A Special Rest

I love the change of seasons as I look forward to the change in scenery, each bringing a beauty all their own. The same trees, out back in our yard, bring an awareness and an awe all their own.

I never tire of the orange, red, and yellow hues of fall. Then the branches, devoid of any leaves, hold the splash of white as the snow falls, reflecting the brilliance of the sun. They change once more as little bursts of pale green and red buds peek through the tips, eventually giving way to full out green when the leaves fill in again. Every year I marvel at the varied shades of green.

Only our God, infinite in His creativity, could design seasons which would help us also manage the seasons of our lives:

• Fall. This season often reminds me of a fresh start, beginnings, perhaps because it brings a new school year. The smells of crisp leaves, the first fires, pumpkin candles, and apple pies bring a comfort all their own which is both familiar and unique. The season of harvest reminds us to be thankful for all that He has done in our lives.
• Winter. There is a reverence and peace which comes with the first snowfall. No matter how many snowfalls I have now experienced, each reminds me that I have been made whiter than snow.
• Spring. The season of growth. All that has been dormant, lying under the surface, begins to come to life and grow once anew. Spring brings a hope – of greater growth and production. It encourages us to get back out there in the arena of life and enjoy all that is before us.
• Summer ...

The season we are currently enjoying. The season of rest. These are the months we long for throughout the year. We desire the break from our busy schedules and routines which dictate our days. It’s the season of rest. I have found myself asking the question, “What is rest?” More so, what does God want us to do in resting?

“Rest” can mean a physical settling down of something at a particular place. “To rest” sometimes indicates a complete envelopment and thus permeation (both definitions come from Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary). To rest should then mean a period of mental or spiritual calm, a relief or freedom from that which pressures us each day.

The messages are heard all around us. You know, the ones which keep pushing us to achieve more and work harder. “Do it now.” “Work hard!” “You’ll never get ahead unless you do more!” “Don’t stop.”

We need to close the lids of our laptops. Lay those cell phones down. And take a rest.

God knew the earth needed the season of summer in order to rest. {Tweet that.} How much more do His people need this same season? Listen to what He says:

“So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest.” {Hebrews 4:9-11, NLT}

God Himself worked hard yet He knew to take a rest. We need to do the same. But notice, we are exhorted to “do our best to enter that rest.” It strikes me funny that we need to work at resting or we will not rest at all. As we rest and our minds are calm, we are better able to focus on Him, gaining renewed perspective. Our hearts are softened, malleable to His touch. Remember the definition of “rest”? We become completely enveloped and thus permeated by His Spirit.

Enjoy these days of summer. Relax with family and friends. Laugh. Play games.

This special rest.

It is the most productive thing we can do this summer. {Tweet that.}
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Joanne Viola is a wife, mom to now adult children, and “Mimi” to two granddaughters. She began blogging so that her family would always know her thoughts as she processed through the journey of life. She is the director of partner care for The Lulu Tree, a non-profit serving women and children both in Uganda and Sierra Leone. You can find her on her blog, Days & Thoughts, or on Facebook and Twitter.
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An InLinkz Link-up

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#ThreeWordWednesday has been full of guest posting goodness this summer, so be sure to read any posts you may have missed. 

Susan Shipe shared about summertime fun. Melody Hester offered advice for navigating new seasons. Tiffany Parry shared about the joy that comes with freedom. Alecia Simersky talked about rejoicing in the day God has made, even with the day involves hard changes. Lyli Dunbar offered lessons on surviving summer storms. 

You can also download The Summer Not-To-Do List I made for you, if you haven't already, and find some book recommendations among the books I've read {so far} this year. 

Surviving Summer Showers

The internet is full of good people, and Lyli Dunbar is one of them. I'm not entirely sure where we first crossed paths, but I'm glad we did. She's the kind of person who asks how to pray and then follows up with encouragement. On the blog today, Lyli is sharing what being a lifelong Florida girl has taught her about surviving storms, both the natural kind and the literal kind. 

I am a Florida girl. I live in the land of perpetual summer where flip flops are the uniform year round.
In June, however, we do experience a bizarre weather phenomenon that I like to call the 3 p.m. shower. Almost every day at 2:30 or so, I will look out the window and see a gradual shift in the atmosphere. Dark clouds roll in and cover the pretty blue skies like a blanket, and the wind starts howling through the trees. Everything changes.

I’ve lived in the Sunshine State since I was 5 years old, but this always catches me by surprise. Honestly, I am not a fan of the rain. I know that the green blades of grass need the water like a baby needs milk, but I hate having to pull out my umbrella.

I was lamenting the stormy weather one afternoon at work when my co-worker Lorene, who is a living ray of sunshine, shared she doesn’t mind the rain one bit.

“Every summer, I tell the Lord that I am okay with the daily rain showers. Just don’t send a hurricane.” We haven’t put up our storm shutters in more than a decade, and her comment woke me up and reminded me that I really shouldn’t complain about a sprinkle because God is mercifully sparing me from an onslaught.

Yes, summer is cannon balls in the pool, popsicle smiles, and bare feet in the sand. I just got back from spending three days at the beach with my husband, and my heart is bursting with happiness. But, before we left, the transmission blew out on his car and rained on my parade.

God is teaching me that I always need to pack an umbrella. Rain will come. I must expect it, even on sunny summer days.

Thankfully, I don’t need to fear that the sky is falling because He is sheltering me from the storm. The umbrella of His favor never leaves me.

Maybe like me, you are facing a little wind and rain right now. How do we keep smiling when the weather is suddenly dark and gloomy?

Three Survival Tips for Summer Showers

1. Keep pressing in: Stormy days remind us that we can’t do today without leaning into God’s strength. Let Him renew you.

“Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; His going out is sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth” (Hosea 6:3, ESV).

2. Stay prayed up: Don’t get distracted by the weather. The enemy of our souls loves to get us moody, mad, and miserable. Combat the blues by getting on your knees regularly.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth” (James 5:16-17).

3. Offer up your heart: Let the rain soak into your broken places and soften you to the needs around you, rather than hardening your heart.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:43-45).

