On Being Relevant

photo by Beth Kanter

It has been a year since I first heard about the Relevant conference. It was one of those events that you read about and your heart leaps, the kind of thing that just feels like a fit. I wanted to go. These were my kind of people. I waited eagerly for the information to be released on the 2011 dates, thinking perhaps by then my writing endeavors would be such that I could justify the expense of traveling from Texas to Pennsylvania.

My heart leap turned to a heart thud when the dates came out. The first day was our daughter's tenth birthday. After a moment of disappointment I let go and lived on. I really didn't think much about it after that. I understood it was not for me. Sometimes God makes things simple.

One day in September, a week or so after the fire, I was driving around town, doing errands and answering my children's questions about the changes in our community. In the midst of talking about the fire relief efforts, the word relevant came into my mind.

I thought of the conference, and the blogging friends who I knew were going, and almost immediately those faces were replaced by the faces of friends here who have lost so much. Again confirmation.

Relevant.

The word echoed in my brain.

Relevant means "pertaining to the matter at hand."  And I ask myself, what is the matter at hand in my life?

I love this, love that God knew long ago that where I was going to be relevant in late October 2011 was at home with my birthday girl.

At home where I could still go to our Homeschool Distribution Center. Where I could talk with friends who are fire survivors and continue to find ways to replace the books they lost, and just listen.

At home to pray with my husband as he makes important decisions.

At home to see my youngest ride a bike without training wheels for the first time....

... and be on the receiving end of this victory hug....

Being relevant means being present to the need for now. It means paying attention to where I am.

And living in the right-now means I don't make rules about the future. Maybe some day I will go to a blogging conference. Maybe not. If I am going to live a relevant life, I have to be open to what is most needful at that moment, when it comes.

Alas, I am not only not able to see into the future, but also am woefully inept at making decisions for right now, so I really only one have one option: to seek God constantly. To dwell in His presence.

Only by living in His will can I ever be truly relevant.

Abiding in Crisis (via Do Not Depart)

Sunday afternoon. We had kissed my husband goodbye after church as he headed off on a trip. Feeling in need of a lift, I told the kids we’d swing by the store for pizza and ice cream, and watch a movie that night.

Our van loaded down with frozen groceries, we headed up piney Highway 21, the road that made me fall in love with our area when we were looking to move from the city. At a stop light, we noticed a large column of smoke.

“Mama, is that near our house?”

“Oh no, no, that is west of us. We live that way,” and I pointed ahead to the right.

We drove on and the road began to curve to the left. How could I have forgotten this part of the road?

We continued to curve, until straight ahead of us, right between the pines towering on left and right, a ferocious column of smoke billowed high in the air. The road was taking us straight toward the fire...

A few weeks ago I wrote a little about our experience during the fire at Do Not Depart. And silly me, I neglected to tell you friends here about it. Won't you come over and read for a spell?...

photo by Patti Brown

A Busy Mama Really Can Dwell in God's Presence

 Piles.  Everywhere.

Dish towers on the counter waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher.  Color-coded hills of dirty clothes awaiting their turn in the washing machine.  Wobbly school book towers on the table waiting for young hands to turn their pages.  Paper, paper, paper.

Everywhere more to do, an endless landscape of piles to be leveled.

The to-do list grows.

And the noise!  Chatter of newly learned history facts.  Fussing about who did what, when and why.  Requests for help.  Playing, singing, doors slamming, thudding feet, dogs barking, roosters crowing... so. much. noise!

Dwelling in God's presence, here?

Do you live in a real family like I do?  I'm guessing that, like me, you do not live the life of a contemplative, but are surrounded by people and sound and stuff.  Yet in the midst of the swirl of life, you and I really can dwell in the presence of our holy God!

The fact is, we live our lives in His presence, but we often forget.

Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.  Luke 17:21

I stand in my house and look at all those piles and hear all that racket and I have a choice.  I can let my mind walk down the road of panic and being overwhelmed, or I can choose to take captive wayward thoughts and walk into His presence.

How can I dwell in God's presence and still be a part of real life?

There are many practices that can draw us into His presence.  Some are simple, others for when we have more time of quiet.


1) Prayer

Perhaps you choose to get up early and pray in the wee dark hours.  But it may not be the season of your life to do this.  The bible reminds us to:

Pray without ceasing.  1 Thessalonians 5:17

Throughout your day, you can keep a running conversation with God.  Worship, confession, thanksgiving, requests, all blend together when you think of it as a conversation.  Just as your conversations with your best friend weave in and out, your conversations with God will have many facets.


