Finding Faith in the Mess
Our kids need to feel, need to fail, and need to hurt. Taking this from them is one of the greatest travesties of our generation as parents. We are robbing our kids of an opportunity to grow, strengthen, build their character, empathize, believe in themselves, build the fight within their spirit, empathy for others, and so much more.
We were talking to our son about choices: mostly about how life choices can have a great impact on our future. I said one thing to him that I am sure he is tired of hearing: “We want you to do these things because you want to, not because you feel like you are supposed to.”
Can I relieve some pressure today? You are not “supposed” to do anything. Your value does not lie in your list of accomplishments. He loves us even before we acknowledge who he is (Romans 5:8 ). We can stop striving to earn his love. You are valuable just because you are YOU; you are HIS.
I had a friend tell me that she was not looked at for a job at her church because she didn’t do what they felt she was supposed to do. The requirement did not make her any more or less a Christian. This area of service did not change her heart for Jesus or her ability to do the job. But, it did remove her from the list of candidates. She was actually relentlessly serving in other areas that limited her time and ability to give any more of herself without sacrifices her family.
This got me to thinking: Are we placing too many rules, standards, and supposed to’s to the list of how we become a good Christian? Is this bruising our members and pushing them away from the church?
When we get down to it, accepting Jesus as Savior isn’t a supposed to act. Should we accept and love him? Yes. You’re life will never be the same when you do. Should we begin to heal, change, and grow after we begin our faith journey. Yes and amen. But, are we supposed to? I say no. Jesus looks at the intent of our heart. He wants our heart not our actions. The actions, the to-dos, the supposed to’s, those come after our heart becomes his. All those things, they change from “supposed to’s” to “want to’s” when we do them for the right reasons; when we do them for him.
When we do things because we are supposed to, we are doing them for the wrong reasons. Our heart isn’t in it when we do it because we are supposed to.
The best thing my kids can do is follow through on a task I know is good for them because they want to rather then because they are supposed to because mom said. One thing I love about this God of ours, is that our relationship with him isn’t a supposed to thing. If it were, we’d all be robots with no choice. Instead, he designed this whole faith thing into a relationship where he desires us to want to be there not feel like we have to be there because it’s the right thing to do.
“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14
There is no set list to follow or a set of rules. You don’t have to do anything to be worthy of your place as a Christian. You are worthy because of him not anything you do or don’t do. When you come to meet Jesus in this life, he will inspire and guide you to change and grow. Not a check list.
The next time someone tells you that you are not worthy until you do that supposed to thing, remember that unrelenting love and unabashed grace are yours for the taking. The only thing you’re supposed to do is reach out and grab it; grab onto Jesus
We are all doing the best we can moving along the road of faith. We were never meant to do all the things on the list. If we were capable of that, we’d have no need for him. Christianity is not a set of rules and laws. It is all about a relationship: a relationship with the One who loves you more than anyone and anything ever could. The One who looked at you and saw that it was good. So many have been hurt by the rules of the Church. I say, NO MORE.
Find His love.
Find His grace.
Stand in His worth for you just because you are YOU.
Run to His arms WIDE OPEN.
Here you will find peace, relief, redemption and grace. It is here that you will want to change, to grow, to be fully you: the you He created you to be.
Don’t do it because you’re supposed to.
Do it because you want to. (Psalm 26:2)
Love & Blessings,
Meg
If I open my feed and see Momo one more time, I may take a hammer to my device. If you haven’t seen this terrifying puppet thing with a creepy and distorted Snap Chat filter, consider yourself lucky. It’s like a character straight out of …
Reckless love. It is a necessity. Our kids are longing for it. And so is the parent sitting next to you. None of us deserve a reckless love. No one can earn a reckless love. Yet, when we were a foe, He still loved us. If we are privy to such a love, we must be that much more willing to give it all away.
Are you enjoying your life? Like, really enjoying it? The other day I noticed I was doing a lot of doing and wasn’t doing a lot of enjoying.
We came off a long weekend away with the kids and there things that needed to get done. I noticed while I was working on the blessed to-do list that I hadn’t smooched my youngest. He is my snuggle bug and mama’s boy, so it was unusual to go throughout the day without a smooch or a squeeze from him. The day was almost over and I couldn’t remember if I had even seen him.
