Lyli Dunbar's Blog, page 56

More Than Enough (Thought-Provoking Thursday)

Something to think about…

I am sharing “More than Enough” and joining like-minded sisters at The Weekend Brew, Spiritual Sundays, Recommendation Saturday, Faith-Filled Friday, and Thriving Thursday.

Have you written something thought-provoking, challenging, encouraging, or inspiring lately? Link it up here! For best results, write the title of your post in the name box.

As a courtesy, please link back to 3-D Lessons for Life in your post. Grab and share the Thought-Provoking Thursday button to spread the word. Use #ThoughtProvokingThursday to share your post and connect on Twitter.

Check back later to see what other GREAT posts have been linked up! Visit the post immediately before yours and leave an encouraging comment.

An InLinkz Link-up

The post More Than Enough (Thought-Provoking Thursday) appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.

Make Music

 

I’m sharing “Make Music” and joining like-minded sisters at Still Saturday and Give Me Grace.
Photo Credit:  Hans Braxmeier, via Pixabay

The post Make Music appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.

Hit the Reset (Thought-Provoking Thursday)

Photo Credit: Daria, via Pixabay

I was sitting on my friend’s couch when the horror happened.  My fancy dancy phone that goes with me everywhere just died.  The battery still had juice in it, so its demise truly perplexed me.  I plugged it in to an outlet, but it remained dark and lifeless.

In a panic, I called Mr. Fix It.  He assured me that he would come to the rescue.  I jumped in my car and raced home where I handed my man the defunct mobile device.

Two hours later, we took two Advil and headed to the closest Provider Store for support from the experts.

In a shrill voice, I explained every single tragic step that had transpired that day.  I was quite sure that I would be leaving the store with a new phone since mine was obviously defective.

The nice man with the badge on took my phone and fixed it in about 5 seconds.  I am quite sure that my mouth fell open in complete disbelief when he handed me back my fully functioning smart phone.

“Do you know about the reset button?”  he asked.

No, I did not.  Apparently, if you keep your phone running all the time, it gets “buggy.”  To fix the anomalies, you simply need to give your phone a fresh start.

How was I supposed to know?

One thing I do know is that God has provided a perfect “reset function” for my soul.  Have you been mis-functioning lately?  Confession will clear that right up and put a new zip in your spirit.

When I refused to confess my sin,

    my body wasted away,

    and I groaned all day long.

Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.

    My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

Finally, I confessed all my sins to you

    and stopped trying to hide my guilt.

I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”

    And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Psalms 32:3-5, NLT

Something to think about…
I am sharing “Hit the Reset” and joining like-minded sisters at The Weekend Brew, Spiritual Sundays, Recommendation Saturday, Faith-Filled Friday, Essential Fridays, and Thriving Thursday.

 

Have you written something thought-provoking, challenging, encouraging, or inspiring lately? Link it up here! For best results, write the title of your post in the name box.

As a courtesy, please link back to 3-D Lessons for Life in your post. Grab and share the Thought-Provoking Thursday button to spread the word. Use #ThoughtProvokingThursday to share your post and connect on Twitter.

Check back later to see what other GREAT posts have been linked up! Visit the post immediately before yours and leave an encouraging comment.

An InLinkz Link-up

The post Hit the Reset (Thought-Provoking Thursday) appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.

Be a Trailblazer

I want to leave my mark.

As I trudge my way through the wilderness, holding forth the Word of life, I am leaving footprints on the path for others to follow.

I must surrender my pride and let it fall down into the mire.  Each time I do, a cross is planted in the ground I’ve claimed.

These memorials will point wanderers toward the way of reconciliation.

Lead on, brave sisters.  Be brightly conspicuous for Him.

I am sharing “Be a Trailblazer” and joining like-minded sisters at Coffee for Your Heart, Three-Word Wednesday, and The Bloom Book Club at (in)courage.
This post was inspired by Let’s All Be Brave by Annie Downs.
Photo Credit:  Unsplash, via Pixabay

The post Be a Trailblazer appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.

Enthroned

 

I’m sharing “Enthroned” and joining like-minded sisters at Still Saturday and Give Me Grace.
Photo Credit: Dwi Rizki Tirtasujana,  via Pixabay.

The post Enthroned appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.

Practice Hospitality (Thought-Provoking Thursday)

Photo Credit: Shardy, via Pixabay

 

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.

Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond.

Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings.

The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their true selves.

Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully,  and   even to dare to be silent with you.

–Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, reading for March 11.

 

Something to think about…
I am sharing “Practice Hospitality” and joining like-minded sisters at The Weekend Brew, Spiritual Sundays, Recommendation Saturday, Faith-Filled Friday, Essential Fridays, and Thriving Thursday.

Have you written something thought-provoking, challenging, encouraging, or inspiring lately? Link it up here! For best results, write the title of your post in the name box.

As a courtesy, please link back to 3-D Lessons for Life in your post. Grab and share the Thought-Provoking Thursday button to spread the word. Use #ThoughtProvokingThursday to share your post and connect on Twitter.

Check back later to see what other GREAT posts have been linked up! Visit the post immediately before yours and leave an encouraging comment.

An InLinkz Link-up

The post Practice Hospitality (Thought-Provoking Thursday) appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.

Confessions of a Book Addict: Captivating

In case you forgot, I love to read.  Stacks of books seem to pile up all over the house — most of them half read.  Other women buy shoes; I buy books.

I’m in the middle of reading Annie Downs book Let’s All be Brave, and she is just so darn relatable that I feel like we could be “Peas and Carrots” (or maybe chocolate and fudge would be better!).  I am loving her book and will share thoughts on it on another day soon.  This week, however, I am linking up with Annie to share a book that I feel every young woman should read.  Head on over to her place after you read this to check out her 31-day series and to see what other great books gals are sharing in today’s linkup. 

 A Book That Rocked My World

I don’t believe in magic.  Honestly, I don’t.  But, if I were a believer, I would say that this book had magical properties.  I started reading it in November of 2007.  I was 40 years old at the time, and I hadn’t had a date in almost a decade.  This book breathed new life into me in ways that I cannot even begin to put into words.

In the middle of reading this redemptive message, my path collided with a very wonderful man.  I finished reading this “game changer” during the same week of our first date, and we were married in 2009.

This book helped me to let go of my past and step forward with courage and joy into the adventure of married life.

Title

Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul.

Author

John and Stasi Eldredge

What the Book is About

The authors believe that God invites women into a great Romance with Him.  His desire is to heal our hurts and restore our hearts.  God wants to be the Hero of our stories — the one who comes to set us free to live fully and freely.

Why I “Loved, Loved, Loved” It / Takeaway Truths

I am God’s beautiful creation:  “Every woman has a beauty to unveil.  Every woman.  Because she bears the image of God.  She doesn’t have to conjure it, go get it from a salon, have plastic surgery or breast implants.  No, beauty is an essence given to every woman at her creation” (p. 42).

God is wooing me to Him:  “The Great Love Story the Scriptures are telling us about also reveals a Lover who longs for you.  The story of your life is also the story of the long and passionate pursuit of your heart by the One who knows you best and loves you most.  God has written the Romance not only on our hearts but all over the world around us.  What we need is for Him to open our eyes, to open our ears that we might recognize His voice calling to us, see His hand wooing us in the beauty that quickens our hearts” (p. 115)

God’s beauty exuding from me invites others to the Romance:  “A woman who is unveiling her beauty is inviting others to life.  She risks being vulnerable: exposing her true heart and inviting others to share theirs.  She is not demanding, but she is hopeful… She offers her beauty by asking good questions and by bringing something of her times with God–an insight, a glimpse into His heart–to bear.  She entices others to the heart of God” (p. 137).

God invites me to partner with Him as a Warrior Princess for the Kingdom:  “Be here now.  To live as an authentic, ransomed, and redeemed woman means to be real and present in the moment.  If we continue to hide, much will be lost.  We cannot have intimacy with God or anyone else if we stay hidden and offer only who we think we ought to be or what we believe is wanted.  We cannot play the ezer role we were meant to play if we remain bound by shame and fear, presenting only to the world the face we have learned is safe.  You have only one life to live.  It would be best to live your own” (pp. 215-216).

Buy it Here & Photo Credit:  Ransomed Hearts Ministries
 Q4U:  Have you read a book that rocked your world?  Please share…

The post Confessions of a Book Addict: Captivating appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.

Hold Fast in Hard Times — His Hand in Mine (Day 31)

Photo Credit: Daniela Corno, via Free Images

Tonight I got to chat with a dear friend.  She’s coming out of a valley season and stepping out in faith to claim her mountain.  Her journey has lead her through peaks and valleys.  She faced crossroads where the path seemed uncertain, and sometimes the mud slung up on her as she trudged through the mire.

