The Answer To A Question

Being a Christian can often be like walking a tightrope. If you aren't careful you will fall one way or the other.  Getting too grace-filled waters down the message of Christ and eliminates the need for a Savior and getting too truth-filled leads to harsh religion which can hurt others and ourselves.

Saturday morning a friend and I sat and discussed these extremes of religion as it related to a situation in her life.  Some people live on certain verses of the Bible alone and build their lives around it, excluding passages of the Bible that add nuance and meaning to those verses.  The Bible is best understood as a whole so when people choose to extract sections as a basis for their faith, they can deviate from its complete message.  My friend and I had a good talk, she left my house, and I thought the conversation was over. 

Then I woke up Sunday morning. 

My mom sends out a scripture every day and often some commentary with it.  But this particular morning she sent her text group some of her thoughts instead of a scripture.  Her thoughts fit perfectly as an answer to my friend's questions of me the day before.  So I immediately shared it with her.  She was delighted and I was equally delighted and a little proud of my mama who shares the truth of God with such eloquence and love.

Yesterday, I was met with another story of evangelism gone wrong and how the message of "you're going to hell" is in no way good news.  Sharing Christ with others is about what he adds to our life and how he rescues us from the junk we face here on earth.  Being rescued and loved is definitely good news!

This morning I decided I needed to share my mom's Sunday words with you.  She is a woman I admire for so many reasons and at the top of that list is her relationship with God.  I know how to be a woman of God because of my mom!  Enjoy her perspective and see the perspective we must take as we attempt to serve God.  

Sunday morning's text: 

An area of what I view as growth in my life is in the arena of openness to truth. I've always known of those people who were open to any new idea, any shiny bauble in a pretty box, who end up so "out there" that they seem to lose reality of any foundation or structural framework... anything goes! I've also been aware of those who hold to the human expression of religion so tightly in order to prevent going the wrong way, that their narrowness seems cast iron bars around them and joy was traded for a miniscule finite view of truth (defined typically from a few selected Scriptures). 

From this place as a Christ-follower, seeking humility and desiring to honor God as God, and His word as an incredible kindness from Him, miraculously preserved over the ages for the benefit of His children, is a place of awesome delight, sore muscles and bloody elbows! I'm abundantly gratified and thankful for early Scripture training and the experience of a truly personal relationship with God, in His Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

I shamefully admit, I have in times past, behaved like Eve in the garden who chose to add her 2-cents to God's words, in an effort to hold tightly to obedience. Similarly, I, like she, also plummeted to the hard ground below, alive, but broken. In an effort to be perfectly obedient, I have made God small and manageable... with similar results! Except in those times, I have often snatched a few passersby with me on my descent to the rocks below. 

I don't believe one can truly SERVE the LORD while being lazy, selfish, or unloving. I'm not saying one can't be saved from the damnation of hell - Christ brings life to those who accept His gift of paid-in-full. But to "serve" God is another matter... Definitely not for the faint of heart! Service to the One true God, while on this earth calls for incredible courage, discipline, hard work, a determination for due diligence, and a selfless compassion that is far greater than our personal desire. If we stop our seeking of God's blessings at the door of OURSELVES,  we may indeed be successful in our careers, our relationships even, but we will not soar on the wings of the eagle! That requires much, much more of us.

We have a responsibility as Christians to be as Christ was and to do so is a hard task.  It takes balance found only in walking in the Spirit of God.  I hope as you read my mom's words, God spoke to you.  I hope you are inspired to seek God in a fresh way this week and to know God is there always and desires a close relationship with you.  Happy Wednesday! 

Broken Child

When I was in high school, I went on a tour of Israel with a group of adults, led by my dad, as the Army post Chaplain.  The trip was truly remarkable! Beyond the Biblical sites we visited, our trip included some time at the Holocaust Museum. There are so many profound moments I can recall from that one place, but the one I will share with you today involves a statue on the property.  

It is the statue of Yanush Korzack surrounded by a mound of children, in honor of his work with kids.  As I stood before it and took it in, I heard God say, “Carrie, that is you.”  I felt in that moment that God gave me my mission in life to rescue children.  Honestly, it wasn’t something I fully understood in that moment, but have come to unpack its truth throughout my journey. 

Many years later, I was at a local camp during a women’s retreat leading a workshop over the weekend on, “Healing from the Pain in your Past.”  After the workshop, I stood and spoke with a few women as they were unpacking the pain in their hearts.  In that moment, I heard from God again - this time he said, “Some of the children you rescue will be little girls inside grown women.”  

What an amazing revelation?!  Have you ever seen someone share about a trauma in their childhood?  It doesn't matter their current age, its like they have transformed right before your eyes as the pain they carry has transported them to that exact moment years ago.  You can almost see that child before you.  

People are amazing to me, yes, we can stereotype and categorize and use those things to find commonalities and guess at how we will respond in certain situations and yet, being human means we are all unique, we can deviate from our norm at any time without known explanation.  

Two people can go through the exact same crisis - one will be crushed, another will use it as fuel to climb the next peak in life.  No matter what we see on the outside, we never really know the narrative that plays out in someone's heart and head. 

This profound truth struck me again tonight as I watched the latest episode of, “This Is Us.”  We can go on with life, find success and see our dreams revealed and yet no matter what, that child inside of us still lives.  Parts of us remain broken, unless we are intentional to fix it.   We can keep going and growing even with the brokenness remaining inside.  It resurfaces from time to time depending on the triggers we encounter, but it doesn’t go away.  

