The Call to Love.

God's divine work never ceases to amaze me.

I am baffled at how He put this idea into my head, helped me map out my year, only to find that each month has offered me something I didn't know I needed until I started hashing out each Call for all of you. I know some of you have probably benefited, but I know for sure that these Calls God put on my heart have definitely be life-giving and life-altering for me. It feels a little crazy that He does so much to work in our hearts and lives, right? 

The Call to Love naturally comes right after the Call to Receive His Heart. We truly cannot love the way God intends if our hearts are still full of self. And that is exactly what I've been wrestling with this month. 

I would never claim to be full of self-control, though I cleverly come up with elaborate methods for helping me get things done... sometimes. And all this month, while I have been trying to figure out my inability to write about the Call to Love, I have been struck over and over with how selfish I am. Even when serving my family, I usually only hop to it when there is some reward in it for me. Clean kitchen, laundry put away, meals planned and groceries bought - those all make my life easier, better. But ask me to do something that only benefits someone else and I'm likely to grumble, put it off, or find some way to make it beneficial for myself. 

None of this is of God. And that is tough to swallow. However, I do see God working in me in that I am not full of despair while confessing it. For a bit of the month, I just dove into other things trying to avoid it, thinking I could figure it all out eventually. But when my spirit could no longer stand it, God enabled me to see my selfishness for what it is and helped me start to lay myself down. 

Again, we need God's heart. 

This doesn't mean that we simply also love the things He loves, but that we get rid of the things we love more than Him, the things He cannot stand. We must abide in Him in order to love like Him. In John 15:9-11 Jesus says that we need to remain in His love, and we do that by obeying Him. 

When we see that our actions are not God's actions of love, we have to stop. And when we see the right thing to do and refuse to do it, we must confess that as sin (James 4:17). 

We want our loving of others to be an overflow of God's love in us, not just actions (like what 1 Corinthians 13 warns about) but how can we pursue this? How do we seek to love others when we still feel like God's love is not abiding in our hearts the way we desire, the way we wish it was?

We must look to Jesus.

Photo by Jacob Meyer @jakemeyer

Looking at His example, I see three things we can consider and make progress in, things I know will bring our hearts into a posture God will use to love others. I know this because if God will use someone as selfish and lacking in self-control as me, He will work in you too :) Here they are...

1 - Understand what Love is.

2 - Understand the value in it.

3 - Be willing to give up anything.

Love is Sacrifice.

We see what love is through Jesus' example in Philippians 2: doing nothing from selfish ambition, considering others as more important than self, and giving our life (even parts of it that are wonderful) for the benefit of others. Love equals giving, and not just out of our abundance.

Our sermon yesterday was preached by the pastor of one of our sister churches and he gave a great example of this from Acts 16. Paul and others are imprisoned for upheaving the local economy by releasing a slave girl from an evil spirit. When an earthquake releases their shackles and opens the prison doors, Paul and the others stay as they are, despite their wounds and unjust imprisonment. They deny their own rights, choosing to ensure goodness and life to the prison guard, who would have been a dead man for losing track of all his prisoners. The loving sacrifice of Paul and his companions is turned into the love of God for this guard, who then becomes a believer along with his entire family.

This is the love of God. Jesus gave up what was rightfully His, something beyond fantastic, and took on punishment so we could experience glory with Him. We cannot love well, or love the way God desires if we do not understand that loving others will require sacrifice. If we think we can love and serve others and not have it cost us anything but the extra we seem to be blessed with, we are deceived. 

That's why we need to see the value in it. 

Jesus saw the value of giving us fellowship and glory in the presence of God. He knew His sacrifice would be worth it. He knew that what awaited for us in eternity would be no match for what He gave up, so He gladly took the form of a man forever instead of staying in His Godly existence (whatever that looks like). Paul also speaks like this in 2 Corinthians 4:17, saying that this momentary affliction will be nothing compared to the glory waiting for us. 

Pleasures forevermore? Sounds good! No death, weeping, darkness, anything? Sign me up! Rewarded 100-fold and receiving treasure that can never be destroyed? It's kind of ridiculous that we don't already chase after all these things!

Knowing all this, we must make a decision.

Are we willing to give up what the world offers in exchange for the life God offers? 

That is really the question you will need to answer. 1 John tells us that we cannot love the world and love God. God's love cannot abide in us if we think getting what we desire here on earth is more important than giving God's love to others. And this has been what I am wrestling with even as I type. My kids need me, my husband needs me, other people need me, and I just want to get done what I want to get done! But is that love? Is all my planning, my big agenda, really so much more important than loving others more than myself? Why is every small inconvenience in my day such a frustration? Because God's love is not dwelling in my heart. 

I know that feels rough. I am feeling it too. But I know God's love is in there somewhere because I do feel His grace in the way He gently reels me back in. 

Sure, we can do lots of loving things for others, but if we do not have His love running through our veins our shallow motivation will run out. At some point, we will revert back to our flesh, trying to figure out how we can do the right and good things while still getting what we think we need. His love has to remain in us. We must be connected to it on a regular basis.

What am I doing with all this? What can you do to get on this path away from self and toward God? 

