out of bed?
“I felt guilty about my lack of consistency and fervor when it came to prayer.”
Maybe you recite the Lord’s Prayer. Perhaps you don’t know what to pray and as you try to carve out time to talk to God, you find yourself falling asleep, distracted by your own thoughts, or uncomfortably staring into space; unsure of what to say.
I found myself in the same rut a few years ago.
I felt guilty about my lack of consistency and fervor when it came to prayer so I created a 28-day prayer challenge on social media. I came up with specific prayer prompts for each day that would encourage myself and others to be more accountable with prayer.
Honestly? I didn’t think I would finish. I thought I would fall off the wagon; failing myself, and everyone doing the challenge with me.
But, I didn’t. I finished. Not because I was granted this extra dose of a “can-do” attitude, but because I took it one day at a time.
I was intentional about what I prayed for every day. Taking it bit-by-bit and day-by-day made it doable. I didn’t expect to pray for 2-hours a day; I simply took it one intentional step at a time. The goal was to keep showing up and even if I missed a few days, to pick it right back up.
“Talking to Him became a rhythm of living. I was abiding — enjoying the journey of connecting with God through a beautiful new habit of ongoing conversation.”
It’s about progress, not perfection.
My goal was simply to pray more in the current week than what I prayed the week before. Prayer shouldn’t be legalistic. It’s not about checking the boxes off. God is waiting for us to come talk to Him. He’s ever present and always near; something that we often forget.
Was I afraid I would forget? Yes, I was. But then, I figured if I could remember to eat three times a day, I could at least remember to pray around that same time beyond the blessing I was requesting for food.
Something happened when I consistently postured my heart towards God throughout the day. Talking to Him became a rhythm of living. I was abiding — enjoying the journey of connecting with God through a beautiful new habit of ongoing conversation.
What did I learn about starting to pray more often and more consistently? The foundational journey of prayer begins with the positioning of our hearts. It begins with thanksgiving and ends with surrender.
We have to remind ourselves of who God is. Before we come with our laundry list of needs and wants; we have to center our prayers around His character, His goodness, and His generosity. Not only does it get the focus off of us, it creates confidence in us.
Being grateful triggers remembrance, and remembrance cultivates faith.
“We have to remind ourselves of who God is.”
Next, we have to examine our own hearts, taking inventory of all the places that might be disconnected from Him. That’s what sin does. It separates us from God.
Are there places in your heart that He doesn’t have access to? Is there any place that you have been hiding from Him? We cannot connect with God when we hide, and in order to experience abundant life, we need to be intimately connected to our Father. Repent of any sin that clouds our vision and breaks fellowship with our Savior. Be free to shamelessly enter the throne room of God.
After expressing thankfulness and repenting, we fearlessly show confidence in our God by asking Him for what we need. What do you really need? Have you been afraid to ask because you don’t really believe that He’ll provide for you?
He’s a good God, not just giving us what we want; but also adequately supplying our needs.
So, write it down. Bare your heart before Him and place every desire at His feet; yielding to His ultimate will being done above all.
Asking and yielding are in a delicate balance together. Yes, we can ask. But along with asking, we have to yield. This means letting go of control and leaving it all up to Him. Ask, and then let go of the breath that you have been holding in for so long. It’s not all up to you. Surrender.
“He longs to speak with us as one would speak to a friend. And He longs for us to talk back to Him in never-ending conversation.”
After we’ve dealt with our own hearts, we have to remember that prayer is about so much more than ourselves. When’s the last time you prayed for someone else? Your family, friends, and community. “I’ll keep you in prayer.” “Sending prayers your way” should be more than just a flippant response when we find out about the struggles going on in the lives of those around us. It should be a reality.
In our day-to-day lives, we bump up against the problems, attitudes and anxiousness of everyone around us. Instead of getting irritated with our co-workers, how about praying for them? When we feel overwhelmed by the busyness of our own households, what if we paused to pray for those faces that we see every single day? Those around us need our every day prayers; in the hard times and even in the “normal” times.
Friends, prayer is a dynamic conversation between you and the Creator.
It doesn’t have to be routine, boring, or stagnant.
He longs to speak with us as one would speak to a friend. And He longs for us to talk back to Him in never-ending conversation.
Don’t miss out on connecting with the ultimate Lover of our Souls; take the time to seek out what prayer looks like for you in a time where it matters most.
Chrystal Evans Hurst is an encourager who teaches people to love God, to love others, and to love themselves. Chrystal is a wife, mother of five and grandmother of three. You can find her regularly sharing encouragement via her podcasts and blogs, where she poignantly reflects on faith and speaks with frank honesty about the everyday experiences of women. She is also a speaker and the best-selling author of She’s Still There and Kingdom Woman and the newly released, The 28-Day Prayer Journey.
With stories and Scripture, this prayer journey offers three prompts each day to guide you through an easy yet intimate prayer experience. From giving thanks, hearing God, and making requests, to simply knowing what to say — Chrystal gives practical explanations and easy steps for each aspect of prayer. Most of all, this book will strengthen your faith and transform your life with the profound experience of communicating with a loving God. Whether you are new or well-versed in communication with God, this hopeful and supportive guide will help you experience God’s presence in ways you never have before through the practice of meaningful prayer.