That is one the biggest lies we believe about our past - if we ignore it, it will go away.  It doesn’t!  

We have to be rescued or choose to rescue ourselves.  That is why I am passionate about helping people explore those broken pieces and allow God to lead them on a journey to put them back together.  We don’t have to live with the broken child, or broken adolescent inside of us our whole lives.  Sure, it will always be our story and affect the way we live but it doesn’t have to disable our thoughts, feelings and actions.  Living with the internal pain, despite the outward success, is unnecessary.  There is freedom.  

What does the little child inside of you need?  How can you be brave and examine what you most fear to face?  That, my friend, is the first step, but one we all must take if we want to live in freedom.  

The Person Most Often Ignored

My mom and live on opposite sides of the country.  Because of that we don't get to frequent the same events.  I was recently blessed, compliments of the internet, to listen to my mom's closing testimony at a local women's conference. 

As I listened, I was proud of her for sharing her story and being vulnerable for the benefit of whomever was listening.  Beyond that feeling, I was also impacted by one of the main points that she made. 

She described two women. 

One woman was given all the advantages in life.  She was gifted intellectually and well liked by her peers, she was in total - remarkable.

The second woman was just the opposite.  She had gone through our system because of family issues, had been misused by people all along her life and had made mistakes with lasting consequences. 

As she closed the talk, she acknowledged that she was in fact, both women. 

I am extremely hard on myself.  If someone is upset with me over an offense I've committed, chances are I've already given myself a mental flogging over it.  Sure, I make mistakes but if anyone was as hard on me as I am on myself, they would not be allowed in my life, so its high time I give myself some grace. 

The reality check of my mom's comparison of the two women, has been a HUGE encouragement to me over the past week.  Some of my greatest weaknesses and "issues" have reared their ugly head in my life and caused me to experience a lot of guilt over my inability to stop doing things that I hate.  It is easy to begin to beat myself up and allow myself to drown in a sea of self-doubt and self-deprecation.  The bad in me blinds me from seeing the good. 

However, understanding that two people live in me simultaneously, grants me the grace I need to stay out of the devaluing pool.  Sweet and loving Carrie is still there, even if I don't acknowledge her.  If I just look into the flaw mirror, I can forget the wonder in which God placed in me.  Those beautiful places are still there in the midst of the pain and challenges of life. 

I don't think its just my mom and I that live with this reality.  I choose to share my struggles so that all who read will be encouraged. You are not alone. 

What beauty do you block out when you are operating in your negative zone?  Sure, we keep working on ourselves and allow God to make us more like him, and I am in no way excusing bad behavior or habits. 

That is not the same thing as what I am addressing in this post.  We are all human and by design will make mistakes (remember that is why we needed a Savior in the first place)! Those mistakes are not the only thing that should be used to define us, and yet it often is. 

God walks with us daily if we let him and we may even take steps in the right direction every day.  The journey is birth to death and God has grace for that journey.  We need to see it too! 

May this simple thought bless you today. 

  

I Surrender All

I've been in two major tornados in my life. Once as a little girl living in my grandpa's (Pappy) trailer in Indiana and again as a college student at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas.  Both were pretty intense situations. 

The metal roof of the barn behind our trailer was torn off during the first tornado; in the second, whole buildings were ripped up in the heart of downtown Fort Worth.  I still recall seeing a beautiful church sitting next to the steeple removed and placed just adjacent to the building.  

Tornados come through and when a structure gives way to the powerful winds it's taken apart piece by piece until nothing is left.  Imagine with me, if you will, a barn.

 As a tornado plows ahead in the path of the barn the roof comes off, the screws come loose, the walls burst forth.  It's a force that cannot be denied!

This afternoon I left my kids at home with my husband.  I got in my car and I drove to an event called, Oasis, put on by Full Sail Ministries.  This is a "come as you can" event with worship, prayer and spiritually directed stations to meet God on your own as you choose on a beautiful, peaceful ranch.  For someone like me working in ministry and motherhood, two things that are both busy and mentally taxing, this event is a HUGE gift. 

After a time of worship in the barn, the first station I visited centered around our posture of prayer before The Lord.  I laid my body down, face to the ground and said, "Lord, I surrender." As I said these words, God gave me a picture, something he does often.  This picture was of a barn and, you guessed it, a tornado. I could see this barn giving itself to the tornado saying, "I surrender."  As I saw this a sense of freedom filled my being.  

God has so much for me but it means letting go and wholly trusting him to do as he wishes, no matter the circumstances or feelings to the contrary.  It means giving him all and allowing him to get to work.  The surrender makes the process easier.  

So often my type A personality (my husband might say controlling), keeps me in a regimented schedule that pulls away from the force of the tornado instead of just giving in. When I fight the surrender I end up causing more pain and damage. The fight in life isn't mine, it's God's, and like with a barn and a tornado, I have no work to do, just be still! Exodus states this very truth in the fourteenth verse of the fourteenth chapter. As long as we fight it, we miss out on being apart of something bigger than ourselves. God is working for our good both personally and as a collective, and I'm glad for each opportunity he gives me to be the barn, because I need the practice.  What are you holding back? What do you need to surrender? It's not enough until you surrender ALL!