Davalynn Spencer's Blog, page 41
September 18, 2017
Our Deepest Need is to Belong
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Horses are gregarious by nature.
They’d rather be with other horses than be alone. Regardless of their height, coloring, and disposition, they want to be part of the herd.
So do most people.
A couple of Sundays ago, our pastor challenged us with a bold statement that some may have disagreed with while others silently cheered:
“Our deepest need is to belong.”
What he said makes sense when you think about it. Cities, communities, churches. Families, clubs, gangs. People want to be part of the herd.
Specifically, we want to be heard. But that’s just one of the “be’s” that fall under belonging.
We want to be loved.
And we want to be needed.
God designed us that way, and so He opens His arms to us and says, “Come to Me!”
He wants us to be part of His family, regardless of our background, race, and disposition, because that’s where we belong.
With Him, we can be heard, loved, and needed.
So what are you waiting for?
Come running. Don’t let anything fence you off from where you belong.
And as the pastor says, “Don’t just go to church. Be the church.”
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
Be heard. Isaiah 65:24; Psalm 40:1
Be loved. 1 John 4:19; Jeremiah 31:3
Be needed. 1 Peter 2:9
She clucked Ginger into a lope, marveling at the cerulean sky and rolling grassland that spread unfettered between mountain ridges. She felt exactly the same—unfettered. Free yet belonging to someplace, to someone. ~from An Improper Proposal
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(c) 2017 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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September 11, 2017
In the Storm
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
We all face storms.
Hurricanes. Wildfires. Sick children. Disinterested spouses. Cutbacks at work.
Yet in their song “Just Be Held,” contemporary Christian band, Casting Crowns, sings, “In the storm is where you’ll find Me.”
Whoa – how can they say that?
“They’ve never been through my storm,” you may argue. “They don’t know my pain.”
But they know God.
I believe we find God in the storm because He doesn’t cut and run for cover. He stays with us, right beside us.
He is our cover.
I cannot improve on the lyrics to “Just Be Held,” so I encourage your to click on the link here and just listen. This song presents some of the most powerful, encouraging words in music today.
Listen with open ears, but watch, too, for the lyrics appear on the screen, and there’s an added comfort in seeing God’s offer printed out before you.
Whatever your storm this week, you’ll find Him there.
He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. Psalm 104:3
Mae Ann had learned what a summer storm could do. Rain-gorged creeks became raging rivers, and if Cade didn’t stop the wagon before they reached the upper crossing of Olin Creek, they might not make it across without being swept away.
“Oh, Lord, we need Your help.” The slashing rain and wind tore the words from her lips.
~from An Improper Proposal
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(c) 2017 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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September 4, 2017
Labor-of-Love Day Weekend
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
There may be fewer backyard barbecues and camping trips this Labor Day Weekend, because many people have transformed it into a Labor-of-Love Day Weekend, helping the devastated and displaced victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Countless stories have made the news about neighbors helping neighbors, first responders rescuing the stranded, and other groups and individuals rushing in as the waters recede to fill the gaps with food, clothing, medical supplies, and comfort.
I posted a video on my author Facebook page of a Texas cowboy rescuing horses that were trapped by the floodwaters. Such responses to the needs of neighbors, whether right next door, across state lines, or across the nation are a blessing to see.
Lately I’ve been reading the Old Testament, and a section from Deuteronomy 22:1-4 rang with immediate application:
If you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don’t ignore your responsibility. Take it back to its owner. If its owner does not live nearby or you don’t know who the owner is, take it to your place and keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then you must return it. Do the same if you find your neighbor’s donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don’t ignore your responsibility. If you see that your neighbor’s donkey or ox has collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it back on its feet!
Twice the reader is reminded, “Don’t ignore your responsibility.”
Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan follows this same idea.
This Labor Day, let’s look around and see if there is someone we can offer a hand to and pass on the blessings that God has shared with us. Let’s make it a Labor-of-Love Day Weekend.
If you’re looking for a way to help from a distance, check out Convoy of Hope’s website by clicking on the red box.
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(c) 2017 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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August 28, 2017
The Gift of Peace: Accept or Reject?
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Authors are often asked how much of themselves they write into their characters. I’ve never been quite sure how much of an answer to give.