For anyone who longs for a consistent prayer life yet struggles with distractions, doubts, or knowing where to start, Chrystal offers a simple and heartfelt method to meaningful conversations with God, just one day at a time in The 28-Day Prayer Journey.
[ Our humble thanks to Zondervan for their partnership in today’s devotion ]
September 1, 2020
When the Losses of 2020 have felt of Biblical Proportions: Begin Here in Louisiana for Real Hope
You might not be wrong to not actually be head over heels smitten with the year that is 2020.
“How does anyone survive the three fold crisis that is a pandemic, that is economic, that is now catastrophic? ”
The most catastrophic pandemic in the last century has filled our graveyards and hospital wards with truckloads of our unexpected grief. Our schools are filling with unparalleled complications and unparalleled bravery.
The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression has left hundreds of thousands filling out job applications, filling the long lines to food banks, filling out desperate prayer cards. City streets are filled with the ache of systemic injustice and our raw, collective pain.
How does anyone survive the three fold crisis that is a pandemic, that is economic, that is now catastrophic?
Then came the roar of a monstrous hurricane descending on whole states in the south. Homes filled with rising water as families hung on to each other, and roads filled with trees and power lines and wreckage, and the electricity went out and the water systems were devastated and the heat just kept on rising and families wept for relief.
“It’s a love of Biblical proportions that can completely dwarf the bullyish dark of 2020. ”
“At times, it has felt biblical, as if a torrent of plagues has been unleashed all at once,” is what one national paper said.
They’re not wrong. That’s what 2020 can feel like:
Biblical.
In the face of what feels like a torrent of plagues, what can be real is love of biblical proportions.
And it’s a love of Biblical proportions that can completely dwarf the bullyish dark of 2020.
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Jennie Finch-Daigle
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Jennie Finch-Daigle
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of HopeView this post on InstagramA post shared by Jennie Finch-Daigle (@jfinch27) on Aug 30, 2020 at 1:52pm PDT
That’s what our girl, Jennie Finch, a gold-winning Olympian baseball pitcher who lives in the ravenous swath of Hurricane Laura, was doing, showing up at the obliterated homes of neighbours, to help with the overwhelming clean up that has to happen before even beginning to build, when she accidentally sliced up her hand on some salvage and ended up at ER to get stitches.
“I just left ER — and I can’t hold it any longer,” Jennie fights tears. “Everywhere you look there is devastation, cannot look anywhere and not see destruction, and pictures don’t do it justice, and we’ve been helping clean up and people whose homes are destroyed, they are saying to us, ‘Don’t have a sad face — it’s only stuff.’ ”
In the middle of the debacle of 2020, it’s possible to have a perspective of Biblical proportions.
It’s only a perspective of Biblical proportions that can cut our own problems down to proportion.
“Could be three weeks before we even have any power.” It’s 91 degrees today in sweltering humidity of Louisiana.
“It’s only a perspective of Biblical proportions that can cut our own problems down to proportion.”
“You hear ambulance sirens and you know they can’t get anyone to a hospital. There’s no water, so our hospitals have had to shut up down,” Jennie brushes back the tears with her bandaged hand that’s shown up for Olympic Games and is now showing up as the weeping love of Jesus.
“I’m sobbing and don’t even know why I am sobbing, because we still have a home and so many don’t even have a home.”
Trauma needs safe places for its own rain of tears or it spins into an internal hurricane of pain.
“Just left ER… and these nurses in ER, they’ve lost their homes, but they are in there helping others.” Jennie chokes it back.
The night the fury of Hurricane Laura hit, rain and 241 kph wind lashing along the coast of Louisiana, a huddle of nurses and a doctor didn’t sleep through the roar, trying to protect 19 brand new babies, some only weighing a pound or two, from the teeth of the raging storm.
“Trauma needs safe places for its own rain of tears or it spins into an internal hurricane of pain.”
To “protect our babies,” nurses rolled mamas and their newborns out into hallways, far from windows, and mattresses were pushed up against windows to absorb wind—shattering glass. Nurses and new mamas could feel the hospital literally quaking in the face of Hurricane Laura.
Nurses lost their homes to the violence of Laura that night. Nurses had no idea how their own families were weathering the storm. But those nurses had a love of Biblical proportions to show up for humans of the tiniest proportions.
“Yeah, just leaving the ER, and they are like angels in there,” Jennie’s bravely trying to pull it together. “A girl’s in there right now, going to have a baby, and when you don’t have a home to go back to and – because of the pandemic — your family can’t even be with you…” Another surge of grief swamps this strong woman.
“We were already hurting before, with COVID — and now it’s going to be such a long, long road back. Everywhere you look, people are helping each other. And more people are coming to help — because we need help. Local organizations in our community aren’t even able to help because they’ve been crushed.”
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of HopeWith more than 350,000 people still without power along the Gulf Coast, gaining access to basic necessities is proving to be more and more difficult for thousands of people impacted by Hurricane Laura.
“The only possible explanation of humanity selflessly giving, is a selfless God who so loved the world that He gave.“
Some reports say it could take weeks — maybe even a month — for power to be restored. That means closed stores and an almost impossible set of circumstances for individuals and families who need food, ice, and hygiene supplies.
