Called to Receive God's Heart.

Working on all of these Called posts has been such a blessing to my soul. I'm not one of those people who loves writing in and of itself; it's hard work for me! But the challenge of digging in and understanding something, anything about God is an undertaking that brings life to my bones and purpose to my life. Plus, I just love talking about it and sharing what I learn with anyone willing to listen :)

This month's Call is to Receive God's heart. And wow, the last couple of weeks have really revealed just how much I need this. It's always a bit disheartening to struggle so hard through the things I want to talk about and share, but it continually brings me back to the humble place of recognizing how much I really need God. So let's walk together through why this matters and why we need God's heart.

The bible is pretty clear about the state of our own hearts. Jeremiah 17 gives us a glimpse of God speaking to Jeremiah about the state of things among God's people and he says in verse 9 that "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" From the beginning of time, we have account after account of people who follow their own desires and fall away from seeking after God. Everyone has this struggle (whether they acknowledge it or not). 

We want what we want, and we seek out what we think will make us happy, content, fulfilled... to no avail. And this is no secret to God. Jeremiah 17:10 continues on "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every many according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." 

When David is in the process of being chosen to be king we see God speaking to Samuel about Jesse's other sons. 1 Samuel 16:7 says "But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.'" Back a few chapters we witness Saul's fall out of God's pleasure and Samuel tells him what God desires: a man after His own heart.

God knows what is in our hearts. We cannot hide it or mask it or try to simply ignore it. Hearts pointed in the wrong direction wreak havoc in our own lives and the lives of others. It doesn't feel good to admit this, but acknowledging it, understanding that our sin-ridden hearts will lead us astray, is a first, very necessary step toward redemption. 

We cannot pretend that the state of our hearts without God can be mastered by our own determination  or self-discipline. We can do all kinds of "right" things from an external perspective and still have hearts that do not honor Him. And if we are unwilling to see this, eventually that rotting heart will pull us under. It will begin to spill out into our actions. 

Proverbs 4:23 says "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." 

And Jesus himself speaks several times in Matthew about how what is in our hearts will come out in our words and actions. We need new hearts in order to live rightly, in order to love well. But we cannot make our hearts new on our own, we need God to do it for us.

And praise be to God; He wants to change our hearts! He wants to take our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, a heart that beats to the rhythm of His love, His priorities, and His goodness. We are commanded to love God with all our heart and He is the only one who can give us a heart full enough to do that. 

For some reason, I have always really resonated with the verses that talk about seeking God. And maybe you are like this too, always searching to hear from Him, to understand Him, and long to know Him as Moses did. So the following verses bring me great hope in my ability to receive from God what I need to love and follow Him...

"But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Deuteronomy 4:29

"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." 

Jeremiah 29:13 

"And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?" 

Matthew 7:7-11

God wants to give us good things, starting with a new heart, but we need to ask for it!

While this idea may feel like a double standard, or an impossible challenge, it really is a blessing for us. Every time we feel ourselves pulling away from God, pursuing things that He does not desire for us, we will have to turn back to Him in order to get our hearts right. We'll need to ask Him to help us love Him the way He desires. It's that same desire we see in David that pleased God despite all the sins David piled up or dreadful situations he seemed to get himself into. David was a man after God's heart.

So where does that leave us? What can we do about it?

Always pray. Always stay in communion with God. And ask Him to weed out the things that are not from Him. We may also end up needing to weed out things in our life that entice our hearts (ahem, Instagram and Facebook anyone?) and take a step back from the endeavors that entangle our minds. I know I struggle with fear of what fun my life might be (or rather, not be) without some of the things I am drawn toward. But if they take my eyes off God and steer my heart somewhere other than where God wants to lead me, why would I want it? I need to trust deep in my heart that they are not worth clinging to. 

This month will entail a lot of asking questions of myself, often questions that I may not want to get honest about.

Do I still love following God when it's uncomfortable?When it requires me to not have things I enjoy indulging in? When I have less than others around me? 

What things am I unwilling to let go of and what pursuits keep me from giving my energy to God? 

What in my life keeps me from acting in a way that honors God or what is causing my mind to be distracted with the world instead of focused on who God is?

What do I want more than God?

I'll let you answer those questions in the privacy of your own mind, but I would encourage you to write it down. Write down the scary, the brutally honest, the petty or silly things that are holding you back from living fully under the influence of God's heart. And trust this: there is enough goodness, love, excitement, fulfillment, and pleasure in God's love that He can put in your heart to fill ANY dark hole. 

