Confession 277: Purging

My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love.
Galatians 5:13

During Teacher Appreciation Week, our school puts banners up throughout the school with enlarged pictures of every staff member on them.  In looking around at all of the banners, I didn’t see my picture.  The idea that I wasn’t on any of the banners only surprised me in that my principal is very dedicated to making all of the staff feel valued and respected.  When I mentioned to a friend that I wasn’t on any of the banners she said to me, “Yes you are.  You’re right over here.”  Leading me over to where my picture was, my jaw dropped.  I didn’t recognize myself at all!!

You see, over the past 8 months, I have been working on getting my body back into optimal health condition.  After maxing out at my heaviest weight ever, I decided that it was time to PURGE my body of all of the unhealthy things I’d been feeding it.  In so doing, I have lost 51 pounds and dropped from a size 16 to a size 10!!  Clothes shopping is actually fun again! 🙂 

Yet my picture was taken pre weight loss–hence the non-recognition of myself on my part!! The thought struck me that sometimes, in order to get back to who God intended us to be, we need to go through a period of purging.

There are several definitions of the word purge.  If you’re looking for a laugh, check out the definition at the Urban Dictionary!!  For my purpose, the best definition of the word purge is: “to rid, clear or free from”…  It is the complete and total opposite of gorging, which we in America have created a lifestyle out of.  Most of us are pretty good at gorging ourselves, whether it be on food, entertainment, gossip, activities, technology, etc…. 

The problem is that when we continue to put all of this extra stuff in, we lose sight of who God has called us to be.  We become defined by our career, our kids, our activities, our dress sizes, our economic status and fill our days trying to maintain and add to all of these things.  Well, most of us probably aren’t intentionally trying to add to our dress sizes!  But the point is, the more we fill our lives with the excesses of our culture, the less room we have for God to live and dwell within us.

Hence, the need to purge, to rid, clear and free ourselves from those things in our lives that pull us away from being the person God created us to be and to refocus our time and energy on those tasks God has called us to do.  Sometimes, we need to downsize.  We need to take a moment to reflect and take stock of our surroundings.  We need to look at where our time, our talents, our resources, and our focus is going and determine whether or not the paths we are pursuing are the ones God has asked us to follow.

In my life, my weight loss has been the impetus for a season of purging in my life.  I’ve felt as if I’ve woken up to my life again.  I’m reclaiming the dreams and goals that God has planted in my heart.  And in order to follow them, I need to give some other things up.  I need to make time and space in my life to do what God has called me to do.

When we take the time to purge/clear/free ourselves from the things that hold us back from God, we give God room to create.  As the apostle Paul writes….

 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 276: Active Listening


Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave.  But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget.  James 1:22-25
Have you ever heard of the term active listening?  I remember talking about this quite a bit in my undergrad Interpersonal Communications course.  Active listening goes beyond simply hearing what someone has to say to being actively engaged with the speaker throughout the conversation.  It’s looking at someone while they’re speaking, making eye contact, nodding your head, giving verbal reinforcement and encouragement.  Active listening tells the speaker:
1) I am important to you
2) My feelings are valued
3) I am respected
4) I am understood
When we actively listen to someone, our actions demonstrate that we have received the message loud and clear.  Our response to what the speaker has said should reassure the speaker that she has been heard.
As the mother of two young boys, I truly appreciate the concept of active listening.  I’ve found that my boys can hear quite a lot.  For instance, they hear, “Go wash your hands and come to the table for dinner.”  But their continued playing or watching television five minutes after the fact tells me that they weren’t really listening.
Similarly, we can hear God calling us to something, but our response to that call will prove whether or not we were actively listening. 
Take this story of King Saul for example:
In 1 Samuel 15, God sends Saul off on a conquering mission with specific instructions NOT to take any plunder from the attack.  Saul hears the Lord’s command, but does exactly the opposite.  Saul takes the plunder from the attack in order to “make a generous sacrifice to the Lord”, despite direct instruction that nothing should be saved.  Samuel, God’s prophet,  comes to Saul and asks him, “Why didn’t you listento the Lord?”
Saul replies, “But, I did listen.”
Samuel then points out the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  Saul tries to justify his actions, telling Samuel that the plunder was to be a thank offering to the Lord.  Samuel’s response:
“Tell me,” Samuel said. “Does the Lord really want sacrifices and offerings? No! He doesn’t want your sacrifices. He wants you to obey him.”
 1st Samuel 15:22
When God calls us, He wants us to be active listeners.  He wants to see that He is important to us, that He is valued and respected above all things, and—He wants to know by our obedient response that we understand Him.
God wants active listeners.  Are you listening today?
Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 275: Challenging the Call