Over the weekend, the ministry that is Convoy of Hope distributed relief supplies to more than 1,500 families impacted by Hurricane Laura.
Convoy of Hope is distributing food, water, cleanup supplies, tarps, ice, baby kits, and hygiene kits through a drive-thru distribution in Lake Charles, Louisiana. We’ve also set up a point of distribution in Monroe, Louisiana, where a drive-thru distribution started yesterday.
On top of widespread power outages, that has left more that 350,000 people without power in stifling heat, the Louisiana Department of Health estimates that more than 200,000 people are without water. Convoy has already committed more than 20 tractor trailer truckloads of water to the area.
“When the people of God give selflessly, it gives people pause to believe there is a good God.”
Convoy of Hope is committed to serving disaster survivors for several weeks, and already beginning this week, Convoy of Hope’s distributing supplies to partners and churches in the surrounding communities.
“God will see us through,” Jennie takes a deep breath, “You can already see Him move by people being so selfless.”
When the people of God move, Hope moves in Biblical proportions.
And this is what has to happen, in the middle of a hurricane, that’s in the middle of an economic crisis, that’s in the middle of a global pandemic:
When the people of God are moved to Show Up Now, when the people of God make themselves into gift, when the people of God let nothing stop them from living given, this supernatural reality shakes a watching world awake:
The only possible explanation of humanity selflessly giving, is a selfless God who so loved the world that He gave.
When the people of God Show Up Now and give with no secondary motives, the world has motive to believe in the primacy of God.
“It is paramount that people of God are moved to lives of altruism — because this moves the world from atheism.“
When the people of God give selflessly, it gives people pause to believe there is a good God.
When the people of God make priorities, choices, votes, vocation and the entirety of their lives into a gift for others — others experience the gift of knowing the heart of Christ.
It is paramount that people of God are moved to lives of altruism — because this moves the world from atheism.
It is paramount that the people of God are the ones that Show up Now in Biblical proportions because the compelling truth is:
Altruism undermines atheism.
Jennie Finch-Daigle
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Convoy of Hope
Jennie Finch-Daigle“Please pray — and if you can, give?” It’s this double—medal Olympian’s birthday, the 3rd of September, and Jennie’s at her church today with her stitched up hand, handing out lunches to the battle-weary but determined Louisianans who are pulling together to rise again.
“And the first responders, the medical teams,” our Jennie smiles though tears, “— so many being the hands and feet of Jesus.”
“When the people of God reach out as the hands of Jesus, God heals more of the world’s outrage.”
When the people of God reach out as the hands of Jesus, God heals more of the world’s outrage.
Last last night, Jennie sends me a picture of what she found as she was cleaning up a mess of debris in what’s left of her Papaw’s garage.
“A nest —— under folded hands.”
And I bow my head.
Not one of us may be head over heels for the year that’s ended up being 2020. The grief and loss and heartbreak has felt biblical.
But in the people of God showing up now in Biblical proportions, the whole hurting world feel enfolded in the hands of Jesus, nested in a certain coming hope.
Show up Now, & as a Convoy of Hope, reach out as the hands of Jesus in Biblical proportions:
$10 = Personal Hygiene Kit: Hand towel, regular size toothpaste, toothbrush hair comb, bar of soap stick of deodorant, 3 oz shampoo bottle.
$10 = Baby Care Kit: 1 plastic bath toy, 24 count size two or 5 diapers, 10 oz baby shampoo, 1 baby washcloth, 100 count baby wipes, 5 oz diaper cream, 10 oz baby lotion.
$25 = Family Hygiene Kit: 2 bars of soap, 2 travel size shampoo, 40-80 count box assorted band aids, 4 toothbrushes, 2 hand towels, 1 regular size toothpaste, 32 count pack of wet wipes, 2 regular size deodorants, 6 sanitary napkins, nail clippers, 2 pocket size tissue packs, 1 hair comb, 2 disposable razors.
$50 = Clean up Buckets: 5 gallon bucket with lid, 16.5 oz disinfectant dish soap, roll of paper towels, 75 count disinfectant wipes, 5 N95 face Masks(or like product due to shortages), 6 Sponges, 4 scouring Pads, 2 pair Nitrile work gloves, 6 individual reusable cleaning wipes, 2 scrub brushes, 25 count roll of 45 gallon 3 mil trash bags, 24 oz all purpose cleaner, 2 bottles of 16 oz bleach or 1 32oz bottle.
Above and Beyond: Donate for water for Louisiana
Some cities have had their water systems completely compromised or destroyed by Hurricane Laura.
Due to generous corporate partners Convoy of Hope is able to get whole semi—truck loads of water down to the disaster zone relatively inexpensively.
Let’s send some water and love to Louisiana in Biblical proportions!
When the people of God move,
Hope moves in Biblical proportions.
August 31, 2020
Why We Must Confront to Connect
My admiration of this woman absolutely knows no end, and Lisa Bevere’s bold, authentic approach to embodying the words of Christ are a blazing torch for this generation. She beautifully weaves personal experience with profound biblical truth, giving us something relatable and practical all at once. It’s a grace to welcome Lisa to the farm’s front porch today…
There was unresolved conflict in the air, and I had no idea why.