So many of us are so busy at life, that we are forgetting to enjoy life.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10
We get so absorbed with keeping everything in order, trying to get all the things done, and managing all the schedules that we forget to stop and enjoy what is right in front of us.
Marie Kondo (if you don’t know who I’m talking about, you must be living under a rock) coined the phrase, “spark joy”. She is an expert at home organization and focuses on the home and only keeping things that spark joy. I believe we can take this phrase into all areas of our lives. Whether life is chaotic or everything is neatly in it’s place, there is always an opportunity for us to #sparkjoy in our lives.
Jesus came to give us life and life to the full; a life of abundance. Too many of us are so distracted or too busy searching that we miss this gift: an opportunity to enjoy the life right in front of us.
Too many of us are living distracted or too busy searching for happiness that we are missing the opportunity to enjoy the life right in front of us.
Take a look around you. Are you consumed with making sure all the toys are put away and all the cash is in the right spending folder (this is all great, btw) that you are missing the joy your life has to offer?
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good to-do list. I love crossing all the things off the list. I love opening my drawers and seeing all the clothes lined perfectly. I enjoy walking into my closet and seeing the color-coded clothes on the racks. You know what else I love? I love giggling with my boys. I love listening to my husband’s corny jokes that only I get that make me laugh from the pit of my stomach. I love looking around my life and breathing it all in.
It’s time we start living life to the full and living it abundantly. It’s not just about putting the cell phone down or organizing closets. It’s about laying down the expectations and unnecessary pressures and living in the present.
Lay down the expectations and unnecessary pressures and start living in the present.
What #sparksjoy for you?
Find it.
Live it.
Enjoy.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
Are you a follower or are you following? Too many of us are looking for public affection to heal us on the inside. We long for likes and follows to fill our cup. Instead, we are left empty and hopeless. It is no wonder half of us feel lonely. We are trying to find our confidence in the wrong place.
“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
Throughout history we can see people fighting for equality. Equal rights, and the fight for them, is not a new concept. It is in our nature to fight for equality. We all want access to the same things. Fighting for equality is good and just.
I am afraid, however, that we have confused equality with sameness.
Equality does not equal same. We can have equality and be completely different individuals. That is the beauty of it. But, for some reason, our fight for equality today has morphed into an argument for sameness and this argument can never be won.
We were never meant to be the same. God never intended for us to look, be, and act the same. Yes, he made us in his image. But, he made us different: male and female.
When I think of God, I don’t see one generic being. I see all the beauty one can muster in our minuscule brain coming together to create the most exquisite sight. Take the stars, the galaxies, the most majestic mountains, and beautiful terrain: you know, the stuff that takes your breath away. That’s God. And if that is God, then that is you and me.
God sees us as equal. He also sees us in all our individual beauty. He never intended us to be the same. How could he? He created the heavens and the earth. The sun and the moon. The stars in the sky. Why on earth would God, who created such magnificence, create us to be exactly the same?
You are uniquely you and that is more beautiful than anything this world can offer. We need you to be different. We need your quirks and talents. We don’t need you to be like the next guy. We need you to be YOU.
We don’t need you to be like the next guy. We need you to be YOU.
Don’t confuse equality with sameness. They are two totally separate things. Equality is necessary. Equality is good. We all desire to have the same rights as our neighbor and all of us should have access to those rights. But, don’t let the fight for those rights erase your identity. You were made for more than being exactly like the person next to you.
God looked to the heavens, he watched the ocean tug at the sand and pull back, he created every star and incredible planet. Then God looked and saw a hole: something missing in this beautiful master piece. So, he created you. He filled that void with the spectacular beauty that only you can bring to this world.
Rest in your fight for equal rights knowing that work is good. Revel in the beauty that God created in you as an individual knowing this world needed your unique design.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
What lens do you look through?
When we stay stuck looking only through our lens, we become part of the problem. When we refuse or exclude ourselves from seeing through someone else’s lens we shift from grace to condemnation. We lose the ability to love well when we only see through our own lens.
