Chapter 4 - Holy Vessel

Sally writes, "God considers us to be sacred, holy vessels."

This prompted me to look in the Bible to see what I could find to confirm that statement.

2 Timothy 2:21
Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

I got to thinking - when was the last time I considered myself through God's eyes? When did I last remind myself that he sees me as holy, sacred and worthy to "hold" his wisdom, etc?

You know, I feel so much better when I read the Bible. By sacrificing my time to give to God and learn about Him I end up getting so much more in return. Reading Own Your Life reminds me to keep the communion going between my Creator and me. It also reminds me I'm not created as a sponge only to take in information or a vessel only to hold information. As His child I am made to work on His behalf.

2 Timothy 2:15
Work hard so God can approve you. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.

Summing up my thoughts on the 4 chapters thus far:

I am responsible to God. I work for him and will account to him. Only I can serve the purpose to which he has created for me to provide. I must make the effort to ask and listen for guidance from him. I trust he knows what he is doing in my life - even during the trials and valleys in our lives.

I came across this quote last night reading in bed and knew I had to post it on this blog:

All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.
         - Jorge Jouis Borges

I am the owner of my humiliations, misfortunes, embarrassments, etc., and out of those God will show me how to create the art for which I was designed to construct.
 

Chapter 5 - God as My Life Coach

I had never thought of it that way before, but oh my there is truth in it!  God is my life coach.  My strategic planner.  I wonder if I can go as far as to say he's my board of directors, in a way?  He has coached me through good times and bad and has spoken through others when I've needed them most.  He's presented opportunities I never expected and shoved me into them when my natural tendency was to second guess and run away.

Here are some quotes I really liked from this chapter:

 

"He crafted us to live fully as creative beings, agents of his own capacity; to rule, subdue, and express our own imprint on the world, filled with the life and scope of His Spirit, who lives within us."

 

 

"...And so man became his own source of knowledge, purpose, and morality.  In short, with the absence of God inside him, man was left to his own limited and corrupt perspective on how to live.  Man has been living for himself and by his own faculty wisdom since the separation between God and man."

 

 

"...He wants us to accept His training, even when it seems difficult.  He knows that ultimately His discipline will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness in our lives."

 

 

"...but in the end, His goal is to ensure we have the character of Christ and can live into our original inheritance of reflecting His very image to the world."

 

 

"When we accepted God's offer of salvation, the Holy Spirit came into our lives.  He was given to us so we might have His wisdom, develop godly character, and experience the productive lives we were made for.  Once we understand our history and our part in God's story, we begin to understand how we can take back ground lost at the Fall."

 

 

"To have the peace and blessing of God, we must intentionally identify and move away from the sources of chaos.  Only then can we begin living consciously into God's design for our lives."

Chapter 4 a.k.a Just Do It!

Whatever inspiration Chapter 3 may have lacked, Chapter 4 made up for it tenfold.  I don't know about y'all but it spoke more volumes than the encyclopedia Britannica.  I found myself nodding in agreement as I read it and may have even said, "yep" and "mm hmm" out loud a few times.  It was that compelling.

Sally (the author, I feel like we can be on a first name basis now) talks about listening to God's plan for us and acting on it no matter how small or how grandiose it may seem.  She encourages us to live a Christ-like life in our everyday efforts and to realize those efforts shape a Christ-like bigger picture.

The one phrase (although there were many others) that touched me most was this:

"It is natural to quarrel, to be selfish, to live a small-minded life.  It is supernatural to love unconditionally, to serve others, to live a life of vision and faith."

Hallelujah and Amen.  This reminds me of a blog post I read and sent to you ladies awhile back.  It was from the blog, Life in Grace, and it basically encouraged everyone to live out God's will in typical, everyday ways.  Of course, Os Guiness said it much much better than I just did:

"Grand Christian movements will rise and fall. Grand campaigns will be mounted and grand coalitions assembled. But all together such coordinated efforts will never match the influence of untold numbers of followers of Christ living out their callings faithfully across the vastness and complexity of modern society." ~Os Guiness

 

 

How fantastic is that?! 