Over the years, I’d reached out only to receive one-word responses. It was evident she was not going to engage with me.
In an attempt to figure it out, I’d asked all the questions I knew to ask. I’d spoken with all the people I knew to speak with. But no matter how hard I tried to shake it, I knew I had to make things right.
“I needed to restore this relationship if at all possible.”
If there were to be any resolution, I’d have to take a more direct approach. I pushed aside all the excuses and I took steps to get in touch with her. After all, we would be ministering together at the same event soon, and things would just be too uncomfortable for both of us if this breach was not addressed and resolved.
It had been three years (yes, you read that correctly). That’s a long time to leave something unresolved and flapping in the wind.
In 2 Corinthians 13:11, Paul sums up the value God places on how we treat one another: Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Restoration is our aim, and as we live in peace with one another, God’s love and peace overshadow us.
I needed to restore this relationship if at all possible. But I wasn’t even sure if I had her correct number. I sent a text message and asked for a conversation. Her reply let me know that she would be able to talk the following day.
When the arranged time of our talk arrived, I dialed her number and held my breath. She answered the phone. I exhaled and took the lead.
I affirmed her, explaining that I had loved her the moment I had met her. I reminded her of the friendship we once shared. I went on to say how excited I had been the last time we were part of an event together.
The conversation shifted when I recalled how the last time we were together I had gone to her session to cheer her on, and how she had snubbed me by acknowledging each of the speakers from the stage but me . . . twice. I laid it all out on the table. After explaining how it all looked to me, I asked, “Have I done something to upset you?”
“Her raw vulnerability made a way for both of us to have an honest and open conversation.”
There was a long pause, a deep breath, then a wail.
I swallowed hard and thought, Dear Jesus, what have I done? Through muffled cries, she explained it wasn’t me and she was surprised that I of all people would be the one to call.
She shared that she had been repeatedly wounded by her mother and the women she saw as mother figures in her life. She had pulled away from them all, including me.
Walls were coming down. I listened . . . carefully. Her raw vulnerability made a way for both of us to have an honest and open conversation. We both acknowledged the hurt, the loss, and the disconnect.
We knew there existed a very real gap and spoke of ways we could bridge it; of ways we could love and live better as mentors and friends.
It wasn’t until later, after I had hung up, that I realized just how wrong I had been. I was the older one, which meant I should have been more mature. I never should have allowed three years to go by without addressing it. For a thousand days, I allowed something to go unsettled and unhealed in both of us because of an offense to my pride.
“For a thousand days, I allowed something to go unsettled and unhealed in both of us because of an offense to my pride.”
Yes, I had felt disrespected and devalued; who hasn’t felt that way? But my reaction was the fruit of wounded pride. Proverbs 13:10 tells us, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom” (KJV). My wounded pride had left me in the dark. I was blind to it because I hadn’t dealt with it.
Lovely one, whenever we are under the sway of pride, it is as though blinders are put on us, and we cannot see anyone else’s pain because we are far too consumed by our own.
The crazy thing through all this was that I had seen myself as the victim and the other person as prideful, when actually, the roles were reversed. I was the prideful one!
When I saw her later at the event which we both were speaking at, my heart welled up with love for her as we embraced. I attended her session, and she was there for mine.
During worship, there was a moment when I felt compelled to place my hand on her back, but I hesitated. I looked over and noticed that another friend saw my hand hovering behind her. As if she knew the question lingering in my mind, she nodded her assent, as if to say, “Do it.”
As I laid my hand on her back, the young woman fell into my arms . . . weeping. She needed me. I needed her. We needed each other.
I don’t remember all that I prayed, except something deep and holy happened. Something that would not have ever happened if I had remained trapped in pride and offense.
Not long after we had reconciled, she wrote:
“The goal of confrontation should always be restoration rather than alienation.”
This Sicilian godmother prayed over me for healing as a daughter of God, areas I didn’t realize I still needed. Weeks later, God burdened me to stop shrinking back from the role of a spiritual mother. God is raising up spiritual mothers for a generation of girls coming behind us, but we can’t step into that role until we are healed in our identity as a daughter.
Find the women ahead of you in life who are interested in legacy, who are holding out a hand and lifting you up. Ones who aren’t guarding their influence but giving it away. They are the front runners, the ones who paved roads of leadership we now walk on freely. Let’s take those same kinds of risks for the generation coming up next.
Her words moved my momma heart deeply. Sadly, a generation of young women seem unaware that they are surrounded by mature women who’d love to open their lives and share with them what they learned the hard way.
On the other hand, older women are under the mistaken impression that no one wants what they have to offer so they withdraw, becoming distant or combative.
Lovely one, it doesn’t have to be this way.
The goal of confrontation should always be restoration rather than alienation.
Think about it: How can we ever give our best to God when we’ve been at our worst to others?
It’s time for godmothers and goddaughters to make things right; it’s time to model reconciliation.
This means there has never been a riper environment for us to be countercultural to the one we are in.
Whenever it is easier to be cruel than it is to be kind, we have that chance to model something very different.
