“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:1, NIV

            I’ve had some recent failures and setbacks in what I thought were my particular callings and who I thought I was made to be.  In digging in and trying to understand, God led me to verses that paint a picture of how he will sometimes “prune (branches of the tree) so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:1-8, NIV); the tree being God and the branches us, Christians.  I can attest that there has been some major “pruning" taking place in my life this last year.  And with all of that pruning, I’m left wondering if I have actually not fully stepped into what God had called me to become in His name.  Maybe all of this pruning has been about revealing all he wants me to step into…my new name.

            We see many times in the Bible that God renamed people when they began following him.  These names were often powerful and empowering new names that indicated what the person would become in Christ.  They were names that encouraged each person of the Lord’s promises and purposes. 

 

            Have you ever wondered what your new name is that you were given at the time you accepted Christ?  At the time we accept Jesus, we are made new in Him.  What is the new name we each step into?  Does this name reveal what you will become in Him?  Some of you may have had a name, word, scripture, or thought come to mind.  I know I did when I had a professor in seminary first bring this idea up.  I knew exactly the word/name God gave me six years ago and then realized that I have not fully claimed nor stepped into that name.  It’s time!  It’s time for all of us in Christ to fully claim and step into what He has given.  It’s time to share what He wants to do through YOU and ME.  

If you haven’t accepted God into your life…I wonder what your new name would be in Him?

"It's a soft day." - Renaming Our Circumstances with God's Words

“Ta’ se’ in aghaidh an lae cumhachtach!!”

(Gaelic for, “It’s a powerful day!!!”)

“Ta’ se’ in aghaidh an lae bog.”

(Gaelic for, “It’s a soft day.”)

      When I was in Ireland this summer…they called sunny days “powerful days”!!!  Rainy days were called “saft days”!!!  (Or “soft days”.)  I fell in love with the ever-sunny perspective of the Irish.  (Insert romantic sigh here.)  Since they have so many wet and gray days, they invented a new name or outlook for a rainy day.  This is to show that no matter the circumstances of the day, their outlook would remain undaunted and joy filled.  A local Irishman explained to me that many times when it is dreary and drizzly, it can feel like you can’t plan or begin anything.  One may feel compelled to wait until the conditions improve to go out and enjoy life. This could go on for days and days there. If they decided to wait for more perfect weather, it could be a “verra” long time waiting!  Since they can’t change the weather, they change their minds by renaming those moments, to embrace the gentleness, slowing, and even the romance of  rainy days.  Living right where they are; fully.   

     I live in Phoenix, AZ where it is sunny most of the year.  So while I do not experience Ireland’s particular weather issues, there are still days or seasons in my life that it is raining and storming in my corner of the world.  Can you relate?  When we are experiencing less than desirable circumstances in our lives, we have a choice to make.  We must ask ourselves if we are going to look at the day and call it a “wet, dreary, miserable, rainy day’?  OR adopt the attitude of the Irish, and rename the day a “soft day” and embrace all we can in our circumstances…finding the JOY right where we are…living FULLY in the middle of the showers of our life. 

     Words are powerful and God offers us an entire book full of words to renew our mind. Words to write on our hearts.  Words to speak out loud against Satan.  What circumstances are “raining” down on you?  What could you rename moments or days like these?  

Is there a scripture that could help you rename the day? 

One you could tuck into your heart?  

Or a verse to speak out loud against the devil himself? 

Maybe a verse you could frame and put up in your home or office?  

Thoughts to encourage:

‘Happiness depends on the “happenings in our lives;” joy depends on our perspective.’

Verses to encourage finding joy:

James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:6-9, John 15:11, 2 Corinthians 8:2-3, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, Hebrews 12:2,

Verses to encourage finding a new perspective for our thought life:

Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:8, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Psalm 119:11, Ephesians 4:23, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Colossians 3:2, Jeremiah 29:11

Slowing Down



"I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry." - Psalm 40:1 (NIV)

I was soooo hungry.  My frustration grew as I peeled the shell off the boiled egg. It was not coming off cleanly and I watched as extra bits of very well deserved egg white came off with each piece of shell that fell as "waste" into the sink.  Nooo!  My tummy rumbled, dictating the timeline of when this egg should be made available to my mouth. My emotions were being heavily guided by my body. Starting back on a healthier eating/exercise plan, left me with an attitude of making every single morsel of food count!  I needed to eat!  And now!  I frantically peeled faster.  Yet the faster I went, the more I was taking off what my growling stomach yearned for in that moment.