When God calls us to a task, it is rarely ever an easy thing to do.  Oftentimes, the work seems impossible.  Always, the task at hand is one that takes time, trust, and infinite patience.  We don’t fee qualified, prepared, worthy, or even desirous of the opportunity God is presenting.  In reality, we’re probably not actually qualified, prepared or worthy of the opportunity. 
Listen to some of the responses of people in Scripture who have been called by God:
Moses: “I have never been a good speaker.  I wasn’t one before you spoke to me, and I’m not one now.  I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say.”  Exodus 4:10
Esther: “…there is a law about going in to see the king, and all his officials and his people know about this law.  Anyone who goes into see the king without being invited by him will be put to death.”  Esther 4:11
Gideon: “Please don’t take this wrong, but if the Lord is helping us, then why have all these awful things happened?”  Judges 6:13
 Jeremiah: “I’m not a good speaker Lord, and I’m too young.”  Jeremiah 1:6
Zechariah: “My wife and I are very old.”  Luke 1:18
Mary: “Mary asked the angel, ‘How can this happen?  I am not married!’” Luke 1:36
Ananias: “Lord, a lot of people have told me about the terrible things this man has done…” Acts 9:13
Do any of these objections to a call sound familiar to you?  I’m too old.  I’m too young.  I’ve never done this before.  I’m not in the right season of my life.  I don’t have enough experience in this field.  It’s too dangerous.  I don’t trust you.  You’re asking too much.
If we’re being honest with ourselves, we’ve used a couple of these objections with God once or twice before.  I, personally, have used the “this isn’t a good season in my life” objection way too frequently.  I mean, how much can God expect me to do with two small children in tow?  A lot!
You see, God knows what our objections are going to be before we ever voice them.  And God not only hears our objections, He prepares and blows them out of the water.   
Listen to God’s reply to His faithful servants:
To Moses: “Who makes people able to speak or makes them deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don’t you know that I am the one who does these things?  Now go! When you speak, I will be with you and give you the words to say.”  Oh, and take your brother-in-law Aaron.  He’s a great public speaker!  Exodus 4:11-12
To Esther via Mordecai: “Don’t think that you will escape being killed with the rest of the Jews, just because you live in the king’s palace.  If you don’t speak up now, we will somehow get help, but you and your family will be killed. It could be that you were made queen for a time like this!”        Esther 4:13-14
To Gideon: “Gideon, you will be strong, because I am giving you the power to rescue Israel from the Midianites.” Judges 6:14
To Jeremiah: “Don’t say you’re too young.  If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don’t leave out a word! I promise to be with you and keep you safe, so don’t be afraid.”  Jeremiah 1:7-8
To Zechariah via Gabriel: “You have not believed what I have said. So you will not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will take place when it is supposed to.”Luke 1:20
To Mary via Gabriel: “The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God’s power will come over you…  Nothing is impossible for God!” Luke 1:35-37
To Ananias: “Go! I have chosen him to tell foreigners, kings, and the people of Israel about me.” Acts 9:15
You see, God doesn’t care if we’re old, or young, or single or married, or experienced, or well-trained, or prepared or have young children.  Each and every time we raise an objection God says, “GO!!  I AM is going to take care of everything you need!!” 
God doesn’t need us to be anything but obedient because He Is everything else.  When God calls us to a task He makes a sacred promise to be with us throughout the entire completion of the project.  God knows we can’t do it on our own—that’s actually part of the point.  We can’t.  God can.  We go.  God does.  And then, God is glorified and magnified and we have experienced the love of God in deep and profound new ways.
The apostle Paul writes that Christ’s power is made stronger when we are weak.  Because when we face a task that we know we are not qualified, trained, or are scared to do then we have to turn ourselves completely over to God.  And that is what God desires most of all—His children depending and relying on Him.   And when we give ourselves fully and completely over to God, amazing things can happen.
Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 274: A Monday Meditation