 

To know that we CAN make a difference in the world by following his calling and recognizing the spiritual potential of simply connecting with a neighbor, reaching out to a friend/stranger in need, sending an encouraging text to someone, praying over our food, hosting a sleepover for our kids friends or simply showing more affection/attention to our spouse.  What may seem mundane can actually be quite monumental in terms of living out God's will.

 

"He has placed you in various stations in life and called you to serve your neighbor, since all of YOUR needs have already been met in Him. He has gifted you in certain ways, so that you may serve your neighbor and meet his needs. And the beautiful kicker is this—God hides Himself in your vocation, so that all the service you render to your neighbor, is sacred, because it is, in reality, GOD at work through you, meeting the needs of the neighbor."

 

 

Glory be.



Chapter 3

Chapter 3

This is a chapter I read and re-read and made several notes in my notebook.

The negative voices in my head began in my early childhood. It amazes me how much I have been influenced over the years by that voice. The good that came from that experience is I think it helped me to become a better parent than perhaps I would have been otherwise. And the other is that when an encouraging and loving father figure is absent in a girl’s life it forces her to find that love and worth somewhere else. In my case God became important to me early on in my life.

At times I still hear that voice from long ago along with a few other voices – mainly my own – and the negatives come rushing back to take over.

I can look back and see how those negative voices influenced my decision making at the time. Let’s just say the results of those decisions weren’t so pleasant or right. 

I have found that affirming who I am in Christ beats those voices down and substantiates my worth. I am a child of God. He is my Father. He loves me. I have been adopted into his family and am his heir. No one or nothing can pluck me from his hand. The “helper” lives in me – the Holy Spirit. I am never alone. I am saved. I do not fear death. I have been given holy armor – a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, a shield of faith, a helmet of salvation, shoes to swiftly and peacefully proclaim the gospel and the sword of the spirit (which is the word of God). I am saved.

Using the above as a filter has greatly influenced most everything I do including making decisions. Do I still make mistakes – absolutely! Do I love myself more – absolutely.

Something else I’ve been understanding more of is that when I am in the “valley of life” that that’s where all the “molding” takes place. It’s in the valley that the renovations take place in my soul. The mountain top is where I rise to from the valley to thank God for the adjustments he has made in me. The mountain top is a place for giving praise and the valley is God’s workshop.

"Be very careful never to forget what you have seen the Lord do for you. Do not let these things escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and your grandchildren."  Deuteronomy 4:9

When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light. -Oswald Chambers from My Utmost for His Highest

Chapter 3 - The Voices in Our Heads

This will sound very smug, but while I have many voices orating in my head, none of them are so negative that they hinder me from doing something I want to do.  Unless you look back to my last entry where I discuss my desire to write a book but never feeling I'm good enough to do so.  Aside from that one (which I'm working on, by the way) I really feel okay and at peace and content with my self and my abilities (or lack thereof.  Who said that?!) and I'm fine with that.

I really have no profound wisdom for myself or anyone regarding this issue. 

Because I know that's what you are expecting.  Profound wisdom.  From me.  Bwahaha!

Instead, let's take a look at how my over-inflated ego and propensity to listen to the voices in my head who suffer from delusions of grandeur have effected my decision making over the years:

In no particular order, here are some goals I set for myself that, um, let's just say, didn't work out...

• Become an animal rights activist (although I did create a pretty cool club called The Animal's Choice when I was like 8 and made all my friends join)
• Become a fitness model (this didn't happen.  Gee, I'm not sure why.  Where is the other half of that donut I started this morning....)
• Move to NYC (actually it's probably safer this hasn't happened considering I'm a little uncomfortable and kinda paranoid when I walk through the Fort Wayne mall on a Saturday afternoon.  Where do all those people come from?!)
• Never have children (HA!  The Lord works in mysterious ways my friend!  This was divine intervention as it's best.  God clearly knew Jensen needed to be in this world and although I think he was a bit under the weather/loopy from cold medicine when he chose Jon and I to be her parents, I'm forever grateful he did.)
• Never carry a purse (y'all, I have no idea where these voices come from!  I'm only an innocent bystander to the scenarios that play out in my head.  I have no idea why purses were the devil when I was what, oh 10 years old?!  I'm just so glad that Vera Bradley and I have become friends.)

