Finding Joy In The Journey

A Vital Lesson from a Young Woman’s Prayer

Praying Together

Recently during a time of prayer, a young woman lifted up her voice to God. She is blessed with an outward beauty, but as she voiced her prayer, the hidden beauty of her heart became evident as well. She expressed a sweet anthem to the God who deserves all adoration. Her prayer was in fact praise.

Not surprisingly, hearing her heartfelt prayer brought tears to my eyes.

Truth be told, these are not easy words to say in her current situation. She has struggled and continues to struggle. Her story is not mine to tell, but life has been disproportionately unfair to her. Despite her circumstances and the many reasons she could’ve abandoned God, she has not let go. Through it all, it is clear that God has not let go of her either. 

Question: Are we allowing discomforts and difficulties to silence our praise to God?

I am challenged by her sweet words of praise and worship. Even when life throws its worst punches, I long to remain steadfast. I want to remain full of trust when circumstances force me to ask the toughest questions about God. Even when life brings with it many bruises and burns, I want to lift up beautiful anthems of praise.

Today I am reminded that if this young woman can praise God, so can I. If she will choose to praise God, so will I.  

Prayer

Lord, no matter what we face this week, help us to choose to worship you. You already warned us that life would bring trouble and difficulty. Help us to face the challenging moments this week with a healthy dose of worship. You don’t want us to ignore the pain, but you also don’t want us to forget that you are on the throne. So, today, we declare that all glory and honor belongs to you. You are good even when life is not. Today, we choose to worship You. Amen.

Living Generously: A Story about Deodorant

CONTEXT : Deodorant is not the same in France. Effectiveness suffers in favor of protecting people from harmful ingredients. I’m a fan of protecting the people. My friends call me a bit of a hippie when it comes to the weird things I’ll use or eat to be “healthy.” Nonetheless, I want to smell nice, too.

A couple years ago I discovered a great natural option that works well for me, that isn’t a paste I have to rub on and that omits the harmful stuff. The problem is that it is hard to find here in France. I’m a planner by nature, so I get my stockpile in the U.S. whenever I’m home.

Last month, I listened to a fabulous sermon series on stewardship and generosity. The series was a great reinforcement for what I already do and a challenge to go beyond. At one point during the series, the pastor reminded his congregation (and me!) that ultimately ALL we have belongs to God. We are simply taking care of what He has entrusted to us.

CONFESSION: Cue a discussion about deodorant. 

I felt a nudge in my heart to give one of my precious deodorants to a friend. Immediately, my thoughts went like this:

“Will the others I stockpiled last me through the year? This one is my favorite scent. Do I really have to give it, God?” 

The reply I heard in my heart: “It’s not yours, Joy.”

Truth pierced through my stinginess. It’s a silly example of a profound principle. God generously gives in word and deed. I, too, am called to be like my Heavenly Father. When I see a need and He says to give, I am to give joyfully without hesitation because all I have is His anyway.

There are many areas of generosity that are much easier for me. I feel embarrassed to say that I hesitated with deodorant. Who does that?! God wants me to loosen my grip on what I think is mine and live like I trust my Father. Honestly, He takes care of me in spectacular ways. I’m often stunned by His goodness. Thankfully, He is also so gracious and so kind to show me in even the small, silly areas where I’m not living like Him.

QUESTION: Where do you need to loosen your grip on what is “yours” and live more generously?

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help us to be like you today—stewarding well what you’ve placed in our hands and ready to give generously. It doesn’t matter how much we have in comparison to what others have. ALL we have is yours. Show us what to give, how to give, and to whom we should give this week. May your people be known as the most generous people on the planet, a people who are just like their Heavenly Father. Amen.  

One Way to Avoid Communication Blunders

Confession: I did not communicate effectively in a meeting last week. At one point during a discussion, my words did not match my heart’s intent. What I thought I said in kindness came out awkward and off. 

The worst part is that I didn’t even realize it!

Thankfully, my co-leader pointed out this epic fail to me after the meeting. I thought explaining what I intended to say would help her understand how my words were meant to be positive not negative. Of course, I thought she needed the clarification to see how I was right. Another fail. My explanation only validated how I missed the mark in communicating with one of our interns. I was horrified. 

I quickly made amends for the poor communication. The intern was gracious with me and knew my heart was not to hurt or offend her. [Sigh of relief]

Yet, how often throughout my week does this happen without someone present to point out my blunders? 

Clear communication is a necessity and a challenge in day-to-day living. How people express themselves–their word choice, their tone and the filters both the speaker and listener have–can help or hurt effective communication. While we can’t control other people’s interpretation of our words, we can do a better job at presenting information clearly.

Why did I make such a blunder last week? To list a few reasons that are apparent to me in this moment:

  • I’ve been overworking.
  • I’ve been tired. 
  • I’ve been stressed.
  • I’ve needed more quiet time to notice what is going in my heart.
  • I’ve needed more time to listen to the Lord and hear His Words.

