Busyness

   In our society today, we have put great value in creating a rich and meaningful life. This almost always equates to our busyness. We run in this rat race feeling sure that one day we will "arrive" at that place we desire to be. Crashing into bed at night only to realize that we will run the very same race again tomorrow. Sometimes, in order to break away from the mundane, people begin to do outlandish things; also sometimes referred to as a mid-life crisis. Other times, especially young adults, have the tendency to jump from one dream to the next because they have become bored with the initial dream. They have come to the realization of how unfulfilled they really are. Does busyness make our lives meaningful or meaningless?

Recently, I found myself increasingly drawn away from spending uninterrupted, unhurried time with Jesus, by my infinite list of menial tasks . My never ceasing busyness seemed to be encompassed in this thought by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2:22-23, "What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless." I was continually feeling exhausted and overworked. I wasn't sleeping well because my mind wouldn't shut off and I was over-emotional all the time. I couldn't help but ask the Lord why I was feeling so tired and worn down when my life was full of things to do and people to see. The Lord sent me the most gentle reminders in this very moment.

-"Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him." (Psalm 62:1)

-“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

It is of great importance to desire and seek after the discipline of meditating on God's Word and being quiet in His presence. In all of our busyness we should make our number one priority seeking after our Lord and listening for Him to speak to us! When we are overwhelmed by all the to-dos or even before we come to that point, we must learn to be still and know that He is God. We will find rest in God alone! We find meaning for our life in Him! He is the very thing that fulfills our hearts desires!

Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." We must let this verse sink into our hearts and drive us toward an outwardly action of seeking the Lord. Focus on seeking Him and finding Him in every circumstance. I promise you that He is there. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. God is already there.

Today, take 5 minutes and just be still before the Lord. Don't think of all that needs to be done, all your goals or even your afflictions. During those 5 minutes, don't ask for anything. Just quiet your soul and reflect on God's goodness and grace. Can you do it? It will be harder than you think to quiet your soul and your mind. But it will be worth it! Wait on the Lord to meet you in this quiet place.

- For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. (Psalms 62:5 ESV)

Afterward, ask the Lord to help you remain in His presence and to go deeper into His Word. Ask Him to help you not to see this as another task on your daily to-do list but to take great delight in it. Ask Him to keep your eyes focused on Him. Ask Him to guide your every step.

How hard was your 5 minutes?

 

 

Blessings,

Lorie

 

The Weight of Beauty

Yesterday, as I watched this video, I really began to question why we put so much weight on our outward appearance and why women have such a negative perception of themselves. I mean, sure, I like to look nice! I wear makeup and jewelry and I enjoy shopping for new clothes as much as the next girl. But if I was asked to describe myself /my features, what would I say? Would I be harsh about the way I look? I can almost assuredly say I would point out the dark circles under my eyes, and possibly the accidentally too-short hair cut I was given, and even that my smile slightly leans to one side. I know my weight would play a huge part in how I described myself. Why are those the things that I would point out first? Why have I put so much weight on these areas?

Women have always been hyper sensitive about their looks. In general it is because of what they have been told about themselves or what is being portrayed as beautiful by the culture of their time. Our society puts great value on style, allure and good looks, which has in turn, bred many insecurities into the hearts of women across the world. Consistently, the world implants thoughts and ideas into our minds about the way we should look. Today, with the constant barrage of media and technology, we are more self-aware of our seemingly numerous imperfections than any other time in history! Women are being drawn to eating disorders, over-spending, having surgical procedures, becoming depressed and some have even gone so far as to commit suicide because of the way they look. It is a Tragedy!

We must do something to change the way we perceive ourselves and teach other young women and children what real beauty is. When we look to the Bible for answers of the importance of our outward appearance, we find a very different view of beauty. Simply put, the way the world views beauty is not how God views it at all!

1 Peter 3:3-5  "Do not let your adorning be external- the braiding of the hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear- but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of the gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."

