The New Site

Ready or not, here it is. The new website launched. It didn’t happen quite the way I wanted it to happen, but it happened nevertheless.

I worked on the new website in all my spare time and, what feels like, time I didn’t have. My lunch hour, the minutes before a meeting, the time in the waiting room of the doctor’s office, and my free evenings were filled with website work. A lot is involved in launching a new site, and I wanted it to be perfect. I tweaked pages, changed words, added widgets and photos, and updated posts.

If you follow this site and like what you see, please visit my new site and follow. All of you have meant a lot to my journey and I’d like for us to continue to connect.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the encouragement, the conversations, your blog posts, and just being some of the neatest people on the planet!

My new site is still called Live Like It Matters. Click here to see it and let me know you found me.

 

 

 

What’s This All About?

The new website is coming along and we’re almost there. In the meantime, I’ll share the reason I’m doing this in the first place.

Fifteen years ago I was a young mother at the end of another exhausting day, and I wondered, is this it?

I graduated college, worked years at a great company, and quit a promising career to be home with my children to wipe counters, noses and bottoms all day?

Today, I’m sitting in my office with piles of paper scattered across my desk, emails to answer, phone calls to make, and numbers to crunch. And I wonder, is this it?

I know I’m not the only one. You feel the same way. The restlessness, the divine discontent, a desire within your heart to make a difference. We all want to know our lives count.

I was in my 20s when I read John Maxwell’s book “Developing the Leader Within You”. The most important words of the entire book were these:

Sociologists tell us that even the most introverted person will influence 10,000 people in his or her lifetime.

I was astounded. To think that I would impact 10,000 or more people in my lifetime was amazing and humbling.

The 10,000 statistic is a pre-social media number. It’s not a stretch to guess that the most introverted person will impact an exponentially greater number of people in his or her lifetime. Fifty thousand, maybe even 100,000 with Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and all the other ways of connecting with others.

The statistic might have changed but the main point of John Maxwell’s book is a timeless truth: at its most basic, leadership is influence.

In other words, you matter. I matter. And what we do matters. 

That’s why I’m passionate about Live Like it Matters.

A couple of years ago, I issued Live Like It Matters challenges on my blog to remind myself and others of the significance of our day-to-day interactions. The challenges connect our desire to make a difference with our everyday lives. The challenges include:

• say hello to a stranger
• write a note to a coworker.
• give a 40% tip the next time you eat at a restaurant
• volunteer at a local charity for a day/a week/regularly

The challenges prompt us to look for opportunities to live like it matters right where we are.

Because some of the thousands we’ll reach are the people we meet day in and day out. One of yours may be the tired unnamed waitress that served you lunch on Sunday, a young man in your daughter’s class struggling with his identity, the homeless couple who sit on the curb near the mall you drive past each day, or the flustered UPS guy hauling heavy boxes inside your office building each morning.

We don’t have to be entertainers, politicians, professional athletes or authors to touch thousands. We don’t need Twitter followers, websites, or Facebook pages. It’s those of us in our workplaces, at the schools, and in lines at the grocery store checkouts who make the difference. We can live like it matters at the bank, the park, or the gym.

We live like it matters when we change diapers, wipe snotty noses, and wash dishes. Take heart, tired young parent, take heart. Home is the best place to live like it matters.

When we live like it matters our routines are rich with opportunity, the mundane is meaningful, and our lives turn from ordinary to extraordinary.

My writing, my blog, my website….all of it is about learning to live like it matters and encouraging us in it.

I’ll issue challenges occasionally and continue the regular features, like Monday School and Beauty Break.

I’ll still write just to write, too. I hope it will give you hope, make you ponder a thought you never have before, unlock a memory, see someone in a new way, or make you feel less alone.

Anne Lamott puts it this way, “a writer always tries, I think, to be part of the solution, to understand a little about life and to pass it on”.

This is me passing it on.

When the new website launches, this website will eventually redirect to the new site, but I’m not sure if new posts will show up in the WP reader. I’m still learning about this.

If you want to be sure to catch the new site, new challenges and all my new stuff please leave a comment and tell me you want to subscribe to the new site and I’ll add you to my email followers. 

Photo by Mr Cup / Fabien Barral on Unsplash

I’m Finally Doing It

I’ve thought about it for a couple of years and talked out loud about it almost as long. I took small steps toward it in January, but the change felt unnecessary and a little scary. After the Speak Up conference in June, I resolved to make it happen, even though the change still seemed daunting. Actually, a little scary turned into a lot scary but I pressed through the doubt and fear and am thrilled about the change now.

I’m finally doing it.

I’m making the leap to a whole new website designed by my friend and graphic designer, Monica Yother. She and I worked together years ago and it was a joy reconnecting, reminiscing, and collaborating on this project. The process was beautiful.

