Happy Wednesday, church family!

When Dave and I were first married, we decided that we wanted to have two children on our own, and if we wanted more, we’d adopt. Over the last few years, we realized adopting another child doesn’t have to be something done legally. Our girls’ have had several friends with awful home situations, relationships, etc. There’s now a phrase that has become common in our family, “Do we need to adopt them?” We’ve gone as far as trying to figure out where we could put another bed to accommodate someone actually living with us, but mostly, we’ve found that our house has become a safe haven for teenagers, for a day, a season, or whenever they need us. Dave and I realized that all we need to do is provide a place where these kids feel heard, loved, supported, (fed), and safe… things they often don’t get elsewhere. 

As Andy was preaching about Ruth asking Boaz to be her guardian redeemer, I was thinking about the teenagers in our lives that we have been blessed to be able to cover with our protective mama and papa bear love. It sounds lovely, beautiful, and such a sweet story, but we’ve had people along the way criticize us for not shunning certain kids for their choices, or exposing our own children to those types of people. I realized that like so many choices that we make following God’s lead, there’s always resistance.  Whether it’s the little voice inside your head saying “hey, save that $$, you need to use it for xyz”, or “ooooh, what is so and so going to say about that?” The enemy just thrives on trying to pull us away from our calling. 

This week, I found myself in a situation where I had a choice to either show love, support, and to be an individual’s guardian redeemer, or be upset with their choices, and show them just how unwise I thought those choices were. In that split second, I had to make a decision. I said a quick “Jesus help”, and then opened my arms for the hug. Honestly, I thought this would be difficult, but really, it was easy. It was my gut, the Holy Spirit, who guided me in how to act in that moment. It’s not my responsibility to judge. My job is to point to Jesus, and embody His love to others. Later, I heard the voice of the enemy, the anticipation of judgement from others, the second guessing of my decision. Thank you, Debbie, for reminding me to tell the devil to take a hike!! Friends, when we are called to be someone’s guardian redeemer, the situation might not be perfect. We might wonder where someone is going to spend the money we give them, what others will think, what it will cost us. But I know that following my Savior outweighs all my human doubts and worries. 

Jesus, thank You for being my guardian redeemer, and showing me what it looks like to cover others with my wings. Thank You for the honor of loving the kids in my life that aren’t related by blood. Thank You for showing me how to love them unconditionally, in a way that they might not have been loved before. I choose to tell the devil to shut up, and embrace my calling to love those who You put in my path. Bless and seal these good things in Your name, amen. 

May your week be blessed,

Lisa

Happy Wednesday, church family!

Let’s talk about an uncomfortable situation during Christmas time. The doorbell rings, and a friend is there, with a beautifully wrapped gift for you. Wait a minute, that person wasn’t on your gift list. You’ve never exchanged gifts with them before! Your heart rate increases, and a lovely candy cane red color begins to seep up your neck towards your face, while a single drop of sweat appears from nowhere and trickles down your back. What now? Lie, and say you haven’t finished shopping yet? Run to the closet and find the most neutral unwrapped gift to throw in a bag? (I’ve done this). What the heck do you do when someone blesses you and you have nothing to give in return? Well, a polite “thank you” is probably in order. Past that, well, that’s something I’m working on. 

Grace feels uncomfortable when we think we have to earn love.

Andy’s words from Sunday’s sermon stuck with me. He talked about Ruth being blessed by Boaz when he allowed her to glean from his fields, and invited her to eat with him at his table. There was no way that Ruth could repay this blessing. I would have crumpled up at this act of kindness! I love doing things for people, for blessing and helping others, for being Boaz. But man, do I struggle allowing someone else to bless me! I feel like I immediately have to do something in return, to be even? To not be in someone’s debt? Ew. I don’t feel like friends I do things for are in my debt, why do I feel that way when I’m on the receiving end? 

Friends, God loves to bless us. Often, he does it through other people. When I’m on the receiving end of a blessing, my gut reaction is that uncomfortable feeling, because I’m not accepting it, I’m trying to earn that love. But God’s grace is mercy, love, blessings, all without having earned or deserved it. I talk about wanting to be Jesus for the people around me, but for some reason, I’m protesting letting them be Jesus to me. What if I shifted the way that I was thinking, and not look at a blessing from other people as a “shoot how do I repay this”, but as a blessing from God; something that is based on grace, and there is literally no way to or *need to* repay it. I get to accept it, be grateful, and when I can, turn around, and bless someone else. 

Jesus, thank You for the people who show me Your love by blessing me, even when it makes me uncomfortable. I reject the lie that I have to somehow earn blessings from others and You, and embrace the truth that grace and love are given, not earned. I choose to accept blessings with a humble heart, be grateful, and in turn, bless others as I can. Bless and seal these good things, in Your name, amen. 

May your week be blessed,

Lisa

Happy Wednesday, church family!

