To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Christian

Simple Thoughts Sunday: God meets you at the level of your expectation

Rewind! This is a throwback post that was speaking to me this week!

I heard this strong message last week and it captured me. The very thought that God meets us where we are is not only comforting, but galvanizing. Whether we are in a mode of praise and gratitude or on a path of seeking and searching… He is there. If we are boldly moving forward with fresh thinking and new plans… He is there. If we find ourselves in a matter of hours (or moments) circulating through emotions of love and struggle… He will also meet us there if we are open to Him.

If we, for some reason, cannot get to our faith, we can build on a committed focus in 3 key areas (although I’m sure there are many more – so consider this a start):

  1. Surrounding ourselves with a community of people who are able to lift us up and provide both celebration and accountability.
  2. Prayer. No matter if it’s a two word prayer (i.e. “help me”) or a specific and verbose prayer – prayer is POWERFUL.
  3. Reading, listening to or watching messages that contain scripture and teachings that encourage our faith and help us grow in our understanding. One great benefit of our generation is that we have access to almost any type of media available that helps us however we learn best. I love that.

I hope that your faith will grow this week and that it is truly a week of happiness and extreme joy! Let’s all raise our expectations and allow God to step in with whatever we need right now.

“I didn’t know I was hungry”

Have you ever found out something profound about your life after that season was over? Rachel Held Evans started chapter 19 of her fantastic book, ‘Searching for Sunday,’ with this profound concept that stuck with me instantly: “I didn’t know I was hungry.”

Let’s unpack this concept a bit more…

  • Have you ever been in a relationship but didn’t feel loved? Recognized? Seen? Heard?
  • Have you ever been in a room, office, church or otherwise full of people, and felt alone?
  • Have you ever had such an uneasiness that you couldn’t “find the feeling” that was keeping you unsettled and stealing your peace?

That feeling is hunger. In some cases we are starved.  Starved for the basic needs that sustain us as humans: love, community, peace. The sentence blew my mind. Have you ever been hungry and didn’t even know it or have the capacity or knowledge to “name it?”

I have had a season like that. In fact, if I allow myself to “go there” or dig deep enough, I’ve had a few. I have to laugh a bit because a few years back, my son said, offhand, “Mom, I could have told you that.” I had to seek outside counseling to hear this truth and right under my own roof my son recognized certain patterns. He recognized I was “hungry,” but I sure didn’t know it.

In fact, that counselor pointed out that we are either pursuing, running from or staying within the moment. I am either a pursuer or a runner. Perhaps most of us are? (Oh, how I’d love to have the knowledge of a good therapist! Thank God for those people!) Until the last few years, I did not even know that the staying or lingering with the discomfort – or perhaps even the comfort – of a relationship or situation was a “thing” and really essential to understanding and growth. When she pointed it out, it was a light bulb moment. It was in this understanding that I could begin to recognize moments of hunger.

One of the things I like to do in these short little insights, is to spur us to think deeper in a wild attempt to better understand ourselves. I feel like perhaps we can serve others better if we do so.

Have the best week! I hope this post helps move us toward joy and toward a life full of everything God has in store for us. I love that notion of moving toward all that is good and hopeful.

The hardest job you will ever love: Mother’s Day 2020

Sitting here preparing to write, I was a bit perplexed on where to focus – and then I fell upon Ann’s blog yesterday, which is simply magical if you ask me. I have so many authors I love, but Ann Voskamp has one of the most incredibly impactful & poetic voices of our generation. Here are some quotes on this topic of motherhood that truly are profound… good conversation starters (if you will) for today’s blog post.

“Parenting is never about how your kids turn out. It’s always and only about how you keep turning toward your kids and their Maker.”