The new website is a labor of love on my part. Take my ideas and passion, add her creativity and eye for design, mix in her encouragement and my courageous moments, hundreds of back-and-forth emails, some meetings, hours and hours of work, lots of questions and edits and you get a beautifully designed website that feels exactly how I want it to feel.

The new site will be up next week. I can hardly wait for you to see it.

If you subscribe by email to this website, you’ll receive new posts from the new site in your email. No action is needed. Just eagerly await the new site.

If you’d like to receive email notifications of posts from my new site, please subscribe by email to this site. Enter your email address where it says, “You’ll get new posts through email” on the home page.

I’m excited about this change. I think you will be too.

 

 

Because We Can

I’m skipping Monday School today so I can share what my friends and I did over the weekend.

We ran the Nashville Sprint Spartan Race on Saturday and the Nashville Super on Sunday. Those are my fifth and sixth Spartan races but the first time I’ve done Spartan races two days in a row.

The heat and humidity took it out of us early on Saturday. By the end of the four miler all of us were wiped out, but we finished and felt good about our race.

It was cooler with a light on-and-off rain Sunday. The heat wasn’t an issue but the soreness and blisters from the day before made some of the obstacles even harder. We finished the eight miles faster than anticipated.

My niece and her friend ran with us on Saturday. According to them, this won’t be their last. They enjoyed the intense challenge of it all. My niece said the best part of the race was realizing she could do more than she thought possible.

The same thing happened to me. When I finished my first Spartan Race I was in awe of what I’d accomplished. I was thankful for the camaraderie on the course and the shared experience of training and racing with friends.

Training together, working toward a common goal, and cheering one another on for months prior to a race makes the race even better. Those shared experiences have a way of bringing you closer. When we see each other trudging up a steep hill in 90 degree heat carrying a bucket full of rocks or giving it our all at the atlas carry, we see and appreciate the grit in each other. When a teammate climbs the the rope or heaves the Hercules hoist to the top with sheer determination, the physical strength is evident but we see her inner strength too. It’s a beautiful thing.

I’m no elite athlete. Not even close. I’m only determined to use and take care of this wonderfully complex gift called my body, as much as I can, for as long as I can, however I can in pursuit of health. It’s the only body I’ll ever have. So I move it and it’s more fun with friends and goals.

This weekend we met a brain cancer beater, a two time heart attack survivor, several people fighting diabetes, and a 70 year old grandmother who told me “my body’s going to ache anyway, might as well ache doing this.” Each racer has a unique story and a different reason for being on the course. All of us feel the same sense of accomplishment when we cross the finish line.

Maybe you’ve never heard of Spartan Races, so you Google it and you decide it’s not for you. There are so many ways to move your body. Dancing lessons, walks in the park, Frisbee golf, hiking, skating, gardening, biking, mud runs. The number of ways to move is endless.

Find something that looks fun and try it. Even if it looks impossible at first. Try it. If you’ve been inactive for a while, take a walk at the park. Build up distance slowly, then try the Couch to 5K app. You’ll surprise yourself.

I did and I’m going to keep at it.

If you want more information about Spartan Races and how we’ve trained, let me know. I’d be glad to share our secrets and encourage you on your way to a Spartan Race or better health in general.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More and More

I began a ten-week study of the book of Philippians this week. I’m using a resource by Keri Folmar as a guide. Let me know in the comments if you’re interested in joining me in the study. I’d be happy to give you more information.

Philippians is the inspiration of this Monday School and I feel certain will be a source of several more in the coming weeks.

Paul’s prayer for the Philippians in chapter 1 verses 9-11 jumped out at me when I read it the other day. I’m currently reading the ESV Bible, but often pull out other versions to compare the wording in each. One of my favorite study Bibles is my NIV and this one is marked up and highlighted, with notes written in margins and passages dated.

On May 17, 2000, I marked the same prayer.  

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.”                   Philippians 1:9-11

It was my prayer then and is my prayer now, that my love may abound more and more. A love that is grounded in knowledge and understanding, and knowledge and understanding saturated in love.

Paul told the Philippians why he prayed for their love to abound more and more at the beginning of verse ten. Different versions say it different ways.

The NIV – to be able to discern what is best
The CEV – to understand how to make right choices
The ESV – so that you approve what is excellent

My favorite phrase is in the NLT.  “For I want you to understand what really matters.” I love that. Paul wants our love to abound more and more so we understand what really matters.

Here’s the thing: we’re learning to follow Jesus as we’re following Jesus. We don’t learn everything then follow. We learn as we go. More and more.

It’s been 18 years of learning since I dated that prayer and I can confidently say I’m better at discerning what is best. I love better because God is causing my love to abound more and more.