I’ve been reading through the book of Psalms from the book, Psalms/Now by Leslie F. Brandt.  Today’s psalm, Psalm 37, seemed a good reminder after the national chaos of the past week.

Psalm 37
It’s high time we stop complaining
about the dissipation of our world
or the corruption of our society.
At the same time we eye with envy
those ungodly characters
who appear to have more fun
or to be more successful than we are.

If we really trusted in God
and were truly committed to His purposes,
the world might be a great deal better off today.

GOD IS IN OUR WORLD!!
He is destined to the the source
of our joy and well-being.
He is the fulfillment of our hearts’ desires.
If we dedicate our lives to Him and His will, 
He will be able to work through us,
to permeate this world’s darkness with divine light.
Let’s keep our cool and try to be patient.
STOP WORRYING
about the apparent hopelessness of it all.
We only contribute to this despair
by always being negative and defeatist.
GOD HAS NOT TAKEN A VACATION; HE IS HERE!!
He has His own way of dealing
with the instigators of corruption.
It will take TIME,
but the victory is ultimately God’s!
Those who live within God’s will
shall surely discover
that His purposes prevail,
that true joy and peace and security
come from Him.
Let us wait on God and seek daily to obey Him.
He is our salvation and our security,
and NOTHING in this world
can take that away from us.
Let us calm our hostilities,
overcome our anxieties,
and walk in peace and love.
Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 273: Planting Seeds for the Harvest

Who are they who truly love and serve God?
It is they who discover and live
Within His purposes for their lives.
Psalm 24, Psalms/Now
I have to confess that I don’t always enjoy getting up and going to work in the mornings.  I’d rather linger over a cup of copy, relishing time spent in the Word, easing into the productivity of the day.  
I remember one morning in particular where I felt like my time at work could be much better spent in the confines of my own home when I noticed the look on the face of one of the teachers.  Something told me to stop.  She needed to talk, and she needed some spiritual encouragement. 
In that moment, I realized that God had placed me right there, right then to fulfill a purpose.  A few minutes earlier I had been asking myself, “Why, exactly, am I here today?”  And in that hushed conversation, God showed me why, exactly, He had put me there.
When God call us, there is something specific and meaningful He wants us to do.  It might not seem very meaningful at the time, but some days are seed planting days and some days are harvest days.  Regardless of which day you’re waking up to, I bet that God has something in mind for you to do.
Moses was called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt—a harvest day if there ever was one!!  Jeremiah was called to speak the words God would place in his mouth—lots and lots of seed planting days ahead.  Esther was called to save her people—great big harvest.  Ruth was called to love in faith—seed planting that established the line of David.
For me, most of my days seem to be of the seed planting variety.  I rarely see the “big picture” God has in mind.  However, I firmly believe that God does indeed have a master plan.  And in my prayer and Scripture time each morning, I ask God to place me smack in the middle of it.
Some days, my task is clear.  I hear God calling me to write a note of encouragement, have a conversation with a friend or co-worker, offer a hug to a struggling student, write a blog post, sponsor a mission project…. 
Other days I don’t hear anything, but I do not doubt that God is moving all the same.  It’s that prevenient grace of God moving through our lives whether we are aware of it or not.
In our task-driven, goal obsessed, results oriented, data driven culture, it’s easy to forget that God has a multitude of tasks He will call us to throughout our lives.  We focus on one big thing and strategically mark a straight shot path to achieving it.  The reality is life is much more fluid than that.  We might begin our day with one agenda and find, upon awaking, that God has drawn out a completely different one.