She urges us to keep “turning toward.” I love that. My interpretation… to turn in, to lean in, to listen and take it ALL deep into our souls. (Try is really what I mean… try to listen to understand). To experience the full onset of the messy days and celebratory moments is really what motherhood is all about, isn’t it? It’s literally ALL of it: the tough conversations, the midnight hours of fever and illness, the conflict, the sitting together silently waiting for someone to speak, and sometimes shared tears (or silent tears). And of course the very best parts – the dancing in the kitchen or on wedding reception floors, traveling & experiencing our world together, the car rides to practice, the curbside coaching moments and the bedtime rituals that fill our homes with love. The most critical to me: the constant refocus of myself and the boys to their Maker. I have found that to be the single element of truth in everything good and every struggle. Re-centering…often daily on God somehow brings it all forward as growth and goodness if we allow it.

“The work of every parent is to give the best they know how now, and the work of every child is to forgive their parents the best they can now.”

Does that just resonate? We as parents do what we think is best in the moment. Sometimes we know within minutes it was not our most shining moment, and sometimes we don’t know until years later that our words or actions were an epic fail. Nevertheless, we live out the days truly trying to do the best with what we have in that moment, be it knowledge, resources or emotional capacity. Someday our kids will understand that… but not quite yet. We live in that gap generally.

And then there is this part of the child forgiving “the best they can now.” Here’s the thing I love about that statement, “The best they can now:” We all… in every time of our lives, have certain levels of capacity to forgive, to give, to love, to whatever. Our capacity ebbs and flows and is largely dependent on the strength of our spiritual life in that season of our lives. We must remember that we all do what we can for the most part. Forgiveness, therefore is essential for both the parent and child. Grace – early and often!

“Motherhood is never about training your children to be so good they won’t ever fall, it’s about letting them see you fall in love every day with a good God.”

If I don’t do anything else in my life as a mother, and hopefully some day a grandmother, I hope that they will see me fall in love every day with a good God. It’s something I am committed to and fully believe that all levels of good, stressful, scary and beautiful moments can be worked thru if we all stay focused on this truth. Being focused on God is central to Motherhood for me so far…. directing and redirecting ourselves and our children in the ways we know how.

Offering deep thanks today for my mother who in this season is the very best cheerleader and spiritual supporter. Also so much love to the many mother figures I have had in my life. God has always provided the most amazing women to step in and meet me right where I needed their love and support and I am forever grateful. If you get a moment today, reaching out to some of those would be a truly wonderful things for us all to do! Sending love to you all.

Strengthen your spirit today

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

What a lovely scene in the picture above. The sun and the strength of the thoroughbred painted across a beautifully calm pasture.

The Kentucky Derby would have been this weekend. The picture is from the Claiborne Farm Instagram account. Claiborne is a part of the “Derby” story with over a century of success in raising up the most-beautiful and incredibly-fast horses. I love their history, attributing their success to “adhering to the best principles of stewardship of the land, the horses, and the sport…” Stewardship. Today’s post is around this idea of how we “steward” our light… What we offer up to our own souls and those God has surrounded us with on our journey. So, how well are you stewarding today?

By the way, a quick Google search helps frame up this role of a “steward” as: “A person who looks after the passengers on a ship for example… A person responsible for/managing…” Essentially, a person faithfully looking after what God has given him or her to protect and even grow.

Shaping the path of any given day requires a commitment that we make to ourselves. We make this silently, in the quiet of our meditations or prayers as we go to bed and rise each day. The thoughts that we allow to run wild as we drive, or walk or otherwise navigate our cities and communities. Pastor Adam Hamilton shares that he asks each morning that God would be with him on his mission for the day. I find that to be profound. I find that any power to steward well comes from God speaking through me, whether by word or action.

We have this enormous opportunity to “be the light.” As we go into this week and this season, let us be mindful that this is a gift and that it requires a steadfast dedication as it has for centuries on end, for everything and everyone from thoroughbred horse breeding operations, to NFL football clubs, to local business owners; to teenagers, seniors and every age in between… We collectively can bring the brightest light together if we choose. I pray that our actions bring forward the most powerful joy and light to all around our community.

The power of now: What is really essential?