2) Scripture

In a conversation, two people talk.  So how do we hear from God?  Through His Word!  Jesus said:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.  John 14:26

Read your bible every day.  Put scriptures that speak to your heart around your home.  A great place to put them is right in front of the kitchen sink - you probably spend a lot of time there!  Listen to music with lyrics from scripture.  Make it a habit to memorize scripture that speaks into your life (yes, mamas, scripture memorization isn't just for your kids!).

I can't count the number of times I have been praying and upset, and a scripture perfect for the situation has come to mind.  It is such a blessing.


3) Singing

Listening to scripture-based music not only allows God's Word to settle into your bones, singing it is a joyful way to pray, and bring you into His presence.

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your heart to God.  Colossians 3:16

And your kids will love having a happy singing mama!


4) Our minds

What we think determines how we act.  Are you prone to stinkin' thinkin'?  God knows how much our minds are a battleground and there are many scriptures that address this topic.  Perhaps the most basic was said by Jesus:

And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."  Matthew 22:37

I find myself often remembering this scripture:

...we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  2 Corinthians 10:5

A way to think about this is like a four year old knight-superhero-cowboy-wannabe might (I think I've mentioned I live with one)... lasso those varmints and hand them over to the authorities!   When you start noticing stinkin' thinkin' you might picture yourself literally grabbing those thoughts and giving them to Jesus to deal with.

Other scriptures about the mind include, Romans 8:6, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 2:16


5) Our actions (obedience!)

It's simple.  Jesus said if we do what He said to do, we will remain in His love.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.  John 15:10

In Psalm 15:1-5 David asks "...who may dwell on Your holy hill?"  The answer is a description of a what a godly man does and does not do.

Choosing to be obedient does not make us more loved by God; it blesses us and grows us in joy.  It strengthens our trust in Him, which deepens our relationship.  We more easily are drawn into His presence.

We have a choice.  

We can dwell in His presence, ignore His presence, or actively turn away from Him. 

He's there no matter what we choose.

Do you long to dwell in His presence throughout your day?  What will you do to grow your awareness of His constant presence this week?

How a night owl became an early bird

I have never been a morning person.  My school days with their 7:15 bus pick up were torture.

As I got older I acquainted myself with caffeine.  When coffee proved to be devastating to my internal organs, I switched to tea.  Something had to get me through the day after burning the 2:00 am oil!

This habit became entrenched when, as a young mom with frequent nighttime nursers, I got used to spending the beginning of each morning in bed.  I enjoyed snuggling and playing with my little ones at the start of the day, but breakfast at 9:00 was just too late for everyone.  When our oldest reached school age I knew it was time to get the breakfast plan under control.  But I still never rose before dawn.

Over the years I had awakened early at one time or another, but never with any consistency.  About a year ago, I spent some time with a cousin who rises at 5:30 each morning.  Her family was very organized and her life seemed to flow effortlessly.  But 5:30?!  I decided to try.

It was hard at first but fruitful.  The problem?  I still could not seem to go to bed early.  I would become more and more exhausted, and eventually the whole schedule would implode.

Last August I began writing again regularly.  It was a good thing for me, but I was very concerned that it not detract in any way from the life of my family.

In September, I read that Kat from Inspired to Action was teaming up with Michelle from So I Married A Mennonite to challenge moms to be intentional about their morning time.  With great trepidation, I decided to join the challenge starting October 1.  I did okay with it, but it wasn't until I re-committed in November and joined the twitter accountability group that I began to see real change.

I was going to bed earlier and getting up earlier.  Months of waking in the dark grew a passion in me for those still early hours.  I lingered over my bible and in my prayer time.  No need to rush!

I decided to use that early time for writing as well, but found that because I did not want to feel hurried in my prayer and study, I needed to set my internal clock back a bit more.

Would you believe that my wake-up time is now 4:00 am?  And yes, this means a much much earlier bed time.  It is a rare night indeed that I am still awake at 10:00 pm.

It is truly a miracle that this chronic night owl is now such an early bird.  I joyfully anticipate the wee morning hours.  The fruit of my quiet time in the dark is greater peace in the light.  I am so grateful!

photo credit Michael Connors