It’s essential to keep our focus on what truly matters. On the things and the priorities we’re called to pursue. When confronted with a busy season, or even just the complexities of life, it’s easy to unintentionally drift away from the things that are most important. Pastor Andy Stanley once said, “We don’t drift in good directions. We discipline and prioritize ourselves there.” I believe he’s right. We can’t drift through life, thinking it will arbitrarily work out in the end but must be intentional instead. Now, I know it’s incredibly easy to allow the demands confronting us day in and day out to dictate what we do with our time. In our modern cultural, we’re pulled in so many directions. One demand after another cries out for our attention, and if we’re not mindful, we will lose proper focus, thinking all things before us are the things we ought to do, thinking every opportunity is…
Archive for the ‘Following Jesus’ Category
I’ve been writing quite a bit about what God has done through our adoption lately. If you missed any of those articles, here are their links: Do Not Give Up (written in 2014) Filly Convinced (Feb 2015) All It Took Was One Word (Feb 2015) Will You Hold Onto the Faith? (March 2015) Twenty-One Days: A Glimpse Behind the Curtain (April 2015) God is just so incredibly good! He has once again done the impossible right before my very eyes, and I cannot help but sing His praises. As many of you already know, this has been an epic journey. What was supposed to take one to two years has turned into five (by the time they’re home). It’s been quite a journey. My family and I have grown in patience and compassion. Our hearts have been tested time and again. And every one of us (our two daughters included) can most assuredly say that our…
There’s a vast difference between expectation and expectancy. These two mindsets can be applied to just about any part of our lives. They can be applied to our life-long dreams, our marriages, our children, our friendships, our careers, our ministries. And they can also be applied to our relationship with God. Expectation expects things. It expects a certain outcome. Or that the outcome will be derived a certain way. Expectancy does not expect things. Expectancy hopes. It has faith that good will come but releases the expectation of what or how it will come about. Expectations lead to disappointments and frustration and disillusion. Expectancy leads to faith and joy and thankfulness. I recently had the privilege to attend a weekend “Encounter.” The entire purpose of the weekend was to meet with God. To encounter the One and Only. I had heard stories of others going to their Encounter, coming home saying things like, “It changed…
I held my Bible as I sat with one of my girls on each side of me in bed. “Do you see a pattern?” I asked. They looked at the passage and said, “What pattern?” “Look at what I’ve circled and highlighted.” Almost in unison, they read, “‘And God said…’” Pause. “‘And it was so.’” Fingers ran down the page, “‘And God said,’” they read. “‘And it was so.’” Over and over, their little fingers stopped on each of my markings. “‘And God said… And it was so.’” “Do you see it?” “I think so,” Avery said. “What do you think it means?” “It’s like God says something, and then it happens.” “Yes!” I said, with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm. “Nothing is too difficult for our God. He speaks, and it is so! Just like He did in the beginning here in Genesis. Isn’t that amazing?” Both girls nodded….