And even if we are focused on that one giant task/dream/plan we feel God calling us to, God’s probably not going to take us there in one straight shot. God called His people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, but there were over 40 years of smaller tasks to be completed before that harvest came to be.  The people weren’t ready for the big harvest yet.  They needed to learn who God was.  They needed to learn to trust in God, to honor Him, to worship Him, to LOVE Him.  They needed those 40 plus years to become the people of God. 
 
In determining the big tasks God is calling us to do in our lives, we have to be open to the smaller tasks God calls us to each day.  Jesus didn’t tell Peter upon their first meeting, “You’re going to found my church in Jerusalem someday.”  Instead, he simply said, “Follow me.  Put one foot in front of the other and walk along my path.” 
Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite go-to verses.  In this passage, the Lord assures the people of Israel of this:
“For I know the plans I have for you….Plans to prosper you, not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future.”
It’s reassuring to me to know that God doesn’t have a plan for my life, He has PLANS!!  Moreover, those plans (note the plural) are good.  They are infused with hope that springs from the great love of an eternal God.  They are a promise carved into our souls of a prosperous future we cannot see.  But God sees it.  God knows it.  God planned it.  And God is building it.
So, what is God calling us to this day?  To follow Him.  To trust Him.  To hope in Him.  To walk with Him.  You might not even see the seeds you’re planting today.  It doesn’t matter.  Trust that God has placed you exactly where He needs you to be.
Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 272: Discerning the Call

2 Comments

If making meaning in our lives comes from having a sense of purpose and a task to complete, then we need to be able to figure out what that task and purpose is.  In order to do that, we have to discern our calling.  Discerning our calling is not an easy task.  However, in looking through the “call stories” provided us in Scripture, a pattern seems to emerge.  It goes like this:
1. God gets our attention—The Call

2. God has a specific request—The Task

3. We wrestle with the request—The Challenge

4. We respond to God—The Purpose
Over the next four posts, we’ll break down each of these steps in listening to God and living out His purpose for our lives.  It begins with discerning our call…
One day, Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and Moses decided to lead them across the desert to Sinai, the holy mountain.  There an angel of the Lord appeared to him from a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up.  “This is strange!” he said to himself. “I’ll go over and see why the bush isn’t burning up.”
Exodus 3:1-3
I have often dreamed of walking outside and finding our front shrubbery on fire–partly because I don’t like shrubbery, and partly because I think it would be an announcement I couldn’t easily miss.  If God sets fire to your hedge and then speaks to you from within it, you’re probably going to notice!! 
I’m always struck by Moses’ response.  Instead of, “Holy cow!!  What IS that?!  Hey guys!  You gotta see this!!”  He says, “Hmm…that’s weird.  I think I’ll go check it out.” 
Obviously, God knew He needed something BIG to get the attention of Moses!
Sometimes, it is the big things in life that make us sit up and take notice of God’s presence and working in our lives.  A job loss, a personal loss, an illness, a broken relationship… 
I do not believe that God intentionally brings these things into our lives in order to get our attention.  That would be cruel.  God is not cruel, nor does He desire us to suffer. 
However, I do believe that those big, emotional, personal fires can be vehicles through which we hear and discern the voice of God.  When we are at our most vulnerable, we are more willing to turn to God for help, perspective, and meaning.
Yet more often than not, God reveals Himself quietly, through the natural ebb and flow of our daily life.  God speaks to us through His Word, while listening to praise songs, in a conversation with a friend, or the stirring of our heart through worship. 
God speaks in the “still, small voice”Elijah hears in the cave after the fire, wind and earthquake have passed. (1 Kings 19:10-14). And it’s easy to miss.
…the Lord called out Samuel’s name.
“Here I am!” Samuel answered.  Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to bed.”
Samuel went back.
 Again the Lordcalled out Samuel’s name. Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “What do you want?”
Eli told him, “Son, I didn’t call you. Go back to sleep.”
The Lord had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice. 8 When the Lord called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
Eli finally realized that it was the Lord who was speaking to Samuel.  So he said, “Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I’m listening, Lord. What do you want me to do?’”
1 Samuel 3:4-9

I love this story of Samuel’s calling.  I think it speaks so much to the quiet and subtle ways in which God calls us and our ability (or inability) to discern His voice.

