Writer's block
I've got quite a case of it this week and would love some help.
What's one thing you'd like me to write a post about?
p.s. Miss you!
I've got quite a case of it this week and would love some help.
What's one thing you'd like me to write a post about?
p.s. Miss you!
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
Congratulations to Katie for winning the journal giveaway! She'll get to choose any journal she wants from DaySpring.com. And all of you can get 20% off with my friends and family discount (holley20). I love these journals and helped create many of them! Click here to see the whole collection.
We're getting close to the end of the Joy challenge (I know--it's been a lot longer than just forty consecutive days!) and I've learned some things along the way...
Joy is a choice - I don't think there's been one day I've woken up and said, "Woo-hoo! Joy!" I think joy is a bit like exercise. You put your heart in motion and head that direction then God gets the rest of you up to speed.
Joy is everywhere - Once I started looking, I discovered joy was all around me. It still is. I'll admit some days I get bogged down and don't choose to focus on it. But when I do, it's always there.
Joy is a glimpse of heaven - In those moments when joy is incredibly real, I always find myself longing for heaven. I think joy reminds us we were made for more than this, more than here and now.
Joy is a Person - For some reason we tend to think of Jesus as really serious. But he's joy itself. And I've discovered when I truly feel joy, I feel his presence in those moments too.
Your turn! Just fill in the blank. Joy is...
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
photo by Dawn at My Home Sweet Home Online
God,
Thank you for the one who is reading these words right now.
I'm so glad that wherever she is, you are there too.
Today I ask that you would bring her JOY--
the kind that comes from deep inside
and stays despite our circumstances.
You know what's on her heart today,
those worries that keep coming back.
Lift the burdens from her shoulders,
carry them for her...and please carry her too.
I also pray that you would bring her HOPE--
the kind that is so much bigger than blue skies,
the sort of hope that sees us through the storms
and walks us into the light of a better, brighter day.
If her belief is sagging or her spirit weary
give her strength to press on to all you have for her.
And, most of all, I pray for LOVE in her her life--
the kind that is unconditional, real, healing
and gives us the courage to become
all you made us to be because we know
we're deeply loved just as we are now.
Please let her feel your Presence and these prayers
with her right now, in this moment.
Thank you for being with her always as you promised.
Amen.
What's one way we can specifically pray for you today? Let us know by leaving a comment here and on the prayer page of (in)courage...
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
Family comes and I quietly slip away from the computer for a few days. We wander together, laughing, enjoying autumn and each other.
Day One we visit the War Eagle craft fair. Nestled next to a working mill, people bring the work of their hands...
Day Two we find more fairs and I'm captivated by this pumpkin (which remained there) and the glorious mums above (which I'm looking at again outside my window)...
Day Three we hike high up into the woods and fall wraps her arms around us.
"Hush, hush," she says to my hurried heart. "Be still and remember the One who made me...and you."
We start at these steps...
Walk through the quiet woods...
And climb all the way to the top of the mountain...
Then we turn, head home, full of beauty, out of breath but breathing new life.
So I sit here once more, renewed, missing my family and happy to be with you--my heart a jumble of joy and longing.
Where does your family live (near or far)? What do you like to do when you're together?
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
Earlier today I read this post by beautiful Ann Voskamp and in the last line she asked if we might like to write about how we slow down.
I nodded at the time, thinking this was a good idea.
Ten hours, two meals, a trip to the store, 30 minutes on the exercise bike, a round of mopping, three assignments, 50 or so e-mails, an hour-long phone call, three loads of laundry, a date with my husband, and a batch of homemade pumpkin muffins later I am finally here to write.
I laugh at myself as I read that list because compared to others, today was a quiet one.
My name is Holley and I've got a problem with "busy."
You too? Pull up a chair...
A glance at my book shelf reveals how hard it is for me to slow down. I took a quick look at it and found five books on this topic.
One that has deeply impacted me is Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald.
I read it two summers ago on my back porch in the shade of an umbrella. I will never forget the paragraph below.
He had just been describing sinkholes in Florida that suddenly appear in places that seemed to be sturdy on the surface...
"If we think about it for very long, we may discover the existence of an inner space--our private world--about which we were formerly ignorant. I hope it will become apparent that, if neglected, this private world will not sustain the weight of events and stresses that press upon us."
I was in the middle of grad school that summer, burned-out, weary, and wondering how much longer I could keep going. That book caught my attention and reminded me that although I might think I could sustain this pace forever, it would eventually undo me.
More recently I read the book, Halfway to Each Other: How a Year in Italy Brought Us Home by Susan Pohlman.
Finding themselves on the brink of divorce and drained dry by "the good life" Unlike many other books where suffering is the way back to God, the Pohlmans find Him again in slowing down and enjoying each other.
In one place Susan writes...
"We found ourselves with large chunks of time with nothing attached to them. At first, it felt odd. Some days I would even feel guilty, like I wasn't accomplishing anything. That I was wasting the day. But that phase passed quickly when I realized that I was actually accomplishing all sorts of important things. They just weren't tangible."
The other books on my shelf contain similar sentiments. In case you're wondering, they are Soul Space: Where God Breaks In by Jerome Daley, Running on Empty by Fil Anderson, and Resting Place: A Personal Guide to Spiritual Retreats by Jane Rubietta). I've heard Ann Kroeker's new book, Not So Fast: Slow Down Solutions for Busy Families is also excellent.
As I think about this, I realize I'm much Like a child who hasn't learned to use the brakes on her bike all that well. I need someone else to come alongside me and help me ease my pace.
And yet when we do slow down, joy has a chance to catch up with us.
I'm thankful God has put others in my path who do know how to go slower--like Ann Voskamp, Gordon MacDonald, Susan Pohlman--as well as friends and family who love me enough to warn me when I'm approaching the speed limit of my soul.