Communicating well, in my opinion, necessitates self-care. If we take care of ourselves, we can take better care of others around us. It’s part of the “love your neighbor as yourself” principle (Matt. 22:39). When we are in better shape emotionally, physically, and spiritually, our communication improves. We reflect Jesus better. It’s a simple truth with lasting impact on those around us.

My prayer is that we will take care of ourselves a bit better this week, so that we can wield our words with more grace and clarity. The world needs better Christians and better communicators! 

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. -Psalm 141:3


God, Keep Her Safe

I find myself whispering a little prayer these days. No doubt it’s because I am regularly in contact with women in some of the worst conditions on the streets. My heart strings are tugged, even ripped out, because of situations I see and hear. My prayer, without even being conscious of it until recently, has become a basic request throughout my day.

A little girl on her way to school is bundled up in a scarf and coat and I whisper in my heart:

God, keep her safe.

A lovely teen is surrounded by boys on the tram and I silently pray:

God, keep her safe.

A woman stands on the street corner with a deep pain evident on her face and I say:

God, keep her safe.

Asking God to protect women in every stage of life, the young and the old, the weak and the strong, is not a bad prayer to pray. Prayers of protection are found throughout scripture. My work let’s me encounter too many who have not been kept safe from evil.

I want to pray God’s protection over as many as I can and be a source of protection for those within my reach. I will, along with many other requests for these women, say a simple prayer that comes from deep within me.

God, keep them safe.

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” -Psalm 18:2

One Thing Many Christians Forget Today

“You may be the only person to pay your student(s) a compliment all day, all week, all month!”

My mentor teacher passionately spoke these words to me in my first few months of teaching high school. She reminded me of this truth when I was struggling with some of my worst students all crammed into the same class period. I wanted to pluck out my eyes and pull out my hair because of how challenging some of them were. Yet, my mentor teacher believed with her whole heart that our words hold much power, especially for those tough cases in the classroom.

I have never forgotten her words.

As a new teacher, my standards were high, but my experience level was low. I wanted to be someone my students remembered as a positive influence and a fabulous teacher. The problem was that I knew so little about the young men and women in my classes. How could I know everything about more than 100 students filtering through my classroom each week? 

Despite my frustration with some of my most trying students, I pondered soberingly:

  • What was life like for them at home? 
  • Did they have friends, I mean, real friends? 
  • What were their struggles, insecurities, and doubts? 
  • Is anyone they know looking for ways to encourage them today?

I could search their grade point average on the school database and gauge their academic status, but that was rarely the most important information to help them flourish.

While this episode in my life was specific to my teaching position, it reaches far beyond the classroom. Are we, as Christians, adding or subtracting to the lives of people we encounter each day? Are we, as followers of Jesus, asking the same questions about the difficult people we know:

What is life like at home for them? Do they have friends, I mean, real friends? What are their struggles? Is anyone they know looking for ways to encourage them today?

We have a long way to go in loving people as Christ loved us. God help us to be kind.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. – Colossians 3:12

The Bible Makes Me Feel Bad About Myself

Like many good Christians, I try to start my morning with a cup of coffee and scripture. Opening my Bible, I often linger in shorter portions of the Word for weeks at a time. Slowly, I read and reread the verses to allow it to soak into my soul. My competitive, read-as-much-as-I-can nature fights the slow reading of scripture, but it is vital for me to go at a turtle’s pace. I hear and see much better when I linger long in books, chapters and verses of the Bible.

Each morning, scripture is my dose of encouragement and rebuke. As much as scripture can bring hope and encouragement, it also makes me feel bad about myself. And it should. 

I desperately need the instructions and the strong teachings the Word provides.

Honestly, I am more like a pharisee than I would care to admit. I, too, can behave just as foolishly as many people in the Old Testament and the New. I am closer than I realize to the ugliness of the stories of sinners who veered from God’s plans and impulsively responded in regretful ways. Thankfully, my embarrassing mistakes and sins will not be on public display for centuries to come in the most sold book in history.

The Bible makes me feel bad about myself and it is good. It reveals how I need a savior, how I can’t survive without dependence on God. The Bible shows me where my identity is still in the wrong things (performance, approval, etc.) and not in Christ.

Without hearing and reading scripture, I think I am much better than I am. I misrepresent Christ in ways that hurt those around me and distort the beauty and hope of the Good News. When I open my Bible and allow the words to shine a light on the ugly in me, God changes me. 

The Bible makes me feel bad about myself and I’m so glad it does. 

What Kind of MORE Do You Want in Life?

MORE. We all want more. More time. More money. More of whatever we desire but don’t have. It seems wired in us to want more. Yet, the incessant need for more contaminates our hearts and minds. It breeds discontentment, comparison, envy and a general dissatisfaction with the life we’ve been given.

