Divine Ordinary

I am so excited and honored that Amelia Rhodes asked me to guest post on her blog this week (go visit!!). She recently published the book, Pray A to Z: A Practical Guide to Pray for Your Community. It is all about prayer and praying for others. Sometimes, the needs of the world around us can seem overwhelming, so I love that this book showcases a very practical way to intercede for others.

However, her readers told her they were unsure of how to pray for things they had never experienced. One of those things was the devastating effects of suicide. Since I’ve shared publicly about my journey through grieving my brother who took his life in July 2015, she reached out to ask me to share my story. I was more than willing to do that.

The thing is, though, I had planned to kind of re-haul this blog. I wanted to make it easier for you to find things other than the most recent posts. I’ve been offering the same little printable to readers who sign up on my email list, but I really wanted to offer something of more substance that my readers might find more useful. I had planned on working on those things in the month of January, but then sickness hit our house.

Once we were all mostly back on our feet, suddenly it was the end of the quarter at school. I not only had to get things wrapped up for one quarter, but I had to prep the following quarter, too.  I also had a fairly large newsletter due, and I had an article that was due.

All these things needed to be done in about a week’s time, and  I was feeling all kinds of frustrated and overwhelmed.

And behind – always behind!

The other morning, it just all seemed like too much. I was in my prayer time, and I just started crying, telling God I just couldn’t do ALL. THE. THINGS. I asked God if he REALLY wanted me to be more purposeful and intentional with this blog while also writing children’s books and teaching middle schoolers English and keeping up my household and nurturing my relationships because it just seemed like too much. Impossible.

As I prayed about this (okay, whined a bit too, if I’m honest), my eyes fell on my open Bible. I’ve been reading Chip Ingram’s book, The Real God and meditating on the Scriptures in each chapter. So, I had my Bible open to Galatians 5:16, 17, and I had been reading about the flesh and the spirit – totally different topic.

As I waited for God to respond to my pleas, my eyes were drawn across the page to Galatians 6:9, and I started crying all over again.

God reminded me that all He was asking me to do was to be faithful – to faithfully use the time I had set aside for my writing and let Him worry about the results.

He reminded me of my word for this year – CONTEND. 

The thing is by nature, I’m not much of a fighter. It’s easier to give up when things get a overwhelming and difficult. That’s what I wanted to do this morning – to let it go. To make excuses and justify giving up because it wasn’t like I didn’t have a job and a home and family to take care of. It all seemed TOO HARD, and kind of impossible.

But God doesn’t call us to do the impossible in one big swoop. He calls us to being faithful in the small, daily steps of obedience. Those small steps eventually add up to a much bigger whole than we can imagine when we are in the trenches of the everyday.

Sometimes, it’s so easy to forget that my job is just to do the work.

Have you been feeling overwhelmed lately? What small step can you take today to continue on the path God has called you to? I’d love to hear about it!

Best Laid Plans

I had this really great post all written out about my word for the year- CONTEND. I was going to tell you all about how I ordered my first set of Power Sheets (you can find them HERE) and how helpful they were in pinpointing some lies and a few deep-seated fears I was carrying around. Fears like the idea that maybe success would end up being too hard to keep and lies like financial success was somehow wrong or selfish or would make me less spiritual.

I also wrote about how I found my word through using another resource – Arabah Joy’s Grace Goals, a 5-day, Scripturally-based study on setting goals (you can find that HERE). I wrote about how the verse Deuteronomy 2:24 hit me like a mac truck and my word for the year was tucked into the text.

I wrote about how Moses was instructing the Israelites right before they went in to claim the Promised Land. I had all kinds of great points about how claiming the Promised Land wasn’t easy, and the Israelites had to fight or contend for the blessing God promised them.

I even found this picture that I loved to make my word of the year graphic. (I’m still planning on printing it out and hanging it somewhere near my writing area). I had this great statement of faith of how I was going to contend for my promised land and live out all that God had for me.

And then I got sick.

For almost 2 weeks, I dragged myself around, barely able to do the basics. I took 2+ hour naps almost every day. The goals and dreams I had carefully prayed over and written down with colorful markers were set aside.

It’s halfway through January, and instead of feeling on top of my game, I feel behind. The train of New Year’s resolutions has pulled out of the station, and I’m still on the platform without a ticket.