Lisa Bevere has spent nearly three decades empowering women to find their identity and purpose. She is a cancer survivor and a New York Times bestselling author. Her books include Godmothers, Without Rival, Adamant, Lioness Arising, and Girls with Swords. Lisa and her husband, John, cofounded Messenger International to develop uncompromising followers of Christ who transform their world. To this end, Messenger has given away more than 40 million resources in over 100 languages.
Do you feel alone, unseen, overlooked? If you answered yes to any of these, perhaps you need a godmother. Someone to whisper a blessing and a word of courage over your life. Someone to help you close your gaps. A guide who sees your potential waiting to be recognized, your challenges in need of transformation, and your questions requiring honest answers.
In her most personal, powerful book yet, Godmothers: Why You Need One. How to Be One., New York Times bestselling author Lisa Bevere challenges us to embrace and pursue more in our relationships with one another. Godmothers offers catalytic insights to position women of all ages to make the intimate, authentic connections that help us realize our dreams and close the breaches in our lives.
[ Our humble thanks to Baker for their partnership with today’s devotion ]
August 29, 2020
Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins For Your Weekend [08.29.20]
This weekend? Feels like we are walking into new hope, new change, new possibility!
Some real hope in these days — for us all to the real, sustained, needed work & more of the real Kingdom of God to come into a hurting world. Links & stories this week 100% guaranteed to make you smile a mile wide & believe like crazy in a Good God redeeming everything — and that there’s love everywhere & for ((you))!
Serving up only the Good Stuff for you & your people right here:
Jessica Walker
Jessica Walker
Jessica Walkerdeep breaths at all this wonder…anyone else wanna go on a virtual tour in Colorado?
smiling here…had to share
he’s sharing some wise words!
let’s give each other grace, not grief…
FB: Rodney Smith Jr50 lawns in 50 states: Man drives across US with mower to fulfill God’s plan
“I’m just doing what God wants me to do, and I encourage people to get out there and do the same. It doesn’t take much to make someone’s day or be kind to someone…and it doesn’t have to be with a lawn mower. There’s many ways to make a difference.”
she’s got it so so right!
“…there’s not a greater feeling in the world than helping someone else. We’re all in this together. And I think about my life, lots of people have helped me, so how can we pay it back? It’s all about working together…”
September is coming!
Maybe in this new month, easy, doable ideas for the whole family to Give It Forward Today — to be the G.I.F.T. Love is a verb and that verb is give. For God so loved the world — HE GAVE. You only have one life — to love well.
And just for you, when you grab the “Be the Gift” book? Your farm girl here will immediately email you your own gift of THE WHOLE 12 MONTH Intentional Acts of Givenness #BeTheGIFT Calendar link to download and print from home!
Love is a verb and that verb is give. For God so loved the world — HE GAVE. You only have one life — to love well.
Pick up #BeTheGIFT — Then receive your own #BeTheGIFT printable calendar by letting us know you picked up a copy of “Be the Gift” here
Love is a verb and that verb is give. For God so loved the world — HE GAVE. You only have one life — to love well.
Pick up Be The Gift & live the life you’ve longed to this year
Heavenly Fire: The Mystery of the Auroras… an exploration of why these incredible light shows occur, and what they reveal about God.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Pang Way (@pang.way) on Jun 16, 2020 at 11:59pm PDT
So this photographer captures amusing photos of stunning mantises…
best welcome home you’ll see all week?!?
Will Your Life Count When You’re Gone: A Plea for Spiritual Fathers
2 years in the making: this time-lapse video captures the wonder of Amsterdam
gotta come see! so who knew?!? ‘Ice Cream Tulips’ look strikingly like the refreshing sweet treat… so beautiful!
completely amazed: come see how he draws the world from his memory
We sometimes feel overwhelmed at how small we are in the vastness of the universe.
because we all need a friend
Ainsley Earhardt shares her story of faith
You finding juggling all the things and finding a way to keep going kinda a wild ride right now? Yep, right here too — & this morning, early, a kid retold this story & it was fire for me all over again — somebody who needs to keep going, needs this as much as I did:
How to Keep Going When It All Is Too Much Right Now (or: How Light Can Overcome the Dark)
again and again: never, ever give up
Be Kind To Yourself: He loves you just the way you are…
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)
Post of the week from these parts here
Straight up crazy times with kids and school and — all the things honestly, how in the world to be the parent you want to be? (you and me both):
Must-Knows Before the Kids Head Out: 25 Truths Every Kid & Parent Must Know
on repeat this week: Found It All
Books for Soul Healing:
Joy is actually possible, right where you are.
Take the dare to discover: Life is not an emergency…Life is a GIFT. Life is too short to do anything but truly savor it — to count all the ways you truly loved.
What if Brokenness is the Path into the Abundant Life?
You don’t have to be afraid of broken things — because Christ is redeeming everything.
There’s no other authentic way forward — but a broken way — right into a profoundly abundant life.
Journey into a deeply meaningful life with this devotional and take sixty steps from heart-weary brokenness to Christ-focused abundance. The Way of Abundance — is the way forward every heart needs.