 I stopped...calmed... and told myself..."Go slower and you will have more nourishment."  So I made the choice to put aside the hunger pains.  I would not allow them to force my pace to quicken. Slowly, ever so slowly, I easily and patiently peeled the remaining egg to reveal a smooth exterior with ALL the egg white intact.  Eureka!  Ahhhh.

So many times in life, like my incident with the boiled egg, I try to uncover what God wants to do in my life too fast.  I try to do it by my own power, timeline, and the way I see best.  When I try to peel hurriedly through the process of learning and hearing from Him, I miss big chunks of what He is communicating.  They are important lessons He's teaching.  I find when I slow down, surrender, still, and calmly go through the process with Him...I hear, see, and find more of what He wants to reveal.

THAT is Artful Living with our Great Artist!

A Gentle Challenge:  
Do you need to make a choice to slow down?  
Do you need to put "your way" aside?  
What more might you hear from God, if you made a "choice" to still your thoughts, surrender your timeline, and "your way"?

Waiting

The verse jumped off the page and was a lifeline that day.....

"Be still and know that I am God." - Psalm 46:10

So I stilled.  And in the stillness I shut out the world.  And for weeks I sat only with Him, in prayer, in His word, and in random moments of the day.  It wasn't pretty.  I unleashed my anger at Him and pleaded for a different way (my way) and answers...He can take it after all.  I eventually wore myself out, like a small child after a sobbing-tantrum session has come to an end.  I became so calm, sitting there in my corner. 

"Why God?  Why do you have me waiting on so much right now?"

My daughter be confident that what I have started, I will see to completion. (Phillipians 1:6)  My understanding of waiting is not the same as your own.  Waiting is not just to be in hopeful expectation.  To be "waiting" with Me, is to shut out the world, focusing on me, and engaged in the tension filled conversations we have together in that time. Waiting is where the work of binding you up with me like strands together in a cord,... intertwining with you,... strengthens you,...in me.  (Ecclesiastes 4:12 and Isaiah 40:31)  This is the connecting lifeline I throw out to you in the struggles of life.

"Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength..." - Isaiah 40:31

A Gentle Challenge:
Are you in a waiting mode with God?  Tell Him how you feel.  Open up to Him.  Pray. Journal. Scream. Cry.  He gives you permission.  Do the work of the "waiting".  After all, this is where He strengthens you and you become stronger together in your relationship with Him.

The Extraordinary Making Of An Ordinary Trash-to-Treasure Wall Vase

 

 

I stood in the hardware store asking the lady who worked there.... where I could find....

The Invisible. 

The seemingly overlooked.

The common bolt, nut, washer and electrical clamp.  I was looking for the "overlooked".  I had to find them. I was pursuing them in that hardware store.  Sought after and looking....calling out,
"Where are you?" 
I had a purpose for them....

to be seen.

____________________

 

I stood over the sink scrubbing the sticky grime from the labels off two old wine bottles.  Their contents used up and their empty bodies that had only earlier been set far far to the side on the counter.

Throw-aways.  The rejected.  The trash.  The outcast.

No value. 
No worth. 
Not needed.

The remnants of their former lives now stripped away.  After some cleaning, they were revealing shiny qualities, simple elegance in their lines and subtle tints of greens and blues.  They sparkled in the sunlight coming in the window over the sink. 

I saw beauty and great worth. 

________________

My husband told me of a hauling trailer at work that had an "old" wooden bottom that needed replacing.
The wood's luster and sheen gone.
It's sturdiness questioned.
Yet... he saw something in this "old". 

A rare quality...character. 
Story.

He salvaged the wood pieces and tucked them safely into a corner of our garage.
Their stories begged to be heard once again. 
To be of use... again.

