I don’t know if it’s just me, but this season feels extra full. Between family, my oldest son’s upcoming wedding (9 days! 😳), the holidays, and all the writing projects that have been stacking up, I’ve found it harder and harder to sit down and write here — in this space that started it all.
When I began blogging, it wasn’t for likes or algorithms; (still isn’t) it was a way of processing what God was teaching me in real time. Some of those raw reflections eventually became the foundation for Untethered: 30 Days of Pressing on in Hope & Obedience — a devotional born out of old blog posts and journal entries that carried me through one of the most refining seasons of my life.
Untethered isn’t long or complicated — it’s simple short devotionals, honest, and rooted in the same kind of conversations I have with God when life feels messy. But since its release on Amazon, my writing time has shifted. I’m still learning how to balance being a writer and a blogger — how to keep writing for publication without losing the heartbeat of why I started writing in the first place.
And honestly? That tension has been good for my soul. Because slowing down to write here reminds me that I don’t have to produce — I just have to be faithful.
A Season of Stillness (and Surrender)
In the middle of that busyness, I felt God nudging me to return to the basics — to the quiet practice of slowing down and listening again. Out of that came Stillness with the Savior, a 24-day guided Scripture journal through the book of Luke.
Every December, our family reads one chapter of Luke each day from December 1–24, walking through the story of Jesus’ birth and life leading up to Christmas. It’s become one of my favorite traditions — a way to remind ourselves that Christmas isn’t about the rush, but about Emmanuel — God with us. From birth to resurrection.
Stillness with the Savior grew out of that rhythm. It’s a space to pause, reflect, and put ink to paper as we internalize the truths of Scripture. While we use it during the Christmas season, the reflections are truly evergreen — perfect for any time you need to slow down and realign your heart with His.
Even when it’s hard to find time, I keep coming back to this little corner of the internet — because it’s where so much of what I write begins. This blog is my reminder that the process matters just as much as the product.
If you’ve been juggling your own projects, commitments, and chaos, take this as a gentle nudge: you don’t have to do it all. Just stay tethered to the One who called you in the first place.
I’m tagging along on a business trip with my hubs because he’s going to be relatively close to a good friend I haven’t seen in ages! As we do when he and I are on roadtrips, we picked a book to listen to. I had downloaded Jon Acuff’s “All You Need Is A Goal,” since it had been referred to me by my bestie.
There’s the link in case you’d like to get your own copy, I do earn commissions from Amazon from my referral links.
Anyhow, the first exercise he instructs readers to do is create a best moments list. He goes on to list some of his own best moments as well as others so there are ample examples of what those could look like. He even talks about the difficulty in focusing on yourself enough to call attention to some of your accomplishments as you recognize them as best moments. Not all best moments are accomplishments. Later you’ll categorize these moments into 4 different categories: experience, accomplishments, relationship, & objects.
This will not be a book review, it’s the doing of this exercise that captured my attention from a mental health standpoint.
As Shaun and I began to form our lists audibly calling out loud our best moments and reminiscing there were tears, smiles, laughter and joy. Jon said the 40’s hit a little different and are characterized by self reflection which I find to be true.
Today has been a gray day and it sputtered rain off and on all day. This is the typical kind of day that usually gets me down and blue, but this exercise made me really focus on so many of the good and wonderful moments I’ve had in my life. It’s very difficult to be gloomy when you’re focusing on those moments and literally writing them down on a piece of paper that you can stare at. It’s very difficult to ignore the truth you’re very plainly listing out and continue in false and dark thoughts attempting to consume your mind.
I listed things like
-meeting my husband,
-getting to be pregnant 3 times
-having 3 beautiful babies!
-The sound of our children’s laughter even as adults especially when we’re all together.
-Our first trip to CO and every trip since that allowed us to meet some of the most incredible people who have become family and not just friends.
-Specific hunts
-our Little Buddy
-Frankie the Tortoise
-church camp 2018
-publishing my first book!
-and so on!
My list is soooooo long and it’s hard for me to continue to be blue with all of these clearly wonderful moments staring at my face! This will be an exercise I employ when I feel myself being blue, and it’s one you can use too.
As a believer, I have long known the expression “count your blessings” which makes me think of the song and then the following lyric “name the one by one.” This isn’t a new tactic, clearly it’s been in use awhile!