It takes both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow. {Tweet that.} Summer showers will bring growth and refresh our souls if we surrender our expectations and trust that God’s timing is perfect.
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Lyli Dunbar enjoys road trips with her husband, connecting with women through Bible study, and reading way too many books. She shares how everyday experiences help flesh out her faith at 3-D Lessons for Life. A disciple, wife, educator, and mentor, Lyli is just a girl working to keep the faith day by day. She serves as Social Media Manager for Missional Women and is a contributor at Start Marriage Right and Daily Devo. You can also connect with Lyli on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.
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An InLinkz Link-up

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#ThreeWordWednesday has been full of guest posting goodness this summer, so be sure to read any posts you may have missed. 

Susan Shipe shared about summertime fun. Melody Hester offered advice for navigating new seasons. Tiffany Parry shared about the joy that comes with freedom. Alecia Simersky talked about rejoicing in the day God has made, even with the day involves hard changes. 

You can also download The Summer Not-To-Do List I made for you, if you haven't already, and find some book recommendations among the books I've read {so far} this year. 

Embracing this day

I'm glad to welcome Alecia Simersky to the blog today as we continue talking about embracing change this summer. Alecia and I connected through the God-sized Dream Team when we helped with Holley Gerth's book launch. She has since become of the executive editor of the God-sized Dream website for which I'm a contributing writer. 

Oh, how I’ve enjoyed reading the previous guest posts Kristin has welcome to her site this summer on change. Like many of them, I don’t enjoy change. When change comes a knocking on the door of life I go into full resistance mode. I’m always telling myself, “Alecia, put on your big-girl panties and move on!”

I’m in a season of change. And change is not something I do well. I’m more comfortable with sameness – I like routine, I like to know what to expect.

Years ago, when my son began kindergarten, I felt devastated inside. I knew once he started school the years were going to fly right on by, just like they had with my oldest daughter who was four years older than him.

I cried a little everyday leading up to his big day. And when the time came to get up and prepare my son for his first day of school, in the early morning hour of my quiet time, God laid one simple verse on my heart. “This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

I stood at my front door and watched both kids hop onto the school bus with my eyes misted over with tears and repeated the words, “This is the day the Lord has made…” over and over.

As a family we have moved eight times. (You would think I was accustomed to change with our life!) However, each move pushed me out of my comfort zone and I was forced to make a new home among strangers.

My faith grew and stretched with each new transition. {Tweet that.}

God went before me and more than provided and answered prayers. He brought new friends for the kids and myself. With new church homes and Bible study groups, my social circle grew along with my faith and assuredness of His goodness.

Change has forced me to accept …

I can’t keep my kids little – though I’d LOVE to!

I can’t halt mother time from making me older or my normally dark hair from becoming gray! (I wish!)

And I haven’t been able to stop the moves, though I have fought, cried, and prayed against each one.

I had to come to a place in my heart to accept change as the way of life. {Tweet that.}

Once again, I’m finding myself in a new season of change. (We aren’t moving!) The days keep pressing forward and next year my daughter heads to the high school to finish her last three years of school (hold me). My son officially puts his elementary years behind him and moves up to the middle school. Sigh. And, I’m looking for full-time work outside the home for the first time in 14 years.

This is A LOT of change! I want to hold my babies tight and forbid them from getting older. I want to snap my fingers and grow a beautiful lush green money tree in my back yard that magically makes finances less stressful. Because, unfortunately, the type of writing I do doesn’t help pay the bills.

I’m stepping forward into our new season of life with excitement and trepidation. Yes, life changes and new seasons of life bring new adventures, and God simply reminds me each day, “This is the day I have made, so rejoice in it and be glad.”
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Alecia Simersky is wife to Trey and mom to Keeli and Jackson. She likens her life to that of a gypsy since they have moved eight times in 15 years. They now live in a place she lovingly refers to as God’s-country, Auburn, Alabama. She is quiet by nature, introverted, quirky, and fiercely loyal. In her free time she loves to write and does so at her personal blog and is the executive editor of the God-Sized Dreams website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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An InLinkz Link-up

Alecia mentioned the other summertime change posts. Well, you can read them here: Susan Shipe shared about summertime fun. Melody Hester offered advice for navigating new seasons. Tiffany Parry shared about the joy that comes with freedom. You can also download The Summer Not-To-Do List I made for you, if you haven't already. 

Subscribe to get new posts and/or a monthly newsletter with content not available on the blog in your inbox. When you subscribe, I'll send you a FREE #choosingJOY printable.

Joy in freedom

I'm excited to introduce you to another blogging friend of mine. It's people like Tiffany Parry who make me love the internet. Her words encourage well and point to truth. Her post today is more of that, just as we're settling into summer, officially this week! 

Tiffany and I dream of sharing stories around a real-life table, but until then I'm grateful to call her my friend across the miles. Please welcome her to my blog for #ThreeWordWednesday. 

I’m a rule-follower, the quintessential say-what-I-do, do-what-I-say girl. I thrive on order, tidy boundaries, and well-laid plans.

In the practicalities of day to day life, my Type-A personality and patterns suit me just fine. The problem with all my orderly rules is that we live in an unorderly world. “Things” don’t always go my way – our way.

Organization is one thing, but under the influence of pressure, the craving for order turns into a pension for control. And of this I am absolutely certain: we don’t own control.

God doesn’t want us to grip life with both hands, but instead surrender it into His.

“In His hand is the life of every living thing

and the breath of all mankind.”

Job 12:10 ESV

Christ gave His life and breath to purchase exclusive rights to ours. In exchange for our faith, our smallest seeds of belief, Jesus offers us rich freedom and fullness of joy. It hardly seems a fair exchange, does it? But it’s what makes our freedom such a sweet gift.

Freedom and joy go hand in hand. {Tweet that.}

Joy is a byproduct of a heart at peace with God’s plan. Even if our circumstances aren’t precisely peaceful, we can know the joy that Christ affords us through a life lived with open hands willing to receive His plans over our own.