In this passage, Samuel is living in the house of the Lord.  He is sleeping just feet from the altar.  His life is dedicated to the Lord’s service.  And he is absolutely ready to serve.  He is so eager to prove himself that he runs to Eli in the middle of the night prepared for whatever task he believes Eli is calling him to perform.

Samuel eagerly wanted to serve.  He lived in anticipation of purpose.

I’ve found that within most of dwells a deep desire to be of service.  We want to help others.  We want to fight for a noble cause.  We are eager to have a purpose.  But, like Samuel, we can get confused about who we are to serve.
We get caught up in the demands of our careers, our outside activities, our families, and our hobbies.  We get so involved in being busy that we cannot identify the voice of the One calling to us.  Instead of stopping and listening, really listening, we work harder, add on new projects, and exhaust ourselves trying to chase after something which has been standing before us the entire time. 
God was right in front of Samuel, but Samuel couldn’t recognize Him.  Samuel lived and worked in the House of the Lord, but he had no recognition of God’s voice.  Samuel spent his childhood working for God, but he never took the time to knowGod.  Thankfully, Samuel had a trusted spiritual advisor who could help him learn.
Thankfully for us, God sends those advisors our way, too.  Sometimes our spouses, parents, siblings, friends, and co-workers can see God calling to us when we can’t.  This is one of the reasons why it is so important to have strong, spiritually deep people in our lives.  And, why it’s important to cultivate our own deep spiritual roots.  Who knows but that you could be someone else’s Eli?
The key is we have to be willing to listen.  And part of listening is knowing just exactly WHO we are listening to. 
I can’t tell you if God is calling you to something or not.  God speaks to each of us in His own way and in His own time.   
I hear God speak to me as I read His Word.  I hear Him as He places His thoughts in my mind during times of prayer.   
Others hear Him speak through music and worship.  Some hear Him speak through teachers, pastors and Spiritual leaders.  For others, God comes with great and dramatic bush burning flare.  There’s no rhyme, although there’s always a reason. 
So listen for God as He seeks to speak with you today.   
Be still and listen.
Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 271: Making Meaning

Have you ever had one of those moments when you asked yourself, “What am I doing with my life?” 
I mean really sat down, looked around you, assessed the situation, added it all up and wondered, “Whatam I doing with my life?”
What do I do in my daily routines that is meaningful, that is lasting, that makes a difference?  

Am I using my time, my talents, my opportunities to glorify God?  

Or, am I just slogging through, going through the motions, knocking off one day at a time?
What am I doing with my life?
If you’ve ever asked yourself this question, consider yourself in good company.  King Solomon, at the height of his power and glory, found himself at a loss to answer the same question.  Looking around at his kingdom, his wealth, his success he declared:
Nothing makes sense!
Everything is nonsense.
    I have seen it all—
    nothing makes sense!
What is there to show
for all of our hard work
    here on this earth?
People come, and people go,
but still the world
    never changes.
 The sun comes up,
    the sun goes down;
it hurries right back
    to where it started from.
 The wind blows south,
    the wind blows north;
round and round it blows
    over and over again.
 All rivers empty into the sea,
    but it never spills over;
one by one the rivers return
    to their source.
 All of life is far more boring
    than words could ever say.
Our eyes and our ears
are never satisfied
    with what we see and hear.
 
Everything that happens
    has happened before;
nothing is new,
    nothing under the sun.
 
Someone might say,
    “Here is something new!”
But it happened before,
    long before we were born.
 