I grabbed two like pieces from the top of the pile. 
I spoke to the pieces in my hands, "You will have an ... again".

__________________

I was making something.  It had been too long for this creative expresser.  So long I itched to see the vision in my mind take form.  Somehow I needed...needed...needed to see these objects transformed.  An earthly reminder of HIS renewing.  His love.  I was feeling lost and separated from Him. 

"Where are you Lord?  I need to see your promises."

The deep meaning of this simple design project was His way of reaching out to my aching heart in this holiday season of the year. 
This season of mid-womanhood.  
This season of healing the next layer for the little girl within. 
I needed to SEE His love with my eyes in a living metaphor of art and design.

This, after all, is how we meet one another.  This is how He pursues me.  In the art.   

After working awhile, the pursuing was done.  My wall vase was finally finished...and the transformation of each of it's once forgotten despairing parts....complete. 

I hung it on my wall for ALL to see.  A testament to what His Grace can do. 
I stood back and eyed the work...His work. 
The message he had just given me in this creative project, this everyday art, was a deep and profound reminder that....

 

In the Artist's hands, dear ones,....

the invisible are Pursued and Seen.

The rejected are Adopted, Renewed and shown their Beauty and Worth.

The old are told they are Needed and Respected, their Stories important for Teaching.

 

All of the "seemingly" invisible, rejected and old are Loved and Purposed by Him...for Him.

 

___________________________________________________________________

What individual part of the wall vase did you relate to?  The hardware?  The wine bottles?  The old wood?  All of them?  Can you find a moment in this busy holiday season to look and listen for HIS pursuing of you?  How does He pursue you?  Do you feel far away from God in this season of to-do lists and go, go, go?  How can you draw closer to Him?  Is there a way for you to have a reminder in front of you, of His promise of Love?

*Want to know how to make this trash-to-treasure Wall Vase?  Check out the Trash-To-Treasure Projects Page.* 

It Is Forever Written

I wrote a poem yesterday.  Not my usual choice of writing style.  But the words were flowing, so I went with it.  My heart poured.  God always meets me on the page (or computer screen).  It was an intimate and beautiful moment He and I.  A moment for me to be thankful and praise Him.  Sacred, deep and part of how I worship Him.  My love to my Lord and our story....forever written.

Though, as I finished writing ...my computer flickered and a window appeared to ask me if I wanted to save my document and before I could respond...it flickered again and started shutting down.  It does this periodically to reconfigure things.  It always kicks back on and brings all windows and documents back up that had originally been on my screen.  I hoped that all would be there when it came back on.  Everything came back except the ONE document.  The one with my poem of praise and thanksgiving.  OF COURSE!  Right? 

I just sat there.  Dumbfounded.  Now what?  How can I write that all over again? Can I even remember it?  Is it now forever UNwritten?  Gone? 

Then I thought, how ironic that the very poem my computer erased, talked of how I used to be silenced and how when I accepted Christ, He had given me a voice.  It spoke of what He had done for me, in me and through me.  It spoke of His Grace and Love.  It spoke of the call He put within me for writing and speaking.  All now gone from my computer.

The praise music thumping in my ear buds, penetrated the moment....the words of the song encouraged me.

I was reminded of a verse that speaks of how God never takes away what he has already freely given.  This beautiful relationship that God and I have and our story can never be erased.  It is forever written. This story of God and I will always be within me, no matter how many times Satan tries to shut it down.  I felt a nudge to try again.

I opened up a new document.  Closed my eyes and saw in my mind's eye the first line of the poem I had originally written.  My fingers moved.  I typed and typed.  The words of the poem gradually appeared on the screen.  It flowed from the same place from which it had before.   And once again, it was in it's finished form.

I realized as I looked at the screen that the poem was exactly word for word as it had been before.  I saw in a simple everyday living moment that that which has been given can never be taken or erased.  My story is forever written.  The story of what God has done for me and how he shines through me, can never be darkened.  His love and grace are never to be undone. 

"For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. (He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.)" - Romans 11:29 AMP   

It is forever written.