Can I tell you a secret? This isn’t easy for me.

Can I tell you another secret? God’s plans for us are always good.

Maybe both are entirely obvious to you. But, after living nearly half my life as a Christian, I’m still learning not to allow my control freakiness to wrestle away my freedom and steal my joy. My heart longs to know peace and my hands crave that open position, but I often watch my joy plummet as I fall prey to my flesh. If you can relate, I have good news:

Our level of joy isn’t an indication of God’s goodness – He is always good. {Tweet that.}

If that isn’t enough (PS. He is always enough), I have more good news: Summer is the ideal season to perfect your joy and reclaim your freedom.

Days are longer, weather is warmer, and sweet tea abounds. There are sandy beaches and grassy fields longing for your footsteps, books waiting to be cracked open, and beautiful sunsets hand painted by a God who delights in you experiencing the abundance of life.

Here are a few ways to choose joy in freedom this summer ... and every day after:

1. Give up ought-to.

Control can wrangle freedom with our self-imposed “ought-to” and “must-do” rules. Instead let’s live intentionally. Rather than make choices based on people-pleasing, perfection, approval, or random bouts of guilt, choose what pleases God. Pursue what is honorable in His sight and that which evokes fullness of joy and freedom in your heart.

2. Answer wisely.

This is tied closely to #1, but takes it one step further. We have permission to say “no.” Just because we are able to do something, doesn’t mean we should or have to. Over commitment is a form of control that robs us of free time and energy. Without those precious resources, our joy will quickly dwindle.

3. Insert grace.

If you’re anything like me, you’re bound to wrestle for control once more. Grace means your freedom does not run dry and second chances will come at the break of day. Open those hands and receive grace, then freely give it to those around you. Joy is catching, didn’t you know?

4. Savor.

This is the fruit of #1 thru #3. You’ve created the foundation for freedom, now enjoy it. This broad space is truly a gift. Have fun, bust through those tidy boundaries, set you margins on wide and savor the goodness of God. His wonder is all around you – watch for it and let freedom ring.

Friends, here’s to a joyful summer filled with the sweetness of freedom!
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Tiffany is a wife and mom who dwells in the sunshine (and smog) of Southern California. She’s a lover of words who purposes to use hers to speak God’s truth with grace and authenticity. More than that, she longs to provide a safe place for others to do the same. You are invited to join her word-by-word journey through the mountains and valleys of faith at her blog, Simply for One, or on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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An InLinkz Link-up

I've been opening my blog doors to some friends this month :: Susan Shipe shared about summertime fun and Melody Hester offered advice for navigating new seasons. You can also download The Summer Not-To-Do List I made for you, if you haven't already. 

Subscribe to get new posts and/or a monthly newsletter with content not available on the blog in your inbox. When you subscribe, I'll send you a FREE #choosingJOY printable.

Our Father's Faithfulness {and Rachel @ 9 months}

When I looked at the calendar and saw Rachel would be 9 months on Father’s Day, I invited Greg to the blog to share about fatherhood and our youngest daughter. If you’d like a peek into his life as a dad these past nine years, feel free to watch the video I made him. I’m grateful for Greg’s word here today, and, more importantly, the way he loves and serves our family. There’s nobody else I’d want to have beside me on this adventure!

Every year when Father’s Day rolls around, I am reminded that our God is faithful. It’s a time for me to look back and reflect on His goodness and grace in my life. I am so undeserving, and yet He has blessed me with three small souls to love and lead.

In looking back, I can tell you that He uses my children to change me daily. The Holy Spirit convicts me of my own shortcomings through the questions and conversations had with my two older inquisitive children. As we live life with them, I hope that they can hear and see the reality of God’s grace through my attitudes and actions.

My own father passed away in 2010, and I can tell you that I learned how to follow God by watching him. He followed God with his whole heart and was the example for me and my brothers on how to lead our families.

Hopefully, Kristin and I have learned a few things about parenting over the first 9-plus years with Cate and then 6 ½ years with Ben. Mostly, I think we’ve learned that the children need to see Kristin and I mess up, and see what it means to ask for and receive forgiveness from each other and God.

This year, in reflecting on Father’s Day, it is amazing to think about how last April, we had no idea that Rachel was even on the horizon. We had felt the Lord calling us to adopt again back in 2012 and looked into several options, but never had the right situation.

Kristin and I were disappointed and frustrated, but eventually we just realized that we had already been amazingly blessed by the Lord to have our 2 children. And so we mostly gave up our hope of adopting a third child. Our hearts were still pulled toward adopting a third child, but we finally had the grateful perspective that we needed. We learned a bit about being content in any situation and then, when we least expected it, we got a phone call from Rachel’s birth mom.

Rachel was born last September, and she been such an amazingly sweet addition to our family. Ben and Cate were immediately taken with their new sister, and she has responded in kind. Rachel has an engaging smile that she flashes to almost everyone.

At 9 months, she now gets around by crawling and she loves to grab, touch and taste everything she comes in contact with. We are so blessed to have her with us. We probably are a lot more laid back with her than we were with Cate, but hey, now we have a 9-year-old and 6-year-old to help us with little things around the house.

And the best part is that Rachel has two older siblings to look up to and learn from. I love watching her interact with them every day. So on this Father’s Day, I am going to reflect on the goodness of our Heavenly Father and rejoice in His provision in my life. I pray you can do the same.
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Other monthly update notes from momma :: This girl is fun. She’s into everything and curious about all the details in her world. I forgot how exhausting this phase can be, but it’s fun to watch her discover. Speaking of discovering, she loves the pool. Good thing because my big kids and I prefer to spend our afternoons there. Funny thing, she still doesn’t like her baths.

She’s crawling at fast speeds, pulling up quickly and thinking about letting go, and climbing the steps. She still loves to eat whatever and whenever we are eating and is taking {very} small drinks from her sippy cups. She takes usually four 8-ounce bottles a day, although I can tell she’s cutting back. Oh and she’s wearing 12-month clothes, except pajamas, shorts and bathing suits, which she requires 18-month size, but each day I had another garment to the pile of stuff she’s outgrown. Girl is growing, obviously.