A person typically writes from his or her heart, so naturally, pieces of that heart are floating around in the story. A piece here … a peace there.
In my latest book, An Improper Proposal, Mae Ann Remington’s unusual wedding culminates with the pastor pronouncing the priestly blessing found in Numbers 6:24-26:
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee;
The Lord make his face shine upon thee,
And be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee,
And give thee peace.
The last line catches Mae Ann’s attention, and she realizes that she has a choice to make:
In the midst of an uncomfortable and unexpected situation, would she accept God’s gift of peace or refuse it?
Mae Ann might be a fictional character, but she grapples with a very real choice that each of us face on a daily basis.
God doesn’t force his peace upon us, He holds it out to us. Jesus reiterated the gesture when He said, “My peace I give to you” (John 14:27).
Like Mae Ann, we can either trust Him to make good on His word, or clutch our worries and fears in white-knuckled fingers and miss out on what He’s giving.
~~~
One of my favorite devotional books is Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. Over and over, the brief daily thoughts remind the reader that the peace of God’s presence is a most precious commodity.
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(c) 2017 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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August 21, 2017
No Darkness at All
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Millions of people across North America eagerly anticipate witnessing today’s great solar eclipse. Hopefully, they won’t truly witness it – gazing in an unprotected manner and permanently damaging their eyes.
Solar eclipses have fascinated people for thousands of years, creating fear in the hearts of ancient civilizations and filling the coffers of more modern entrepreneurs. Celestial events have a way of doing that.
The Bible tells us that such magnificent, astronomical displays will also be signs announcing the end of time as we know it and the coming of the Lord (Matthew 24:29, Isaiah 13:10).
However, today’s solar eclipse is all about position and perspective.
By comparison, earth’s small moon could never obliterate the larger sun’s light. But for those on earth in the path of the moon’s orbit, the celestial speck will momentarily block the sun’s direct light and create a comparatively localized shadow on the earth’s surface.
Have you ever felt like you were living in an emotional or spiritual shadow? What if getting out from under it were as simple as stepping into the light?
Our God holds the universe—as well as our hearts—in His hand, and we need not fear looking to Him with eyes of faith. I draw great comfort from knowing that we can count on His light to never darken in our lives. Nothing can block us from His love, nor will He ever turn away, leaving us in shadow.
During today’s rare, cosmic display, may we be reminded of our Lord’s great faithfulness:
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5
Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. James 1:17
“The Lord make His face shine upon thee …” ~An Improper Proposal
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(c) 2017 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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August 14, 2017
Have You Dreamed An Impossible Dream?
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
When my husband and I set out on the rodeo circuit (with our small children) people told us we were crazy.
“Wait until your kids grow up,” they said.
“How can you haul your children across the country like that?” they said.
“What about a normal lifestyle – like a playhouse for your daughter?” they said.
Thank God we didn’t listen to those people who couldn’t see our vision.
When we listened to God instead and followed His leading, He provided everything we needed and more.
Today we have friendships that I would not trade for all the “normal” the world has to offer. Our children have traveled to a majority of the fifty states, had experiences very few others would even dream of, and learned what it means to be a family.
Thank God, we pursued our dream.
What’s your dream?
Take it to God and get His word on it. He has options you haven’t thought of.
Pull up a chair in His presence and get comfortable. Take delight in Him, settle in, and listen to what He tells you.
Then do what He says.
What glory she’d not known existed. What life even her dreams had never imagined. ~from An Improper Proposal
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(c) 2017 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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August 7, 2017
Their Faces Were Not Ashamed
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Before my husband and I were married, we endured a long-distance romance while each of us lived in a different state.
Phone calls and letters were the highlight of my days.
No texting or Facebook or Instagram. No instant messaging, Skype, or FaceTime.
Just plain ol’ phone calls from landlines and mail via the United States Postal Service.
An unusual element of our courtship involved typed (as on a typewriter) Bible verses on 3 x 5 cards that we mailed to each other. Each week we chose a scripture that spoke to our heart, typed it on a card, and included it in a letter.
One of our first shared verses was: O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. Psalm 34:3.
These scriptural exchanges drew us closer to each other and to the Lord.
