Heather Holleman's Blog, page 98

During Transitions

My friends and family joke that I never do well during times of transition. I’m predictably more moody and more unsettled at the beginning of a semester and at the end of a semester. I can also experience this unsettled, depressed feeling when seasons change, when I travel, or if anything changes in my environment. I just don’t like transitions or change.

My husband always says, “Remember that you always feel this way at the beginning of May.”

I thrive on keeping a tidy little schedule. I thrive on routine. When my routine changes, I can hardly bear it!

But today I realized how thankful I am for these times of disruption because they reveal deeper things about where I put my hope, what I trust in for a sense of stability, and who I really am apart from all the scaffolding around my life. Without our schedules, who are we really? Without our safe routines and predictable environments, who are we?

My counselor told me these questions reflect the reason why personal retreats matter so much. You need to strip away your routine and all your normal coping mechanisms to really become alone with the real, authentic you. That’s the person who will then connect deeply with God (because God doesn’t connect with a fake person; there’s nobody there).

Times of transition–when everything feels unsettled– reflect invitations to think and pray and learn. They are times to depend upon God, to wait, and to receive His unconditional love more and more.

Big Dill

This year, I never planted dill. A gardener told me that if I let last year’s dill go to seed and totally ignore it, I’d enjoy a fresh garden of dill the next year.

Basically, do nothing. Let things dry up. Let all the seeds fall into the earth. Don’t worry about them. Don’t even think about them. 

This morning, I find a dozen dill plants popping out of the ignored soil.

I remember the work of God in hidden, ignored places. I remember how sometimes, it’s good to stop tending something, to let it be, wait, and see what happens in another season.

The Whole Secret

I loved reading Hannah Whitall Smith’s words this morning about “the whole secret.” She writes, “Those, therefore, who know Him as their Father, know the whole secret. They are their Father’s heirs and may now enter into possession of all that is necessary for their present needs. They will therefore be very simple in their prayers. ‘Lord,’ they will say, ‘I am your child, and I need such and such things.’ ‘My child,’ He will answer, ‘all things are yours in Christ; come and take just what you need’.”

The older I grow, the simpler faith becomes. Rather than growing in complexity or theological profundity, I find I’m more childlike.

What do I need? I come and take just what I need from a loving Father.

Your Summer Audiobooks

Hello there! If you are already planning your summer audiobooks for driving or for just listening as you go about your days, you can find these titles in audiobook form. Thank you for being such great readers, listeners, and friends. (Click on the title to find the book on Audible.)

Sent: Living a Life that Invites Others to Jesus (read Anne Cloud and Brian Conover).

Guarded by Christ: Knowing the God Who Rescues and Keeps Us (read by Sarah Zimmerman)

Seated with Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison (read by me!)

That’s all for now!

 

Lifter of My Head

Back during my youth group days, we sang a worship song I just loved. It went like this:

Thou, O Lord, are a shield about me. You’re my glory; you’re the lifter of my head.

I loved that soothing song, and I often sang it as I went about my day. This morning, as I read Psalm 3 (because it’s now May 1st–you can start reading a few a psalms a day with me!), I noted the verse inspiring the song: Psalm 3:3. I take note of the odd biblical expression that God is the lifter of my head. 

What a powerful image to consider right now. God lifts our heads. He raises our heads up to live differently today.

I think of five things:

God lifts our head so we enter back into community; He takes away our shame which makes us hide and put our face down.God gives us honor and helps us hold our heads high in a posture of confidence, boldness, gratitude, and celebration.God lifts our head and delivers us from discouragement and hopelessness. God lifts our head so we can see new possibilities.God lifts our head to worship Him in every circumstance.

I love thinking about God as the lifter of my head when I’m tempted to hold my head low in defeat or discouragement. Why is your head hanging low today? God, thank You that You are the lifter of our heads right now. 

End of the Semester at Penn State

I can hardly believe the semester is over! I taught every day in-person, in a mask, and with great joy. 

Little Delights from the Lord: A Story of Pear Jam

Something wonderful happened. I was talking to dear friend, and I learned of her love of pear jam. But not just any pear jam—a pear jam with no cinnamon or extra spices. This particular jam is apparently really hard to find.