Be the Gift is a tender intivation into the next step of deeper transformation, less stress, more joy and abundantly more peace & purpose. You only get one life to love well…to Be The Gift.
He loves you because He loves you… one to listen to again and again…
…carry this with you all this week: Success isn’t about being amazing…it’s about being obedient.
Before you blink and your one life’s a tendril of smoke, a memory, a vapor, gone, know this: you are where you are for such a time as this — not to make an impression, but to make a difference.
Break free of your comfort zone today and do something — touch someone, give something, help someone, pray for someone, serve someone, #BetheGIFT for someone.
What really matters is living a life that is good on the inside — not one that just looks good from the outside.
Today and through the week to come — only move with compassion. Go slow enough to be moved with compassion: “When [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion.” Matthew 9:36
Do whatever He puts in front of you and do it with great love — this is what makes any day, any life, anybody great. Miracles keep happening in the mundane.
[excerpted from our little Facebook family … come join us each day?]
That’s all for this weekend, friends.
Go slow. Be God-struck. Grant grace. Live Truth.
Give Thanks. Love well. Re – joy, re- joy, ‘re- joys’ again
Share Whatever Is Good.
August 28, 2020
When You think You’ve Missed Your Chance
This friend, I’m telling you. I could listen to her till the cows come home, read every word she writes. Angie Smith never imagined she would be a Bible teacher, and it’s possible that’s exactly why she loves it so much. After being invited to a Bible study during her graduate school years, she realized how hard it was to understand Scripture as a story and she decided to set up shop in the kids’ section of her local Christian bookstore. She started with picture-only Bibles and then continued to toddler-aged, middle school and teenage versions. The idea that everything in the Bible was related and not just a collection of choppy chapters was revolutionary to the way she experienced God and His Word, and she’s passionate about communicating that same simplicity in her writing. It’s a grace to welcome Angie to the farm’s front porch today…
So, I bring these pieces, and thousands more, everywhere I go. Pieces of a quilt I planned to make our daughter, Ellie, and never did.
I found it tucked up in a closet and I cried – one more thing to add to the list of ways I feel like I’ve failed her and her sisters.
It seems there are pieces everywhere I turn in my life and it has begun to weigh me down – am I a good mother? Have I ever been? Look how much I missed or didn’t soak in the way I could have. And it’s gone.
Pieces of me leaving home to catch a plane. Losing my temper and saying words I can’t take back. Missing a soccer game. Not being present in conversation, forgetting to bring class snacks. Trying so hard to earn their respect and approval.
Maybe I’ve missed my chance. I am weeping, staring at the pieces.
“How much guilt are we carrying unnecessarily?”
Ellie walks in and sees what’s on the floor. I’m ashamed and crying and I start to explain that I meant to – I really meant to. She looks around the room, studies the triangles and squares, and smiles at me.
“I never knew you were going to make me a quilt. I can’t wait.”
How much guilt are we carrying unnecessarily?
How many of the things we use to judge ourselves as mothers are pieces that don’t need to be sewn in order to do this thing well.
I’ve got to let go of them and believe I did the best I could. Which, incidentally, might just be enough.
He wants us to learn from Him and to have hearts that are humble enough for Him to teach and brave enough to trust Him, to love us even when we get it wrong.
He didn’t come so that we could get all the answers right.
His plan is so much better than that.
Our Jesus, His arms are stretched wide and His legs are pinned together. Through slits He can see the crowds below Him. He can taste the blood in His mouth before it slips over swollen lips, falling onto hallowed ground.
“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
If they had, they would have known that it was the blood of life and not of death.
He has been with them. He has eaten meals with them and walked their dusty roads. He knows what it’s like to love them in His humanity – just the way anyone else would.
It’s easy to recite stories we’ve heard time and time again without giving them a chance to breathe; Jesus didn’t just come to die for us; He came to live with us.
For three years He traveled with His disciples – we know that much. We can likely name at least a few of them, but we can know the facts without understanding the story.
Have you ever stopped to think about what their lives must have been like?
They were together all the time, night and day. They weren’t just flannel-board characters; they were men who knew each other well.
They probably had running jokes about which had the smallest bladder and which one snored. They teased each other, I’m sure – maybe because they all knew who was most likely to be flirting or getting lost. There were intimate moments between them that never made the red words of the Bible – in fact, an overwhelming majority didn’t. They shared late night conversations and embarrassing moments.
“Jesus knew He would be abandoned, ashamed, and admonished. But He came to live with us anyway and He died for us in spite of it.”
One would deny knowing Christ three times and another would betray Him with a kiss.
And Jesus knew it would be so.
He knew He would be abandoned, ashamed, and admonished.
But He came to live with us anyway and He died for us in spite of it.
As His body shook in agony, His mother stood close enough to hear Him but not close enough to touch Him. All she could do was watch helplessly as the thorns pressed into His forehead and His bruises began to change color.
She used to scratch the back they are whipping.
He was the toddler who ran around barefoot in the grass and learned to put His head underwater.
He was the three-year-old who laughed until His stomach hurt and loved being thrown in the air.
He was the five-year-old who begged for bedtime stories and forehead kisses.
He was the seven-year-old who ran to His father when he came home from work and woke up before the sun.