Thankfully, my friend was not walking alone.  She held hands firmly with her husband and her three spunky kiddos.  I relished each moment of our time together tonight because she is a fellow traveler — a seeker who believes that God brings beauty from our brokenness.

Now that my beautifully broken sister is on the other side, she is looking back and seeing how God was working in ways that she could not see as she put one foot in front of the other in the darkness.

The sweetest part of her story was hearing about how very lovingly God answered the outrageous prayers of her children.

I was reminded that God is my Father.  He hears my cry.  His hand in mine, my all-powerful God protects me and provides everything that I need.

When I am going through hard times, all I need to do is lift up my hands and heart to Him.  He will never let me go.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;

You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

And Your right hand will save me.

 The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;

Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;

Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Psalms 138:7-8, NASB

 

I’m joining The Nester and friends for #write31days and sharing “His Hand in Mine” with like-minded sisters at Still Saturday, Give Me Grace, and The Weekend Brew.
To see all of the posts in this series, head on over here

The post Hold Fast in Hard Times — His Hand in Mine (Day 31) appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.

Hold Fast in Hard Times — Domino Effect (Day 30)

Succumb (Verb): to fail to resist (pressure, temptation, or some other negative force)

In January, Linda shared her “UNword” for 2014 and invited her readers to consider:

Who don’t you want to be as we forge ahead into this year?  What don’t you want to be wasting your time and energy on anymore?  What bugaboo, character trait, moral defect, sin, habit, or thorn in the flesh are you absolutely done with?

I contemplated what the antithesis of “Hold Fast” might be, and I settled upon “succumb.”

Rather than live sacrificially, I choose selfishness.
Instead of being transformed, I conform to negative thought patterns.
I doubt my identity in Christ, and define my makeup by comparing myself to others.
Isolation replaces community and connection.
My greatest possession becomes a grudge, rather than His great love.
I choose to capitulate, rather than conquer.

 

Let’s face it.  Life is hard.  It’s easy to fall into a hole when we can’t see it coming.  But, those who Hold Fast learn to walk differently.  Tonight my pastor shared an illustration that highlighted this truth:

THERE’S A HOLE IN MY SIDEWALK

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

By  Portia Nelson

 

Chapter One

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost …. I am helpless.

It isn’t my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend that I don’t see it.

I fall in again.

I can’t believe I am in this same place.

But, it isn’t my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in … it’s a habit … but, my eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

Chapter Four

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

Chapter Five

I walk down another street.

 

As a believer, my life is not a cosmic game of dominoes where circumstances out of my control create a wave that crashes in and causes me to fall down over and over again.  Today, I can choose to surrender to my Savior — He will walk with me all the way.

 

Something to think about…

 

 

I’m sharing “Domino Effect” and joining The Nester and friends for #write31days.

To see all of the posts in this series, head on over here.

 

Time to Linkup!

Have you written something thought-provoking, challenging, encouraging, or inspiring lately? Link it up here! For best results, write the title of your post in the name box.

As a courtesy, please link back to 3-D Lessons for Life in your post. Grab and share the Thought-Provoking Thursday button to spread the word. Use #ThoughtProvokingThursday to share your post and connect on Twitter.

Check back later to see what other GREAT posts have been linked up! Visit the post immediately before yours and leave an encouraging comment.

An InLinkz Link-up

The post Hold Fast in Hard Times — Domino Effect (Day 30) appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.

Four Ways to Live Life Out of the Overflow

A couple of years ago, I learned that I was not drinking enough fluid, and this was impacting my health adversely. I ended up in the office of a specialist who sat me down and advised me that I needed to be more proactive about staying hydrated.   Water is life to the body. Without it, the organs begin to shut down. You can’t run on empty for long.

Similarly, it’s important to fill up spiritually with the living water of the Holy Spirit. If I am not mindful of this truth, I forget to drink up, and I start to grow unhealthy in my walk as a disciple. A pastor once told me that sharing our faith with others should come naturally out of “the overflow.” As we allow God to pour into our lives, His goodness splashes out to those in our circle of influence who are seeking to find a well for their parched souls.

How do you live out of the overflow so that your life refreshes others?

I’m sharing at Missional Women today.  Join me here to read the rest of this post. 

The post Four Ways to Live Life Out of the Overflow appeared first on 3-D Lessons for Life.