I am now feeling much better, and I was determined to tackle some things during this long holiday weekend (we have Martin Luther King Day off on Monday), but once again my plans got derailed. As I sit typing this, my oldest son is lying in the recliner after along day of puking. I think I have washed my hands approximately 518 times in my efforts NOT to catch the plague that has entered my house.

Instead of celebrating my mom’s birthday tonight,  I have a hot date with a gallon of bleach and some plastic gloves.

This was NOT what I envisioned when I sat down with my pretty Power Sheets and colorful markers. I expected to be on my way to achieving my goals, gloves on, knocking down the obstacles that were foolish enough to step into my way.

Reality bites, doesn’t it? 

I can feel my resolve falter and waver. I can feel the doubts and excuses creeping in. The enemy is whispering in my ear. Why not give up? It’s just too hard. You’ve failed already.

My gloves are lying in the corner, gathering dust.

Already – and it’s not even February yet.

Here’s the thing, though, when you choose to fight, you’re going to get knocked down. A real contender, though, gets back up again.  

Getting Back Up Again

Although it feels like I’m behind, there is nothing to stop me from getting back up and taking the next step forward.  As Lara Casey is fond of saying, “There is nothing magical about January 1.”

So, I’m going to pick up those gloves (after I thoroughly disinfect them, of course), and I’m going to start where I am.

How about you? Did your new year start the way you had planned or did life get in the way? I’d love to hear about it!

Blessings, Rosanne

I was teaching Sunday school the other week. I’m doing a series on women in the Bible, and this week, I was looking at the woman who annointed Jesus with the perfume in Luke 7:36-48. Whenever I teach, I try to pull out things we can apply to our own lives. One of the things that stood out to me in this story was that the woman, who is described in verse 37 as “a woman in the city who was a sinner,” went into a Pharisee’s house where she was probably NOT welcome.

The word sinner in this context indicates someone who lived a habitual life of sin. The common belief was that this woman was a prostitute, but it also possible that she was in debt or married to a tax collector as those were also considered a life style of sin. Whatever her particular habitual sin was, it was very clear that Simon the Pharisee was NOT happy to see her, especially as she brazenly interrupts a meal.

Like Simon’s home, sometimes, our churches are not places where sinners feel welcome. Instead, we put on our plastic smiles and pull out our spiritual responses. This atmosphere of spiritual having it all together doesn’t always invite people who feel broken and messy.

As I shared this lesson what I thought we could take from this story, a lady in my class said that maybe it was because people didn’t think they could find Jesus in our churches. Her comment resonated with me, and I nodded my head in agreement.

Then I heard God’s soft voice in my ear, “You ARE the church.”

It is all too easy for me to point my finger at the collective Church and point out its inefficiencies and where it is weak and where it needs improvement. It’s easy for me to feel self-righteous and superior because I see the flaws in the Church as a body.

But here’s the deal,  if people don’t see Jesus in my church, then that means, they aren’t seeing Jesus in me. 

Yeah – ouch! What draws people to church is not usually the church itself, but the people they know that attend that church. If a lost person is searching, and they see in you Jesus shining through, then they might then seek Jesus in the place where you worship.

Do I think the Church in America is perfect? No.

Do I think we, as a corporate body could do better? Yes.

Do I think that individual churches have a personality and culture? Yes.

But, the failure of the Church as a whole is a result of the failure as Christians as individuals. It’s not up to our pastors or church staff to reach out to the lost. It’s not up to the Sunday School Superintendent to love our co-workers or neighbors.

It’s up to us!

As the Church is often described as a body, let me use this analogy. If I ate really crappy food, only drank soda and never exercised, could I then blame my body when it can’t run a marathon? That would be crazy right?

We are meant to work as one unit. We each have a gift, a calling and a mission field (yes, even if that means you never leave the neighborhood you were born in!).

While I totally get what that member of my Sunday school class was trying to say and even agreed with her, I also found myself once again convicted about how I spend my every day life and asking the question, How am I drawing those around me to Jesus?

I’d love to hear how you live out the Great Commission in your daily life! Please feel free to share so we can all learn from each other!

Blessings, Rosanne

I love reading Jon Acuff. Maybe it’s because we are of a similar age, but I totally get his humor. It’s very rarely that I read something of his that I don’t laugh – usually loudly. I recently read one of his posts on anger, and instead of laughing, I found it very profound. You can read it HERE.

One of his main points is that when you are angry, you have two options: blame others or fix it.