The power of the city. Collective unity. Buildings standing tall next to one another as if they are locked arm and arm. In many ways, they actually are. Dependent on one another for sustainability, for community building, for the generation of work for families and societies. The visual is strong and also offers inspiration if we will allow that to filter through our minds.

Our church hosted a virtual sisterhood/girls night last night. It was really, really good. My takeaway question that pastor Liz (@hillsongkc) asked us to consider: What truly is essential right now? As we rethink our lives and patterns, can we stop and ask ourselves what is really essential? In other words: Have I prioritized my one life as I would if I could start over? Redesign and level set against my values and goals? Is what I’m doing right now, or what I have been doing actually bringing me closer to or farther away from what I hope for my life to stand for? What seeds have I been planting? Are they the ones that will eventually produce the harvest I desire for my life? Are they what my family needs in this season?

She shared a personal example, in that she feels God is calling her to invest more time with her middle child. I love that, because I have found that when I listen to God’s promptings, I usually receive a nudge in one direction or another. Someone’s name will pop up out of nowhere it seems, or clear messages will shine right through someone sharing a personal story. Heck, even a billboard may speak to me.

So, where do you need to sow right now?

The image above, to me, was about prayer. I feel that God is saying, “prayer is power… stay with it… stay strong with a constant posture and persistence toward its strength. Stay in prayer over those I have placed in your path, especially your children and eventually their children… don’t let up….don’t get distracted…” I want to sow in prayer and with a sincere request for a listening ear and willing heart to pursue God’s direction and not my own.

What is essential? What actions – what prayers – do I need to take to allow our family to grow, flourish and serve each other and our community in the best way?

Have a powerful week my friends. We need collective unity right now.

The forecast is beautiful and I pray you feel the sunshine deeply rooted in every step you take.

Shake it off

I asked one of my dear friend’s at work what she felt I should blog about today (what does the universe need right now?), and she emphatically said that I should use this video of our dog, Waffles.

Within moments, Wonder Woman (aka Ashley Jost, who is my right-hand blog professional), quickly made it happen to the tune of this great little clip from the one and only Taylor Swift. I tried to not like Taylor a few years back, but when her songs come on I find myself catching the vibe in a heartbeat. She’s fun and her spirit is contagious. The music lyrics here in “Shake it off” are right on point.

We all know the truth is that with this situation and with many others, we can’t simply “shake it off” completely, but we can identify the weights that bear us down and work to take a few off, replacing them with better energy and more positive or useful thinking. Taking a hard look at what is keeping us up at night, or causing that sick feeling in our stomach, is good for the heart and soul. One of the Twitter feeds I read last night, (@brokeymcpoverty) shared some of the most helpful content I have ever seen. It was an ask that went something like this, “To help make things a little easier – and noting that therapy is a luxury – ask some who are seeing a therapist (or virtually seeing) to spread the wealth and share their best tips.” Here are a couple that I felt were pure gold:

  • “Do you have to sink or swim? What if you just float?” (My fav!)
  • “Capture mood logs” (Journaling is a proven good idea to help process thoughts and experiences.)
  • “Lean into being uncomfortable. Fighting it is like fighting a wave in the ocean, you’ll end up exhausted and possibly feel worse.”
  • “Give equal space to the thought of ‘what if it all works out?'”
  • “Recognize that the whole world is grieving. You can’t expect to be the most productive you’ve ever been just because you have more free time. Everything about your life has drastically changed, be easy on yourself.”

So much good here and such a marvelous tie in to “shake it off.”

I know like me, many of you are doing your best to pray, to “call in” the positive energy and to advance our thinking so that we can come up with better approaches and solutions to dealing with this change. We are all in this together, so by all means, please share any wisdom you may find useful with other readers.

Depending on where you read this it may look like there are only a few readers, there are actually quite a few. In February there were 3,014 people reached through the blog with 550 engaging in some way. My goal with each post is for it to impact one person, and sometimes that person may only be myself, but still I forge ahead knowing this is what God has called me to do.