The pursuit of more also makes us look at those who have what we want. We ask, “Why? Why them and not me?”

The whys often go in one direction–UP. Our eyes are on those who have or appear to have more than we do.

Because of my work with people in extreme difficulty, the why questions and my desire for MORE are confronted regularly. I’m forced to ask a different kind of why.

Why was I born in a wonderful nation and into a loving family? Why did I receive an excellent education when so many girls around the world have not? Why have I been healthy enough to work hard and make a living? Why do I have so much when others have so little?

When we ask these sobering questions, we realize how blessed we are. We realize our need for obtaining more for ourselves keeps us blind and lazy.

Instead of asking WHY, we need to ask WHAT.

  • What can I do to help more people?
  • What resources can I share with others?
  • What is God asking me to sacrifice for individuals who are suffering?
  • What can I do to love God and share His love with the world?

The problems I see on a daily basis are too much for me. They can be paralyzing. I don’t have enough to help everyone. Yet, I have something I can give and something I can do.

Let’s be people who ask what MORE we can give, do, be for others instead of what MORE we can hoard for ourselves. God has blessed us so much. Let’s go and bless the world around us TODAY.

The Key to Overcoming Your Struggles

The start of this year has me thinking about goals and the gospel. I’m one of those weirdos who loves to assess what needs to change and sets goals for myself.

The problem is my knee-jerk strategy is to just try harder.

In most cases, this strategy is a form of insanity as the saying goes. I “do the same thing over and over, expecting different results.” It doesn’t work, no matter how hard I try.

Rather than listing off the silly ways I’ve tried harder and failed in my own journey, today’s blog post is about a few things I’ve learned over the years when targeting areas of struggle.

1. Start by admitting defeat. 

I, alone, am not enough to conquer my bad habits and sin patterns! If I simply try harder to stop a behavior, my heart does not change. Ultimately, this is the “bad news” of the gospel. I need a Savior to rescue me from…myself. Hallelujah. This “bad news” means we were never supposed to do this on our own! 

The beauty in admitting defeat (i.e. I can’t do this in my own strength) is the freedom that comes with it. This form of surrender puts the burden to “always get it right” off of me. It’s the opportunity to admit: “I can’t change all by myself. I need Jesus.” 

Suggestion:  Why not chat about an area you need to “admit defeat and embrace your need for Jesus” with a close friend or family member? There is power and freedom in sharing our struggles with those we can trust and those who also need Jesus! We are better when we grow together.

2. I must get to the root. 

When I accept my need for God, I free myself from playing the savior. I also create space to look deep inside and ask the hard questions. 

-Why do I go to __________ for comfort? 

-Why do I __________ when I’m angry or stressed?

-Why do I numb myself with __________ when I’ve had a bad day?

-Why do I reward myself with __________ when I think I deserve it?

Often the struggle has a deeper root than I realize. I act out because of loneliness, fear, rejection, anger, etc. It is much more challenging to change and find freedom without getting to the root of the issue. Praise God for the Holy Spirit. He is the “spirit of truth” (John 15:26) and will guide us toward repentance and grace.

Suggestion: Can’t spot the root of the struggle you want to conquer? Ask a close friend or a family member. Engage in an open dialogue where you allow someone else to ask you questions about your struggle. Processing with a trusted friend is a great way that God helps us grow!

3. Embrace grace. 

The good news of the gospel is that I am loved no matter what I’ve done or will do (even if you were raised in church and should know better). I am not my sin or my struggle. Trying harder doesn’t work because I’m relying on my own strength. However, embracing God’s grace is a powerful antidote to my “try harder” style of religion. As I embrace His grace and love, I receive the healing I need and the power to obey from a place of gratitude instead of a place of obligation. 

Suggestion: As you take steps to change and grow, allow God’s grace to free you from your performance-driven strategies. Chat regularly with a friend or family member about this area of struggle. Allow a friend to challenge your view of grace when you stumble AND when you don’t!

May each of us grow in grace this year and embrace the gospel message. There is more for us to see, experience and do this year. May we find more freedom in Christ than ever before! 

3 Simple Questions to Ask Yourself in 2019

One of my favorite movies is Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve watched it every December since I was a teenager. For many years, it was a family tradition to watch this inspiring film on December 24th at an old-fashioned theater that sends you back to Hollywood’s Golden Age with its style and decor. Each year, viewers would give a round of applause at Jimmy Stewart’s first appearance onscreen and hiss when Potter first showed his angry face. It was magical to watch the film with so many other fans.