Further, I’ve long learned to employ the verse about taking my thoughts captive in 2Corinthians 10:5 and forcing them to be obedient to the will of a Christ. To turn them from gloom and despair to what Paul suggested us to focus on in his letter to the Philippians,
Philippians 4:8 (NASB95): Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Sometimes hearing that and doing it are two separate battles and trying to use it to reprogram your thought processes can be just as tough. This exercise however, is a simple one that set me on the right path today. I know that all good things come from my Father above, so if I’m listing out blessings, that’s focusing on lovely things that are worthy of praising our Father about.
If you’re struggling with depression, what could it hurt to grab a pen and paper and start listing some of your best moments, any favorite memory. You’ll see that the truth, and what you’re feeling, aren’t in alignment right now and you need to continue to focus on these “bests” to have them help you reprogram your “stinkin thinkin.” This worked for my stinkin thinkin today!!
The next book I listen to will be “Don’t Believe Everything You Think” by Joseph Nguyen https://amzn.to/3OeRJHE and I’ll see if there’s anything practical and helpful I can use and share with others in there!
I am definitely not the inventor of that phrase but it’s so very true. It’s a lesson that has taken me way into my adult years to learn where it applies to myself, but I have no trouble seeing the beautiful masterpieces other self-proclaimed broken people color with their lives. More specifically, one of my favorite things to do is to help others see the masterpieces they have painted or are still capable of painting through their brokenness as they cling to God. They literally paint the survival guide for someone going through the same thing. While I see this beauty in others, I often have a tough time recognizing it in myself. Just the other day I encouraged a friend who was struggling with his brokenness with the same words of this title. But 2 weeks later while I was having a pity party, I protested to my husband about my uselessness because I’m broken!
Sidenote
* Ya’ll should probably pray for him because while we are all saints as believers in Christ (1Corinth 1:2) this man is like a hyper saint, just saying.
This is not something our boys have ever struggled with. They’ve learned this lesson and demonstrated it to me on more than one occasion, two that still bring tears to my eyes. We had been to the zoo and on a rare splurge each of the kids selected an overpriced animal from the gift shop. They were young, Tristan, our youngest, was probably 5 or 6 years old. Later in the year we discovered one of the dogs had used one of the back legs of T’s warthog as a chew toy and it was badly mangled. While headed on my way to throw him in the trash, Tristan took off to the bathroom asking if we had any band aids. Instead of throwing him out, Tristan’s first thought was to heal or bandage what was broken. When he realized I was about throw the wart hog away he was incredulous and took him from my hands with tears in his eyes as he said, “if I was wounded would you just throw me out?” …..and the Oscar goes to….TRISTAN. However, Tristan is now 16 and we still have that warthog with medical tape on his back leg which I dutifully applied through tears!
As I sit here unpacking Christmas ornaments, I came across what has become the mascot for our tree and truthfully my life. Frist of all, I am not allowed to do our main tree as a fancy themed tree. I did this one year and was so proud of myself and even had a few people comment about how it looked like it belonged to a department store. My kids HATED it, they prefer our crazy ornaments collected throughout the years that hold special memories and sentimental value. Deep down I agree with them. And so it is that the first ornament I unpacked this year would be the glass dinosaur with the band aid on his bum where his tail should be. Tristan went through a dinosaur stage as every little boy does and had received a treasured dino ornament for Christmas one year. Not wanting a repeat of the warthog guilt as even without a leg that warthog still dutifully snuggles, when we discovered the dino’s tail had broken off, I quickly set to work healing what was broken. That dino still looks beautiful on the tree and under our skilled hands we are able to place him in positions to shine without ever really noticing he’s broken.
This is our relationship with God the Father. We are all broken by our sin and the sufferings of this world wrought by ours and others sin (Rom 3:23). But in Christ we are new creations (2Corinthians 5:17). He starts a work in us that will be completed on the day Christ Jesus returns (Phil 1:6). Healing and restoration is a process for anyone, but we have a supernatural healer working on us who promises to stay right by our sides regardless of the path he calls us to walk (Psalm 23, Psalm 18.33). We have a supernatural strength inside us even in our weakness for when we are weak, Christ’s “grace is sufficient for us and His power is made perfect in weakness” (2Corinth 12:9). When Paul wrote Philippians 4:13 he wasn’t saying he could lift an SUV through Christ who strengthens him, or pass a test, win a game, get a promotion etc. He was talking about persevering through any season of life and any circumstance because of the power of Christ inside him, being content and joyful in seemingly unjoyful circumstances like prison and poverty, for Paul, because of our hope in our Savior Jesus Christ. When we are tethered to Jesus, regardless of our brokenness and hurt, be it physical or emotional we are broken crayons that can very much still color! We are that warthog with the bandaged leg and the dino with the bandaged bum, still useful to our Creator who is more than capable of healing our brokenness!