I share that with the ask that you share your thoughts early and often so that we can collectively share insights that can together shift our world to the positive. So much light to share and we need everyone on board!

So much love for you all!

The gifts of Easter

What does it mean to “have life” and “have it to the full?” This jumped out at me as if reading it for the first time this morning.

If I close my eyes and dwell on that for a moment, I see all that is bright, good, joyful. I see a day at the lake with family and friends. I see our college tribe laughing endlessly. I see my boys on soccer and lacrosse fields and, at this age, seeing their dreams come true after endless hours of studying. I see every post-holiday meal conversation in the living rooms of my grandparents, parents and sister. I see rollercoasters and oceans and the kindness of a door being opened for a young mom. I see an older couple, still nurturing and loving one another, hand in hand, despite those years that have not been filled with joy.

What do you see? What is a full life to you? I love this little girl running through a field. It’s freeing to stop and think about what a full life is, and even going so far as to contemplate what areas of life aren’t quite full right now.

My belief is that God sent his son to live and to die – and of course, the best part: to be resurrected – so that we truly could have life. As our creator, He knew our fragilities and had a plan for that. A plan, that despite what we have gone through, would mean that we would be able to find ourselves in communion with Him. And in doing so, we would find peace, joy, and outrageous and indescribable love. His desire is for us to live fully and bring forth all of the gifts and promises to us, and by using us to bring light to every conversation and to every person across the world.

Wherever this Easter Sunday finds you, know that you are loved beyond your comprehension. My prayer is that his promises fall fresh upon you today.

In the midst of a cultural reset: shifting to all that is strength

This incredible photo of an Osprey, is courtesy of @_thepaintedsky, aka Jessica Walker, who I happened upon via @annvoskamp’s unbelievably beautiful weekly blog, “Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins for your Weekend”

This thought narrative of a “cultural reset” came from a post from Rebekah Lyons titled, “Look what we get to do together.” In the spirit of transparency, I needed more than anything this week to shift from bewilderment to my normal operating mode, which is, “what if? What is God working on? What am I to learn from where I am or we are right now, and how do I or we move ahead with bold and positive strength (of ideas, wisdom, peace)?” This idea has me right where I need to be right now, and I wonder if it might be beneficial for you as well. I feel like the universe is saying, “yep, that’s exactly what we need to do.” Shift. Advance to the next step.

This beautiful photograph led me on a trail to find out just what that bird was. The Osprey made its way into the books in 1460 and its name means “bird of prey.” This beautiful creature is an incredible fishing sportsman, catching a meal in at least 1 in every 4 dives. (Goodness, Audrie, why can’t I catch a fish after 100 casts of the line?) Their average time hunting is all of 12 minutes. They are, essentially, badasses. The Osprey also is agile, building nests on the tops of telephone poles and other manmade structures, which makes them unique. In my mind, they look around and see what is available, what is worthy and they make it their place – regardless of where it is.

I have a couple of thoughts stirring. First, as a human, we are at the top of the food chain (so to speak). In other words, God made us the original badasses. We have been given, and are given daily, all that we need. This is pure truth folks. You are strong, you are bold, you are outrageously capable of moving above the current situation and helping create solutions and generating positive energy and ideas that will help lift the human race. We all have a role, whether you are like my mom, hanging out in her retirement community lifting the spirits of others, or, like our team at work – on the front lines – caring for those that aren’t well and watching the news closely (and praying earnestly) so they know what step to take next.

Second, like the Osprey, we may need to look around and be ready to strike and to make it our place. I find such beauty in this. It’s simple. Look around. There is work to be done. Whether you find yourself in the quiet or in the middle of the chaos, God will make it clear where you can use your gifts or resources to move us out of this season. We need to lift our heads outside of our phones and television sets and insist that we acknowledge that we can do something. Even a child or a senior can spend an hour writing encouraging cards to healthcare workers and those in hospital beds that cannot see family right now. Insist that you and your family rise up. (A quick sidebar: One of our staff members and her family recently spent their night sorting scrubs for our front line providers and her children wrote notes to each of them. How cool is that?)