I had been thinking about my friend and all the ways she was trusting and relying on God through a difficult season. I had been thinking about all her wisdom and how much she blesses me whenever we talk. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking that maybe one day, I would find that special pear jam to send to her.

Pear jam. 

The next day, I was talking to another friend in another part of the country who happened to make jam. I don’t know why, but I told her about my other friend and her love of pear jam. And then, God began to orchestrate something. My jam-making friend just happened–that very week–to receive a random delivery of pears from her daughter. Right there on the counter, the pears sat, waiting to be a blessing. She thought she might make some pear jam. But who would want pear jam?

I told her about my friend. I told her about the pear jam with no spices. My friend went to work.

So my jam-making friend made the pear jam with no spices and prayed it would somehow taste exactly like the kind my other friend loved. She made the jam and mailed the jam off across the country.

My friend received her jam and said, “I don’t know how you did it, but this is the taste I really like.” I smiled. My jam-making friend smiled. And I marveled at a God who can arrange anything He wants to delight us, to bless us, to send us a treat we will really like.

Whenever I see a basket of pears, I shall think of the God who cares about giving pear jam to one of His dearly loved children. It’s true what scripture says: He does satisfy our desires with good things (Psalm 103). He does richly provide things for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17).

And that is my story of pear jam and God’s love for my friend.

These Were Delicious: Crispy Cauliflower Tacos

Last night for dinner, I tried a new recipe: Cauliflower Tacos from this website:  https://www.acouplecooks.com/crispy-cauliflower-tacos/.

Delicious!

I love roasting cauliflower, but sometimes you don’t get the crispiness you’re hoping for. These crisp up; the cornmeal is the secret! Enjoy this recipe if you’re looking for a light, delicious meal. The whole family loved these tacos. I served them with some mango slices on the side.

The Hardening Off

When I first began gardening, a graduate student at Penn State taught me all about “hardening off” my seedlings. She told me to take the plants I had grown indoors and gradually expose them—for just a few hours each day—to the sunlight, wind, and changing temperatures of the outdoors. This would “harden” them to make the transition to their new garden location healthier.

A gradual exposure to the elements would prevent transplant shock.

A gradual exposure to stress would strengthen the plants and prepare them.

You have to strengthen the plants first.

I remembered what I learned about “stress wood” in trees and the failure of the famous Biosphere 2 which tried to create perfect conditions to grow trees in an ecological dome. Of course, the trees suffered and fell down because the environment lacked wind. No wind, no stress. No stress, no strength in the trees. No strength, no standing. What researchers thought were perfect conditions without stress actually damaged those trees.

Stress, it seems, is good.

I love thinking of my own life as a form of hardening off or a way I’m building “stress wood” inside to help me grow in the environment God has planned for me. Every difficult thing is a gentle exposure to strengthen me.

 

 

A Fellow Expert in Asking Great Questions

My friend, Bob Tiede, is giving away some of his excellent resources about asking good questions. And he quotes me in his book, which I  found so fun!

I am always on the lookout for great leadership resources I can share with my friends and colleagues, and this is a quick read.

Four of my favorite quotes from this resource are this:

“The most successful people in life are the ones who ask questions. They’re always learning. They’re always growing. They’re always pushing.” —Robert Kiyosaki

“Don’t ask kids, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ Ask them, ‘What problem do you want to solve?’ This changes the conversation from ‘Who do you want to work for?’ to ‘What do you need to learn to be able to do that?’” —Jaime Casap

“When you give advice, the brain is basically asleep. If you engage them and ask questions that help them come to their own insights, it comes alive.” —Dr. Henry Cloud

“Did you ask any good questions today, Isaac?” —Nobel Prize winning physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi’s mother’s daily question as she greeted him with after school

You can request your gift of the “Little Book” @LeadingWithQuestions.com/resources. You can also follow Bob’s blog LeadingWithQuestions.com. He always proves great insight into asking good questions in the leadership world.

I already asked my daughter about the questions she’s asking the problems she’d like to solve. What a fun conversation!

Enjoy!