Tag: encouragement

Finding my Voice

Now, this is what I originally drafted to be my maiden blog post, but I decided to add some additional content last week at the last minute. So, here I am, stringing words together in hopes that they strike some chord with you.  That you can relate to something I’ve been through, how I dealt with this thing or that, or that I can offer new perspectives on an old problem.  But how? 

It’s one thing to sit around a kitchen table with friends and offer advice or lend an ear. It’s an entirely other matter to sit at a computer and rally enough thoughts together that they coherently blend into something substantive enough that someone else would want to read them.  Thus…here I am…finding my voice.  Do I focus on being a parent of three?  A spouse? Full-time professional in post-graduate school? Self-declared DIYer? 

Perhaps what’s so challenging about focusing on any one of these identities is that they are somewhat transient and incomplete.  By and large, they depend on other aspects subject to change and are still only a portion of who I am, even on a good day!  For example, although parenting and marriage are relatively permanent (until death do us part!), how those roles play out in my life will largely depend on the season of life I’m in, thus rendering them transitory; and the totality of these parts are still wildly lacking, thus leading me right into the present conundrum of finding my voice.

Nonetheless, do you know what doesn’t change? Christ’s love for me.  I was made in His image.  According to Psalm 139:14, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, regardless of how I may feel or which hat I have on.  I am His.  And so are you.  Every other role we are blessed with can be seen in light of our relationship to Him.  When doing so, we can more fully appreciate the roles temporarily assigned to us, better recognize the Lord’s provisions, and respond in love accordingly.  It’s in Him that I am finding my voice, or rather, more correctly, finding His voice inside of me.  How about you?  Do you yearn to hear His voice?  Go to Him. If you don’t know how, ask Him to show you. He will, and He’s been waiting for you to ask.

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Bonus Weekend Post! Coincidence? I Think Not!

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Welcome, back!  I’ve already told you how my youngest came up with the blog’s title.  Today, my other daughter had the insightful idea to add in an audio component to each post.  She was spot on with her constructive feedback, and I immediately backtracked to record my first two posts!

I love listening to my favorite devotions when I’m short on time while I get ready in the morning. How about you? Maybe you listen to a best seller on audible or a sermon on Spotify? However, as practical as her tip was, especially for the ever-multi-tasking human, I knew she suggested the feature out of necessity as opposed to preference or convenience. 

My daughter has at least two reading disabilities, including dyslexia.  If there is too much content on a page, she must scrape together every ounce of energy to process what she is seeing, then remember which rules to apply to which letters and then sound it all out in a way that she can still comprehend what she is reading.  It’s exhausting, but she’s a trooper! 

While attending cyber school last year, she was introduced to a variety of apps and electronic modifications which optimized her ability to do talk-to-text, as well as, you guessed it, have text read aloud to her.  It was a game changer!  No wonder she was the child who suggested to add in audio, and I love her for it!

If I’m her mother and I so willing provided a perfectly tailored tool she needed to be more independent, how much more willing is our Father in heaven when it comes to meeting our specific need? Here are two of the most reassuring verses I’ve ever come across which make this very point:

 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:25-26

What’s one need you have that was met yesterday or today?  Can you think back to a time when everything aligned perfectly so that the quintessential coincidence unfolded before your very eyes?  That was God meeting your needs! Before you go to bed tonight, try thanking Him for these times and ask that He reveal another provision to you tomorrow.

The more we upwardly shift our focus, what we think we “need” begins to better align with what He also wills for us. By pressing into Him and His Word, we not only experience an alignment of wills, but we also deepen our relationship with Him, and He continues to fill a void in us that could only ever be satisfied by Him to begin with. 

Greetings!

Believe it or not, my 8-year-old came up with the blog’s title, “Living Simply with God”. While I was trying to make sense of themes, content specifications and everything else that comes with launching a new site, she plopped right down next to me and asked what I was doing.

As I write today it’s Monday, which mean’s yesterday’s sermon is still fresh in my mind. James 3:3-13 tells us that our words can be used to uplift or to discourage. The pastor practically applied to how we interact with the people in our homes, and how our words can have long-lasting effects on those we care about the most, for better or for worse. Remembering this, instead of impatiently asking her to leave mommy alone, we simply talked. So many probing questions came from her ever-expanding and inquisitive mind; I could hardly process them quickly enough.

“What was the blog about? Why are you doing it? Do you have time for this? Are you scared to do something new? Are you going to make make your own YouTube Channel?! What about vlogging?!”

We went back and forth, and I shared that I am doing this because I love Jesus, writing, processing what I learn (usually from reading, asking questions, or making mistakes) and encouraging others. “I can keep all the journals I want, but what good is that if I am the only one who knows the miracles it contains? Wouldn’t it be better to share how we experience small miracles in the every day, possibly giving hope to others so that they can persevere as well? Maybe someone can recognize that they are not alone. I want others to experience Him in the tangible ways that we have experienced Him.”

“Mama, what’s tangible?”

“It’s something that you can feel or touch. It’s something that you know is there. I want other people to know he is there, too. Our world can be scary right now, and it can be hard to know what to believe. I’d like to help with that and perhaps offer some new ways of looking at things, but I also feel led to do it simply. Understanding how He is at work doesn’t have to be complicated.”

“Mama, what are you calling it?”

“It still needs a title.” Nothing I had scribbled up was quite right.

At first, she strung along almost every Sunday school word you could think of. I said we needed something a tad bit shorter. I needed to capture how we can simplify our lives, how we can know Jesus, how He is enough.

Mama, how about, “Living Simply with Jesus”?

“Yes, you did it. That’s the name, and I’m so thankful that you had a part in this!”

And just like that, not only did I get a title and a fabulously challenging discourse with my youngest, but we also experienced the fruit of obeying His Word. The very fruit I’m longing to tell you about downright blossomed (does fruit blossom?) and fell right down into our laps as I chose patience and conversation over dismissal and solitude, all the while considering how to explain how God works. The irony is not lost on me.

For every tale of loss, addiction and uncertainty, I can counter with testimonies of provision, deliverance, and guidance.

Together, we are going to explore ways we can simplify our lives, create margin to notice blessings (even in the midst of extreme heartache), and focus on what really matters. Take what you can, and leave the rest. You do you, and I welcome you alongside me as I share what God has done and unfailingly continues to do in my life, my family’s life, and in the lives of others.

Let’s do some life together and find some blessings along the way. Shall we?

I’d love to share some more about how this blog came about. Take a look!