At any rate, for anyone struggling with negative self-talk that is hindering accomplishment of realistic life goals, I have this to say:

Chapter 2 Epiphany

Last night after I tucked the girl in bed I put another log on the fire and curled up in a chair to re-read Chapter 2 of Own Your Life. 

I say re-read it because I originally read it 2 weeks ago but have long since forgotten what I read.  My memory is terrible, really, ask mom.  I'm beginning to wonder if all those childhood migraines have effected my brain in lasting ways but then I realize I can recite nearly every line of the beloved song Step by Step by New Kids on the Block which came out in, oh the 90's.  So, I guess I'm fine.

At any rate, with an open mind I whizzed through Chapter 2 only to become a little concerned as I neared the end of it because I just wasn't finding my "a-ha moment" in the chapter.  I was becoming a little anxious kinda like I do when I scavenge the display of cardigans at Target hoping to find the perfect pink one in my size.  Clearly you ladies know what I'm talking about.

Luckily, with only a few pages remaining I spotted my source of insight:

"We are made to accomplish great feats of faith and courage and to live a life worth telling"

And while there are many nuggets of inspiration in just this one line, without a doubt the word/phrase that made my monkey mind calm down was:  "courage" and "live a life worth telling".

Y'all it was as if the good Lord himself was standing right behind me peering over my shoulder as I read (and re-read) that line and said "Uh huh, that's exactly what I've been trying to tell you!"  followed by "Can you hear me now?!"

I would be remiss to not completely open myself up and lay it all out there to you ladies.  After all, that's exactly why we are reading this book and sharing our experiences and encouraging ourselves to Own Our Lives.  So in the interest of full disclosure (and to appease the all-knowing fella standing behind me last night) I'm going to courageously and humbly and fearfully admit that for years I have longed to write a book.

For years I scribbled out book ideas, infrequently attended writing groups, performed writing exercises and haphazardly jotted down journal entries.  It was all very elementary and inconsistent.  I was never confident about the genre or the subject or the caliber of my writing.

But last night's ephiphany opened my eyes and made me realize that all I need is the courage to write about my life.  I don't need a grandiose, extremely eventful or traumatic life in order to write about it.  I mean, look at the Kardashians...no one knows what they have done to become famous...not that I want to be famous, I'm just sayin'.  Perhaps the story I am to tell is a very normal one that anyone can relate to.  I mean, for crying out loud if Madonna can write a children's book there is certainly room for my words at the literary table somewhere.  It's true, she did write a children't book called The English Rose.  Go figure.

Allow me to wrap up this stream of consciousness rambling by thanking you ladies for actually reading this whole entry and if you play your cards right I'll give you a free advanced copy of my upcoming book.  "Upcoming" as in, "may never actually be in print but it was a good goal anyway".  Ah, the Lord works in mysterious ways...

Own Your Life

I am not surprised that when I contemplated the questions at the end of chapter 2 I found out I am the voice that hinders myself. It's true. I am my own worst enemy!

At this point in life I am not actively parenting young children. So each day I think about what I am going to do. If not kept in balance the "I" becomes the most important thing in my day. It is impossible to serve two masters. Each day when I get up I recite Matthew 6:33 to keep my focus on Him. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you."

This verse ties in well with the book. Sally is telling us we need to take responsibility for our lives and ultimately our walk with God. The first word in the verse is a verb. An action word of something we must do. We must seek. We must FIRST seek the kingdom of God. So now my focus is in alignment with God. It's on Him and not me. The context of the verse is Jesus telling us not to be anxious about food and clothing. The verse tells us if we search after God He will take care of us.

The challenge each day is to keep God the center of my attention instead of myself. I am not my own. God made me and I am here for his purposes. Not the other way around. I pray to him not for him to do my bidding but for me to learn how to do his bidding.

It's so easy to get caught up in all the things I want to do and get done that I "forget he's around". I need to remind myself often he's right here with me all the time. He knows and cares what's going on in my life.

Psalm 139 says:

O Lord you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand on me.

So i am hoping to focus on God and humble myself to allow him to use me for whatever purpose he has planned for each day. And as the days go by they will bring me closer to understanding his love.