Please tell me you pronounced that title like it was said on “The Princess Bride”!? In all actuality I was wanting to stay in my horse world with horse thoughts, but I’m doing a zoom Bible study with a group of women about combatting lies we have believed with the truth found in the Word of God. This week was about???? You guessed it MAWAGE, or in case you haven’t seen “The Princess Bride”, (shame on you! LOL) marriage.
Coming from a broken home in a society where divorce is the norm I really never understood the symbolism of marriage. I understood that it was an important commitment to be taken seriously and except in cases of extreme exceptions, marriage is lifelong. I didn’t start to truly grasp the Biblical imagery of marriage until well over a decade into my marriage. Additionally, I carried and still catch myself carrying some unhealthy or incorrect thoughts, fears, and ideas about marriage. It is always when I come to the Word of God that I am able to see those imperfections and allow His Word to correct them and then act on them.
We understand the concepts of monogamy, and faithfulness that are true of a marriage, in Genesis 2:24 “husband and wife are joined together and become one flesh.” We even see the Old Testament prophets (specifically Hosea)compare God’s people to a wife cheating on her husband, God.
Often, we incorrectly think marriage means one or the other spouse loses their individuality. This was especially true in my case when well-intentioned people taught me what is required of me to be a Godly wife and explained the expectation of submissiveness citing Ephesians 5:22. Under their tutelage my life would now revolve around my husband and I would care for his every need, clean the house, wash the clothes, raise the children, make myself available to him and serve him. Under instruction like that, I was basically walking rebellion looking for a place to happen. If you look at that entire passage and unpack the rest of it and back up to Ephesians 4:15-16 as well, you understand that “as husbands are to be the head of the wife as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything,” we are really talking about leadership and so much more. Unpack that whole passage from Eph 5:22 down to verse 33 and sprinkle in Eph 4!
Ephesians 5:22-33New American Standard Bible 1995
Marriage Like Christ and the Church
22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church [a]in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she [b]respects her husband.
Understanding God’s attributes also helps us to better understand the relationship between husband and wife as we submit to the authority of God. We know that God is needless, and is not served by human hands according to Acts 17:25. We also know that according to Psalm 145:8-9 that He is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and good to all. In the passage in Ephesians 5 above, we see evidence of the husband’s responsibility to exhibit characteristics of these attributes, and trust me, a man like that is easy to follow! The body of Christ has Christ as the head, the leader. So a wife should be inclined to follow the husband’s leadership. John Piper uses “the inclination to yield or a disposition to follow because no subjection to another human is absolute. The husband does not replace Christ as the woman’s supreme authority.” Humans, including our husbands, are sinful and we should never follow them into sin. This is certainly building the picture of a relationship between husband and wife that because I love and trust him, I want to follow him while understanding we are both in subjection to God as we together follow Him.
Interesting, now we’re getting somewhere I’m on board with going. This is painting a picture of God’s relationship with His people, the church, believers in Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. Just as God allowed the use of the different individual writing styles of the men who penned the 66 books of the Bible as the Holy Spirit led, being in submission to God or our husband’s doesn’t mean we lose our individuality nor are we becoming their nanny as if they aren’t capable of doing anything for themselves. We are all members of one body, but all do not have the same function, yet all are needed for the body to be complete and effective. Just as members of the body are gifted with certain spiritual giftings to be used to serve and make the body of Christ stronger and more effective, I also have individual and specific traits that when paired with my husband make our partnership better, capable of more than we could each achieve separately. The hand may bring food to the mouth, and the mouth may chew, but the nutrients never get used in the body without the digestive system. All of these parts are needed to work in their individual ways collectively to accomplish a main goal. While I have had the great privilege of being able to stay home with our kids and start my own business while my hubby works outside the home, I do end up doing most of the housework, childcare, and a lot of the cooking, but make no mistake, my hubby is capable of doing all of those things too and does as do our kids. He doesn’t do them to “help me out,” he does them because he lives here too, and we together had children and we all collectively make the messes so we all collectively clean them up.
For years I compared myself to women I held on a pedestal of being the perfect submissive wives with their clean houses and washed folded, and put away laundry, their organizing gadgets, and their calm, gentle and quiet ways with everyone. I tend to be a little louder, and sometimes too opinionated, I don’t think mating socks should ever have been a thing, and I like tidy, but I also prefer our home look like we live there, and you can feel comfortable relaxing there too. I have always been what others previously called a tomboy, I prefer the outside to the inside and when I am inside, I like to bring the outside in with me, so it doesn’t feel quite so inside. I love so many of the things the boys love, hunting, fishing, muscle cars and tough trucks, baseball, shooting, and don’t mind competing with them to prove it, since birth ya’ll. All of these things together made me feel like I’d never be the perfect organized, decorative, clean freak, soft-spoken, timid, servant and prayer warrior of wife that I thought I had to be. All I can say now is, THANK GOD I’M NOT what I thought I was supposed to be. Those women are absolutely what THEIR husbands need, and they are slaying what God called them to do inside THEIR giftings for THEIR families.
