Heather Holleman's Blog, page 90

Because He is With You

Lately I’ve been thinking about what we would do and what we could endure if we truly remembered Jesus is with us. Imagine! Go do that hard thing! Jesus is with you.

I think about the words in Matthew 28: “And surely I am with you always.” 

Or think about the power behind God’s words in Isaiah 41: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” 

Twice stated in the first chapter of Jeremiah, we hear this from God: “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.”

The people in the Bible endured difficult, painful, and terrifying things, but they knew God was with them. God with us means we can do hard things. His presence means we have the power, peace, and provision for whatever happens in our lives.

Not to Scale

Bigger is not always better. Be led, not driven. Consider your capacity.

I say these things to people in my life who want to grow a business, expand their influence, or get “to the next level.” Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. I’ve been resisting the cultural pressure to be more and do more ever since I published Seated with Christ. 

There’s often a counter-cultural and more biblical way to think about it.

Remember this: Seated people abide with Jesus to produce the fruit He has ordained for their lives–whether big or small. I think of the pressure around Jesus to be more and do more. He often resisted big crowds and kept His influence to a small group of people. It didn’t seem like a good business strategy. It didn’t seem like anything could go viral when He told people not to say anything about Him after He raises a little girl from the dead (Luke 8:56). It’s so odd how little attention Jesus desires.

Jesus was led and not driven.

Finally, my husband likes to remind me of the famous story written by Heinrich Böll, adapted and summarized here: 

“A smartly-dressed enterprising tourist is taking photographs when he notices a shabbily dressed local fisherman taking a nap in his fishing boat. The tourist is disappointed with the fisherman’s apparently lazy attitude towards his work, so he approaches the fisherman and asks him why he is lying around instead of catching fish. The fisherman explains that he went fishing in the morning, and the small catch would be sufficient for the next two days. The tourist tells him that if he goes out to catch fish multiple times a day, he would be able to buy a motor in less than a year, a second boat in less than two years, and so on. The tourist further explains that one day, the fisherman could even build a small cold storage plant, later a pickling factory, fly around in a helicopter, build a fish restaurant, and export lobster directly to Paris without a middleman.

The nonchalant fisherman asks, “Then what?”

The tourist enthusiastically continues, “Then, without a care in the world, you could sit here in the harbor, doze in the sun, and look at the glorious sea.”

“But I’m already doing that”, says the fisherman.

The enlightened tourist walks away pensively, with no trace of pity for the fisherman, only a little envy.

I like to remind myself of the point of the hustle. Sometimes, we begin to work so hard and chase a dream that’s already happening right now.

A Guest Here

I enjoyed an interesting moment while reading Psalm 119 this morning. I noted how the priest says, “I am a sojourner on the earth.” I’ve always loved this idea of Christians just traveling through earth on the way to heaven. There’s a lightness about the idea. There’s a sense of not clinging to things so tightly. We are strangers here. Our real home is heaven.

But when I looked up the word “sojourner” in the Hebrew, I noted that in some cases, it translates from the word “guest.” We are guests upon the earth, invited by God to enjoy our visit. What a different sense of the word! I normally think of the expression “sojourner” as aligned with being an alien and stranger (Ephesians 2:19); it’s a negative connotation. Strangers don’t belong. Strangers don’t enjoy their time. Strangers aren’t part of the party.

But what if we’re also to see our time here as being God’s guests? I consider a shift in my attitude; I’m invited as a guest to this day. I think of God laying out the delights, the comforts, the sights, and the experiences a host might provide for a beloved guest who is passing through. A guest worries over nothing; the host provides everything. And God is a fabulous host.

The Sweetest

The Candy Explosion Cherry Tomatoes do not disappoint! They are delicious and so sweet. I ordered my seeds from a farm in Michigan through GardenHoard.com.  

I watched the seeds grow by the sunny window all through March, April, and May. I carefully transplanted in late May. And today? The harvest!

Today, I’m thankful for sweet cherry tomatoes. Tomorrow, I’ll pick more! The harvest brings such joy.