1 Samuel 16:7  "...For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."

Proverbs 31:30  "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting: but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

I fully realize appearance is important to some degree. People judge us daily by the way we look. However, we need to learn to keep it in perspective. If we want to portray the characteristics of Christ within us we must ask ourselves these questions:

1. Does my focus on my appearance take my eyes off the Lord?
2. Am I portraying characteristics that are becoming of the woman God is calling me to be? 
3. Do I focus more time, energy, and thoughts on my appearance than I am spending with the Lord?

Although we live in a very superficial world, I challenge you to use God's Word as your guide in all circumstances. Does Paul not say in Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect"? Let us look to scripture that tell us how we should present ourselves, not to the world. Let us put less weight on our physical appearance and more weight on the work of Jesus in the transformation of our heart and mind.

1 Timothy 2:9 "likewise women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control...

Have you ever struggled with body image and physical appearance? Share your story!

Find Someone to Encourage

" You are important, deserving, loving, intelligent, worthy, compassionate, beautiful, creative, inspiring, brave, true, strong and able."

All too often there are women in our lives, young and old, that don't hear these words enough. Find her and remind her of these things, but not just once. Encourage her with the love Christ has for her, with the beauty He sees in her, with what He ha done for her and do it often! Often enough for her to believe you mean it!

If you are that person that needs to hear these words, then I pray with all my heart that you can hear me saying these words to you right now. As a believer, when God looks at you, He doesn't see your sin and brokenness. He sees His sinless, perfect, glorious son, who sacrificed everything so that you could be reconciled with your Heavenly Father. He gave you His righteousness in exchange for your sins. You are changed forever through the blood Jesus shed. Rejoice in that transformation! Live in light of it!

Thought to Challenge You

Sacrificial Love

Everyday we are bombarded by the notion that we should seek our own happiness above all else. It is in the commercials we watch, the music we hear, the billboards we see and even posts on every form of social media. But if we seek God's design for our lives, it is in complete opposition of that very thought. We are called to a life of sacrificial love.

Ephesians 5:2 "and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."  

1 Corinthians 13:5 " ...[Love] is not self-seeking..."

Philippians 2:4 "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."  

Practically, you may ask, what does that look like? How am I to live a life of sacrificial love? Ask yourself these questions:

• How can I better serve my husband?
• How can I better serve my children?
• How can I better serve my church?
• How can I better serve my community?
• How can I better show the love of Christ to others?

The answers aren't always as large and time consuming as we think they are. They don't always include wads of cash or unmanageable chunks of time. Even small sacrifices can make huge changes in the attitudes and morale of the people around us. Sometimes people develop a misconception that sacrificial love means that there is no return on their investment of time, energy, finances or whatever sacrifice in resources they make. But that isn't the case at all! Here is a couple of examples.

My husband loves to come home to a clean house and, as trivial as it may sound to some, a clean car. Lots of frustrations have resulted from me not keeping our car clean and by clean I mean leaving absolutely nothing behind in our car. Sure, I could give every excuse in the book as to why I leave things in the car. We are truly busy, I have a child, we practically live in our car, I didn't have time, I forgot, it's a hassle, he doesn't drive it as much as me so why does it really matter. Although for me, it seems like a sacrifice of time and effort on my part to make sure it is clean, for my husband, it is a way that he feels loved, cared for and acknowledged. It shows him that he matters and that even though something isn't necessarily important to me, IT IS STILL IMPORTANT to me because it is something that is important to him. Over the years I have learned that taking those few minutes to get everything out of the car when we get home is only a small sacrifice and in the end it has a huge payoff- no frustrations about an un-kempt car, a clean vehicle and a husband who feels well loved. Do I get it right every time? NO! But the more times I do, the better off our time together is spent. 

