Stuck in a Season

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Do you ever feel like the season you are in will NEVER end?  

Currently here in NC, the calendar is changing over to October yet the weather outside feels like the dog days of summer.  The leaves aren't changing and it seems like we are stuck with the sweltering heat and humidity while trying to drink our pumpkin spice lattes.  It literally feels like summer will never end. 

Sometimes that is what life feels like too.  Stuck in a never ending season.  You know change is coming; you are longing for it.  Yet every day when you wake up, everything is still the same. 

Even though we are looking at 90+ degree weather this week, the truth is summer will NOT last forever.  We may or may not have fall like weather but eventually the weather will change.

Whatever season you are in that seems like it'll never end.  Stand firm, friend, your season WILL change.



Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 1There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 

Shattered

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A friend shared with me recently a song about being shattered (you can listen to it here).  This song really spoke to my heart and I started thinking about how many days in this current season, I do feel like my life is shattered in pieces on the floor.  Life isn't turning out how I pictured it.  The painting I had painted in my mind is not my reality yet those shattered pieces on the floor aren't a picture of hopelessness - yet a picture of HOPE.  God is going to bring life back to those broken places.  He is going to use them to create a new picture, one far beyond something I could have ever imagined.  Oh, the beauty he is going to create, I just know it.  

I have to give up control, release my "paintbrush", open my hands up and allow God to create the masterpiece He needs.  Although those shattered pieces hurt, if the pain is enough to help someone; it's worth it.  

God is going to use these broken pieces to paint a beautiful picture full of His glory that points back to Him.  

Living and Not Just Existing

Sometimes life can feel like one big storm where the waves just flop you back-and-forth and you feel you can’t even stand because the current is so strong and the waters are so deep.  You just go with the flow being knocked all around, treading water and trying not to drown.  Feeling like you have no control over what’s going on in your life.

Recently, Hurricane Florence came through our town.  She battered our area with wind and more rain than I've ever seen in my entire life.  Walking outside a few days after the storm passed, I noticed these flowers...

You can tell where during the storm the wind blew for hours, trying to knock them over and destroy them.  They were battered and bruised but you know what else I saw that day?  

Life.  

They were LIVING and not just existing...called to bloom and flourish and live the life they were created for.  No, they weren't standing perfectly straight as they were a few days ago but they were still standing.  Even in the midst of the imperfection, they are still beautiful.    

So on those days that I feel bruised and beaten and barely able to keep my head above water, I will remember these flowers. It's a visual reminder that the God I serve, can calm the storms and that I wasn't put here to simply exist but to LIVE a life of abundance (John 10:10)....even if I'm a little tattered and torn - I can still bloom, and you can too!  

Your Worth is More Than a Number on the Scale

This past weekend I went away with my husband to celebrate 15 years of marriage.  We had a nice time enjoying each other and we ate REALLY well while we were away.  By well - I don't mean healthy - I mean ALL the foods we don't normally splurge on while at home.  We shared various yummy meals and made memories.  My heart was full and I came home with no regrets.

But then....

I stepped on the scale.

Immediately when I saw the number staring back at me, I was full of regret.  WHY did I eat that doughnut?  I don't even really like doughnuts.  WHY didn't I do extra cardio or workout harder in the hotel gym?  I seriously wanted to sit in the bathroom floor and cry.  I even sent my husband a text and told him that I was so upset that I allowed myself to eat what I did over the weekend.....it was bad, y'all. 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

The entire day, I battled feeling like a failure. 

But then...

I was reminded that I am N-O-T defined by a number on a scale.  That my worth is WAY more than my pants size.  And I refuse to let the enemy STEAL my joy from the amazing weekend away with my husband.....who spent the entire day reassuring me that I was beautiful just the way I am, I might add. 


Here's the thing, friends ~ we ARE more than a number on a scale.  We are MORE than the size of our clothes.  We are beautifully created daughters of the KING and while it is important to take care of ourselves, it is more important that we walk in freedom. 

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. " Psalm 139:14

So today, I rejoice in the memories that were made over the weekend and thank God for a husband who loved me at a size 3 and still loves me today 40 pounds heavier.  I will NOT let the enemy steal my joy!

And a side note - the scale has been put away - for my own sanity :) 

My Word for 2017

At the end of every year, instead of making a list of resolutions, I pray and ask God for a word for the upcoming year.  For 2017, He gave me a small word with BIG meaning.....

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I wasn't quite sure what this meant at first.  

"Be what?" I wondered.  

"Be present"  

"Be consistent"

"Be true to who God created me to be"

"Be still"

As I prayed, I realized that just "Be"ing was so much more than another 2 letter word that runs rampant in my mind...."D-O".  It reminds me of the story of Jesus visiting Mary & Martha as told in Luke chapter 10:

³⁸ As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹ Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

⁴¹ But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! ⁴² There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”


God could have totally replaced Martha's name with my own in those scriptures because I have always been a "do-er".  I'm a list lover and thrive on checking things off a list, in fact lists are written ALL the time in my mind.  I don't feel like God is telling me to throw my lists out the window (because I truly feel that is how He wired my brain), yet He's encouraging me to embrace each day with an open heart and mind to BE in the moment. 

2017 isn't going to be a year of "Do"ing more yet a time of "Be"ing!  

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  What about you?  Do you have a word, theme or resolution for 2017??  Whatever it is, I pray that God gives you peace, grace and most of all LOVE in the new year! 

 

A Meal Planning Tool That Actually Works

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Over the years I have tried numerous meal planning tools and strategies.  I tend to cook more when I can plan ahead for my meals and shopping lists but it never fails SOMEONE would complain about what we were having for dinner.  Well, that would leave me irritated and at the point of saying I'm never going to cook again. :)  I know I'm not alone here.....right?  We've all threatened it, I know.

I decided there HAD to be a better way so after some brainstorming, I implemented our new meal planning tool:  it is so simple, I didn't even need to draw you a picture.

Each week, one person decides what we will be having for dinner for that particular week.  This means one week out of every month, each person will get to have their favorite foods.  Plus, they have to do the leg work of coming up with the dinner ideas once a month; sometimes I feel like that is the hardest part.

So far, this method has been wonderful for our family!  It gets everyone involved with dinnertime (at least once a week) and takes a load off of my hands.

What about you?  Do you meal plan?  Do you wing it?  What works for you?? 

Detour Ahead

Do you ever feel like you've veered off course?  Like maybe you took the wrong turn at a crossroads or that you were suppose to make a sharp left but kept going straight?  That's how I've been feeling lately. 

I've been reaching out to God to ask him to recalculate my directions - show me where I missed the turn and help me to get back on the right road. 

Distraction.........Discouragement............Division...........Discord

These are the "towns" I've been traveling through on this road and I'm finally seeing that a DETOUR is required.  

It's time to refocus and get back on the right road.  Busy-ness has become a distraction from the basic things God has called me to do. I'm revamping my "to do" list and getting my focus back on what God, Himself, has instructed me to do.  What good is it to work hard on things that weren't even my project to begin with?

How about you, friend?  What road are you traveling down today?  Are you lost?  Wandering?  Seeking something that you just can't seem to find?  Call out to God today - He will direct and lead you to where He needs you to be. 

Maybe it's time for us both to pull over to a rest stop and refuel with more time with our Father!

"Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!"  Hebrews 12:1-3 MSG