{#TellHisStory} Surrender

This idea of surrender keeps showing up in my life. While I embrace imperfection these first couple months of this new year, the words I read keep reminding me to give it {whatever it is changes depending on the moment} back to God. The songs I hear echo this message of me not being in charge.

God knows I need repetition. Perhaps that's why "No More Perfect Moms" {written for moms}, "You're Made for a God-sized Dream" {aimed to encourage women} and "Holey, Wholly, Holy" {a book about the Lenten journey} keep coming back to these messages for me: Surrendering is winning. Letting go is finding freedom. Knowing I can't do it all by myself in this moment or, really, ever, is being productive. Don't compare what's going on inside you to what you see on someone else's outside. We need to do what we can and trust God with the rest.

And then I keep hearing "White Flag" on the radio.

The battle rages on

A storm in temptest roar

We cannot win this fight

Inside our rebel hearts

We’re laying down our weapons now

We raise our white flags

We surrender all to you

All for you

We raise our white flag

The war is over

Love has come

Love has won

Here on this holy ground

You made a way for peace

Laying your body down

You took our rightful place

This freedom song is marching on

{"White Flag" by Chris Tomlin}

It's true. The battle is won. Love has come. If I could just grasp hold of that in the moments I feel like I'm battling 3-year-old independence, 5-year-old questions and negotiations, my own desires for perfection, simple miscommunications that prompt a snippy tone with my husband, weariness, and bad blood sugar days.

Instead of battling, I want to raise my white flag. And surrender to the One who really is in control.

"Grace overtakes a sin-wrecked life and makes us holy. I wrestled this grace to the ground and I'm thankful to say that because I lost, I won."

{Kris Camealy in "Holey, Wholly, Holy:
A Lenten Journey of Refinement}

I grew up knowing about the liturgical season of Lent. I started noticing God's pursuit of me when I sat in a pew toward the back of a Catholic church. My high school journalism teacher was also my Catholic church youth group leader. It was a season of me figuring out my life. I became a Christian and decided I wanted to be a writer the same year.

But it hasn't been until recent years that I've begun to really understand what a Lenten season is really even about. I haven't technically given up anything this year, but I feel like I'm giving up my heart in a new way. In a way that makes me slow down and surrender more.

"It occurred to me that perhaps what God calls us to give up, really, is ourselves. The paltry offerings we prefer to give up, while they feel challenging, are perhaps less pleasing because we fail to give up the one thing that stands between us and Christ. Ourselves. Only when we have given up our own ambitions and desires, from that death to self, can we be used to produce much for His kingdom."

{Kris Camealy in "Holey, Wholly, Holy"}

As a kid in the Catholic church, I missed knowing God is a personal God. That gap closed later because God is also a mighty God who works all things together for the good when we choose to love and follow him. But getting to the good and seeing the good can be hard in this broken world where we want to fight our own battles. It's when I try to battle for myself that I am reminded I need this personal savior of mine who already hung on a cross for me.

I loved hearing 1 Peter 4:12-13 from The Message in "Holey, Wholly, Holy": Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

Yes, glory is around the corner. Let's raise our white flags.
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SURPRISE! In the spirit of surrender, I want to give you something. Well, a few of you something. I going to give away the three books I mentioned earlier in the post. I ordered a copy of each of these three books specifically so I could give them to three of you.

{Learn more: "No More Perfect Moms," "You're Made for a God-sized Dream" and "Holey, Wholly, Holy"}

There are several ways to enter, which are outlined in the Rafflecopter below, but the one official entry is to tell me below which of these three books you'd most like to read. There are other tweeting and liking options for additional entries. Three winners will be selected randomly next Wednesday. God's got a story to tell, and we're part of it. I hope these books help you live out what God is calling you to do.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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I'm linking up with Jennifer Dukes Lee and other storytellers. #TellHisStory is a chance to tell a story that connects your story to God's story. Want more? Subscribe to get "Insights" in your inbox. Like 152 Insights on Facebook. Or follow me on Twitter. Disclosure: Those are affiliate links for the books and song. But I just bought the books this week for you so clearly I think they're worth it and the song is already in my iTunes playlist.