When the silence makes me want to quit...

Silence...
And then you hear the soft chirping of crickets...

Can you hear them?

They use that noise on cartoons and television shows alike to convey that no one is really listening...

Or that someone just delved into a conversation killer.

Have you been there?

That awkward moment when you wonder why you were talking in the first place?

There are days when writing feels like that. I wonder why in the world am I doing this?!

And then God whispers,

"You are part of my story and I am asking you to share it."

This week I'm sharing over with the Bibledude.net crew again.

Will you join me as I share a little of what God has taught me about why our story matters?

Write on Dear Writers... Write On! <--Click here to read on

Whether you are a writer, mama, grandpa, pastor, coffee addict, former alcoholic, sinner extraordinaire, or quiet introvert...

God has given you an amazing story of grace and grit to share.

 The question is will you?

What's stopping you from sharing your story and how can I pray for you today?




Joining Inspire Me Mondays

Prayers and a story unfinished...

As I write this today I have tears wetting the corners of my eyes. Even though laughter echoes through my home as dainty little feet pitter-patter around and precious sing song voices call for a fashion show bounce off the walls and into my heart.

Two little munchkins twirl by in a swish of tulle and lace in their dress-up gowns of blue and pink… 

They are little moments of sunshine on this grey, wet, and rainy day.

But I know as this unfolds here that my dear sweet sister in Christ is holding her Daddy’s hand.

She along with her mother and sister are bravely making big, hard, heart wrenching decisions as her Daddy’s life hangs in the balance.

As the sounds echo in the hospital room, as she sits, stands, and paces weary from the mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion.

While she walks the halls of the hospital with questions fraying the edges of her mind and she stretches her tired frame from the many days of riding a roller coaster that no one intends to buy a ticket for. One filled with hospitals moves and surgical procedures, hopeful moments and scary ones too…

I ask and plead for you to pray for them. I ask for you to pray for her sweet Father for healing.

 If you met him my friends, I am sure you would adore him too.

My poor words cannot do justice to his quiet, friendly, and easy going nature. A nature which takes great joy in discovering the items others have tossed out, and deemed worthless. He would then work tenaciously to restore these objects, giving them renewed purpose and life again.

A beautiful reflection of how our Heavenly Father works in our lives daily.

And so as I hear the voices of her sweet girls playing with mine filter like rays of sunlight through my home…

 I ask that you would hold her, her sweet Daddy, and their family in your prayers as the sounds of hushed voices, machines, and beeps echo in their ears.

Today as my mom put it,

“God is all powerful. If God wants him now we cannot stand in His way...”

We will be praying.

God will let us know whether it is time for him to go home to his beautiful place in heaven or whether her  sweet Daddy is to bless us with his presence by remaining here for some time to come.

Please pray my friends.

Will you join me?

James 5:13-15a

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.

Phillipians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God Speaks Through Play Dough Hearts

More Lessons Learned from SYMC

For all who are struggling. 

Psalm 13

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?

    How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.

    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”

    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;

    my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing the Lord’s praise,

    for he has been good to me.

In the darkness, with only the stage lights filtering between the seats, I fumbled for the small container of play dough that the speaker, Jason Ostrander, assured us would be there.

“Where are you at with God? If you were to mold the play dough into a symbol of where you are at in life right now, what would it look like? Take some time and let God speak to you on this...”

So there I sat in the darkness of the conference session. Squishing the soft malleable substance in my hands...

I settled in, quieted my mind, and listened to the speakers...

Before long I had made my first sculpture.

This was how I have felt this last year.

Like Jesus and His cross had broken my heart wide open so that it was spilling out...

It symbolized a year of Jesus turning my world upside down. 

Then, John Stumbo began sharing about a vision God had given him.

After a year of pain and agony due to a debilitating and unexplained illness, God revealed this vision to him...

He saw the clay formed and molded still spinning wet on the potters wheel...

Then He saw the potters hands reach down and crush the pot back down into a lump on the wheel, only to begin to mold it again.

God? Are you starting over with me?

God whispered back,

“This heart cracked open and bleeding? It's not the complete picture. I have a better design.”

So reluctantly, I squished the hot pink play dough I had so carefully constructed back into an ugly lump and waited with one question on my breath...

What is it You want to show me, Father?

Slowly, in the quiet, the Lord prodded me to place this silly misshapen ball of play dough into my left hand and to close my right hand over it.

I waited there with my hands closed around the dough in prayer...

I felt the dough in my hands begin to grow warm, molding into the spaces and crevices of my palms.

His voice came into my thoughts,

“I am Holding you my dear child.

I am holding you.

My veins my finger prints, my wounds are impressed upon you...

Just stay here, while I hold you.”

Warm salty tears began to fall as His words sank in.

“I love you, I am not done with you my child. Open your hands and see.”

I was fascinated by what I saw.

There in my hands was a heart, but not like the one I had molded earlier. The one we have so commercialized on cards, posters, t-shirts...

This looked more like a real heart.

He whispered,

“You see I am not done with you yet.

This represents my heart. A real beating heart for a life that is not over yet.

A life that needs to be lived now.

This is My design. So much more complex and amazing.

The blood flows out, but it also constantly being fed again. It continues to beat and flow, beat and flow,
 bringing LIFE to the rest of the body."

I looked at the play dough heart...the crevices and lines of my palms had created veins that are pathways of life.

"My ways are not yours my daughter...My ways are not yours, but I am not done with recreating you yet.

I took your heart that was broken for Me and have given you Mine instead.”

Are you there friends?

Are you unsure of the path that the Lord has been taking you on?

Have you surrendered your heart to His amazing and capable hands?

My goal is that you may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that you may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that you may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2-3

To hear John Stumbo's amazing story you can click here.

John Stumbo: The Deeper Life in Jesus

part 1 ,  part 2 , part 3 , part 4

Need some praise time?

The heartbeat of my life is to worship in Your light...

Thought Provoking Thursday