My husband needed all of the things I thought were wrong about me as well as being a servant of Christ and prayer warrior! He’s needed an actual warrior at times to stand beside him and wield a sword and he’s needed me to stand in front and shield him when he’s needed to catch a breath. My kids, all believers, have been made Holy through the blood of Christ, but they are also a little hood! So sometimes I have to break out my hood side and set things straight! We’re a little hood and holy! I honestly think if I was less Jael and more Esther or Naomi like, that I wouldn’t have been capable of being up to the task of being Shaun’s help mate! The way God made me wasn’t a mistake and I’m not some rebellious jezebel, which I have actually been called, bless her heart, I know she meant well. I’m definitely a sinner who needed a Savior and I’m in definite need of staying in the Word of God and asking forgiveness when I realize I have behaved in a way that is contrary to God’s will, but I was uniquely made by Him for MY race and MY family so I have different strengths and talents than other women who need what God gifted THEM with for THEIR families and THEIR RACE.
You may be feeling some of these same things too. I’ve talked with many a woman who doesn’t understand why she was made a certain way instead of like some other lady whom she clearly admires. I can assure you; I’ve been there, and comparison is a joy thief and, in this case, a great way the enemy attacks and whoops up on us or lets us whoop up on ourselves! I can also assure you that God does not make mistakes, He is perfect the Bible says so in Matthew 5:48. As long as you are following Him and yielding to His leadership your fierceness, timidity, or insert any adjective that obviously does not contradict the word of God, meaning it is not sinful. Those qualities about you are exactly the way you are supposed to be for YOUR race as you pursue Christ and use your uniqueness to help both the body of Christ be more effective as well as your marriage while you use them in your role as wife and bondservant of Christ!
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My bestie just sent me a super fun insta reel of someone describing what it means to give off “horse girl” vibes. There were several girls attempting to jump several jumps as a horse would in an arena and the conversation is layered over the video. At the end, the one thing that truly defines a horse girl is being unapologetically themselves. I instantly replied that I definitely aspire to be a horse girl when I grow up!
Toddler me and the beginning of a life long love!
The truth is I’ve been around horses all of my life and I’ve been around girls who love horses equally as much as I do and girls who love them even more than I do. I think we all unapologetically admit to our love of horses even when it seems crazy or financially irresponsible, but one thing I know about all of us from the most experienced and successful to the hobby horse lover, is that we are all susceptible to the lies Satan is so good at tempting us to believe, especially about ourselves. Even the most unapologetically themselves horse girl has doubts, fears, and sometimes anxiety that her horse can sometimes be the cause of and sometimes temporarily relieve!
Smokey gets so excited to see me he sits right down for a visit sometimes! These are the best conversations!
This is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I’ve declared on more than one occasion that horses are the most stressful stress relievers on the planet, any horse related endeavor can often be a logistical nightmare! My relationship with my equine has taught me so much and caused me to reflect on myself and situations with new eyes. ( I say equine because if I left my mule, Smokey, out of my musings he’d be offended and surely retaliate in an inconvenient but not dangerous way, he can be petty sometimes!)
Mountain views scream the magnificence of God our Creator
When I go out to feed, check on, ride, or just smell my equine they could care less what I look like, or how I’m dressed. They spell love T-I-M-E and also maybe F-E-E-D (insert laughy face) but seriously, they don’t care what I look like, or smell like as long as I show up. It should go without saying that my relationship with God is the same way, He doesn’t care what I look like, how I smell, make up or no make up, messy bun or ball cap.
Lena poses for selfies and always goes with the flow!
When I climb through that fence and I spend time with my arms around one of my equine, listening to their snorting as they eat grass, their tails swishing and breathing in their smell, or I simply just sit in the pasture and be near them, watching them and observing their behavior I find myself relaxing, breathing more deeply, and experiencing a moment of peace. This is the same way I feel every time I am intentional to seek God, to spend time in His Word and allow His Word to correct with it’s truths the lies I’ve been deceived into believing, but unlike the pasture, long after I’ve gone on with the rest of my day, His word is hidden in my heart and His presence dwelling within me continues to guide and direct me.
