Heather Holleman's Blog, page 105

And One Day

I remember the day an older mother with teen girls told me that, one day, I’d sit with my girls and we could all watch a movie together and eat popcorn. I couldn’t believe it. As I wrangled my toddlers and felt completely exhausted, I couldn’t imagine a day when I’d enjoy a movie that we all loved together. I know this is a strange memory, but I keep in tucked away because it felt so hopeful. One day, the exhaustion would ease. One day, I’d enjoy this a little more. One day, I’d take a seat and enjoy popcorn. 

The popcorn and movie image felt like a great milestone when it actually happened when both girls were in late elementary school.

I thought of that mother yesterday–now five years after my movie and popcorn milestone– when my daughter shoved me out of the kitchen because she wanted to make the entire dinner for the family. “Go take a bath. Go read. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

Can you believe it? As you hustle around today with your own children, think of the day of movies and popcorn. Think that one day, you’ll be served dinner by this very child that you’ve been cleaning up after and feeding for years. Of course, those days seem precious and like treasured memories now. But I must admit: I enjoyed a quiet afternoon of listening to my daughter make dinner.

All the Steadfast Love

I keep noting the number of times the phrase “steadfast love” appears in the psalms. Over and over and over again. If I’m to know anything about the Lord after reading the psalms, I believe it’s this singular characteristic: He is a God of steadfast love. In fact, the phrase appears 127 times.

But what does it mean?

It’s better than you’re imagining. Steadfast love translates in Hebrew to include God’s love, mercy, kindness and favor. But there’s an urgency to it; it includes God’s zeal, passion, and constant desire to demonstrate goodness to us. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. –Psalm 136:1 

God stands ready, willing, and eager in His steadfast love for us.

If You Like Journaling: A Fresh Daily Practice

As you know, I keep a detailed prayer journal. But it’s really more than a prayer journal; it’s a rich devotional practice based on a lifetime of connecting with the Lord through simple and joyful practices in that journal. I thought I’d share my journaling secrets with you. Grab a pen and your journal and start recording these:

10 things you’re thankful for–or more. (1 Thessalonians 5:18: “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”)

5 specific prayer requests for the day. (Psalm 5:3: “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning, I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”)

5 people you’re praying for who don’t yet know Jesus. (Matthew 4:19: “Follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.”)

The rest of my journaling time involves reading 5 Psalms (to record insights or promises from the Lord), the Proverb that matches the day (to record wisdom and admonition), and then wherever I’m reading in my Bible reading plan (Deuteronomy). The whole time, I’m asking the Holy Spirit to show me something new and teach me to help me become the person I’m supposed to be.

I also enjoy reading books to help me grow in my faith. I underline key passages and record these in my journal as well. You can drink coffee or eat your breakfast while you read to fill your mind with good things to help you keep in step with God’s spirit.

What a great start to each morning!

Some Joy in Finishing Last

I always chuckle after I finish my bike ride on my Echelon bike because I’m usually in close to last place against all the other thousands of virtual riders. Your place shows up on the screen, on your phone, and in an email summary of your ride. It’s like a billboard in lights to my failure. My performance is so terrible that I just have to laugh. I often swipe away the leaderboard so I can’t see all the other riders who stand as a mockery to my riding strength. Who needs the leaderboard?

I sip my water and recover from my ride as I remember some good wisdom. I mean, people who don’t finish first become experts at reframing a situation. So I say this: I already won first place in the race against myself. I came in first because I did it. I already won the race the minute I decided to clip in to my cycling shoes. Everything else is just interesting feedback. And it doesn’t really matter when you’re just trying to beat your own best record. It doesn’t matter if you love to ride.

Sometimes I think about this problem of finishing last and laugh about it for the other areas of my life. I finish last in terms of professional rank at Penn State, and yet teaching is one of the greatest joys of my life. I’m great at it. I love it so much. I finish last in terms of social media followers compared to other women in my same area of publishing and speaking, and yet I continue to love the work I do. I’m great at writing. I love it!

I finish last in lots of areas according to the standards around me, but in my heart, I don’t feel last. I don’t even feel part of the race anymore. I just feel happy to hop on the bike and ride however long and fast I’m supposed to go.

Maybe one day, I will finish first. But I think it might feel a little lonely in that spot. When you bring up the rear, you find a lot of community there.

Backyard Sun After Days and Days of February Grey

The sun finally broke through this afternoon.