In verse 11, Paul makes it clear that ultimately it’s all for God’s glory and praise. All the abounding love and knowledge and depth of insight. All the discerning what is best and growing more and more like Jesus. It’s to point others to Him.

I’ve marked today’s date at the top of Paul’s prayer for the Philippians in my newest Bible because I have more and more to learn about what really matters.

May our love abound more and more.

Photo by Michael Fenton on Unsplash

Greater Than Gold

Have you ever received a gift you didn’t like? Or maybe you hated it? Maybe you even returned it, exchanged it or re-gifted it. I know I have.

God is the Ultimate Gift Giver. Unfortunately, we don’t recognize the good gifts and a lot of times, we take them for granted. Some of them don’t feel like gifts at all.

Because some of God’s greatest gifts are disguised as trials.

James tells us to “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.     James 1:2-4 (NIV)

The Message Bible puts it this way: “consider it a sheer gift.”

And Peter had this to say:

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  I Peter 1:6-7 (NIV)

James and Peter agree that faith under pressure is for our good. The pain has a purpose. Trials make our faith deeper, purer, and stronger. Did you catch what Peter says of our faith? It’s worth more than gold, and like the fire refines the gold to make it pure, trials refine our faith. With a stronger and deeper faith we praise God and touch more people with His love. But we have to “let perseverance finish its work.”

When the trial seems never ending…

When the pain feels like it will swallow you…

When you can’t see how it will ever be better…

Don’t lose heart. Persevere. Stick with God and move forward. Some days that will be as basic as breathing and putting one foot in front of the other. Believe God’s promises even when you don’t feel full of faith. See it through my weary friend, see it through. God is faithful and He will never leave you.

This is a rewrite of a post I wrote five years ago. I wrote the original, The Gift, during one of the most painful seasons of my life. The pain was so cruel and deep I could hardly see beyond it.

But here I am……changed forever.

I’ve endured painful seasons since then and am living through trials now with a deeper faith. A stronger more pure faith. As He was then, God is holding me close and giving me the strength and courage to move forward. He’s revealing hidden places in my heart, healing me and always changing me. God is doing His work so that I will be mature and complete and I’m praising Him through it.

Thank you, Abba Father.
Thank you for the gifts that I would have never chosen.
Thank you for your relentless love.
Thank you.

 

The faith of good people is tried, that they themselves may have the comfort of it, God the glory of it, and others the benefit of it.        Matthew Henry

 

This is a Monday School post. For more info about Monday School, click here.

 

Photo by Nynne Schrøder on Unsplash

 

The Same Old Thing

Paul wrote his letters with lots of love and passion. His letter to the church in Galatia is no exception but it’s especially harsh. False teachers convinced the Galatians they had to be circumcised, which was an outward ceremony of the Mosaic law. Paul chastised the Galatians for their foolishness because they turned away from the Gospel of Christ.

“You people in Galatia were told very clearly about the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But you were foolish; you let someone trick you.  Tell me this one thing: How did you receive the Holy Spirit? Did you receive the Spirit by following the law? No, you received the Spirit because you heard the Good News and believed it.  You began your life in Christ by the Spirit. Now are you trying to make it complete by your own power? That is foolish. Were all your experiences wasted? I hope not!  Does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you because you follow the law?  No, he does these things because you heard the Good News and believed it.”   Galatians 3:1-5 NCV

Paul was astonished. I’m guessing he was heartbroken too.

The Galatians did what we tend to do. We add works to our faith to keep God’s favor. We may begin by trusting Jesus then we add rule-keeping to the mix and eventually we’re just like the white washed tombs Jesus called out in Matthew 23. Outwardly we appear righteous, but inwardly we’re full of hypocrisy and lawlessness and pride because we’re convinced we’re doing all the right things.

It’s called legalism. And it’s dangerous.

Legalism is the belief that we can earn or keep God’s favor by what we do. Legalism demotes Jesus, promotes performance, and keeps us focused on ourselves.

Before we assume our modern day and contemporary churches are immune to this, let’s think again. We may have eliminated the dos and don’ts we or our parents grew up with, but we’ve replaced them with others.

The long list of things we do or don’t do to gain God’s favor and unfortunately, man’s favor. The requirements of a man made system created to force and measure spiritual growth. The kind of work that has nothing to do with following Jesus and making disciples but is really a self-designed salvation.

If we are in Christ, we have his favor, forever! There’s nothing we can ever do to add to what Jesus did on the cross. Nothing.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,     Ephesians 2:8

Our checklists don’t require faith, but salvation does. Transformation does. Learning to love God wholeheartedly and love others the way He wants us to does. The kind of work James wrote about in chapter two of his letter does. Those works are fueled by faith in Jesus and a hope anchored to God’s promises.