Mo and Cricket are not nearly as impressed with Wesley’s antics
It is very often as I stand draped across or around one of the horses or riding at sunrise on a cool mountain morning that my soul sings in gratitude of the goodness of God. I specifically remember one morning ride in the mountains in Colorado while the sun began to rise and pierce through the last yellow leaves of the aspens to bathe the forest floor. As we quietly rode through the unbelievable beauty of God’s creation, tears streamed down my face and my soul seemed to hum a song in awe of God’s magnificence. Talking to the Lord while breathing in the aroma of horse (why is this not a candle) is a common occurrence for me. There’s something about the view from the saddle, or even the pasture that always shifts my gaze and my thoughts to the Lord.
Colorado morning mountain rides
Horse girls may have some defining characteristics, like hay in their hair, poop on their boots, being able to tack out by themselves and maybe seeming a little obsessed with our equine sometimes, but for me, God has used my love of horses(and mules) to show me things about His love for me and how much more peaceful and rooted I stand when I’m intentional about seeking Him, observing Him, and spending time in His Word and His presence.
Pedernales Falls, TX with Lena, Cricket and Skeeter and the kiddos
This Mother’s Day felt different than those that have come before. For the second year in a row I did not have all 3 kids together with me but while I missed my oldest terribly, it didn’t hurt as bad as it did the year before. As I reflected on my life and all of the things that have changed drastically over the last two years, one of the things that hasn’t changed is being mom.
I heard a lady once say that she understood the highest calling on her life was being a mother to the children the Lord blessed her with to raise and that she would not stoop to be the Queen of England if it got in the way of her fulfilling that calling. At that time, it was a soothing balm to my soul. I had heard another very successful, brilliant business woman call stay at home moms, especially ones with a degree, parasitic leaches on their husbands. I was just about to graduate from college with my undergraduate but had no plans on immediately entering the workforce as my husband and I had decided I would home school our kids. I took that lady’s comment hard. That was in 2010 and I can still hear her like it was yesterday, so the other woman’s God centered encouragement was a seed of truth planted in the soil of my faith at exactly the right time.
This is not to say that I have not struggled with needing or wanting to do other things that I was capable of doing while schooling and loving my kiddos. I started a business, volunteered on our Chamber Board and helped to serve our community, and had the blessing and honor of serving first as a volunteer and later on staff at our church directing youth. I went to graduate school and collected certificates for many other trainings. So many things, so many hats. Each of those seasons has changed as God has moved in our lives and challenged us to walk more deeply into new places and seasons with Him. I struggled heavily at first as many of the posts on this blog will affirm, I felt I had become untethered from so many of the things in my life that seemed to make me who I was rather than just things I did.
If you’re reading this and you’re a mom, chances are you are shaking your head because this is something you already knew, but sometimes I can be really slow on the uptake. While reflecting this Mother’s Day I realized that so many things about my life change and will continue to change as I follow the Lord, but one thing that will never change, because it is not a season, is being mom! It’s ok that “being mom” is part of my identity, I love being a mother! I have found an incredible blessing in this season of not having a ton of other hats to wear and getting to just be mom. I’ve discovered new things about my “kids” 20, 18 and 16 (not technically kids but ya know), I’ve discovered new recipes we love as we’ve had time to experiment in the kitchen together. We’ve learned to dance together, traveled more together, laughed more, cried more, and loved more together! We’ve learned to be more intentional with one another. Those nightly phone calls around dinner time that usually start with, “Hey Mama Bear, how do I cook (random favorite food), or what’s the recipe for…..” are music to my ears and make my heart swell with joy. I cherish our calls and time together better, especially that very intentional Mother’s Day one for just me! Even though we don’t live together anymore, I’m still mom, (or Mama Bear as the oldest calls me) and as the other two get older and eventually “fly the coop,” I’m going to be an absolute mess, but I’m still going to be mom! I still get to love them and speak words of encouragement and truth to them. I will always get to be Mom. aka Mama Bear, Ma, MUH- THER, Maaaahhhhhhhhm, MMMMAAAAHH, Mama Ray and random other variations from our bonus kids I’m privileged to get to love on beside their parents too!
At this point the world knows I have a 60 pound escape artist of a tortoise! He’s escaped at our home in Texas and he’s escaped at our home in Virginia. The first time he escaped it was completely my fault, I left the gates open! Future escapes have been because he’s strong, or major rain events have caused deterioration to his pen, or something on his pen broke or wore out like this last time. Sometimes it takes us a bit to figure out what we need to fix. As a result he’s now outfitted with a tracker!