Friends, if you are a new Christian or new returning Christian, I want you to know that what has been given to you can not be taken away.  What ever God has done in your life since you accepted Him, it is for all time.  He will never remove his love or grace for you.  He doesn't suddenly think one day, "You know, she/he just isn't acting the way I would like.  I just won't love her/him anymore."  This new walk you are on may have some challenging moments, but be encouraged that you will always he HIS chosen son or daughter.  He will never stop loving you.  And that when ever Satan tries to put out God's light in you, he will not succeed.  Your story is forever written.

I included the poem I was working on below.  Make sure you read the VERY last line.  It was not in the original poem.   It is definitely the cherry on top.  I love how my God used Satan's computer shut down and erasing of my document for the beautiful reminder in this post.

A Chosen Daughter

My little girl heart was orphaned.
Father of Father's you adopted me.
If adoption means to be chosen,
then I am Your "Chosen" Daughter.
My name written long ago.
My life upon your lips.
You breathed life in me twice.
Once at first light.
The other, as I slumped weeping 
at the foot of your sacrifice.
I cried for purpose of 
the scattered pieces beneath my knees.
You promised.

You took my once silenced heart and whispers
and brought the words into the light
and gave volume to a voice once unheard.
You took my hand and pulled me up
and told me of my worth and your great love for me.
YOU TOLD ME WHO I AM.

You en-dwelled a spirit in this brokenness.
The beautiful began to tether the shattered ugly together.
Your LIGHT shining through, using my beautiful mess
as a beacon .... to...You.

It is forever written.

Being A "Newbie Christian" Alongside Our Children



It's exciting when we are a new or returning Christian and there is a desire in our heart to learn more about God, what is in the Bible and to start a prayer life.  But it can feel daunting looking at that big intimidating book!  I mean we want to learn, and find encouragement and comfort, but the Bible is full of big words and sentence structure that is NOT from our modern times!  We want to start a prayer life, but what does that look like?  Where do we begin?  And as if we didn't feel overwhelmed enough, we would love for our children to start learning and praying as well, but how can we help our children when we are learning alongside them?

I found it was easiest to start very small and simple.  It was best to be patient and gentle with myself on my own process and know that it is going to take time.  And that it is MORE about the "journey" than an end arrival or place.

That's why I love this idea of the Prayer Pail below. It's a decorated tin can or bucket that is filled with craft sticks with scripture glued to each one.  AND/ OR has topics, issues or people to pray for written on each stick.  Sit it on the kitchen table and pull one out each time you sit down to dinner (or lunch or breakfast).  Read it or have your "emerging reader" read the scripture, words or names.  Take a moment to talk about what is on the stick and/or say a quick prayer.



As you are gathering scripture for the sticks feel NO SHAME in using the Table of Contents and Concordance (in the back of the Bible) to help you find scripture.  Never feel embarrassed in Googling scripture on a particular topic either. 

Take this month of November and find scripture on thankfulness and gratitude.  Write the ones that speak to you or jump out at you.  Write a week's worth down on the craft sticks and put in your Prayer Pail.  Write names of people, issues or topics of interest that you would like to take time to pray over. Pull one out each evening at the dinner table (or any meal).  Don't worry about repeats!  Start small.

As far as praying.  I know this can be awkward at first.  When I started, my children were my only audience.  They were the most nonjudgmental group.  Yay!  So any way that I did pray was okay with them.  Kind of like when they ask us to sing a song to them?  They don't care how well we sing, just that we do.  If it's still too hard, let your children pray.  If that is still too far too fast, have a quiet moment with your thoughts or wait until you are ready.  It's okay if it takes time, God is there.  He knows the desires of your heart and He is not pushing you:-) 

Friends, be patient and gentle with yourselves in this process.  And know it is ok to be in the same starting place as our children.  (It may actually be a more forgiving process than for those who are just coming to Christ without young children.)  For many this "Christian thing" is brand new and for others there are old wounds to heal from former faith communities.  There is not a right or wrong way and there is no time limit.  Worry not where someone else is in their journey or if anyone tells you where they think you should be as a new Christian.  God already has your process and your children's journeys planned.  His perfect timing is your soul's peace.