He was the nine-year-old who was brave enough to walk to a friend ’ s house but looked back at His mother the whole way as she smiled and waved Him on.
He was the ten-year-old who decided He was too old for bedtime stories and public hugs and never knew that His mother cried because it meant He wasn ’ t a baby anymore.
No one could possibly have known what she did; not in the same way. He is the One we have been waiting for.
But relationships will be defined differently now – they are bound together by their faith, and His role in her life is changing.
He isn’t her Son in the same way.
“I often find myself grabbing at whatever pieces I can reach, trying desperately to make something beautiful of them and forfeiting the peace that comes from believing He already has.”
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:34
It is the only time on earth Jesus doesn’t call Him Father; in this moment He isn’t His son in the same way.
As He surrenders to His Father, He cries out with a loud voice, uttering some of the last words that would hang in the air after His human heart stopped beating.
“It is finished.” (John 19:30) He shouted and then took His last breath.
He fulfilled all of the prophecies of a coming Savior. He lived a perfect life for us because we never could.
At that very moment, the sky went dark and the sun failed to shine. The ground shook and rocks split.
Historians have noted that there was an extraordinary eclipse of the sun at exactly that time. They said the stars in heaven could be seen and that an earthquake shook the world.
Hundreds of years before this, hyssop branches were raised to paint blood over His chosen people’s doors, marking them as His own so that they would be passed over when the last plague swept through.
Pass over us, Jesus.
“Lord, help me hear the tearing curtain when the world gets loud. Let me remember that I’m not forsaken or forgotten.”
During His crucifixion, a sponge of wine was placed on the tip of hyssop branch and raised to His mouth.
Pass over us, Jesus.
The blood of a Lamb, covering all who would believe in Him.
Pass over us, Jesus.
While the sky was dark and the ground was trembling, something else happened; something that would change the course of history in an instant.
A great sound echoed from inside the Temple.
It was the sound of a seamless curtain being split in half from top to bottom – from heaven to earth – nevermore to separate us from our one true Passover Lamb.
I confess – I don’t always live my life in ways that reflect this reality well.
I often find myself grabbing at whatever pieces I can reach, trying desperately to make something beautiful of them and forfeiting the peace that comes from believing He already has.
Lord, help me hear the tearing curtain when the world gets loud. Let me remember that I’m not forsaken or forgotten.
Remind me that You are, and will always be, the God who came near to us so that we could come near to You.
Blessed be Your name…
Jesus.
Angie’s Bible studies? Might just be the most life-changing I’ve ever experienced.
Angie is married to Todd Smith, lead singer of the Dove Award winning group Selah.
And she is the best-selling author of the bible study Seamless: Understanding the Bible as One Complete Story, as well as two children’s books and several books for adults including Chasing God and What Women Fear. She holds a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Vanderbilt University.
Matchless: The Life and Love of Jesus is an 8-session Bible study intended to go beyond the simple facts of Jesus’s life and truly see the Story of the Savior.
It is Angie’s belief that Jesus came not just so we could learn about Him, but so that we could know Him. He didn’t just come to die for us. He came to live with us.
I gathered my girls and my neices for Angie’s study, Seamless: Understanding the Bible as One Complete Story — and maybe no time better than the strange, matchless season we’re all in now to gather in any way we safely can to begin Matchless and enter into the matchless life and love of Jesus.
August 26, 2020
How to Keep Going When It All Is Too Much Right Now (or: How Light Can Overcome the Dark)
The old cahoot ran in his boots.
Weren’t too many of anybody all who believed the old guy could.
The kids and I read about the old guy one night after supper and the dishwasher’s moaning away, crumbs still across the counter.
How the old guy ran for 544 miles. His name was Cliff Young and he wasn’t so much. He was 61 years old. He was a farmer. Levi grins big.
“Sometimes the best training for the really big things is just the everyday things.”
Mr. Young showed up for the race in his Osh Kosh overalls and with his workboots on, with galoshes over top. In case it rained.
He had no Nike sponsorship.
He had no wife – hadn’t had one ever. Lived with his mother. Never ran in any kind of race before. Never ran a 5 mile race, or a half-marathon, not even a marathon.
But there he was standing in his workboots at the starting line of an ultra-marathon, the most gruelling marathon in the world, a 544 mile marathon.
Try wrapping your head around pounding the concrete with one foot after another for 544 endless, stretching miles. They don’t measure races like that in yards – but in zip codes.
First thing Cliff did was take out his teeth.
Said his false teeth rattled when he ran.
Said he grew up on a farm with sheep and no four wheelers, no horses, so the only way to round up sheep was on the run. Sometimes the best training for the really big things is just the everyday things.
That’s what Cliff said: “Whenever the storms would roll in, I’d have to go run and round up the sheep.” 2,000 head of sheep. 2,000 acres of land.
“Sometimes I’d have to run those sheep for two or three days. I can run this race; it’s only two more days. Five days. I’ve run sheep for three.”
“What you believe is what is backing you.”
“Got any backers?” Reporters shoved their microphones around old Cliff like a spike belt.
“No….” Cliff slipped his hands into his overall pockets.
“Then you can’t run.”
