Growth
How to become a spiritual grown-up
It’s been a minute since I sat in my mother or father’s lap.
Heck, it’s been a minute since my kids have sat in my lap. (I sure miss those little people; all of mine are over 21 now!)
What on earth does this have to do with anything?
Fair question. Here’s the answer:
Read MoreFinishing strong: questions for fall self-reflection
I just can’t help myself.
It must be something about the season: hints of fall and kids returning to school always prompts introspection in me. (Even though my nest is empty, years of my own schooling and those of my kids have me conditioned!) I purposefully use this time of year as my second of two “life check-in” junctures.
I do my annual spiritual inventory, self-reflection and (personal and professional) goal-setting every January. In late August/early September, I check in on those items again, course-correcting for anything that’s gone awry and thinking carefully about how to best use the remainder of the year for God’s glory.
This year the exercise feels especially significant as I’ve relocated to a new state. That transition has, as you might expect, come with a significant amount of change (and a very quiet blog/newsletter—huge “thank you” to my subscribers for their patience!).
Here are the questions I’m asking myself; perhaps they’ll prompt something valuable in you, too, with which to forge ahead into the rest of the calendar year:
- With the growing seasons of spring and summer waning: How have I grown in recent months? What part of my life has God nourished especially (even if it’s different than I anticipated or hoped)?
- Fall is the time when many plants need pruning to weather the winter: What might God be asking me to let go of or cut back on for health and future growth?
- As school resumes for students: What is God teaching me right now about Himself? About myself?
- Fall will eventually give way to cool weather: Who around me needs to be drawn near for the warmth of fellowship? How can I fortify new and existing relationships against difficult seasons that might lie ahead?
When James wrote to the Jewish Christians scattered abroad, he reminded them how important it is to not merely hear the Word but to internalize it and live it out. He used the metaphor of a mirror: that God’s law provides us with a reflection that reveals to us the dirt on our faces (sin). To walk away from the mirror without choosing to wash off the filth (repentance, trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice), is utter foolishness.
For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
James 1:23–25 NLT
While this seasonal check-in doesn’t address our moral failings (that should happen daily!), the spirit of the exercise is the same: we may have “forgotten what we look like” somewhere along the way, so let’s return to the mirror to see what God is doing in our lives and how we can respond in faith.
The painful (and sometimes funny) discovery of blind spots
When the irony fell on us all at the same moment, we dissolved into gales of laughter.
Fourteen of us sat around the conference room table in Chicago. It was an opportunity to gather with colleagues; most of us had never met in person.
On the first morning of our two-day confab, we encircled that table, sharing what we hoped to glean from our time together. I voiced my desire to identify blind spots in my role as a trainer and facilitator; that desire was written on the glass-covered pink wall alongside the hopes expressed by my cohort.
And then we dug into the work: learning, discussing, asking questions, practicing, and receiving feedback. It. Was. Awesome. I am a better trainer because of the insightful comments of my colleagues. Our day’s efforts were rewarded with a hearty meal and an evening outing. My night concluded in a smaller group, waxing philosophical in oversized chairs in the hotel lobby.
When I made it to my room around midnight, I fell into bed exhausted and wholly satisfied.
But sleep didn’t come quickly. My introverted nature got the better of me after a full day of activity. Like an overstimulated toddler who didn’t get to nap on time, my nervous system was in hyperdrive and I laid awake until after 3am.
Read MoreWhen “new” feels scary and uncertain
I know you’ve experienced them, too: transitions. Stepping into a new job and leaving the old one. Uprooting your household to relocate. Or just entering a new season in life (anyone else watching their nest emptying rapidly?).
All change brings some degree of ambiguity–even if it’s a change we desire. And frankly, uncertainty can be really hard to bear. Transitions are difficult for most everyone… including the people of the Bible. I think Jacob—a forefather of our faith—dealt with it often. His response in a particular instance is instructive for us.
Read MoreWhen we’re in a season of waiting
Does anyone actually like waiting? It feels like doing wall-sits indefinitely.
And we do a lot of waiting in life. We wait…
…on hold with the airlines or for the utility installers to arrive.
…for results from a medical test.
…for an answer from the admissions office at the university we want to attend.
…for the pandemic to end.
…for whatever difficult situation we’re dealing with to resolve.
…for Jesus to come again and set all things right.
When we’re waiting, time seems to move like molasses on a winter day.
And when the resolution is so long in coming, it’s easy to wonder whether God has forgotten us (or worse).
When we know Him to be the powerful God He is—able to suspend the natural laws He put into place—we wonder why He doesn’t just part the waters of our “Jordan River” and end our wilderness waiting.
It confuses us that He doesn’t.
Read MoreFinding faith between a rock and a hard place
Between a rock and a hard place—that’s where we often find God. Not that we don’t encounter Him other “places” in life, or enjoy His presence on an ongoing basis.
But when we feel like we’re hemmed in on all sides, we’re often more likely to look up and seek Him.
Case in point: Jacob.
Read MoreHow to hold on to faith in the midst of uncertainty
Let’s be real: we are coping with an abundance of ambiguity right now. 2020 taught us to live with open hands like we never have before.
And with so much loss in the last year, we might (understandably) be struggling to hold on to our faith. Trusting God with our needs, and the needs of those we love, might feel harder than it did when 2020 dawned.
So how do we hold on to faith as we look to the future?
The answer is surprisingly simple:
Read MoreWhen things change…but maybe you don’t want them to
Change is hard.
Even when it’s good, it can be difficult to let go of what we’ve known and planned for.
But sometimes it’s necessary.
Sometimes we don’t even know why it’s necessary.
If we know (even through circumstances) that God has called us onward to a new thing, a new season, a new place, how do we cope with that change?
Read MoreHow Christians can respond to COVID-19
What guidance does the Bible have to offer us in the midst of a pandemic?
How should Christians respond to the challenges presented by COVID-19? When (and how) will this resolve? We’ve all got far more questions than answers. The novel coronavirus isn’t specifically addressed in Scripture. But the Bible does offer the timeless, applicable wisdom we need–even for the situation we face.
I’ve been reading (and writing!) my way through the book of Genesis this summer. Noah’s “quarantine” in the ark in chapter eight felt oddly relatable (though I am not drawing a comparison between the flood and the coronavirus). So, I determined to follow his lead and discovered some practical nuggets that will help us continue to weather our current circumstances.
Read MoreA vital key to time management and overall health (and great speaking)
I spent the month of June recovering from an emergency appendectomy. Apart from childbirth and a relatively uncomplicated shoulder surgery, I’ve never really been “laid up” before. In some ways it has been a welcome, though forced, slowing of my natural rhythms. In other ways, it’s been a downright nuisance (e.g., surgical pain).
Post-surgical instructions included resting and not lifting more than 30lbs. for 30 days. I’m not allowed to do anything strenuous and even walking can’t be on much of an incline. So, I’ve curtailed all my professional tasks, allowed myself to rest when needed, and moseyed my way around the flat sections of my neighborhood for the last several weeks. Read More