There’s always tears and heartache when I lose Franklin. This time was no different. He was gone for 6 days and I cried every one of them. I searched every single day even in the rain knowing the weather was too cool in the evenings for him to go too far or move too much. He was ultimately found less than a half mile from the house by the sweetest girls who were just as elated at having found him an reunited him with us as we were that they found him and he was safe and sound.
I realized while taking steps to ensure we don’t have to go through this heartache again that there was something far more beautiful that has happened each time Frankie has been found.
In our community in Texas and in our community here in Virginia when the trumpet blast was sounded via social media, word of mouth, and text or phone calls, the community sprung into action to help us. When people you don’t know, have never met, and maybe never will, take the time to not only share your post, but to physically go out and walk the neighborhood, to message or comment words of encouragement and let you know they’re praying it ads dimension to the relief of finding Frankie. This is the beauty of community! God created us in His image which includes living in relationship and community together with Him but also with each other.
Finding Frankie in Texas and Virginia has come with its beauty and relief but seeing communities come together to support us in both of those places has been so much more beautiful. Honestly, we were longing for the same type of connection to our new community here in Virginia that we have in Texas. Finding Frankie helped us to see the beauty of this precious community and see with new eyes the joy of connecting to others in it.
I can only imagine what life was like in the early church in Acts chapter 2 as they daily met together and broke bread in their homes and shared their meals and “God added daily to their numbers those who were being saved!” Acts 2:47
Community, connection, unity is important, Paul writes about having the same mind in Philippians 2 loving one another and being united in spirit intent on one purpose. Specifically, he even noted to consider others interests as important as your own.
Our community considered my interests in Finding Frankie. They demonstrated love to us and we are so grateful to be a part of them, but also to see God’s word more clearly as we think about living in community and being united in one spirit intent on furthering the gospel.
This may mean sacrificing my time, my wants, my preferences so that someone else will come to know Jesus as Savior and King. As I reflect on how our community responded in love to help us find Frankie, I also reflect on God’s word and purpose for our lives and the tenacity with which he leaves the 99 to find the one lost (Matt 18 and Luke 15) and hope that we demonstrate that same zeal for sharing the gospel with the lost!
Have you ever walked around in the dark behind someone who had a flashlight but you didn’t? I remember this one time, in Texas of course, we were hog hunting. I can’t remember if Shaun and I were dating or had just gotten married but we were hog hunting with dogs with Shaun’s dad. I was new to hog hunting and had not run in and caught my first hog at that point. At that time I was the one who ran in after the dogs had caught and the guys had reached the hog and needed someone to pull the catch dogs off and secure them. Anyway, the bay dogs bayed in a pine thicket and we were fairly close, Shaun and his dad took off running with the catch dogs pausing to let them go as soon as they were close enough. You could hear the rally of hogs when they ran in. You could also hear the moment the catch dogs caught. I was not as brave, courageous, crazy at that time and didn’t run in as fast as the guys but I was headed that way. I was jogging in the pitch black of night without a flash light or a head light on my cap while hogs of various sizes were running out right past me and away! I remember being terrified but knowing I had to show up and do my part on our team. Depending on the size of the hog or if they had two separate hogs rather than one, they could use my help. I literally started saying out loud over and over, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” from Philippians 4 verse 13. Granted, I was taking it wildly out of context because I didn’t know any better at that time but in retrospect even then, in my belief I realized where strength and power came from. I realized that to go on in difficult or terrifying situations I would have to rely on God.
Fast forward 22 years, more hog hunts than I can count although now we don’t have any dogs to enjoy chasing around the woods and we do our night hunting with thermals, a whole other level of disorienting and not being able to decipher what you’re seeing with your naked eyes when switching back and forth for a while walking around. I was meeting the hubs for dinner, but needed to get diesel because I’m one of those people who likes to let it get dangerously low. In my defense the light had not even come on this time! Now that I’m in my forties I find it difficult to read things without my glasses, this is a fun little thing that is apparently gifted to you pretty much on your 40th birthday. Anyhow, I couldn’t really read the sign to tell how much diesel was from that distance but the closer I got the more clearly I could see it. I was reflecting on the fact that I can actually see long distances well and it is usually only reading and computer work I struggle with. Then I reminisced about hog hunting experiences when I didn’t have a light or a thermal and just trusted following along behind Shaun or Daddy (Shaun’s Dad).