Look back on Rachel’s growth :: One month. Two months. Three months. Four months. Five months. Six months. Seven months. Eight months.

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Subscribe to get new posts and/or a monthly newsletter with content not available on the blog in your inbox. When you subscribe, I'll send you a FREE #choosingJOY printable.

Navigating New Seasons {3 Ways to Better Handle Change}

The internet is a big place, but there’s some good stuff out there. Melody Hester’s blog – Life is a Bowl of Wedgies – is one of the gems of the internet. We connected through link ups on various blogs, and I’m glad she’s a faithful part of the #ThreeWordWednesday community. 

Her words here today about how to better handle change speak directly to my heart. Embracing the adventure of new seasons and making my expectations more flexible has been an ongoing process. I’m grateful for Melody’s encouragement – both today specifically and in general. 

In preparation for this topic I decided to start by asking my husband to give me his thoughts about how I handle change.

It went something like this:

Me: Honey, how do you think I handle change and new seasons?
The hubs: *dead silence*
Me: * waiting patiently for him to expound on how awesome I do change*
The hubs: *still quiet ten minutes later*
Me: Alrighty then, since the silence is speaking volumes how about I ask it this way, “What could I do to become better at handling change and new seasons in life?”

And then we both erupted in laughter because we both know I’m not the world’s best at handling change. I’m not the best at it, but I am learning some valuable things about change.

Change: To become different; to make someone or something different; to become something else.

We’ve all been through changes and new seasons of life. It starts from the moment we’re conceived. Change. We transform from embryo to fully formed newborn entering a whole new world. Talk about a drastic change from the get go!

As babies and kids we seem to roll with the punches in regards to things becoming different. But as we get older and become more set in our predictable ways this becomes harder. Whether it comes in the form of a new job, a divorce, moving, remarrying, having kids, sending kids off to college or caregiving for aging parents. All of these are huge life changes and have the potential to strengthen us or set us back.

When I look back at some of our personal changes and seasons of life they include both the incredibly awesome and the complete devastating. I look back and see times of a wedding, a 23-year marriage, infertility, death of a parent, pastoring two churches, broken relationships, and a move to another state. Major life changes – some great and some not so much.

The common denominator in all of them is change. Some were unexpected many times. Not always though. Even when change is sought out it can be hard.

So how do we navigate change and new seasons in our life well?

1.  Have Reasonable Expectations

There’s value in having high expectations and setting goals but when expectations exceed reason it causes tension and eventually misery. Keeping a balanced check of what you desire and what is actually attainable will be key. Ask your spouse how you’re doing in this area. You might get dead silence like I did. But don’t get mad. Talk about it and see their perspective on things.

2. Have Flexible Expectations

Okay, I have good news. My husband says I’m so much better at this now. Early in our marriage I remember getting so frustrated at him because he was always late for dinner. It made me furious. To his credit he has changed in this area and has become a better time manager but I’ve also chilled out and I realize that dinner can sit a little longer with foil on it. It’s really not a big deal. Being willing to be flexible means we are willing to submit our plan to someone else’s. Of course there are non-negotiables in life, but we’re talking about things that can shift and move.

3. Expect God to be Sovereign and Good – even in the midst of your change. 

It’s true – God is in control of all things at all times. He has the power to put into place or to stop anything He wants. And He is good through and through. So as we grapple with seasons of change, both good and bad, expect God to be who He says He is and allow this present day, moment-by-moment reality to bring great comfort to your new season of life.

Well, friends, I’m not sure if you’re walking through a major life change right now or not. Eventually you will. Be ready to trust God that he’s in control of your situation. He sees it and knows all about it. Accept what He has for you with an open heart and a flexible spirit. {Tweet that.} And may our God abundantly bless you as you walk toward him.
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Melody Hester is a stumbling Christ follower who longs to live in moderation. Instead she’s an all or nothing kind of girl who laughs too loud at the wrong times and says the wrong thing at the right time. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, who has been a pastor most of their married life – yeah, she’s kind of surprised to be pastor’s wife too. God gave them two children through adoption and they’re worth every ounce of infertility. The color pink, chocolate, and flowers are her love language. And she loves the word scrumpdillyocious – even though it doesn’t exist. Learn more about Melody at her blog Life is a Bowl of Wedgies.
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An InLinkz Link-up

Make summertime fun!

Susan Shipe and I connected on Twitter after she linked up here for #ThreeWordWednesday. We've since become Facebook friends and partied together several Thursday nights with the #FMFparty crew on Twitter. We obviously love the internet and the way it connects people. 

Susan is a sweet encourager. I'm happy she's sharing here today and encouraging people to embrace summertime fun. And if you need a reminder on what not to do this summer, be sure to download my printable from last week. 

It’s summertime! And, if you’re a regular reader here at Kristin’s you know, she loves summer! So do I.

But, you know there are a lot of people who don’t. I have a best friend who tolerates summer and prefers the coziness of winter. It’s possible I love it as much as Kristin because I grew up in South Florida, where beach is king and summer is 11 months long.

Do you have plans for Summer 2016? Perhaps you’re going on vacation or you and your family are going to do some stay-cationing; whatever your plans, I encourage you to have some fun.

The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, admonishes us to have fun, enjoy life, enjoy your family, eat well and drink with merriment (don’t overdo it!) and then you will have the perfect balance between leisure and work. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about summertime!

ON EATING 

Jesus knew how to have fun. He had twelve best friends and a whole slew of other close friends – they went everywhere together and they loved to eat.

In Mark 2, it is recorded that Jesus and His friends were eating together and there were people of no reputation around the table! In Matthew 9, he ate at Matthew’s home with sinners. And, shame upon shame, Matthew was a tax collector! EGADS! NO ONE ate with the tax collector! In John 21, the resurrected Jesus cooked breakfast for His best friends.

THIS SUMMER? Fellowship around the table with friends and strangers – don’t worry about the menu and potluck is always a success. JUST DO IT!