And so we pursue Jesus and seek to know him better and better. Not to earn God’s favor, but because we live in His favor. Because we know He’s our All in All. We believe Him and we’re overwhelmed by the grace He shows us every day. We know apart from Jesus we can do nothing. He gives us our very breath and sees into the deepest part of our hearts.

Paul ended the letter to the Galatians in a dramatic way. He took the pen into his own hand and wrote with large letters to make his point.

I’ll do the same but not with a pen:  IF YOU’RE IN CHRIST, YOU ARE FAVORED FOREVER.

Now get to know him. You can start with the Gospels. For more about what I wrote in this post read Galatians, Colossians, and James.

If you have questions or comments, I’d be happy to hear from you.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

 

Beauty Break

I’m using our Monday School time to introduce a new feature on my blog called Beauty Break. It was inspired by one of my favorite authors, Karen Swallow Prior.

Beauty is to the spirit what food is to the flesh.     Frederick Buechner

Mostly we live in a routine, which is good and necessary. But routines can turn into a mindless going through the motions. If we aren’t careful, we forget to notice the beauty around us.

A Beauty Break is a spontaneous reminder to pay attention, a chance to stop and observe when something catches our eye. To look and see and wonder, then praise the Maker of beauty and the Giver of gifts.

Even a fleeting glimpse of beauty offers joy. Like when a delighted 4 year old points to a tree in the park and squeals “Look!” as a squirrel scampers to the top.

For a moment we can enjoy the intricate design of a seed, a burst of color in a sunset, a towering granite formation, or the creative expression of an artist. Maybe Beauty Breaks will help us learn to be still and pay attention.

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I noticed this sweetgum ball in the middle of the trail where I walked last week because it was green and extra spiky. I picked it up and walked around the park several times as I rolled it around in my hand, switched it to the other hand, rolled it around, and switched again. I liked the way it felt in my hands, but I’ve stepped on plenty of sweetgum balls in my time and I’ve never once liked the way they felt to my bare feet. This one would have caused an extra bit of discomfort.

There are hundreds of tiny seeds inside a sweetgum ball. Scientists discovered not too long ago that the aborted seeds contain shikimic acid, which is used to make Tamiflu. No need for them to gather the pointy ornaments though. They found a way to make it in a lab.

Thousands of them will fall in the coming months wreaking havoc on small feet and annoying the meticulous yard owner.

We’ll just have to watch our steps.

 

She Gave it All

Yesterday, I read the story in Mark 12:41-44 about the poor widow giving all she had. Jesus sat near the offering boxes and noticed the crowd tossing in their contributions. Maybe some in the crowd gave their offerings thoughtlessly, just another item on their religious checklist. Maybe others thought a lot about what they gave and walked away with puffed up chests and noses in the air. The rich gave their large sums, and a poor widow gave her two pennies. Jesus let his disciples in on the truth they probably missed.

“The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.”    Mark 12 (MSG)

The story reminded me of another widow who gave all she had. God could have sent Elijah to another home, another family…..with more to give. But he chose the widow in Zarephath with nothing but enough flour and oil to prepare one last meal for her and her son. Instead, she used all she had to make a small loaf of bread for Elijah.

“…For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”  1 Kings 17:14

If you don’t know the rest of the story, I urge you to read it. It starts in 1 Kings verse 7 and ends in verse 24. I wonder if the the poor widow in Mark’s account knew the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. Perhaps it inspired her to give all she had.

The Bible tells us what happened to the widow of Zarephath, but we don’t know about the widow in Mark. What happened to her after she placed her coins in the offering? Did Jesus speak with her? Did the disciples help her?

We only know what Jesus said of her: she gave it all.

Maybe both widows inspired part of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. In the letter, Paul shared the story of the Macedonian churches’ overflowing generosity with the hope of encouraging the same in the Corinthian church. Titus delivered the letter which included this counsel:

And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.    2 Corinthians 8:10-12

It’s our willingness that matters, not how much or how little. There’s no need to compare our gifts because mine will be different than yours.

It’s about the motives in our hearts.

Is is duty? Is it a check mark on our religious to do list? Are we showing off? Are we buying our way into the inner circle, or trying to buy God’s favor?

Or are we giving from the overflow of the grace we’ve received?

Grace can be a loaf of bread or two pennies. It can be donating a $1000 a week or a full day at the rescue mission. Grace can be giving up a career to raise your family or going back to school to get a good job for your family. It can be giving up a dream or going for it.

God knows your heart. Ask Him to show it to you.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  2 Corinthians 9:8

 

 

 

 

Photo by Ullash Borah on Unsplash