Saints throughout history have proved over and over again, having nothing in this world except God is more than enough. Can it be enough for me? For you? I know it can, and I want to pursue being so filled with God that I don't even miss what the world would offer. 

Here are a couple books I have enjoyed immensely and I hope they are a blessing to you too. 

Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

You Are What You Love by James K. A. Smith

Your willingness to allow God to change your heart directly affect how much your heart changes. Let Him do that work and be willing to give whatever it takes. It will be worth it! 

Trusting God, Knowing Calm.

When I think about being calm, I imagine lounging on a cabin porch, with hot coffee, looking across a beautiful lake. But more often than not, when I speak about being calm, I’m usually talking to a hormonal child or a mid-tantrum toddler. And I am not generally very calm about it myself.

Thankfully, there is a calm that can penetrate every kind of circumstance. It is the same calm that allowed Jesus to sleep on a boat while the disciples were freaking out, fearing drowning and death.

It is the calm of completely trusting the will of God.

Photo by Jorge Vasconez

Matthew 8:23-27 and Mark 4:35-41 show us the disciples’ reactions to Jesus sleeping while being tossed about and their shock and awe regarding Jesus’ power over the wind and seas. The disciples saw what surrounded them and feared the possible outcome. But Jesus knew their circumstance on the boat was temporary. He knew it was only a situation they were in and He completely trusted God to bring them through it.

Is that how I see my daily chaos? As temporary? Is that how I view trials and circumstances that bring me to the end of myself?

Now, you might be tempted to think it was easier for Jesus because He knew He would live long enough to continue preaching the gospel... and then later die, be raised from the dead, and ascend into Heaven. Piece of cake, right?

Jesus trusted He would live long enough to fulfill God’s call on His life and we can trust the same thing.

We may not know the way Jesus did or when that call will be finished, but we can trust that God goes before us, preparing our works and putting us in circumstances that accomplish every last item on His agenda (Ephesians 2:10).

Jesus knew that storm was a passing circumstance while we tend to get too caught up in what might happen and forget who is really in control.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop

The way we allow calm to rule in our circumstances is to willingly trust the will of God for our lives.

Maybe you feel like you don’t know what God’s will is. Sure, I don’t know what His will is one year from now, or really, even next week! But, we can know His will for today. It’s nicely tucked into the beginning of 1 Thessalonians 4:3…

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”

I know, it doesn’t seem like the exciting or important “will of God” we often desire. But if we keep our sanctification in the forefront of our minds, we can see the will of God happening every day of our lives, in every circumstance we encounter. During storms, summer vacations, seasons of trouble, or trials by fire, God’s will can be accomplished in our lives.

Invite the same calm Jesus had into your own life by being confident of this very thing… that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Friend, you are being sanctified in your temporary trials, in your daily struggles, and in every storm that threatens to pull you under. None of it can defeat you! See yourself in that boat with Jesus. Be as confident as He was, sleeping though death was at the door. Remember that no stormy sea can overpower the plans God has for your life.

God, help us to trust you with our days. Help us to remember that You know what is best. Guide us through our circumstances with the continual reminder of your will for our lives: sanctification. Help us to set our minds on the life we gain in Christ and help us to value it above all else. Give us hearts that are filled with the calm, joy-inducing confidence only available through Jesus and His work on the cross. Thank you for the life you give and may our calm-ridden lives be a testimony of your goodness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Calm and Free.

Good morning friends!

It's a new week and I have a new friend who is going to bless you with a new perspective on Calm. Hop on over to meet my friend Gelly May. She has a colorful and encouraging Instagram account, as well as a Facebook page. Be sure to follow here in those places so you can get doses of encouragement straight from her :)

Her contribution to our Calm loop is really valuable, and I hope you walk away from what she shares looking at your life and seeing where Jesus wants you to let go of crazy and grab ahold of Calm.

What I learned about Anxiety by (Almost) Drowning

I used to be completely unafraid of the ocean.

I would swim far from shore, hardly looking back to spot my bags on the sand. It didn't matter how deep the water was or how far I got; I floated in peace.

But one day everything changed...

Be sure to read the rest of Gelly's post and follow her all the places! And come back for some more updates later this week. I'm going to try and keep posting about my regular life; it seems like that's what all of you love to read about most! Have a great Monday and we'll see you soon. 

The House Situation.

A lot of you have been asking me lately about what is going on with our house, so I figured I would give a little update on the blog and fill everyone in at once.

