Breathe in.....

Whispers from the Heart of God


Day 3

“Breathe in and out, slow down, you do not need to rush.  I will help you, stay calm, be clear before you answer.  Be strong in your yes and OK with your no.  You do not have to be all to all.  Your convictions are carved on your heart.  You do not need to worry about forgetting who you are. 

Yes, you came from pain but it does not define you.  Today it reminds you that all things, all, work out for the good when you remember to call on me.  Focus on my face and you will taste, see and feel true freedom, even in the middle of what might appear to be slavery. 

No one owns you, follow my leading, and remember; I placed my spirit in you.  Trust your instincts but banish the judgment.  Eyes are watching you, I do not say that to guilt you but to remind you. 

You are a teacher, a leader and those following you will mimic what you do.  Choose wisely the path you practice and the road you take. Remember, more is caught then taught.  Your voice is powerful, but you will find your strength shining through when you choose silence as a form of communicating. 

The gift of influence has given this amazing ability to say much without saying anything. at all.  Your story continues to unfold as you find freedom to be yourself.  Do not compare your struggle and pain your past and your loss with others victory and gain, it will not add up and you will walk away defeated. 

Hurt, lost and left behind use to be your name but today you my child are healed set free and raised from the dead.  I have called you as one of mine to mark the way of the suffering.  Shed light in the darkness, bring hope to the hopeless and take the hand of the lost and lonely. 

Your gift of compassion comes from your own experience and knowledge of knowing what it was like to be on the fringes of this world.  Watching, waiting and wondering if you would ever fit in, this is why you are able to relate to those who are not asked to join, those over looked and those who are sent away. 

Go after my broken beautiful people, they are the treasures of this world and they are the reason you can believe in your purpose and my and my plan.  I will confound the wise when I use you to reach out to the least of these.  My people, my children, they will shine with redemption, restoration and recovery when they see that they to are loved healed and set free from all that has been done and all that they have done. 

Free, you are free!  No more hidden chains, no more invisible bars.  It is time for my people to walk away from the oppressors, life stealers, rules setters and robbers of redemption.  When I said “whoever” I meant, “whoever”!  Walk in freedom daughter and take everyone who wants to follow with you.  Love deeply, forgive often and do not forget to focus on my face.

Breathe in and out, you will always find me right by your side.

Love Your Creator

True Wealth.......

Greed causes fighting; trusting the LORD leads to prosperity. Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.
(Proverbs 28:25, 27 NLT)


Action steps:  Trust and Give

Make The Most Of Your Time...

 Day 2

Whispers from the Heart of God...

Make the most of your time, it is short, they will be gone soon.  Celebrate when they soar, it is because you let go well that they can fly.  Smile, speak gently, love deeply, they will take all three with them wherever they go. 

They will look back on their yester years and smile at all the marvelous memories you made with them.  Fire pits, the front porch, singing in public, 4^th of July, midnight snacks, snow days, the list will go on. 

You taught them how to be still, to know my voice, to love my people and to welcome strangers.

They will remember me, they know me well.  They are young but they are wise.  Continue to pray for them as they learn to grow in their faith and gifts.  Your letting go has allowed them to grow.  Continue to do so, you will not regret what might or will hurt your heart but the out come will be worth the pain.  I did well when I called you to be their mommy, so make the most of your time.

Love Your Creator

You Will Find Me In the Middle......

Day 1

Whispers From the Heart of God........

You will find me in the middle of the mundane.  Even though I am exciting, you do not need to create excitement.  I am all about the ordinary, the plain people who pretend to be more are actually, where I hide. 

I am a sweet surprise in the middle of your struggle.  You do not have to look far to find me.  Even if you cannot see me, I am still by your side.  Whisper my name, feel my strength.  I will give you all you need just stay focused on my face.  Walk where others refuse to go, talk to those others ignore. 

Be, just be with me and know that you are wonderfully and beautifully made in my image.  You have a mind to question, create and think big thoughts.  Come to me when you feel alone, I will remind you that you are not. 

I have given you a plan and a purpose, do not ever apologize for your calling, your sweet spot is how I created you to breath.  Look everyone in the eyes with confidence, I will give you wisdom and discernment to touch the soul far beyond any word could do. 

You are enough, be still in that knowledge, no more, no less, you are all you need to be, do not add, do not take away.  I love you just that way I made you.

Remember, you will find me in the middle of the mundane.

Love
Your Creator

Teeth!

Have you ever felt like the work you have been called to do is so small and so insignificant that it really does not matter?

It was about two years ago when I sent a text to a friend, it simply read, “please pray for teeth, would explain later.”  I had just spent sometime with my friend Tony who just happened to be a homeless man.  I asked him if he could have anything in that moment, what would it be and he replied with a toothless grin, “teeth.” I left our visit that day with a promise to pray for teeth.  He said that besides all the pain of the teeth going bad the thought of being looked at like someone less hurt him deeply.  He had no money for food let alone for dental care.  

I had never thought much about dental care for the down and out.  Sandwiches, sleeping bags and blankets were the obvious.  Nevertheless, the truth is, to help people get back on their feet they need help finding confidence.  A toothless smile as vulnerable and innocent as it can seem does not send the message of confidence to someone applying for a job, looking for housing or even in engaging in new friendships.