Sacrificial Love = Happier Marriage
 

Let's take children's ministry at church into consideration. I believe that the Children's Ministry is one of, if not THE MOST important ministry in the church. However, time and time again, you see Children's Ministries in desperate need of volunteers. Why is that? I'll tell you why. It takes sacrifice to serve in children's ministry. You have to prepare, you have to be willing to deal with unruly hungry, sleepy kids, you miss service, you don't get to mingle with adults, they ask questions that sometimes you aren't prepared to answer. Bottom line- it's work! But what you receive from making that sacrifice far outweighs the sacrifice itself! Jesus says, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me" (Matthew 18:5) If we believe that "Loving God and Loving People" is central to who we are and what we believe then we should work fervently to teach our children how to live that kind of life. Our return on our investment is another generation that continues to cherish and spread the true gospel of Christ, not only because of what we said but because we also modeled it in front of them from the age of a small child and into adulthood. By being a part of children's lives we model for them that they are important and worthy of our time and energy. If they were worthy of Jesus' time, how much more so should they be worthy of ours?
 

By the grace of God, we are given a living example in Christ, of the life we should pursue with all our hearts. I believe whole heartily that lives, marriages and families can be transformed by the pursuit of a passionate and authentic relationship with our savior, Jesus Christ, and a genuine desire to please Him through a life of sacrificial love and service to others. I also believe that by living this kind of life, we will not suffer from a lack of joy, yet it will be provided abundantly by our Heavenly Father.

Ask yourself what sacrifices you will make today to better serve others. In what way can you demonstrate your love for them? Our life will continue to speak through the lives of the people we impact. I pray that my life will speak of the ultimate sacrificial love of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

What will your life say?

 

I Want To Love Like That

Have you ever been somewhere and out of the corner of your eye you saw a couple lovingly holding hands, gazing at each other with the sweetest expression and looking like the happiest people in the world, only to think, "Why don't my husband and I have that anymore?" I have- many times in fact. Several times while watching movies, a romantic scene would make me swoon and I would hit my husband and give him the evil eye to let him know I disapproved of his lack thereof. Any romantic gesture seen in the media was reason enough for dissension between me and husband, or so I believed at the time.

But as I began to seek more biblical answers about the truth of real love, those feelings began to fade and became replaced by thankfulness for the man and love that God had blessed me with. I realized that there is a difference between love and infatuation. Infatuation by definition is an extravagant, short-lived passion or attraction. Usually it is accompanied with butterflies in your stomach, goo-goo eyes for the other person, waiting countless hours on their call and so on. But real love, the kind we desire deep within our hearts to have, is so much more.

 

1. Real love is an action not just a feeling. It promises to show love to your spouse regardless of whether you feel "in love" or not. That flowery feeling of love tends to fluctuate with the presence of stress, lack of sleep, poor health, financial issues along with numerous other factors. Real love, however, is constant and sure. You love when you feel it and when you don't.

2. Real love commits to working through conflicts instead of giving up. When we get married we vow to take our spouse for better or worse. No one ever says, "Except when he/she screws up!" or "Except when I don't feel lavishly in love anymore." For better or worse is all encompassing because I believe Jesus calls us to a marriage of love, grace and forgiveness.
 
3. Real love is patient. It accepts that your spouse is a fallible, sinful and imperfect being, just as you are and it allows for you to be patient with their weaknesses.
 
4. Real love is not self-seeking. Real love isn't about what your spouse can do for you but rather what you can do to better serve and love your spouse.
 
5. Real love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7) Wow, "ALL THINGS", couldn't have said it better myself! Real love leads me to the cross!
 

 

When I think of these things, I think of areas where I can and need to become a better wife. I see my lack and want to do better in giving him my love. I know that God can give me the wisdom and strength to do it. Don't get me wrong, I love to receive my husbands love and affection! I delight in the days when he has filled my love tank to overflowing. On those days, in particular, it is most assuredly easier to serve him. But, real love isn't about me getting but about me giving. If more husbands and wives could learn to love selflessly, I believe, divorce would not be as prevalent in our society as it is today. God's Word gives us more than a sufficient amount of examples of what real authentic love should look like, if we would only take the time to seek it out. His Word is a love story from beginning to end- one filled to the brim with real love. All fairytales, romantic novels and movies aside, when I read of Jesus' unfailing, everlasting, unconditional REAL LOVE, my soul cries out " I want to love like that!"