I don’t know about you, but there has been a lot of anger lately with the election and the aftermath of said election. To be honest, some of the anger has made me angry. (I know – kind of weird right?)

Personally, I don’t believe anger is wrong in and of itself. It’s okay to be angry – it’s what we do with that anger that can be an issue.

A few years ago, I was studying the life of Moses. I’ve always found the story in Numbers 20 to be puzzling. If you aren’t familiar, the Israelites are wandering in the wilderness and find themselves waterless. This isn’t a small problem since finding water for that many people could be challenging. However, God had ALWAYS provided, yet every time the Israelites find themselves looking at a lack, they immediately start to complain and express their desire to return to Egypt (i.e. return to bondage). Moses has had to put up with this group of people whining, complaining and in some cases, seeking to stone him for decades now. It makes my job of teaching middle schoolers seem like a cake walk in comparison.

In Numbers 20, once again the people are complaining, but this time, Moses has just experienced the loss of his sister Miriam. He is grieving and vulnerable. So, when God asks him to speak to this rock so water can come from it, Moses is too angry to speak. Instead he strikes the rock. Because of this disobedience, Moses is barred from entering the Promised Land.

Does that seem as unfair to you as it does to me?

I mean, I can find so many justifications for Moses’s disobedience. Sure, he sinned, but didn’t he have a good excuse? Who wouldn’t get angry with that bunch of whiners? Who wouldn’t have been angry with their ridiculous declarations that they were better off in Egypt where they were being worked to death? Wasn’t it better he struck the rock with his staff rather than one of the aforementioned complainers?

But here’s the deal – Moses sinned. Other people’s disobedience/behavior might have been the cause but it wasn’t an excuse. 

When I look at the aftermath of one of the weirdest election cycles in history, I have to say that Jon Acuff offers some profound answers for people on both sides of the political divide, and it echoes this lesson we see in Numbers 20.

Anger is not a sinful emotion in and of itself, but it is also not an excuse to sin.

No matter who you voted for – Trump, Hillary or neither; whatever reason you are angry – your person didn’t get in and you feel the apocalyse is at our door OR you look at all the rioting/protesting and it just seems like sour grapes –  we all still have two options: blame other people or fix it.

The thing is only one of those options leaves us feeling hopeful and empowered. (hint, it isn’t blaming others). The problem with blaming others is that it leaves us in the position of being helpless.

No matter how much you want to, you can’t change people – not their thoughts, their beliefs, their convictions or their actions. You especially can’t change those things by calling people names and telling them how to think and feel.

Instead of blaming others for the mess we find ourselves in as a country (because whether your guy won or not, nobody can deny that the divide in our country is long, deep and festering), how about instead, we do what we can to facilitate healing.

That looks like listening.

That looks like not stereotyping people who think/feel differently than you do.

That looks like being kind.

That looks like giving people the freedom to feel what they feel.

That looks like not assuming to know what’s in another person’s brain.

That looks like returning evil with good.

That looks like praying – even for the people or groups that upset or make you angry.

Instead of striking the rock in our anger, let’s allow our anger to drive us toward solutions.

Blessings, Rosanne

Today is Thanksgiving! I wasn’t going to blog today because, well, it’s Thanksgiving. But, as I was having my quiet time with God, I found this verse, and wow! Have you ever read a verse and you feel like God put it there just for you, just for this season?

That’s what it was like as I read and studied Psalms 107:9 this morning, and I knew I had to share it with all of you. I love Psalms 107 because it is such a picture of God’s patience and goodness to us. If you read it, you can see how the psalmist is praising God that He rescued His people after they strayed from God – again.

I don’t know about you, but I, despite my best intentions, stray from God’s side, too. No matter how many times I’ve seen how foolish it is, like the Israelites, it is all too easy to allow idols to take up residence in my heart with their false offers of fulfillment. I often wonder why, when I know better, that is. I think Psalms 107:9 gives a key insight to that question.

Being the Bible nerd that I am, I decided to look up the key words in that verse, and I was surprised to find that the Hebrew word for thirsty, shaqaq, actually means, “to run, run about, rush, run to and fro, be eager or greedy.”

I know, right? It totally gives a new insight into this verse. If you look at the root of this word, it has this connotation of being desperate for something, to run and rush about looking desperately for something you crave or long for.

When I look at our world today, I see a lot of shaqaq going on. There are so many thirsty souls that are desperate for something they can’t seem to find no matter how much running to and fro they do.