Here I am two years later, connecting with a local outreach program and the director shared with me there newest project.  In the corner of the facility, a two-room office, dental office that is for those in transition working the program, I almost started to cry.  “Of course Lord”, is all I thought.  I felt the tears welling up in my eyes as I thought about my prayer request in the form of a text, which seemed more like a decade ago.

Sometimes I feel like the work I have been called to do is so small and so insignificant.  However, days like these, when I continue to run the race set before me, I get glimpse into the greatness of God and watch how He truly does answer prayers.

Teeth, a simple but profound answer to my prayers, thank you Lord!

Cris

I was five years old when I believed the lie that I had no voice.  I was sitting in my bedroom, rocking on an old hobby horse, back and forth, the springs making an awful squeaking noise, I almost couldn't hear myself thinking, “I can’t wait until I am a grown up, so that I can be heard.” 

The conversation I heard in the other room going on between my mother and her friend made me realize how much I wanted to be heard.  But no voice, no value and no permission to speak up kept me under lock and key for another three decades.  I had become a product of my past and my pain a victim of neglect and abuse and without a voice, I had no way out.

Thirty years later, I found myself sitting in front of a counselor my head hung low, ridden with guilt and shame, my heart completely broken and my mind unable to put together a clear thought. 

A simple question broke me even more.  She wanted to know who I was. I sat in silence until the tears came uncontrollably down my face, I could not answer and I became angry.  She persisted in asking.  She wanted to know what I liked, where did I go to play, have fun and just be me.

Friends, little did I know back then that what she was doing was helping me find my voice.  A voice that had been buried, beat up and shut up for over three decades.  It was there, where I started to know my voice, understand my story and embrace my dream.

Our voice is more then what we say, it is a sum of who we are.  God has made us by nature, body, mind, heart and spirit, these four areas overlapping create our voice. 

4 Steps to finding your voice..

1.  What are you good at?  This is your mind.

2.  What do you love to do?  This is your heart.

3.  What need can you serve?  This is your body.

4.  What is God asking of you?  Your purpose.  This is your legacy.

God created all of us to have a voice, to live, learn, love and leave a legacy.  This is not for a select few.  Granted, sometimes it is much easier following the voice of the crowd or those trying to control us.  But, your gift to this world that God has entrusted you with is your voice.  I challenge you to ask, seek and knock.  You will find some amazing truths about the way God created you. 

I am good at empowering people.

I love to connect people into community.

I listen well so others can be heard.

I have been called to create a community of confident people.

This is my voice!

Cris

Head on Collision

I was a broken  women; my life was shattered in a million pieces.  In a bed, on my back in a dark dusty room crying out to God, “I don't want to die but I don't know how to live.”  It was in that very moment when my brokenness and surrender collided.  I had come to the end of myself and the beginning of my maker.  For the first time I could honesty say I heard the voice of God.  “It is finished,” whispered to my soul. Up until that moment, I had believed that Jesus was for you but not for me.  In that moment, my story and His story intersected and once again, a still quiet voice whispered, “ now I can use you.”

Cris

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The above writing is a  recent challenge, could testimony in under 150 words?  I finally took on the challenge and Head On Collision is what was birthed.  Amazing how less is really more.  This is the reason why I have hope!  We are called to be prepared at any time to share and not all of us are given a podium, platform or book deal.  But, standing in the grocery store line, on campus picking up kids or walking in your neighborhood you can do it.  This will prepare you to keep it simple, short and profound.  Please, if you feel led to try to write your story in under 150 words or less, send it my way, I would love to read your work and post your story for others to read.

Appreciation

Greetings from The Front Porch!


What have you grown to appreciate?  Something I have grown to appreciate, as I have gotten older are the pockets of peaceful moments that I have learned to weave into my ever so busy days.


As a women who wears many hats and fills many roles, I am aware of how easy it is for me to be caught up in the to do's of my day.


I have learned to be intentional with my time as I plan my being still and purposefully pausing in the moments to take in an extra breath of air through out my day.


Purposefully pausing and being still looks different for everyone.  For me it comes in the form of white space, margin in my day, breathing room for my body, soul and mind.  I make sure to take breaks from the busyness even when I am not tired.  I stop to smell the roses even when nothing sticks.  Lunch dates at the dinner table even when I am all alone.  These are simple but profound moments for  me as I choose to not let my day be dictated by my to do's.


I use to believe that I would get lost in my pause and forget how to be if I stopped.  However, to live is to understand the process of pressing into the pause and resting well in the moment.  True life is found in those still quiet moments of my day.


As I get older, I learn to rely less on what I do and more on who I am.  This is a lesson I wish I had learned in my 20's and 30's but it is never to late to educate.  I love to watch others who live a life of calmness, those relaxed souls who seem to be at peace in their moments and resting in their pauses.


I am a great advocate for the pause.  I study being still like scholars study books of the professions of yesterday.  I have learned to be OK just being me and as I grow older I become more confident in my moments of rest and pockets of peace.  I appreciate being still and the gift of living in the moment.  


What is it you have come to appreciate lately?


Cris