ON FUN 

Ecclesiastes 3 encourages us to laugh! There are times of sorrow and grieving, but I hope your summer is filled with laughter! Luke 15 shares the story of the prodigal son who came home to his family after a long time away. The first order of the day? CELEBRATE! Proverbs 15 reminds us to smile – a happy face is the sign of a cheerful heart!

THIS SUMMER? Buy a silly joke book and laugh! Find something or someone to celebrate and have an impromptu party! How fun to walk around with a smile on your face. Everyone will think you know something they don’t! HAVE FUN!

ON DANCING 

Psalm 149 instructs us to make music and dance! In doing so we praise our God! Turn up the music and dance, teaching yourself and those around you that dancing is PRAISE! Exodus 15 shows us Moses’ sister, Miriam, and her fellow sojourners making music and dancing in celebration.

THIS SUMMER? Make some homemade musical instruments out of bells, paper plates, oatmeal containers and make music and dance! Older kids? Create an awesome playlist of praise music and have your own praise and worship sessions! That’ll rev up morning devotions! JUST DANCE!

ON PLAYING 

Zechariah 8 describes a city with boys and girls playing in the streets! Okay, okay, don’t let those little ones play in the street, but be sure there’s lots of play time. Wear them out in the morning and enjoy the peace of a long afternoon nap!

THIS SUMMER? Play. If it’s sunny and dry, play outside. If it’s rainy and dreary, get out the old blankets and make forts around the furniture. Take advantage of city parks and hiking trails, have an adventure. JUST PLAY!

When I was a teenager there was a song, "Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy." Make your summer a time for easy and fun. Lighten up. Enjoy the warm temps and the long days – before you know it, you’ll be packing up the summer gear for winter storage. Make these days count. {Tweet that!} HAVE SOME FUN!
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Susan Chamberlain Shipe, a writer since the age of 8 when she and her neighborhood friend wrote, edited, published, and distributed The Manor News. Things have changed since publishing with the five and dime stamp lettering set! Today, Susan enjoys blogging, writing short devotions and short stories from her empty-nest home in the Appalachian Mountain Range of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwestern North Carolina, which she shares with her husband of 30 years, Lowell, and their beloved dog, Sam. Susan can be found musing several times a week at hopehearthome.com.
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An InLinkz Link-up

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In The Middle

You know sometimes you hear an idea that just makes sense and gets you excited about participating? Well, that's how I was when my blogging friend Britta LaFont told me about her Meet Me In The Middle Project. I like it so much, it's going to be the theme of my posts on Wednesdays for the next seven weeks — that's starting next Wednesday with Ash Wednesday and continue through the Lenten season. 

I invited Britta to come share about the project here, so that's what today's post is. There's absolutely no pressure for you to participate in this project, but if you want to, I'd love for you to link up both here and at her place. And, even if you aren't joining in The Meet Me In The Middle Project, you're always welcome to link up here for #ThreeWordWednesday, and nothing that that changes. Honestly, I'm excited to have a focus for the coming weeks, especially throughout Lent. 

So, welcome, Britta, and I hope the rest of you get as excited as I am. 
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I remember walking up the stairs and seeing her at the computer, out of the corner of my eye. She was muttering to herself and shaking her head.

"What's wrong, Sweetie?"

"Mom, I just want to hurry up and get all my work done, so I can have some fun," fumed my homeschooling sixth grader.

Everyone likes to have fun, but my child always loved school too. What had happened? Instantly, I knew where she learned that way of thinking and it stopped me in my tracks.

I was the one always rushing, Let's get our reading done, so we can have recess. Let's try to finish early, so we can meet our friends at the park. Let's hurry up and do our work, so we can bake.

I turned around and went downstairs. I repented of my haste. I explained to her that most of life is work and if we can't see any value in it, we are missing our calling to honor the Lord in all we do.

Do you ever find yourself rushing ahead, wanting to get to the next place, to move straight from Before to After without spending time in the middle? That day on the stairs, I realized that I was constantly chasing the "After" and missing the Middle. And it got me thinking...

Most of us dread the workout, but want to look great in our jeans. We don’t enjoy cleaning, but we love the shiny, sweet-smelling endpoint. We don’t like waiting, We want results, and we want them fast. We don’t want to wait for anything.

What if…we realized that most of life is lived in the Middle? That most of life is work, sweat, and tears?

What if…we saw a Before & After and did not covet the result, but admired the effort exerted?

What if…we acknowledged that every “Big Reveal” pales in comparison to the biggest reveal of them all — the Resurrection?

— The Meet Me In the Middle Project, A Lenten Curation

YOUR INVITATION!

Won't you join me in celebrating the middle places that we sometimes miss, because we want so badly to get to the After? It's a small commitment, but I think it could be really fun! We are calling it a Lenten Curation of Before & After pictures. We want to repurpose those Before & Afters and show how they point to the gospel.

WILL YOU MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE?

1. Create a before/after collage
2. Post it (on a blog or Pinterest or Instagram)
3. Tell how the story of the pics is a gospel story (can be a few sentences)
4. Hashtag #Meetmeinthemiddleproj
5. Link up Wednesdays Feb10-Mar23 (You CAN link up with the permalink from the Pin or the Instagram post!)

Sign up! Then link up at meetmeinthemiddleproject.com. In all, it is just seven before/after collages! Easy peasy! Here are some examples:

A furniture refinishing Before & After can remind us that Jesus promises to complete the work He began in us (Phil 1:6, ESV).

A garden Before & After reminds us that The Holy Spirit is an imperishable seed placed in us, that we will yield fruit even if our hearts look like fallow ground now (1 Peter 1:23, ESV).

The Before & After graphic design creation below is from a tutorial, where you can learn, step by step, how to create a tachometer that begins as a simple line. The website responsible for the images generously shares expert knowledge, offering FREE tutorials, using FREE (professional quality) vector graphics software. The everyday kindnesses represented in this Before & After remind me of how Jesus lived and taught, "Think of the kindness you wish others would show you; do the same for them” (Luke 6:31, VOICE).