No one who lived in the past
    is remembered anymore,
and everyone yet to be born
    will be forgotten too.
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11

Can you imagine?  Solomon had everything, I mean EVERYTHING he ever wanted or could ever want.  And yet, there was no meaning for him in any of it.  He considered his life BORING. 
Solomon, who was commissioned by God to build the Holy Temple, to create a dwelling place for the Most High, couldn’t find any MEANING in his life!!  

Although blessed on the outside, on the inside Solomon felt empty and lost.  He had wealth.  He had power.  He had prestige.  He had authority.  He had a harem of 800 women.  

And yet, he stood upon the parapets of his castle and declared all life to be meaningless nonsense.
I think many of us living in America today can relate to the emptiness, the aimlessness, the apathy Solomon felt.  Our lives seem so blessed on the outside.  

We’re good at making ourselves look good—the right clothes, car, house, spouse, shoes, food, bags, make-up, activity participation, vacations, schools….the list goes on and on.
Yet underneath, just how content are we?  And in our most quiet and closed moments, how many of us are whispering “My life is just meaningless nonsense!” 
When we spend our time and energy searching for meaning outside of ourselves, we are destined to be let down.  Everything in life is impermanent, including our bodies.  

Yet, if we dig down deep into the very fabric of who we are (a child of God) and what we were created to do (glorify Him), then life becomes a vast sea of meaningful opportunities in which we can sink ourselves.
It’s all about clarifying our purpose.
I recently heard author and speaker Donald Miller enumerate on finding meaning in life.  His definition of a meaningful life, shaped by psychoanalyst Victor Frankel, follows:

“People find meaning in life from working on a challenging project with other people that will save many lives.”

Did you get that? 

Challenge+Community+Saved Lives=Meaning
As I look at that definition of a meaningful life, one thing comes to my mind—THE CHURCH.  

This is what we, as Christ’s body, are created and called to do.  We work together, as a community of believers, to do difficult tasks that will save many lives.  And by “save many lives”, I mean to literally save many lives. 
The “saving” of souls is the byproduct of saved lives.  Jesus wasn’t going around Judea handing out spiritual tracts on salvation.  Instead, he was literally placing his hands on those in desperate need and healing them.  To me, there’s a fundamental lesson on Christianity there.
And so, as The Church, we are called to engage in life saving ministries.  

We work together, as a community, to bring hope to the hopeless, to bring healing to the sick, to bring food to the hungry, to bring clothes to the naked, to bring freedom to the imprisoned, to bring justice to the oppressed.  And in doing these challenging tasks, we find meaning in our lives.  

We look at the world around us and see infinite opportunity and possibility. 
We are able to stand upon the front steps of our homes and look around us with a sense of purpose, knowing that God created us and placed us right here, right now, to make a difference in someone’s life. 
What am I doing with my life?
Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 270: What’s the Point?

“What’s the point?” 

 This is a question I find myself asking a lot.

I ask myself this while flipping through 200 + television stations I don’t care to watch, trying to avoid radio commercials and the K-Love pledge drive, reading non-fiction, marking my “March Madness” bracket, looking at my paycheck, and arguing with my 4 year old about why Cheez-Its are not a breakfast food.

 I’m really not an anal-retentive person.  I just like having a sense of purpose.  Lately, I’m finding that I am not the only one.

I think most of us are on a journey for purpose in a society that seems to be spinning wildly out of control.  We want to know that there is something big, grand, even noble being accomplished in our daily lives and work.  We want to feel that our presence means something, that we are doing something with our lives that makes a difference.

A few weeks ago, I went to a gathering where I had three conversations with women in three different walks of life about this search for purpose and meaning.

There was the  young professional wanting more than a corporate job could offer, the full-time  mother re-entering the workforce after spending several years at home raising her children, the new retiree wondering what a future without a “job” would look like.

The thing is, the situations these women face are not unique.  I have had countless conversations with women over the past few years about the search for meaning and purpose, most likely because I’ve been on that same search myself.

It seems like it’s something we’re all trying to figure out.

The truth is, we were created to live with purpose.  

God had a purpose when He created Adam and Eve in the Garden.

