Who is your pacer?

I am a runner.  I run for exercise, alone time to think and pray and worship, and for time to be in nature and creation.  I don't consider myself a competitive runner, but I do like to challenge myself to improve on my previous times.  Before a recent marathon, I prayed that God would speak to me as I ran.  I told Him that I want to listen and that I would listen during those 26.2 miles.  During the race, I came across a pacing group.  The runners were led by a pacer, and his words were what God had for me that day.  I have never run with a pacer...as I enjoy being alone while I run.  I had the image that a pacer would be yelling like a drill sergeant, and this was not something I would want to endure.  But that was not the case.  The pacer that day was running what seemed to be effortlessly.  He was offering encouragement, holding his sign with his pace time and balloons.  He said to his group, "Just stay with me...I will get you there...don't get ahead of me or you will wear out...I'm keeping you on pace...just stay with me."  I had this picture of Jesus at that moment, as though He was offering these same words to me.  This life is like a marathon, and each of us is running on varying terrain, a course unique to each individual.  Each of us may be on a different pace than our friend or neighbor.  But Jesus has run the race, and He has conquered.  He knows what each of us needs, where we need to go, and promises to get us there if we stay with Him.  Often when I'm feeling great and my circumstances are great I think I can move at my own pace, focus on my list of tasks to be completed and start checking them off.  I feel energized as I accomplish so much.  But I forget to listen to my pacer...to listen to the one who sympathizes, who knows me and loves me and has a plan for me.  The one who tells me to not run ahead on my own pace and course, but to stay with Him.  The one who promises to never leave me..."just stay with me," He calls.  Why do I feel so weary some days?...because I am running without my pacer.  I am going and doing and being at a pace that is not the pace I was created to run.  Our world and culture have a pace that I feel is going continually faster and faster.  I do not want the culture to determine my pace.  My desire is to seek the One who knows my pace and who promises to go every step of the way with me.  I want to listen to His voice and just stay with Him.

As I have been praying about listening and paying attention to my pace, God has shown me that He has put other pacers in my life.  He has placed other women who have been running the marathon of motherhood in my life to mentor me and teach me.  I am truly thankful for their experience and wisdom and willingness to invest in other moms, as the truth they have shared has transformed the way I see and approach motherhood.

I hope as we start our Desperate book discussion, you will look at your life and consider who is your pacer?  Or maybe you are a pacer for someone else?  I pray that God will place people in your life to run alongside you and encourage you and that you will offer the same to the next generation.

Desperate

I'm only a few pages in and I have tears rolling down because I remember.  Although I've come past the insanely desperate stage, the feelings are still there and I'm realizing in these moments they are still real and raw.  I have a sense that this book is going to pour fresh water on some dry spots in me and I can't wait.

Jennifer

P.S. I find myself wanting to place a bulk order so I can hand it to every young mommy I know and love!!!!

Join in as we read and discuss Desperate: Hope for the Mom who Needs to Breathe

A new year, a new book...let's begin anew together with our online book club!

We are a multi-author blog posting about the current book and all that God is teaching and forming in us.  If you would like to join in, please email me your email address, and I will add you to the author list.  If you'd prefer to not post, feel free to comment on other's posts and contribute that way.

We would love to have you join us in this new study!

Hello, old friends...

Have any of you read "Holy Parenting"??  I just finished it...it was a freebie for Kindle recently, I don't know if it still is.  I'd love to discuss it!!!

Hope you are all well!

Chapter Nine Thoughts

Oh sweet joy.  My word for last year was JOY, and God revealed many things to me as I read and studied about joy.  Chapter 9 peeled away many more layers of understanding joy for me.

"Awe ignites joy because it makes us bend the knee." 

"The humble live by joy."

~Ann Voskamp

Humility grows gratitude and gratitude yields abundant joy.  I love the mental and spiritual connections that Ann makes for us in this book and in particular this chapter.  Yes, Jesus gives us joy abundantly.  But there are days that I just didn't know how to get there...feeling overwhelmed by circumstances and sometimes just living in the "mundane and ordinary."