I thought about how much that describes my faith, realizing that when Paul wrote that we “walk by faith and not by sight” in 2nd Corinthians 5:7 he was talking about believing in the gospel and works of God when we have not seen it as Jesus mentioned in John 20:29. The Old Testament Jews witnessed the power of God in mighty ways and many of the New Testament Jews and Gentiles, witnessed Jesus Himself. For me it’s always easier to trust something I’ve seen with my own eyes, but that’s not faith, you have indisputable proof and answers, you don’t have to have faith. To me, I do have indisputable proof of the truths of the Bible, both historical and experiential, but I don’t have all of the answers or understand everything, that’s why walking by faith is necessary.
Not having needed the therapy session of writing in a while I was able to dwell on what the Lord has brought me through and assured me of in this new season. If he had allowed me to see the big picture in fine detail like I can when I put my reading glasses on, I wouldn’t have learned as much, grown as much, tasted humble pie that I didn’t want to eat but definitely needed a piece of, and I wouldn’t be as grateful for the goodness and faithfulness of God as I am right now. As I drove towards those gas stations last night continuing to move forward but not knowing which one I was going to pull into until I could clearly see the prices, I thought that’s exactly what this last season looked like. We knew the direction we were supposed to walk obediently in but we couldn’t see the picture clearly. My focus is so much clearer now and God and an amazing group of Bible study ladies, have helped me to untether from needing to walk by sight and tether myself to walking by faith even when I can’t see clearly.
We joke sometimes in Bible study, especially when studying Revelation, when we struggle with something we are reading that we always just go back to the attributes of God and think about what we KNOW about his character revealed to us plainly in His word, and then think about how what we are struggling with aligns with His attributes and the metanarrative of the Bible. If it isn’t for our good and His glory and to win people to the Lord or help them walk in obedience then it’s stinking thinking. Walking in faith means I don’t always understand, but just like my relationship with my husband…and our dogs…I trust him, even when it’s scary, or I’m hurting, I walk forward in obedience, sometimes having to drag my feelings along behind me, and just as they are now, eventually the picture becomes clearer and more of God’s amazing character is revealed and my feelings align with my obedience. I see God continuing to work on me just as He promised! If I had seen it clearly in the beginning it wouldn’t have caused me to grow or stand more in awe and worship giving God the glory and trusting Him even more. I’m so grateful He’s not finished with me yet, even if moving forward isn’t always easy!
You Lead, I’ll Follow (If you know that Jamie Grace song, you’re welcome for it now being stuck on repeat in your head!)
With all of the end of the year banquets, and graduation announcements flooding the mail and social media it’s hard not to think about the high school graduates right now. This is true for us especially as our own daughter has just graduated and started her official first year as a full-time college sophomore, but also because we were the Directors of Students at Frist Baptist Grapeland and were with our oldest son’s group since they were freshman, actually 8th graders! OH the memories! Thirteen of them graduated and saw one season of their lives change into a new exciting, and for some, possibly a scary or intimidating season, just as Grace embarks on now. Shaun and I have an anchor verse that we generally write on personalized messages to them, Proverbs 3:5-6, it will be our text for today and it’s not only applicable to graduates in this new season, but to us as well and especially to me as I have shared about entering a new season of my life.
One of my very favorite things about Scripture is that Scripture Interprets Scripture. Scripture is internally consistent, other verses can help interpret other verses, we’ve even talked some about the “big ideas” or metanarratives, and themes throughout Scripture with loads of Scriptures that tie together to bring a full understanding of the theme or metanarrative. In both of these situations, the author is God, so there’s no room for human error of interpretation. Why am I saying all of this? The previous piece on “Hinds Feet” can help us to better understand today’s “direction of our path”!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
Whatever we go through in life, we are to trust in the Lord and not lean on our understanding and let God direct our path. What do we know about our understanding? It’s a tough pill to swallow, but
Proverbs 21:2 tells us “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.”
So what about our hearts?
Jeremiah 17:9 tells us “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”
BUT GOD! I’m SO thankful for his love and mercy, for loving us while we were still sinners(Rom 5:8) and sending his Son to reconcile us to himself through his atoning sacrifice and defeat of death (2 Corinth 5:18, 1John 2:2)! When we trust God with all of our heart and we acknowledge Him in all of our ways, HE directs our paths, He’s the captain of our ship, the trail guide, the pilot, the driver! Does that change the terrain? Does that mean there won’t be potholes, storms, turbulence, or sheer rocky cliffs? We learned previously that those are some of the exact places God has already equipped us with “hinds feet” to trod, that when we trust God and are in pursuit of Him and understand that He gives us “hinds feet” to handle the terrain HE sets us on, regardless of our circumstance, we don’t have to be fearful, and we aren’t alone because He is with us wherever we go! HOW COMFORTING IS THAT!? Isn’t it awesome how all of these Scriptures connect together to help us deepen our understanding of the love of God and how He in His divine wisdom which is incomparable (Psalm 40:5, Isa 46:5) to anything, has spared no details! As we traverse these next few days, weeks, years, and for some, a new season of life, let’s be sure that we are being intentional about untethering ourselves from our way, and trusting God and acknowledging Him to direct our paths!