We start next week. Link up first here, at Three Word Wednesday. Then hop over to the Meet Me in the Middle Project and join us there!
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Britta LaFont is a sojourner. She was a military kid and is a military wife. She lives in the hot, hot desert of Arizona far, far away from her New Orleans family. She gratefully homeschools two of her most favorite people on the planet: 12-year-old Gracie and 10-year-old Josh. Britta and her husband Scott recently celebrated their 21st anniversary and foresee a happy ending to this military life in the very near future. Find her online at her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
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An InLinkz Link-up

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

a beautiful exchange {guest post & giveaway}

One of my favorite things about the internet is connecting with people who share interests. And y'all know adoption is a favorite topic around here. Megan Nilsen sent me a copy of her book, which is an adoption story, but, really, it's a story of saying yes to God. I've enjoyed reading it — often with my own latest adoption story in my arms. 

I'm excited to welcome Megan to my online home so she can share a piece of her story. And stay with us until the end because she's going to share her book with TWO OF YOU! 

Before starting the adoption process, we decided to interview families we knew who had adopted.

Perhaps many of you did the same. After all, we figured these families had walked the road already and may have some wisdom to share. Boy did they! Adoptive families are some of the absolute coolest.

Nearly without fail, every conversation we had could be boiled down to one main theme. Time and again we heard these words ...

“Adoption is the hardest thing we’ve ever done, but it’s absolutely the best.”

And each time, I would walk away from the conversation or hang up the phone and think, “Really? Is that what we want? Hard?? I mean, we totally want to follow God’s call ... Yes, we want the best! But do we really want the possible hard that comes with it? It all seems so — risky.”

For a long time, the idea remained just that. An idea.

The notion of adoption comfortably took a back seat as the daily regimen of school choir concerts, dance recitals and soccer games filled our days with our older two. The idea sifted through my mind every so often like sand in an hourglass. My mental to-do/prayer list (they often overlap) read as follows:

* Don’t forget to buy milk.
* Figure out the name of that cool paint color from the Pottery Barn catalog.
* Please be with Uncle So-and-So who is battling cancer.
* Email the teacher to ask about the field trip tomorrow.
* Also, God — if you’re calling us to adopt, just remember our hearts are “open.” And if
you do want us to adopt, could you please write it in the sky or something? That
would be helpful. Thanks.

God didn’t exactly write it in the sky, but he wrote the call on our hearts. As they days ticked by, we couldn’t get the drum beat of these thoughts out of our head. Like a catchy lyric turning over and over in my mind, this idea of adoption, that it might possibly be for us, kept knocking at the door of our hearts and wouldn’t abate.

Four years have passed now since we brought our two youngest home from Ethiopia at the tender ages of eight and five. And I am among the ranks of those saying those exact words to others — Adoption has been by far the hardest thing, but it unequivocally the best.

Lest you be deceived into thinking this story had a fairy-tale ending, I can assure you the transition home was nothing short of “other-worldly” for the lot of us. Grief loomed large over our home for quite a while, manifesting in all sorts of tantrums and tears. And not only from the kids! I must confess, my own heart wrestled to embrace the new family dynamics as well.

In the months that followed, I began a journey of my own — a journey that has rearranged everything I thought I knew about life and love. So much so, I often wondered if life would ever return to “normal.”

Thankfully, God exchanged my short-sighted plan for a new, exponentially more beautiful normal — one drafted by His own hand.

Sometimes I imagine attachment in adoption like a tree. A tree that needs time and tender care to sprout and grow. A tree that brings with it the gift of new life. This “adoption” tree has ushered me into perspectives of the Kingdom I don’t think I would have experienced otherwise. The fruit it bears brings us more joy, growth and continuous beauty than we ever dreamed possible.

God’s tender love and mercy drew us to this tree. To eat of its fruit opens our eyes to a bit of heaven on earth. While this journey of adoption has brought me to the end of myself, it has also ushered me to the foot of the cross.

That is a gift for which I am forever grateful. It truly is, a beautiful exchange!
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Megan Nilsen is the mother of four children — two biological, two adopted, and by all accounts the most beautiful kids in the world (at least according to their unbiased mother). She is married to her college sweetheart. Together, they believe the local church is the hope of the world. When she’s not coordinating crazy carpool schedules, she rejuvenates as part of the teaching team for her church’s weekly Bible study. Megan passionately pursues writing as a way to process God’s ever-active work in the world. She gets the biggest rush out of connecting with people and swapping stories of the heart. She and her family live in Colorado. You can find her blogging about it all with two of her dearest friends at www.writinginpencil.com.
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And now for the giveaway! Use the Rafflecopter widget below for multiple ways to enter to win one of the two copies of "A Beautiful Exchange." The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents. Two winners will be randomly selected on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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An InLinkz Link-up

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

Not Unto Death {a guest post for #ThreeWordWednesday}

I have a treat for you today. I want you to meet my friend Britta LaFont, who encourages well while teaching scripture. She regularly links up with #ThreeWordWednesday and we are in an online blogging group together. And today she's here to share a story with you. 

Photo Credit :: photodee / 123RF Stock Photo

When the phone rang, I thought it was my parents, calling to wish Joshie Boy a happy seventh birthday. Our little family was gathered around the table, laughing and soaking up this golden moment. We were at the end of a long, hard health season for my husband.

It was Momma on the other end of the line and I could tell she had been crying. She had surgery two weeks before, a hernia repair, and they removed some fatty tissue from the area. When Momma had her post-operative checkup, what was supposed to be a routine appointment suddenly turned very serious.

The tissue sample came back as cancer, with undifferentiated cells. The experts in the lab couldn’t tell what kind of cancer from the sample, but it turned out to be very advanced ovarian.

The moment she called was surreal. I rose from the table and wandered into my bedroom, settling on the floor of my quiet walk-in-closet. The party sounds were muffled. The wooden kitchen table was a long way off. The news seemed impossible: she … a non-smoker, non-drinker, with no "female" cancers in her medical history?