As the years go by and my annual viewing of this film still occurs even while overseas, I confess that I still cry every single time. Amidst the tears each year, this movie’s message challenges me to ask some key questions about the year that’s ending and the new year just beginning. Here are three of those questions:

1. What do you see? 

In George Bailey’s darkest moments, he couldn’t see his value or the blessings that surrounded him. He couldn’t see the friends and family devoted to him. As we start this new year, what are you focused on? Do you see the many blessings God has given you? Are you aware of your impact in the lives of others because of your sacrifices this last year? We will find what we are looking for. May we never forget to recognize our value and the many blessings we already have even when times are tough.

2. Are you asking for help when you need it? 

George Bailey was in trouble because of someone else’s mistake. Instead of going to family and friends for help, he tried to solve the problem on his own. He went to his archenemy for money and then considered ending his life when his first idea didn’t pan out. We don’t think straight when we are stressed and spent physically, emotionally and spiritually. Both of his ideas would’ve caused much harm.

If you are struggling, let this new year be the opportunity to ask for the help and support you need from friends and family you trust. There are safe people you can confess your struggles to, people who can offer wise counsel and support. Ask the Lord to show you who you can go to for help. We were created for community.

3. Are you loving and serving others for the right reason(s)? 

All too often we do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. I can’t know George Bailey’s motivations, but if we’ve been giving and giving and giving, it’s easy to grow tired. As we grow tired, we grow resentful.

Christians who are too busy serving others are prone to forget the gospel. We can be so busy helping the world that we run ourselves into the ground. Then, we get mad at ourselves, others and God when life doesn’t go as planned. We expect our acts of service and sacrifice to guarantee us the life we’ve always wanted. When this doesn’t happen, our thoughts and prayers can easily become: “God, I did x, y, z for you! You owe me BIG!” In so doing, we distort the gospel, forgetting grace by choosing a works-based religion.

If you are tired and frustrated by serving, perhaps it’s time to sit down with the Lord and revisit His grace and love for you personally. We do more harm to ourselves and others if we keep serving for the wrong reasons. God wants to demonstrate to you His love and grace once again, renewing you so you can bless others with His love and grace in this new year.

As we begin 2019, may each of us see better, ask for help more easily and serve others for the right reasons! Happy New Year!

The Secret to Finding Joy: Sickness, Worry, & Gratitude

I was sick the last week and a half—the “doubled-over-in-pain, stick-close-to-the-toilet” type of sick. Miserable and frustrated, the bug lasted longer than I desired during an extra busy work week. Nothing about this scenario was convenient, not even the weight loss. 

Honestly, after several days of agony, worried thoughts began to plague my mind—What if this isn’t just a bug? What if something is really wrong? I was at a low point in my tummy woes. My mind felt scattered, my blood sugar was low and dehydration loomed. Coming to my senses, I drank a lot of water and finally sat before the Lord, consciously acknowledging the worries in my heart. Choosing to go to Him created a moment to listen and receive His peace. Joy and gratitude slowly replaced my fears and frustrations. 

Being in pain and modifying my responsibilities last week gifted me with time to reflect on what happens when life isn’t going the way we’d like. What joy means in daily life, not just in theory, is an important topic for us all. Is there ever a good time for life’s inconveniences or losses?

I firmly believe gratitude is one of the marks of a joy-filled life.  The challenge is when life is shoveling out heaps of unforeseen woes. How can we be grateful when circumstances stink? Thankfully, we can still choose gratitude. 

Gratitude is “the quality of being thankful; a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness” (New Oxford American Dictionary).  A healthy heart of gratitude does not ignore challenges or pain. However, gratitude does punch worry in the gut, weakening worry’s hold on our thoughts of the future, both the imaginary and the real.

This week, let’s slow down and take a moment to consider what isn’t going well, where we may be disappointed or frustrated. Give that list to the Lord and ask for His help. Listen for His words and receive the peace that we crave. Then, as part of this holy moment with God, may I suggest writing down or verbalizing in prayer the following three areas of gratitude? 

1. Gratitude for what WAS

We are blessed. Sometimes we experience loss before we realize how good we had it. We don’t realize how important our neck was until it is kinked and painful to move. We can and should express thankfulness for what we experienced in the past.

2. Gratitude for what IS 

Even as we walk through normal or abnormal frustrations and challenges, thanking God for our limits is a powerful act of surrender. Sometimes we are sick. Sometimes we have to ask for help. Even amidst the frustrations, there are hundreds of minor and major blessings in our lives, daily conveniences we take for granted. There is always good in every season. Even if it takes a bit more searching to find it, with our antenna up, we will find it. 

3. Gratitude for what WILL BE 

The best part of this life is that we have a future that is bright. If we know the Lord, this life is not the end! Heaven awaits. The best is yet to come. We can rejoice and give thanks for the future we’ve been promised and the joy of being with Him for eternity. It’s coming!!

As you face another day and another week filled with a wide gamut of life experiences, “may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). And may you be spared from the horrible stomach bug I experienced!

What is one thing you are thankful for today? Share in the comment section below.