Yet, that verse also tells us the answer to the problem. It tells us how to find fulfillment for our great need. GOD is the one that fills us with the good stuff. All that other stuff we go rushing after – the impossible expectations, the successes, the wealth, the love – we will never, ever find it in the world around us. Instead, ALL of what we desperately need and crave is found in the person of Jesus.

That word fill is also an interesting word because it can mean the more obvious, “filled to abundance,” but it can also mean, “to be armed.” Isn’t it interesting that the good God fills us with actually arms us?

Centuries after this psalm was penned, Paul shares the same idea. In Ephesians 3:19, it says, “and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge, so that you may be filled up with all the fullness of God.”

Again, the words filled up and fullness have this idea of liberal abundance. God doesn’t partially fill us up. He isn’t stingy with His goodness. He fills our souls liberally, IF we will come to Him to be filled.

As we enter the Christmas season and think about celebrating Jesus’ birth, these verses mean all the more to me. Because Jesus came as a baby, because He was willing to be crucified for my sins, I CAN find satisfaction for my thirsty soul. I don’t have to shaqaq. Instead, I can be filled with all the fullness of God.

I can’t think of anything to be more thankful for on Thanksgiving Day. Can you?

This year, I want to slow down and really savor the idea of Immanuel – God with us. In an effort to do that, I created the 28 Days Advent Journal: Savor the Season. It’s available on Amazon and Createspace, and I’d love it if you joined me in going through it this Christmas season.

But even if you don’t, I hope that you will allow the God of the Universe to fill you up with all of His fullness, so your soul’s thirst will be quenched and you won’t be left to shaqaq!

Blessings, Rosanne

Election Season Blues

I’m going to admit it. This election season has made me more anxious than I ever remember being during an election year. I’ve spent WAY more hours on Facebook than I should have. I’ve gotten sucked into threads and have found myself responding with long, impassioned posts – something I normally don’t do as Facebook really isn’t the greatest place for debates.

Most years, while I may not be crazy about our candidate, I haven’t suffered much angst voting for him. This year has been very different.

When Donald Trump first appeared on the scene, I kind of looked at him as comic relief. After all, the man was orange and had the weirdest hair in the history of political candidates. And let’s face it – he had some great one liners. I can always appreciate sarcasm at its finest.

But I didn’t think it was serious. I thought he’d fade away and drop out, having had his moment of fame. That wasn’t what happened though. Soon, I realized that he was going to be a real contender, and I had to look my convictions squarely in the face. Was all that talk about character mattering really just talk – or did I believe it?

Yet, the alternative was unimaginable – Hillary in the White House seemed synonymous with the apocalypse. I went from NEVER Trump to MAYBE Trump, and my perch on the fence of indecision seemed both precarious and terribly uncomfortable.

Teetering on the Fence of Indecision

I would make up my mind to jump off firmly on one side of the fence, only to read some fiery post or article and find myself swaying toward the other side of the fence. It made me anxious and upset. More than that, I felt both sad and angry that it had all come down to the choice of Hillary or Donald.

It seems this whole election has been made up of this weird fence-perching for me.

When the now notorious recording of 2005 came out, I wasn’t really surprised – horrified, yes. Surprised, no.

Was anyone really? The man owns a strip club. He’s on his third wife who is young enough to be his daughter and looks like a super model. I could be way off base here, but I sincerely doubt that Trump chose Melania because of her personality. He’s been on Playboy’s cover. He’s pals with Howard Stern and been a guest on his show. (For those of you who don’t know who Stern is, he was very popular radio personality when I was in my 20s and made a huge name for himself by basically objectifying women in the most demeaning, degrading ways possible).

I know all the arguments – who are we to judge? You don’t know about the other candidates morals really. That’s true, but I’m only responsible for what I DO know. What I knew about Trump’s character made me queasy.

At the same time, I was appalled and angry at the utter hypocrisy of people who were outraged by Trump’s words, yet touted 50 Shades of Grey as great entertainment, and who crucified the women who accused Bill Clinton of not just talking about assaulting women, but actually doing it.  Megyn Kelly at Fox News eviscerated Trump for his ugly remarks, but she posed for GQ in very provocative poses. I wanted to ask her what she thought men were thinking about her when they looked at those pictures. It probably wasn’t about how intelligent she was or what great reporting skills she had.