And I am learning the first step in everything is bending the knee.  Now I know how to get there....start with bending the knee...humbly letting go....receiving with open hand and leaving the hand open.  That is what I do....when I am overwhelmed, when my circumstances seem more than I can handle, when I want to put on my running shoes and just go away from the myriad of responsibilities and roles.  I start with bending the knee.  I have found myself on my knees.....at my children's bedsides, at my own bedside, in the shower as the tears flow and I pour out my heart to my heavenly Father for the lives of my friends with cancer, friends whose babies are in heaven, lost and hurting family and friends, in our schoolroom as I again realize that it is not by my own strength that I educate these precious ones with whom I have been entrusted, at church as God redeems and convicts and pours out His grace.  On my knees is where life and peace and this abundant joy is found.  Humbly laying it all before my precious Jesus.  He knows, oh how He knows....and loves me still.

Created: Reflections Part 4

Vision


We are created and designed for family.  We are made for marriage.  During the Leadership Intensive, Sally inspired us by presenting a portrait of what we are created for by God.  She shared Biblical truth about family and the purpose of marriage.  Family is the unit created to pass on righteousness and the purpose of marriage is to leave a family legacy. 

"A woman with a vision will accomplish great things." 

"Without a vision, you make decisions quickly and without intentionality." 

--Sally Clarkson

Vision:  n.   the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be

Sally shared that we live in a broken world, but we have the capacity to redeem, to build life, beauty and grace.  Marriage and family are about sharing life and leaving a legacy.  We tend to measure our lives by morality, but we need to be faith focused.  We need to release the power of the Holy Spirit in our children, and it is the Holy Spirit in their lives that will bring greatness. 

I am inspired to the core, in the depths of my heart, through the vision that Sally cast for what our families can be.  And being in her home, with her family and friends, seeing this vision lived out and the fruit that comes with time gave me hope.  Hope that trusting in God's plan, and intentionally living the vision He gives for my family will leave a legacy of faith and love.  We are to create a family culture and purpose and decide how our family is going to go out and bring light to the world.  Each family has a work to accomplish.  What is your family called to do?  How will your family bring God's kingdom to bear upon the earth?

God forgives, gives grace, redeems.....we need to bring this light to our children in this broken world.

Created: Reflections Part 3

We are created in the image of God.  Sally shared beautifully that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and that He is an exact representation of God.  (see Genesis 1:27, Leviticus 26:1, Jeremiah 9:24, Hebrews 1:3, I Peter 2:9).  We are created in His image and are called to reflect Him so that others may see what He is like.  In order to reflect Him though, we must understand and know Him.  The study of God through His Word reveals wisdom that impacts our lives and how we live and express Him to others.  Our heritage is that we were made to reflect the divine.

Reflect:  v. to reproduce, show

I am learning that I can only reflect what I see.  What my eyes are fixed on is what I will become.  We become what we behold.  What am I beholding?  Where is my focus?    Am I focused on what I need to accomplish, on how I want my children to behave, or am I focusing on my loving Heavenly Father? Am I studying His word and discovering how Jesus interacted with his disciples?  How did he treat his disciples in their lack of faith, in their disobedience, as they interrupted him during his quiet time?  My heart's desire is to reflect His image.  This has been written on a piece of paper by my computer for several years.  This will not just happen because I wrote it down and look at it every day.  I must invest...invest in prayer, in studying the Word, in understanding who it is that I desire to reflect.  And I must stop wasting my time focusing on things that are not true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable.

Sally also presented a picture of Fatherhood by looking at God the Father through the focal point of Jesus.  What beautiful imagery she shared as we explored the attributes and roles of God.  Do these attributes characterize your life?

Parent, Lover, Creator, Provider, Shepherd, Teacher, Trainer, Servant, Son, Redeemer, Righteous Judge, Lord of Hosts.

I hope that one day Sally will put her created message into a book.  The depth of study and wisdom is beyond the scope of a blog post and worthy of savoring over time again and again.

My encouragement for us today is to think about what we reflect to our children, our husband, our friends and family.  And start beholding who it is we were created to reflect.

"We are all starved for the glory of God, not self.  There is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self."    John Piper

Photo from Hannah Joy Patterson