 He had a purpose for Abraham and Sarah when He called them out of Canaan.

 He had a purpose for the Israelites throughout their wilderness journey, their settlement, their exile and their return.

God had a purpose in sending Christ; a beautiful, glorious, powerful, unparalleled purpose which we celebrated again this Sunday.

Christ had a purpose when he commissioned the disciples, sending them forth to minister in his name.

And God still has a plan and a purpose for each one of His beloved children.

As Peter writes, “God has invited us to share in His wonderful goodness.” (2 Peter 1:4)  
But we have to do the hard work of honing in on that goodness of purpose God wants us to share.

Over the next few posts, I will explore some of the ways that we can discern purpose and make meaning in our lives.

I believe that God has given us the tools we need to live a purposeful and meaningful life fulfilling His mission and working toward furthering His kingdom.  

What we do with those tools is up to us, but I like what Peter goes onto say: “If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful.” (2 Peter 1:8)

What we know about our Lord Jesus Christ will make our lives useful and meaningful.  Wow!  Try unpacking that one in a sentence or two!!

That’s not to say that people who do not believe in Christ cannot live purposeful and meaningful lives.  But, as a Christian, I believe that my center needs to be rooted in Christ in order for me, a child of God, to live a life of purpose and meaning.

And so, the journey continues…

I don’t have all the answers, and the ones I have now will change and evolve as my life continues on.  But God has been teaching me much over the past few years, and the quest for purpose and meaning seems to be a prevalent theme.

So, I’m exploring.

 And isn’t it just maddening in this world of instant access, news and results that God is so much more interested in our journey of exploration than the end result?

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 269: "To Parents of Small Children…" A Link-Up

My husband forwarded a blog post to me by Pastor Steve Wiens.  The title of the post is: “To Parents of Small Children: Let Me Be the One Who Says it Out Loud”.  Of course, it got my attention.  As I read Steve’s words, I found myself thinking, “Yes…Yes….and YES!  Finally, an online parenting article that doesn’t make me feel bad about myself!!”  I LOVE this perspective on parenting.  It’s true, and the truth is refreshing.  So, hop on over to Steve’s blog, The Actual Pastor and just enjoy being able to breathe. 🙂

Blessings and Peace,
Sara

Confession 268: Wonder Moments

1 Comment

Thank God for His gift that is too wonderful for words! 2 Corinthians 9:15

I leaned back on the bathmat, watching my boys splash, laugh and play in the water.  I looked at their faces, so bright and happy and full of innocence and hope and possibility.  I smiled as I drank in this moment when I didn’t have anywhere else to be or anything else to do but focus my entire attention on these two precious gifts God has given me.  And it hit me there in the bathroom on a typical Wednesday night, this is a sacred moment.  This is a wonder moment.

As a parent of young children, most of my time is spent just making it through the day.  I get up, get ready, get the kids ready, get lunches ready, drive to work, work, drive home, get kids home, monitor homework, attempt a conversation with my husband, get kids ready for bed, get kids to bed, unwind, get myself to bed and do it all over again the next day.  I’m not complaining.  It’s a good life, one I am incredibly grateful to have.  But I have to admit, I don’t always appreciate moments with my children for the wonderful gifts they are.  Often, I send them out to play, or to color, or to watch TV while I work on something else.  I get their hair washed in the bath and run out to do a load of laundry or catch up on e-mail.

Fortunately, God has infinitely more wisdom than me!!  There are times when He breaks through the everyday plodding and reminds me that this time, frantic and chaotic as it may be, is sacred.  God gives me those wonder moments when I remember what is truly important and can let go of the mundane to feast on the extraordinary.  And the truly extraordinary is the time spent fully attuned to and connected with my family.

I love the song “Sacred” by Caedmon’s Call.  It reminds me of the sacred elements each day holds, if only we can turn our focus onto them.  As the chorus goes, “Everything is sacred and all this time, everything I’ve dreamed of has been right before my eyes.”

What wonder moments could God have in store for you today if you would see them?

Blessings and Peace,
Sara