The plants soak it up! My plumcots are growing too quickly!

Keep Looking

I consider a quote by Charles Spurgeon on the secret to Christian happiness:

“We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking unto Jesus’.” 

As someone prone to near-constant self-evaluation of feelings, moods, behaviors, and lists of goals, I take great comfort is turning away from myself and back to Jesus. When I look to Jesus and His work on our behalf, His divine life within us, and His magnificence, I can absorb myself in worship and cease to measure the day by my changing emotions or flurry of activity. Then, we find a great peace and happiness in continuing to look to Jesus.

Helping Others When They Feel Overwhelmed

Several friends recently felt so stressed out and overwhelmed. As I watched and listened, I could see them grappling with so many things that felt out of control in their lives. As I let them talk for a while, I then remembered what helps me most of all when I feel overwhelmed. It’s so simple you won’t believe it.

I said, “OK, what do you most need in this situation? What’s causing the most stress, and how can we ask God for something specific here? Let’s turn the worry into a specific prayer request.”

Turn the worry into a specific prayer request. 

“Oh, that’s good,” one friend said. “That’s good. I like that.”

It’s a great activity for your prayer life because it reminds you to cast your cares upon God and allow Him to daily bear your burdens.

And we can rejoice in how He answers and provides every single day of our lives.

Plus, turning a worry in a specific prayer request helps crystalize the real problem. What do you need? What are you actually afraid of? 

We articulate it. We write it down. We let God handle it.

A Prayer for Our Work

I read Hebrews 13 this morning, and I embrace the prayer here:

“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

I take note of the dependence we have on God. We ask Him to equip us with everything good we need for doing His will. We ask for God to work in us what pleases Him. 

A Role Model to Yourself

This morning I woke up thinking about some things I should do but had no desire to do. This list included cleaning my bathroom and doing my exercise program.

The day began. As I read my Bible and drank my coffee, I kept thinking of the idea of a role model. But instead of choosing some fantasy wife and mother who always exercises and always cleans her bathroom, I thought of the ideal version of me. I pictured myself as a role model to myself. In my ideal day, my role model self cleans the bathroom and completes her exercise program. I decided to follow the lead of this role model.

Picturing yourself as a role model to yourself is a way of elevating your goals for the day. It’s a way of setting an intention and then keeping that promise to yourself because that’s who you are. I’ve heard about how “keeping a promise to yourself” builds self-confidence, self-esteem, and your good self-concept generally. I like the idea of keeping promises to myself and serving as a role model to myself. Something about this clicks.

So I got on the bike. I lifted the weights. I stretched. And then I cleaned the bathroom.

Always Turning

I love the book of Deuteronomy. Jesus quotes frequently from this book (and also the Psalms!), and once a seminary professor of mine said, “Jesus had a favorite book of the Bible. It was clearly Deuteronomy based on how much He quotes from it. Wouldn’t you want to study Jesus’s most beloved book?” I think about those words every time I read Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy is a great book for any of us embarking on a new adventure. It’s great for those of us wanting to enter the Promised Land of a deeper walk with Jesus. This is a different land you’re entering. It’s a land of profound dependence on the Holy Spirit and unimaginable blessing.

I love reading Moses’ words of direction and wisdom for starting a new thing and entering this fresh place of rest. After all, this book is all about how to live well and what to do once God puts you in a new situation.

What I most notice this time is, not surprisingly, is a little verb: turn. God tells the Israelites to first turn and take a new direction of obedience (1:40). I love how God continues to give highly specific instructions as in “turn northward” (2:3)

I think about the turns our lives take as we follow the Lord. Some of us know we’re about to turn towards a new opportunity. What now?

Notice this: God tells the Israelites about the battles ahead. But He reminds them which people to engage with and which people to avoid. He essentially says, “Don’t fight that battle, but yes, fight this one.” Over and over again, God directs the people which battle is theirs. When we turn and follow Jesus, we might find many conflicts ahead, both internal and external to us.

I remember asking a woman the greatest lesson she had learned in her lifetime about the Lord. She looked at me and said, “You don’t have to attend every fight you’re invited to.” In other words, on any given day, we’re baited into countless battles of various ideas, political positions, and arguments on large and small scales. You don’t have to fight everything and everyone. You don’t have to enter that space.

When you turn and follow the Lord, He will show you which battles are yours to fight and which ones to avoid.

So we turn. We follow Him. And we only engage where He asks us to.