At the end of March, we had a toilet with a tank-flowing, flap-sealing problem. Every once in a while it would not seal all the way and a small stream of water would just continually flow from the tank to the bowl until we went in and wiggled it. Well, when a certain child tried to flush their poo down, it clogged and said child went on with their bedtime routine without noticing. The toilet flap didn't seal and water continued to flow from the tank, into the clogged bowl, and over the precipice onto our bathroom floor. It kept going for several minutes (or maybe 10? 15?) and long-story short, we discovered it after "black-water" was covering the bathroom floor and running down a light fixture through the ceiling beneath it, onto the downstairs floor.

Black-water is just water with human waste, so don't fret, it was all very clear-looking. But anything black-water touches has to go. And anything that gets damaged by replacing those surfaces also needs repaired too. Mark has worked with a disaster restoration company in the past, so we knew who to call ASAP.

This was our immediate solution...

This is how it looked after taking out all the damaged materials. Sorry, no pics of the bathroom - it's small and there is a lot of stuff in the way.

Because of where the water damage was, insurance will cover new floors in most of our home. We chose to go ahead and have them re-carpet the other two bedrooms and office, plus make the other two bathrooms match (new floors in one and counter tops in both). Because the damage touched surfaces that connect to around 2200 sq ft of the house, it requires all our furniture to be moved out, which also required us to move out. Thankfully, insurance will pay for our hotel stay too!

You can see our paint color experiments!

Looking empty.

So far, we have been in the hotel a week. The house was fully packed out by Tuesday, and hopefully some demo and potentially some of the new carpet will already be done by Saturday. They have a bunch of drywall to repair, paint to do in much of the house, some trim and then LOTS of carpet and a bunch of hardwood floors. We are praying it will only be three weeks, but it could be up to six if there are too many scheduling issues or other problems that come up.

I cannot wait to see how it will all look! We picked out some great new surface materials and will likely get a few new light fixtures as well. We also chose to repaint with a better shade of grey, something more "greige" than the blue-tinted grey we originally chose.

Main wood flooring plus carpet, counter surface, and backsplash. So nice!

This is the countertop surface plus the laminate that will go in the upstairs bathrooms (don't worry, none of the laminate will be in proximity to the wood floors). 

We have debated selling the house afterwards, but I don't think we will, even though it's tempting since the market is hot and most of what we own is in boxes! It's hard to pack almost everything you own, knowing you will just be unpacking it in the same exact place. It was a great excuse to purge though, and we hope to really get rid of our excess stuff and only unpack things into real places. At first we were going to use our tax return for new kitchen counters, but have since decided the risk of having cabinets damaged was too big (for our sanity and our budget) and instead we will make sure we get things like bookshelves, homeschool organization, and closet storage all figured out when we move back in.

So, ask me again in a week or two how we are doing. And PLEASE pray for me. The last few days have been good, but today I am weary (which I always am on laundry day). Some of the things I am weary over are not new (never being able to just leave my kids to pursue something on my own) and other issues are because of being in this small space and not being able to just turn the kids outside while I work or read. I feel the familiar spiral of my thoughts beginning to compound and make me long for a different life, but I am fighting hard to trust this path of mine to God. He knows. He sees me. He has good things for me (which are usually borne through challenges and struggles). It sure it a battle!

Thanks for stopping in and hearing me out. And if you're local, invite us over for dinner ;)

Calm Down by Keysha Edwards Taylor

Good afternoon friends!

I have another Calm Down post for you, but this format will be a little different. This week, our guest is Keysha Edwards Taylor and since she doesn't have her post on a separate blog, I will link you to her Facebook page and you can friend and follow her there. She is a musician and you can take a look at her website and enjoy the blessings of her gift here! Take a few minutes to read her words, to relate to her experience, and to remember that God is with you, even in the crazy, hectic, frantic moments of your life.

SURPRISE!

The unknown and the unexpected can raise our pulse rate to exuberant levels. So much can happen in a twinkling of an eye. 