Our whole culture is saturated in sex. Trump is just a product of that environment – not an anomaly. I’m not sure why so many were horrified when you can’t check out at the grocery store without being visually assaulted by women’s body parts, and yet media outlets’ sensibilities seemed more sensitive than my grandmother’s.

Too Many Voices in My Head!

Then there were the various articles, tweets and pleas from various Christian leaders. There were the ones that told us we were idolizing America if we were patriotic at all. It was implied we couldn’t really love Jesus  or be very spiritual if we voted for Trump. Then we were told that we couldn’t really love Jesus (or America) and were self-righteous prudes if we didn’t vote for Trump – that if we didn’t vote at all or wrote someone in, we would be personally responsible if Hillary became President.

No wonder the anxiety rates during this election season have reached an all time high. No wonder people want to just pull the covers over their heads until November 9th!

I don’t know if you remember the song, “Stuck In the Middle With You,” but the lyrics that have kept running through my head this whole election cycle are: “Clowns to left of me, jokers to the right, here am I stuck in the middle with you.”

Coming to Some Conclusions

This past week, I’ve just sort of pulled back and thought and prayed about all of this, and I’ve come to a few conclusions.

1. There will be life after Nov. 8th. November 8th is not the end of the world as we know it. I promise. On November 9th the sun will rise and set just like it did on November 7th. Everything we know will not come to an immediate, screeching halt. No matter who wins, life will go on. It may change a bit as time goes on, but it will go on.
2. Which brings me to my next conclusion – once the election is over, both candidates will go on with their lives, and they probably won’t care what happens in yours. They won’t care if you burned every relational bridge in your life and sacrificed your witness for Christ to support them. The person who wins will be thinking about their inauguration and who will be in their cabinet. The loser will think about his or her next steps. Neither will personally care or thank you for alienating everyone in your life because you spent the election season calling people names and telling them how they just don’t love Jesus enough if they didn’t or did vote for Trump or Clinton.
3. While we are talking about loving Jesus, please stop judging others love and desire and commitment to Christ based on who they do or don’t vote for. Seriously. One of my gifts is seeing things from others people’s perspectives. (It’s also my biggest weakness but that’s another post for another day). There are reasons – legitimate ones at least to that individual – why someone chooses to vote for Trump, not vote for Trump or even vote for Hillary Clinton. Really. We gain nothing by starting any statement, “A real Christian would never…..” or “Someone who really loves Jesus would…..” When November 9th roles around, we will still be the body of Christ. We will still serve the same God – TOGETHER. We gain nothing by hacking at various body parts because they aren’t behaving the way we think they should.
4. So, that brings me to what I have finally decided about my own vote – don’t let FEAR be the deciding factor for you. One thing I’ve seen a lot of (and felt myself!) is fear, but the Bible tells us that that fear is NOT from God.

If you look and pray about all the information and decide Trump is who you want to vote for, then do so. If you look at everything and pray and decide that you will write in a candidate, then do that. Just make sure you are doing so with the clear view that no leader will “fix it.”

The truth is there is a bigger calendar than the one we look at everyday. It’s God’s calendar, and as we move toward the inevitable conclusion of time as we know it, certain things have to happen – and some of those things won’t seem too great at the time. Leaders – no matter how much we may like them or think they have it going on – are still ultimately only human. All through this election I keep coming back to this verse in Psalms.

5. However, even as you don’t let fear take over, even as you refuse to put your faith in frail humans, that doesn’t mean you can’t be sad as you look around and see America changing. I’ve heard people accused of idol worship just because they express sadness or anger over the way things are changing in our society. (Because, you know, calling people idol worshipers always brings you together in unity.) It’s okay to mourn a way of life or a crumbling culture. It’s okay to be sad when sin is glamorized and righteousness is demonized. Idol worship is NOT feeling heartsick at the realization that your children and grandchildren will be raised in a completely different country than the one in which you grew up. I would assume, the older you are, the more glaringly obvious these differences are.

6. It’s okay to be sad, so long as you remember that God is still on His throne. It’s so easy to look at circumstances and feel discouraged and helpless, but God is still sovereign. He is still on His throne. NOTHING that happens takes Him by surprise. In fact, He knew long before it happened. I know – sometimes I forget that too in my little finite human brain. Another verse that has meant a lot in my own life has taken on bigger significance in recent months.

Let’s not all miss what God is doing because we are too busy pointing fingers and worrying during this election season. Instead, let’s show the whole world, Jesus really IS the answer.

Blessings, Rosanne