Last week when I saw this field of sunflowers along a local highway, I recalled another verse sent by my husband-to-be, typed on a small white card by a manual typewriter with a thinning ribbon.
For some reason, this verse has stayed with me over the years, encouraging me to fix my eyes on Jesus. When I do—with someone else or by myself—I am filled with light, never with shame.
Most everyone knows that sunflowers follow the sun, turning their faces toward its warmth as the earth spins away.
What a light-filled life we have when we remember to do the same with the Son of our salvation.
“The Lord make His face to shine upon thee.”
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(c) 2017 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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July 31, 2017
Bouquets – and cowboys – come in all sizes
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Dandelions remind me of a cowboy from my former life as a sixth-grade teacher.
He was in my Ancient World History class and lined up each morning with the rest of the students. Except he wasn’t much like the rest of the students.
In his Wranglers and dusty cowboy boots, he didn’t dress like the others. A towhead among dark-haired children, he quietly stuck out in spite of how much he tried not to.
But in the spring when the dandelions sprouted, he was often at the front of the line with a short-stemmed bouquet and a shy smile.
I talked to him about cowboy things and noticed the shiny buckle he wore one day—his trophy for winning an event at a local junior rodeo. Most of the other kids had no idea what it meant to rope a calf or ride a snotty steer or run a pole pattern horseback.
He was a loner. A throwback perhaps, from a long line of those who preferred the company of their horse and a good view of the herd.
I saw that heritage when his father came to parent-teacher conferences one evening, a taller, stouter version of my dandelion cowboy in his good palm leaf hat and square-toed boots.
The creases at his blue eyes were several shades lighter than the rest of his sunbaked face—the badge of a working man who spent his days in the saddle.
His words were few, but they showed his heart. He wanted his young man to tend to business. Hold up his end of the load. Be polite and honest.
Cowboy morals.
Today when I see a patch of what most people call weeds, I smile and wonder about the little cowboy. If he stuck to his ways in spite of the crowd. I hope he’s riding the California foothills with a good view of the herd and going to summertime rodeos, But most of all, I hope he’s becoming the fine man I knew he would someday be.
My son, give me your heart,
And let your eyes observe my ways.
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(c) 2017 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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July 24, 2017
Holding Up or Holding On?
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
“How are you holding up?” an acquaintance asked the other day.
The answer came without consideration: “By holding on.”
The phrase “holding up” insinuates personal stamina, strength, jaw-clenching determination.
But “holding on” says something else entirely. It points to solidity outside myself.
I don’t have the strength to hold up under life’s pressures and disappointments. But I can hold on to the One who is holding on to me.
And He never lets go.
Yet I am always with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward You will take me into glory.
… no one can snatch them out of my hand.
… no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
If God really was behind this whole business proposition of Mae Ann’s, then it was a whole lot more than Cade just showing up at the wrong place at the right time. ~An Improper Proposal
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July 17, 2017
Where Seldom is Heard a Discouraging Word
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
How many discouraging words have you heard lately?
Probably more than a few.
Last week as my heart strings twanged from someone’s negative feedback, I was reminded of how powerful words are to hurt or heal. Immediately a line from the chorus of an old Western tune rang in:
“Where seldom is heard a discouraging word …”
The song, “Home on the Range” is an iconic ballad of the American West, written in the 1800s, sung by cowboys on the Chisholm Trail and elsewhere, and popularized by silver-screen heroes such as Gene Autry. (Check this link for Autry’s rendition.)
As children, many of us were taught to deflect painful words with an old rhyme,
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
How untrue!
Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can slice us to ribbons.
Words build up and tear down, and it’s a whole lot easier to tear down a house than to build one.
Today, discouraging words are destroying marriages. Like little drops of acid, over time they corrode once-loving foundations until nothing is left.
Young people are more and more devastated by unkind remarks on social media. Those fiery darts—not even arrows, just darts—devastate their developing characters and sense of worth.
God knows the power of our words and He has a lot to say about them. Here’s an interesting list of scriptures about kind words.
One of my favorite passages describes pleasant words like a honeycomb: “sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Prov. 16:24).
This week, may we choose our words wisely, and make our homes a refuge where “seldom is heard a discouraging word.”
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The words snagged her heart and drew blood as quickly as the thorn had from her finger.
~An Improper Proposal
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