Folks, we ARE in a cultural shift. Our world will be changed after this. We will be talking about this for years – maybe decades. How it shifts is entirely up to us. My prayer is that we will SHIFT into a higher level of ourselves, to a higher awareness on what we can do together and that at the end we find ourselves loving each other better and stronger and even more than we ever have in our world’s history. This is our time to rise.

Step aside, fears: 5 ideas to pursue the good right now

I don’t normally write about faith, and specifically my belief in God, during the weekday posts, but given our current environment it feels important. Someone shared with me that in the Bible there are 366 references to “Do not Fear,” which for 2020, a leap year, is exactly 1 time for each day of the year. Isn’t that interesting?

I have to tell you, fear is real… At first I didn’t really like using that word, but I decided to look it up for the blog and I have to say this sort of resonates: an “unpleasant feeling, triggered by the perception of danger, real or imagined.” Triggered. That is exactly what is happening. And if you are like me, and have a hard time looking away from your phone when you are otherwise not detained by work, a conversation or head down in a project or good book…then you are constantly being triggered from all matter of sources. Sometimes it’s funny images that add levity to the situation, and other times it’s the gripping news coming from hot spots around the world. All said, we have to be careful with what we are feeding ourselves in order to maintain as much peace as is possible.

What approach or idea may be better? My pastor shared the message in the image above on Sunday (online), and it’s written in BOLD in my journal now. The note I wrote to myself is what’s most important to me… Just how do I best pursue that right now?

Pursue defined: To follow… to capture… to chase…  

I can visualize chasing JOY right now! In fact, CAPTURING it and holding it close at every turn. (Side note: To me, God is love and love is joy and pursuing God is in fact chasing after what He desires for us.)

How about some practical ideas on how we can do this? Here are 5, but it’s so much more fun for you all to share your ideas, so please do that below!

  • Make a commitment to sharing what is good and fun! Some of my team members made a game of sending selfies with our “masks” and that was great for bringing joy into the day. One of my college friends sent over pics of her car decorated for a parade her and the other teachers created to drive through their district neighborhoods. That is chasing joy! My son sent me our favorite Twitter feed today:
  • Set a firm limit on how much screen time you will allow yourself… Seriously.
  • Take advantage of this unexpected time. It is a gift. Extra time for your kids, for special projects, for dreaming up ways to serve others.
  • Pump up the music? What’s your all-time favorite band? Music genre (hello ’80s!)? Make a playlist, have a dance party, sing-along or whatever to get your mind moving in a positive direction…Allow yourself to feel the shift in energy.
  • Surround yourself with positive! Positive messages, positive people (you may need to call or reach out to your most positive friend, or the one who always makes you laugh). Be so intentional about this that every day you wake up, commit to pursuing the positive! 

Your turn!

I am praying for our world, our city and for each of you and for your families. You are all a blessing! Let’s pursue service, love and joy – and find our fears step aside.

Simple thoughts Sunday: What’s really important? Let’s “run” there!

Wow, what a week. With the election in full swing, COVID-19 speculation, and every day life rushing through, there seemed to be an onslaught of noise in the universe. I thought it may be me, but I have had enough people corroborate they’re feeling the same. (Maybe I should look up the moon phases…)

All of that led me to today’s short post. We are all set out to “run our race.” I have absolutely always loved this scripture. It conjures up thoughts of being strong, committed, and focused on winning in life. (Not that we always have to win, but I do think we should be all-out dedicated to bringing our best in every moment.) No matter what “noise” is in the world or in our heads, our focus should be on running really well. 

To me that looks like remembering to keep everything in perspective and to bringing our minds and actions back to our point of purpose. If we serve those who God has surrounded us with well, and we move toward the works God points us to, we will indeed be “running there” – or achieving our purpose.