At some point in elementary school, I decided I didn’t like my name. I didn’t want to go by Lisa anymore, so I asked my parents to start using my middle name, Nicole. Nikki sounded even cooler, so that became my name for a (very) short period of time. My parents were supportive of my wishes, and solely called me Nikki. The problem was, I didn’t respond. I was so used to the sound of “Lisa”, that “Nikki” didn’t even get a flinch from me. I don’t think it was too long before I begrudgingly went back to boring old Lisa. 

Unlike Naomi in the book of Ruth renaming herself Mara/bitter, I just liked the name better. But Andy’s question in his sermon asking what we have renamed ourselves got me thinking. What lies have I believed about myself that have made me turn away from what Jesus calls me? My mind was blank at first, then I realized that to figure out what my struggles were, I had to think about the things that took my eyes off Jesus. When my eyes are ON Jesus, I hear/see/focus on all the things that He’s showing me, the truth of who I am. But when I get all twisted up in knots, doubting my gifts, my purpose, or trying to control the situation; that’s when I slip into the renaming. 

I also realized that what is easy for me to embrace in one aspect of my life can be difficult in others. Lisa the photographer is incredibly confident in ability and execution. However, that confidence doesn’t always transfer to other areas of my life. I can even find myself absolutely confident I can do something, say, at church, then when the time comes to actually do it, feelings of negative anticipation, doubt, and insufficiency kick in, threatening to overshadow my purpose. I’m realizing that my stage of life also affects who I believe I am.  I’m more confident in who Jesus says I am in some areas, more than I was in my 20s. Yet when it comes to matters and perspectives of my body that isn’t what it was 20 years ago, I find myself less confident. 

I am a wife, a mother, healer, friend, shepherd, supporter, warrior, beautiful, quirky, all the things God has melded together to make Lisa. And no, it was not easy to write all those things out in a definitive declaration. But saying it out loud gives less power to the mental side quests that can pull me away from those truths.   

Jesus, I am who You say I am. I am not the names I’ve been called, the experiences I’ve been through, the things in my life where I’ve failed. I choose to keep my eyes focused on You, and embrace what You call me. I’m a child of God, yes I am. Thank You for reminding me of that. Bless and seal these good things, in Your name, amen. 

May your week be blessed,

Lisa, the strong, confident woman formerly and briefly known as Nikki

Happy Wednesday, church family!

My husband Dave is not a hypochondriac or pessimistic, but if there’s something slightly off with his body, panic ensues. That little bump on his arm? It’s probably a cancerous, gangrenous tumor that will result in amputation. Headache= Aneurysm. I, on the other hand, tend to be the opposite, to a fault. I may fret and worry about the process of healing something (read: surgery or needles), but the actual issue at hand? Megh, whatever, it’ll be fine. Then 2 weeks ago, I had a root canal for the first time, and the healing process kind of broke me. 

My jaw was in a lot of pain-  I couldn’t open my mouth properly to take a bite of a sandwich. It even hurt to smile. Then I made the cardinal mistake, and consulted Dr. Google. I was in mental panic mode. One night I couldn’t sleep- my mind was racing about having a functioning jaw. Then I thought, perhaps I should pray about the pain, more than a “God please heal me”. What a novel idea! I spent some time sharing with God about how freaked out I was, and then I actually put my hand on my jaw and prayed for it. My mind and body relaxed, and I was finally able to sleep. The next day, I woke up, hoping that everything had been healed overnight, and had to calm myself down when it wasn’t. So, I popped a few ibuprofen, and busied myself with activities of the day. My rational brain told me that things would be fine at some point. My irrational thoughts told me once again that I would never again be able to eat a hamburger properly. Each day that the pain didn’t change, the freak out moments would come. But somehow, once I reminded myself that I had invited Jesus in, I was able to bring myself down a little quicker. One morning I even heard Him say, “Just give it a few more days”. 

I was slightly distracted from the dull ache, listening to Kurt’s sermon, until he said the phrase “faith over control”. I realized that I had been allowing fear and pain, and the desire to control the two, to overcome my faith. I had been wallowing in “what if”, instead of letting Jesus carry the weight of worry for me. 

Friends, I don’t know about you, but I honestly don’t always think about inviting Jesus into the little things of my life. I mean, it seems more “important” to ask Him to come into big struggles, like decisions, or dealing with people. A hurting jaw after a dental procedure seems so mundane, and, I don’t know, small? Yet, there I was, controlled by fear and pain. I was still trying to control something, I was still letting the desire to do things myself (ie, worry) squish out my faith. Yet once I invited Jesus into that moment, and shared with Him not only the pain, but the fear, a funny thing happened: I calmed down. (let’s be honest, not completely, but still an improvement!). And you know what? A few more days passed, and yesterday, I woke up with almost no jaw pain, just like He said. 

Jesus, thank You for the reminder that no matter how big or small something is, that You want to hear ALL the things, and walk alongside me through it, carrying it so I don’t have to. I choose to come to You with not only the events in my life, but the emotions that stem from them. Thank You that once again, I can comfortably eat a hamburger! Bless and seal these good things in Your name, amen. 

May your week be blessed,
Lisa