Invite God in. 

Ask Him to change your heart and expect Him to do it. 

Be willing to do whatever it takes. 

That last step feels really hard! It requires an abnormal amount of faith to set down something you love here and now in exchange for something you'll get after you die. But it is more sure than anything else we cling to. 

I would encourage you to take a read through 1 John. It will prick you, be sure of that, but it will also open up places in your heart that God wants to dwell. You might be scared to go there, you might think you can just put a godly twist on your endeavors and therefore make them acceptable to God, but that is not how He works. He wants all of you. Until He has it, your love might bless other people here and there, but it's not the love God has for you. The goal we are after is being fully immersed in His love forever. And it can start today. Go to Him. Ask. And be ready to receive. You really will receive more than you can ever give. 

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 1:15-17

Contemplating Steadfastness.

I am a bit behind on life. It's pretty understandable, after purging many of our belongings, living in a hotel for six weeks, then moving back in and setting up the home for guests, homeschooling, and more. The last week and a half have been filled with cardboard, screws, cleaning, organizing, building furniture, and more. It's been wonderful to be back home but I am feeling a bit cautious about my daily routines.

I would never claim to be very self-disciplined, so I compensate by forcing things upon myself in certain ways, so I know I will not succumb to the temptation to do less than I wish I could do. In case that makes zero sense, here's an example.

I am really athletic, but I don't always like the idea of exercising. I mostly enjoy it while I am doing it, but getting started is SO hard. So I do things like signing up for CrossFit. This also solves my problem of trying to get up early in the morning, at least on the days I attend. If I have nowhere to be each day, nothing specific to be done at a certain time, I struggle to get out of bed, or to even set my alarm. So needing to be at CrossFit at a certain time in the morning takes care of both of these problems for me.

This year will require either a lot of self-discipline or a lot of discipline-inducing activities. I'm a bit nervous about it, but this morning God gave me sweet examples of what it means to be steadfast and consistent in my work and in my life.

I spent some time reading from Exodus this morning and then opened up Rosaria Butterfield's book The Gospel Come with a House Key. The chapter I read was about life with her mother as an adult (in which I cried WAY too much) and she brought up this verse.

"And in all things let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, 

lacking nothing."   James 1:4

The patience it takes to live while waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled is enormous. The confidence I need to have in God's plan, in order to continue working and giving and serving and still LOVE well, is far beyond my own abilities. But God makes us fulfilled and complete by persevering in that work. 

The verse stuck with me and made me sit and think for a while. I decided to finally put a verse on my lettering board, as it has been hanging on the wall blank since we moved back in. As I was arranging all the letters (and realizing there would be no room for the reference) I had a hard time finding all the specific letters I needed. This verse has a lot of F's for how many I have in total, and I struggled to find them in my assortment of letters sprawled across the table. 

As I got to the end, I was still missing two letters. I decided I would simply start to put the letters back into the bag and grab them one by one. It only took a few seconds before I found the first letter I needed. As I continued to put just one letter or two in the bag at a time, I noticed a letter clinging to the inside of the bag. At first, I kept putting more letters in, then I took another look and saw that it was the very letter I was looking for. Immediately, I felt God's goodness in talking to me through this simple task. 

To be steadfast in my life, I may often need to simply start the small work, and do it over and over again. Putting the letters in one by one, despite not knowing when the end result would come to pass, is what enabled me to find the letters I was looking for. Had I not just started the work, it might have taken me even longer to achieve my goal. 

To be steadfast in my life, I need to be unhurried and attentive. If I had just grabbed handfuls and handfuls of letters without paying much attention, I may have missed the letter I needed, stuck in the bag.

In all the things God is doing in my life, my steadfastness will make that work more effective. It will complete God's work in me, not hinder it. Being steadfast is a gift. Bearing under the weight of time, longstanding effort, and the daily struggle of being a human is working in us to make us what God desires us to be. 

This comes as such a relief to me this morning. God's work is not hindered by the length of time or number of times I have to work on something. My willingness to endure is actually a help to the process. If I am grumpy and frustrated at the length of time God's work takes, it is a hindrance to that work! 

The more patient and willing I am to endure the long work God is doing in my life, the more complete I will be be, the more perfected I will end up. 

I can do my work happy today. I can breathe deep, relax, and just enjoy the interruptions, the road-blocks, the tasks that take longer than I could have imagined. Yes, you read that right: I can enjoy them! They are perfecting me, sanctifying me, making me complete. And that's the goal right? To be complete in Christ. 

Lately, I cannot help but see how a willing spirit is the key to making the most of almost anything in life. Willing to navigate hardship, willing to do the menial job, willing to sacrifice self for the well-being of others... it makes or breaks jobs, relationships, and more. So if I am going to focus on anything as the summer break is coming to a close, it's on my level of willingness. 

I want to be willing to walk through whatever it is God ordains or allows. I want to be willing to navigate whatever challenges arise during my pursuit of the endeavors He has placed on my heart. I desire to willingly work for the good of those around me, without bitterness, and without regret. A willing vessel is what God uses, and what He desires. Being steadfast is a matter of being willing to endure. And I want to be willing. 

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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 :)