Not long afterward, during my devotional time, I ran across the story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. As I read it, I felt peace fall on me. Remember the one? When Lazarus was sick, and things looked bleak, Mary and Martha called for Jesus, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.”

When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:3-4, KJV).

Not unto death. Those words encouraged me and, when I shared them with Mom, she told me that passage had been warming her heart too.

One morning a few weeks later, as I talked with the kids about Mom’s cancer, I told them they were very important in this process, because we needed their prayers. Then we opened the Bible for our scheduled daily reading and turned to the story in Luke 5:17-26.

A paralytic man was brought to Jesus by his friends, but the crowd around Jesus was so great, that they had to lower him down through the roof of the house. They were so sure that Jesus could help him, and they loved him so much, that nothing could stop them from bringing their friend to Jesus for healing. We felt an immediate connection with this story.

I was amazed – I had not previewed the bible lesson. We reread the verses and inserted my mom's name throughout the passage. It was a powerful moment. We brought her to Jesus. And we felt comforted that He would heal her too, just like the man in the story, so that in the end, it could be said about all of us that “amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen extraordinary things today’” (Luke 5:26).

A little more than four years later, my mother and father volunteer every Tuesday at the hospital where she was treated for stage 3C ovarian cancer. Daddy pushes wheelchairs and Momma prays with people. She gardens, travels, cooks for the sick, and recently started a women’s ministry at her small church. We are all thankful her sickness was not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. {Tweet that.}
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Britta LaFont is a sojourner. She was a military kid and is a military wife. She lives in the hot, hot desert of Arizona far, far away from her New Orleans family. She gratefully homeschools two of her most favorite people on the planet: 12-year-old Gracie and 10-year-old Josh. Britta and her husband Scott recently celebrated their 21st Anniversary and foresee a happy ending to this military life in the very near future. Britta writes about how loving God and loving people are helping her learn to love life at Britta Lafont ~ Walking in Love.
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An InLinkz Link-up

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

Count it ALL joy {even while waiting & in trials}

Kayla Slack and I met at an adoptive moms retreat Hope That Binds hosted earlier this year. I understood her story because I’d been there too. We connected that day and have gotten together several times since. We talk adoption often and I’ve been so excited to pray for and be a small part of her journey to motherhood. 

She’s sharing about waiting and choosing joy in her post today, but I have to let you know in on a God moment. On Oct. 26, the day she wrote this post, Kayla and her husband, Casey, were matched with a birth mom. THE SAME DAY. After she emailed me this post about waiting and choosing joy, God revealed some of his plan for her family. The texts that followed included many exclamation points, but the basic news is Kayla and Casey Slack are going to welcome a baby boy into their family in February. 

While celebrating with them, continue to pray for them and the brave birth mom in Texas as they all navigate the emotions and process that is adoption. Coming alongside families like the Slacks is just one way you can celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month. 

We were led to adoption this time about a year ago because of our struggle with infertility. We both had always known we would adopt, but we figured it would be later on down the road. I was on fertility medicine that literally made me go crazy, so we felt led to stop pursuing fertility treatment at that time.

I wanted to pursue adoption as soon as we made the choice to start … like right then, that same day. I tend to set a timeline, make plans, work hard to see that it happens and have control over it, and then I am crazy upset when it fails. This was October 2014 and we decided to wait until January 2015 to begin our process. We printed applications, met with others who were adopting or had adopted to gather info, and prayed.

In attempt to control the timing I got more upset because my timeline was not working out. In January, God led my heart to wait until March and I obeyed but felt like that was years away! March came, and guess what? We waited a little more. I felt like God said to wait six more months. I counted up six months and thought, "Oh, September? Nah, God does not want me to wait until then. August. August sounds better."

Coming closer to that time, we got our documents gathered and had our home study visit. Guess what? We became active in SEPTEMBER with Faithful Adoption Consultants. Praise the Lord that His will and his plans are higher and better and they always work out no matter how hard we attempt to make ours work.

This waiting process has been so hard but so amazing. I am learning there is always purpose in waiting. The sanctification that comes along in waiting for something your heart longs for is tremendous. Praise God he does not leave us where we are! He draws us so close to Him and makes us more like Him!

Many of you know the infertility struggle well. The heart aching, longing, crying, begging, screaming, bitterness, and jealousy you have to fight through to find happy words and a smile when others get what you beg the Lord for constantly. It was one of the hardest times of my life. I wanted to be kind, sweet, and joyful for others.

Waiting for me in our adoption process has been hard, yet beautiful. I am supposed to count it all joy when trials come (James 1:2). I am to rejoice. I have been begging God to be excited and so happy first when someone gets something I want because it is a time to celebrate! I am also learning that it is okay to be sad. I used to think that it was wrong if I was sad and happy at the same time. I am learning to choose those joyful feelings over the sad ones, but I know now that I am going to feel those together sometimes.

God is showing me that He is my true treasure. I do not know why I tend to forget this so much! He is what I long for. If I get nothing else in this life, I should be content with the Lord alone. He is really all I need. He is my peace. And even in my toughest and darkest days He will give me peace. I don't think I ever really understood hope either until I have waited for a baby. Some days I have cried so hard and told my husband I feel like I have no hope and that this is never going to happen. (For those of you who do not know me, I am VERY emotional and my emotions are strong!)

I am learning to look past those feelings and know truth despite what I am feeling. We really do have hope. All of us do. My husband keeps telling me, "Babe, it is okay. We are going to get a baby." But you know what? Even if we don't get a baby, it is okay too because we have hope. Our hope is in the Lord. My hope is not in growing our family although sometimes I have allowed it to be.