It’s 3 a.m. and I’m startled awake by the house alarm. As I frantically sit up in bed, I pray “O, God, what is this!!?” My mind starts thinking of the activities of the day. Did I close the back sliding door and lock it? Is the garage door down? My heart rate increases as I remember that I left it open the other night? The kitchen window used to be the only window without an alarm device with screws to keep it locked. Thank God we upgraded that five years ago, whew! The house was secure. But now my heart’s beat is pounding in my ear, my throat is dry, and I have my birthday suit on and can’t find the stupid lamp by my bed. My hubby, drunk with sleep, bolts from the bed, grabs his machete from behind our bedroom door and stumbles his way into the hallway. I’m frozen in the rhythmic session with my heart and rapid breaths as I try to remember where my clothes are.... and the stupid lamp. My husband returns after checking everything and reports that we had a faulty connection on one of the doors. “E’en no tief in duh ‘ouse t’night!” (My island dialect for “There’s not a thief is in the house!”). I say to myself, “Deep breath in....deep breath out”. My heart rate is still pounding, but my mind is entering it’s calm again. I’m sure the frantic dance in my chest will evolve into a sweet cadence of rest....soon. Now, we’re calm.

Surprises like a house alarm going off unexpectedly, can influence us to panic...you know? We pray “O, God, what is this?” I believe God is right there with a normal solution to a crazy situation. Our ability to remain calm during these moments falls to pieces sometimes, but the Lord is not bothered at all. Its similar to story of Jesus calming the storm when the disciples were freaking out. Trusting in the “Calm” of the Lord is my life long lesson. I must see with Spirit eyes.

When I focus on the reality of my powerful God, who’s behind the scenes working it out, I can finally breathe. He holds my hand during the hurricane forced winds of life. He speaks His calming word and my situation must yield. Jesus promised we would have struggles and problems and times when life is not calm at all. He says, “Do not fear, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD!” and, “PEACE, BE STILL!” boldly. He said it emphatically because His eyes are fixed on Heavenly Father. In my journey with the Lord, my life has been littered with horrific surprises, however, I’m learning to endure with my eyes focused on the Calm that resolves, the Calm that is present at all times. It's just a heartbeat away.

Focus on the Calm of the Lord. Trust that, and say, “No tief gern tief dat from me!” (No thief can steal that away from me!”)

See you back here next week for another post on Calm :)

Learn the CALM Technique.

Hi friends!

It's Monday again, or as my husband and children say, the New Years of the Week, and that means it's time for another Calm link-up. Yay!

This week you get to hear from Barb Roose about how she works to grab some calm during stressful times and seasons. You can follow her on Facebook here and be sure to go over to her website and see what else she has to offer. She is a woman willing to go through all sorts of crazy to find the Calm God can give, and I know you will benefit and grow from reading her words. Here we go!

Learn the CALM Technique to Reduce Stress

by Barb Noose

Do you remember that 90’s song, “Y’all gonna make me lose my mind / Up in here, Up in here”?

While a hugely popular rap song, it’s also the unofficial anthem of the super-stressed out or anxious person. It’s the kind of song you’re tempted to spit out when the unexpected or uninvited chaos pushes you mentally, emotionally or financially toward the edge. Have you ever felt like you might lose your mind over the following:

·      …Your car repair cost may require listing your kidney on Ebay;*

·      …You have to wait all weekend to call the doctor for test results on Monday morning;

·      …Your boss asks you to drop by her office before you leave for the day…and you’ve been hearing rumors of layoffs.

When uncertainty or chaos lands in our lives, our bodies feel the stress and we experience symptoms like: a racing heartbeat, nausea, sweaty palms, numbness or the inability to sleep. And it’s so hard to pray when we’re feeling stressed out!  Yet, connecting with God is our best chance to find help and hope in our chaotic or uncertainty situations...

Read the rest of Barb's Post here:

And be sure to come back next Monday to hear from another brave woman about how to grab some more Calm in your dady-to-day life. Thanks, and Happy New Year of the Week!

Calm Down

Are you friends ready for some weekly Calm? I know I am!

First up we have my friend Amy :) She wrote a book that came out this Fall and it is fabulous. If you are a mom, you really need to read it. It will encourage you and point you to what Christ can do in your motherhood, not what you can do for yourself. It's called Chin Up and you can go buy it here (aff link)!

You can also follow Amy on Instagram here, and Facebook here.

Now, for the good stuff.

Image by Lucija Ros on Unsplash.com

Calm Down: by Amy Seiffert

Carefully, ever so slowly, draw a long breath in.

And then exhale just as deliberately as you can.

Good work.

When was the last time you did that?

When was the last time you paid attention to your incoming breath and your outgoing air?
The last time you noticed what was coming in and what was going out?

And let’s not just stick to the air around you. Let’s get below the surface. Let’s look at the content of our souls.

What have we allowed to take up residence, and now, like the air we breathe, freely comes and goes?

Because the company you keep, most often keeps you.

(Read the rest of her post at amyseiffert.com)




Be sure to come back next week for another dose of Calm!