Cliff looked down at his boots. Does man need backers or does a man need to believe? What you believe is what is backing you.
The other runners, all under a buffed 30 years of age, they take off like pumped shots from that starting line. And scruffy old Cliff staggers forward. He doesn’t run. Shuffles, more like it. Straight back. Arms dangling. Feet awkwardly shuffling along.
Cliff eats dust.
For 18 hours, the racers blow down the road, far down the road, and old Cliff shuffles on behind.
Come the pitch black of night, the runners in their $400 ergonomic Nikes and Adidas, lay down by the roadside, because that’s the plan to win an ultra-marathon, to run 544 straight miles: 18 hours of running, 6 hours of sleeping, rinse and repeat for 5 days, 6 days, 7 days.
The dark falls in. Runners sleep. Cameras get turned off. Reporters go to bed.
And through the black night, one 61-year-old man far behind keeps shuffling on.
And all I can think is:
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
The light shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not.
καταλαμβάνω Katalambanō – Comprehend. Understand. Master.
“Darkness doesn’t have anything on light, on hope, on faith.”
Cliff Young runs on through the night and there is a Light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not master it.
The darkness doesn’t understand the light, doesn’t comprehend the light, doesn’t get the light, doesn’t overcome the light, doesn’t master the light.
Darkness doesn’t have anything on light, on hope, on faith.
The pitch black road of a pandemic and economic hardships and all the things that seem to go on and on right now, it’s all no master over the light of Master who is rising within us.
The darkness that sucks at the prodigal kid doesn’t have anything on the light of his mother’s prayers.
The night of discouragement that threatens at the edges doesn’t master the blazing light of Jesus at the center.
The pit of depression that plunges deep doesn’t go deeper than the love of your Jesus and there is no place His light won’t go to find you, to save you, to hold you.
That low lying storm cloud that hangs over you can’t master the light of Christ that raises you.
“Darkness can’t drive out darkness. Only light can do that,” Martin Luther King had said it, had lived it.
Only words of Light can drive out worlds of dark.
Only deeds of Light can drive out depths of dark.
Only lives of Light can drive out lies of dark.
“That low lying storm cloud that hangs over you can’t master the light of Christ that raises you.”
Darkness can never travel as fast as Light. No matter how bad things get, no matter how black the dark seeps in, no matter the depths of the night — the dark can never travel as fast as Light. The Light is always there first, waiting to shatter the dark.
You can always hold His Word like a ball of light right there your hand, right up there next to your warming heart.
You can always count on it: Jesus is bendable Light, warmth around every unexpected corner.
Cliff Young runs on through the dark — because he didn’t know you were supposed to stop.
He had no idea that the accepted way professional runners approached an ultra-marathon race was to run 18 hours, sleep 6, for 7 days straight. But Cliff Young didn’t know that. He didn’t know the accepted way. He only knew what he did regularly back home, the way he had always done it: You run through the dark.
Turns out when Cliff Young said he gathered sheep around his farm for three days, he meant he’d run across 2,000 acres of farmland for three days straight without stopping or sleeping, without the dark ever stopping him. You gathered sheep by running through the dark.
So along the endless stretches of highway, a tiny shadow of an old man shuffled along, one foot after another, right through the heat, right through the night. Cliff gained ground.
“You’ve got to keep running through the dark — because the Light is rising within you.”
Cliff gained ground because he didn’t lose ground to the dark. Cliff gained ground because he ran through the dark.
And somewhere at the outset of the night, Cliff Young in his overalls, he shuffled passed the toned runners half his age. And by the morning light, teethless Cliff Young who wasn’t young at all, he was a tiny shadow — far, far ahead of the professional athletes.
For five days and fifteen hours, and four minutes straight, Cliff Young ran, never once stopping for the dark – never stopping until the old sheep farmer crossed the finish line – First. He crossed the finish line first.
Beating a world record.
By two. whole. days.
The second place runner crossed the finish line 9 hours after old Cliff.
Cliff Young
Cliff Young
And when they handed old Cliff Young his $10,000 prize , he said he hadn’t known there was a prize. Said he’d run for the wonder of it. Said that all the other runners had worked hard too. So Cliff Young waited at the finish line and handed each of the runners an equal share of the 10K.
And then the old cahoot in boots walked a way without a penny for the race but with all the hearts of whole world.
“While others run fast, you can just shuffle with perseverance. While others impress, you can simply press on. While others stop for the dark, you can run through the dark. The race is won by those who keep running through the dark.”
While others run fast, you can just shuffle with perseverance.
While others impress, you can simply press on.
While others stop for the dark, you can run through the dark.
The race is won by those who keep running through the dark.
Could be the season to pull a Cliff Young.
When those reporters asked Old Cliff that afterward, what had kept him running through the nights, Cliff had said, “I imagined I was outrunning a storm to gather up my sheep.”
And I sit there in the thickening dark.
With the One who mastered the dark and overcame the storm to gather His sheep and now there is a Light Who shines in the darkness and the darkness can never overcome it.
And you can see them out the front window, far away to the west, out on there the highway —
the lights all going on through the dark, chasing the sunrise that they know beyond all the shadows is surely coming.
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