And, of course, the ultimate voice is the One whispering within us, "Be still and know I am God."
He loves us in all of our hurry and yet never stops wooing our hearts back to where we belong.
And He knows even if we're not completely there yet we're making progress...slowly.
Do any of you find it hard to slow down at times or is it just me?
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
I dust, straighten, vacuum like a mad woman. We have guests coming this week and I've got a house to clean.
I stop, review my work, think it might actually be coming together...and then I think about it—the closet.
Yep, that's it over there on the right. I can't believe I'm posting a picture of it on the web because, y'all, in real life nobody opens that door.
And if they do, they might not ever come back out. I'm just saying.
I hope you have one of these in your house. If you don't you must promise now not to judge—yes, you with the cute baskets and matching labels.
I worked my little tail off cleaning the house today and yet it still didn't feel like enough.
It might appear that way on the surface but in my heart of hearts I knew what was still behind closed doors.
My husband came home to me anxiously scrubbing while I muttered incoherent sentences comparing myself to more domestically-inclined women.
He pulled me close, kissed the top of my head, and said, "Don't worry."
And all at once it wasn't just closets we were talking about.
It was my messy, crazy, shut-the-door life.
Because I clean my heart a lot like I clean my house. I scrub and scrub until the outside is okay. After all, someone is sure to be looking soon.
But deep inside I know there are still those closets...the thoughts I should stop thinking, the quirks I wish I didn't have, the junk I need to haul to the curb for good.
And even when I'm doing okay my heart can't rest because it's never good enough.
Then my Heavenly Father pulls my heart close, gets inside my head, and whispers, "Don't worry."
Love covers all wrongs. Proverbs 10:12 NIV
It's not that the closets in our lives don't matter. It's just that other things matter more—like relationships, growth, becoming.
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 NIV
In other words, there will always be more closets to clean—in our houses and our hearts.
And this is where the joy comes...
Grace is enough.
The One who sees behind all those doors truly, deeply loves us anyway.
(hopefully our house guests will too!)
So, girls, confession time...anyone else got a closet like mine?
I'm deliberately finding joy for 40 days. To start from day one click here.
A few of the posts that brought me joy this week...
The Beauty of Whitespace by Bonnie at Faith Barista
Blogging Under Pressure: A Roots Movement by Amber at The Run-a-Muck
Make a Decision to Love: Educate Yourself by Molly Piper
Fast Time. Slow Time. by Songbird from Shadows
I Love My Life by Especially Heather
And beauty worth a thousand words...
Wander, read, enjoy, leave kind comments on their pages...
One of my favorite books is John Ortberg’s, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. It’s built around the story of Peter walking on the water.
Imagine for a moment what it must have been like for Peter to step out onto the waves in pitch darkness with a storm howling around him.
Ortberg says, “The water is rough. The waves are high. The wind is strong. There’s a storm out there. And if you get out of the boat—whatever your boat might happen to be—there’s a good chance you might sink. But if you don’t get out of the boat, there’s a guaranteed certainty that you will never walk on the water.”
When life gets difficult we all have a tendency to hunker down and take fewer risks. We shift our focus to preventing further loss, guarding what we value, and maintaining the status quo.
But then along comes Jesus at the most inconvenient time and He asks us to take a leap of faith we never expected—especially not right now.
In those moments, we have an opportunity to walk on water but doing so requires stepping outside of our comfort zones. Ortberg says, “Your boat is whatever represents safety and security to you apart from God Himself. Your boat is whatever you are tempted to put your trust in, especially when life gets a little stormy.”
In the biblical story, Peter decides to take the risk. We usually stop just after that when Peter begins to sink and Jesus reaches out his hand to save him. But I’m fascinated by what happens after this. The next verse says, “When they climbed into the boat, the wind died down” (Matthew 14:32).
Have you considered what that verse is saying between the lines? Peter got to walk on the water with Jesus all the way back to the boat! And when they made it, the storm subsided.
Jesus may be asking you to step out of the boat in some area of your life today. You look around you and think, “Not now, Lord! Wait until things settle down!” We’re not sure about walking on water in general, but if we’re going to do it we’d much rather have the lake as smooth as glass and not even a breeze blowing.
But if you dare to take that step of faith despite your fear, it may be the very thing that brings you closer to Jesus, lets you experience more than you ever imagined with Him, and perhaps even leads you to the moment when the storm finally subsides.
from Rain on Me: Devotions of Hope and Encouragement for Difficult Times
Does it feel like Jesus is asking you or someone you care about to take a step of faith with Him? If so, leave a comment and I will pray for you (I'd appreciate your prayers too).
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one, click here.
Congratulations to The Gypsy Mama for winning the Giving Thanks hurricane set! If you still want one, you can use my friends and family code for 20% off (holley20). Just click here.
The Giving Thanks hurricane set has a special place in my heart because it was one of the last things created by a DaySpring artist, Laurel Vandiver. She bravely fought a battle with cancer and slipped into the arms of Jesus earlier this year.
You would have liked Laurel. A single woman, she made our community her family and used her time to pour into the lives of others. Her calligraphy and carving brought beauty to many. While not at work, she volunteered at a local ministry that helped children in need learn to ride horses.
Laurel traveled on mission trips to other continents--even all the way to Africa in her sixties! She painted a mural there that will stay as a testimony to the God she loved deeply and served faithfully.
Remembering Laurel today brings me joy and sharing one of her final creations with you does too. This Giving Thanks hurricane set is so fitting because there are many who continue to give thanks for the life of this wonderful woman who blessed us all.
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Today just share about someone who brings you joy. I'm having giveaways for people who comment or subscribe during the forty days I write about joy. And you never know when it could be you...
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