When people ask me what habits and rhythms I adopted during the pandemic that shall carry over to a post-pandemic world, I tell them about my vegetable garden. Back then, the garden was everything: I had nothing else to do, so I weeded, planted, mulched, watered, and weeded some more. I oriented my schedule around whatever the garden needed, and I learned the blessing of rainy weather. I designed meals based on whatever the garden offered that evening. When autumn came, I gathered and dried seeds for the coming spring. The COVID summers gave me the blessing of growing fruits and vegetables, and for this I am thankful.

Visitors on the Morning Walk

All the Way Off

For a few weeks in the summer, I like to turn all the way off in terms of teaching or speaking or writing books. I take a break from creative work. It’s a necessary way to recharge and store up energy for the fall semester. I do all kinds of other work, but creatively speaking, it’s a way of resting.

I used to feel panicky or lazy or confused about this essential rest. Was it OK to have an off-season? Was it right to completely hibernate from certain kinds of creative work? It’s vital. It’s a resetting of sorts. Most creative people I know work like this. Otherwise, they feel drained all the time. They struggle with burnout. They aren’t working at optimal creativity.

So turn all the way off. Think of the faucet that continues to leak. You want to turn it all the way off so no energy leaks out. This might last a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months. Some people even turn off for the whole year to prepare for the next year. In this time, you might read more, pray more, walk more, bake more, or do anything but work on your creative project. Then, one day, you’ll turn back on.

Any Day Now

The cherry and beefsteak tomatoes present a blush of red. Any day now, I’ll feast on tomato and dill sandwiches and make dinners of baked tomato, garlic, and basil pasta. Any day now, I’ll place trays of oven-dried tomatoes in bags for the freezer. Any day now, I’ll add tomatoes to every single meal. 

I love both the hope and patience of gardening.

 

All Our Days

Psalm 90:14-17 offers one of the most beautiful prayers; Psalm 90 is something you can pray for your family today. This is perhaps the oldest Psalm (written by Moses). I emphasize the power of certain phrases I just love!

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!

I pray for glad days for my family, for us to see the glorious power of the Lord, for God’s favor, and for our work. What a wonderful prayer!

Unexpected Joy

I love asking people about their “unexpected joys” after a time of being away from them. You can ask, “How is your summer going? Any unexpected joys?”

I believe the word “unexpected” makes us think differently and engages our mind in delightful ways. What happened that I wasn’t expecting that brought me joy I wasn’t expecting? 

It’s also a great devotional practice in gratitude, especially as you will find that things you didn’t think would bring you joy maybe did indeed! Here’s my list so far this summer:

I didn’t expect to love growing cherry tomatoes as much as I do. I didn’t expect to enjoy playing a game called Farkle that I recently learned. I didn’t expect to love cooking zucchini noodles so much. I didn’t expect to find joy in counting the number of rabbits I see on a walk. I didn’t expect enjoying so much family time and becoming great friends with my husband and children like this. 

I also thought I would absolutely detest planning a technical writing course, but I loved it. That’s maybe the most unexpected joy!

I pray your day–and the rest of your summer–is filled with unexpected joy!

In the Way of Love

I teach professional development to college students. I help them set goals and think deeply about a personal mission. Lately, though, when I think about achievement, future plans, goal setting, and hopes and dreams, I find myself thinking about this singular hope and goal: to walk “in the way of love” (Ephesians 5:1-2). What does that mean?

It’s really about this right here as Paul writes: Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 

I most love the part of this verse that reminds us why we can walk in love and give ourselves up for one another. It’s because we are “dearly loved children.” A dearly loved child doesn’t worry about anything; she has everything she needs. She gives to others freely. She doesn’t live in jealousy or comparison or fear or shame. She is dearly loved. She doesn’t have to always take from others; she gives and relates to others with freedom, joy, security, and generosity. She knows she is loved. Her life becomes about this deep love.

I consider more and more that life’s grand purpose is to know how dearly loved we are by God and to then life a life of love. That’s it! That’s the whole thing. Think of the simplicity of 1 John 4:19: We love because he first loved us.

Paul prays this for us in Ephesians 1: And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight . . . 

May we grow to know how dearly loved we are. And then may we live a life of profound and unexplainable love. The Holy Spirit will teach us how and enhance this fruit of love given to us (Galatians 5).