Long time no type. Well, it hasn’t really been that long but much longer than normal. Why? I’ve been in a funk, not a writing funk, a “what do I do with myself funk”. It’s crazy how this happens and the things that seem to pull me out of them. Almost every time, it’s digging into God’s word, and connection. This time is no different. Gracie is finishing up 2 classes before she gets a spring break and starts two more. She’s taking a theology class and one of her assignments was to write an essay on a term associated with the doctrine of salvation. She was struggling a little to understand why defining terms such as adoption, conversion, regeneration, redemption, reconciliation, justification, election, sanctification, or glorification were important if you understood the big picture. We broke it down and began to talk it out anyway.
One of the things we practiced when the kids were younger before they started dual credit classes was what we called “fast writing story starts.” Sometimes we would take a random prompt and be given 30 minutes to write a story or part of a story that started with that prompt. Other times we did a 30 minute who, what, where, when, why on a particular person or event. I usually participated in these too and we read them out loud to each other afterwards. She chose the word justification, and we worked together to dig it out of Scripture and see at what point someone is justified in Christ.
As Grace rightly pointed out, justification isn’t a new concept, people have been justifying their actions for centuries, usually it’s when they have done something they weren’t supposed to do and they want to rationalize it to make the actions appear, right or justified, in right alignment with something……and cue fast writing story start on justification!
It is difficult to single out one aspect of the doctrine of salvation and analyze it’s relationship to sin and to a believer’s personal life. Perhaps one of the most interesting and visually appealing aspects of salvation is that of justification. A quick google search of the word justification reveals the definition to be “the action of showing something to be right or reasonable,” “good reason that something exists or has been done”, theologically speaking, “the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God,” or when typing a document, “the action of justifying a line of type or piece of text.” The last one paints the best picture although it’s difficult to understand since the word being defined is used in the definition. Simply put, justification is to put into right or correct alignment. Sin in the lives of humanity takes humans out of correct alignment with God the Father. Similar to beginning a paper with the heading in the center of the paper and then continuing to type the body of the paper while still aligned in the center. The body of a paper belongs on the left side of the paper and is out of alignment. When the left alignment or justification tab is selected the body of the paper is put into proper alignment.
Concerning salvation, the cause of our improper alignment is sin.
Romans 3:21-26, “21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Romans 3:21-26 NASB
Jesus is the “control “a” (select all) control “L” (left align or justify) buttons of our life! The only thing that will align us rightly is repentance, which includes expressing sorrow over sin, turning from sin, and turning to God and faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Both of the words Savior and Lord need unpacking as well however, we will stick with justification. A wage is given as payment for sin, according to Romans 6:23, this wage is spiritual death. When repentance and faith in Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for that sin occurs, Jesus pays with His death as the only worthy, sinless sacrifice and we are then justified (aligned rightly) with God the Father because of Jesus. He pays your tab!
Galatians 2:16 states, “16 nevertheless, knowing that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
Galatians 2:16 NASB
Humanity cannot align itself rightly with God the Father. Humans cannot work for their salvation. The only way to be justified is by faith in Jesus. Ephesians 2:8-9 reiterates this same theological concept that we are saved by faith through grace not of our own works.
As a believer, while I am now aligned rightly with the Father through Jesus and sealed with the deposit of the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14), I still am in need of sanctification, a process in which I become more and more like Christ throughout my life as a result of making decisions that reflect correct alignment with God. This means there are things I do and don’t participate in, things I do say and things I do not say regardless of where I am work, home, school, grocery store etc. as a result of my desire to follow Jesus’ teachings and become more Christ like. Sanctification is a process that will continue until my physical death or Jesus comes back as Philippians 1:6 indicates.
Justification is immediate when I repent and believe and occurs at the moment of Salvation “for if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10) It is at that moment a person becomes a believer and is put into correct alignment, justified, and righteous.
ANNNND TIME! I love how connection to and with others, especially studying the word of God together always aligns my thoughts rightly and untethers me from whatever funk I’m in! It’s almost as if we were created to live in relationship/community with one another (she typed sarcastically), because we were absolutely created this way!
Raychel Writes 