I praise God because he has made my heart to find joy in life being created, even if that life was not meant to live with me. And, yeah, waiting is hard, but I know the longer I wait the more the Lord is going to teach me and the more I am going to be like Him. So I will wait – and I will be joyful, and sad sometimes. I will continue to cry because that is what I do, but I will also hold onto hope.
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Kayla Slack has been married for almost three years and has longed to share parenthood with her husband Casey. She's a registered nurse, lover of animals and babies, friend to the elderly, and one of three girls (including her twin sister!). She lives in Murray, KY. 
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Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

Choose the Joy

Mary Carver from Giving Up on Perfect is one of my favorite writer friends from the internet. She edited my ebook, writes about some of my favorite things (choosing joy, letting go of perfection, television shows, and bacon ...), and is one of the people I hope to hang out with in real life one day. Until then, Mary is here sharing about choosing the joy one fall day and inviting you to be part of her book's launch team! 

When you buy your kids matching jack o’lantern shirts, there’s an expiration date on appropriate photo-taking opportunities. I mean, sure, they can wear them after Halloween, but it’s a little lame. And making them wear them on the same day and posting all the pictures I snapped on Facebook? Just doesn’t make since once we hit November.

So last week, just a couple days before those shirts were as irrelevant as the VCR sitting in my garage, I put them on my daughters and told them we were going outside.

We grabbed a couple of the pumpkins off the front porch and headed out to the soggy, leaf-covered back yard. I cheered and bribed and begged until I had at least one shot of both girls smiling at the same time. Then I gave up and let them run around like chickens for a while.

[Side note: I don’t know that they literally ran around like chickens. Maybe monkeys? Or just kids giddy to be outside after being indoors most the day. Whatever, they went a little nuts.]

As they ran from tree to fence to tree and back, slipping on hills and sliding on leaves, they couldn’t stop grinning. I could hear, “Freedom” by George Michael playing in my head as I realized that these poor babies really had been cooped up for too long. (Our backyard was overrun by mosquitos and spiders this summer, so for a while it was go to the park or stay inside. In hindsight, not my best mom move. #liveandlearn)

ANYWAY. They played while I watched and snapped a few dozen more pictures. My 8-year-old decided to create a nest for the birds and nothing I could say convinced her that was unnecessary. Meanwhile, my almost-2-year-old discovered how fun it was to roll pumpkins down the hill at the back of the yard.

After a while I said, “Okay, it’s time to go inside. I need to cook dinner!”

I’m sure, if you’ve ever met a child, you can imagine how well that was received. The NOOOOOOs came fast and furious, with a little bit of negotiating from my oldest for good measure. As she ran through her objections and recommended revisions to my plan, she finally landed on a good one. She said: “But, Mom! We’re CHOOSING JOY out here! Don’t you want to take more pictures of us CHOOSING JOY?!”

Well played, child. I see a debate team in your future.

See, my daughter knows that my first book is coming out in a couple months – and she knows the focus is all about finding joy. And, most importantly to her argument, she knows I’ve been working hard to really take the lessons to heart and intentionally choose joy in my day-do-day life.

So that afternoon, as the sun continued to set and we got colder and dinner got later, I decided to choose the joy. I decided to choose my girls and to choose the moment and to choose the joy.

And I decided to make use of that frozen pizza I had bought for nights exactly like that one.

I’m not always good at recognizing the opportunity for joy in my life. Sometimes it takes the heart – and, let’s be honest, the mouth – of a child to make me stop running through my to-do list and start running toward my kids as they laugh in a pile of leaves.

Is it hard for you to choose joy? When was the last time you did?

If you’d like more inspiration to choose the joy, you can find it in "Choose Joy: Finding Hope & Purpose When Life Hurts." And if you’d like to help spread the word about the book, I’d love for you to apply for the Choose Joy Launch Team! Click here to apply.
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Mary Carver is a writer, speaker, and recovering perfectionist. She lives for good books, spicy queso, and television marathons, but she lives because of God's grace. Mary writes about her imperfect life with humor and honesty, encouraging women to give up on perfect and get on with life, at her blog, GivingUpOnPerfect.com. She is also a regular contributor to several other websites, including (in)courage, a women's website from Dayspring. Mary and her husband live in Kansas City with their two daughters.
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An InLinkz Link-up

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."

Small Not Insignificant {a #ThreeWordWednesday guest post}

One of my favorite things about blogging is the people I've met along the way. And when I say "met," sometimes I really mean connected with online. That's the story with Jennifer Jackson Linck. She and I originally connected because a mutual writer friend of ours was sharing about her new book that was coming out. Her book is called "Bringing Home the Missing Linck" and it tells her adoption story and the faith journey that happened in her life. We connected and now we're friends too. And we're eagerly awaiting the day to hang out in real life. 

Until then, Jennifer is here on the blog today telling another part of her family's story. This part involves her writing a book, but it's a children's book that she wrote in honor of her son. "Jackson Finds His Voice" is available on Amazon, but, first, welcome Jennifer as she shares here today.

I was driving home from Jackson’s speech therapy appointment when the idea hit me. There was no burning bush or talking donkey, but I knew it was God prompting.

I had always wanted to write a children’s book but I hadn’t thought about that dream in a long time; until that day in the car when I heard Him whisper: Write a book about a little boy on a journey to find his voice.

My 4-year-old son, Jackson, has a speech disorder called Apraxia. He knows what he wants to say, but simply can’t. His brain has a hard time getting the proper message to his mouth, lips, tongue and jaw. The words he wants to say literally get stuck in his brain. He’s been in intense speech therapy since he was 18 months old.

I knew without a doubt I was hearing God correctly. I went inside, put Jackson down for a nap, and wrote the entire first draft of “Jackson Finds His Voice” within an hour.

I wrote the book for Jackson. It’s a tool he can use to share his story as he works towards finding his voice.

I wrote the book for other children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. I pray it will give them a voice.

I wrote the book to educate others and raise awareness for the speech disorder that’s still foreign to many people.

I felt sure I would have the support of the national Apraxia association, that its leaders would spread the word about my book and help get it into the hands of other families who are on the same journey as we are. So imagine my shock when the executive director informed me that they wouldn’t support my book because its theme was too Christian.

I write about Jackson and the many other kids with Apraxia being fearfully and wonderfully made. I believe to my bones that God has a plan for each of them.

Hearing her dash my dreams left me questioning God.

Did I hear you right, Lord?

How are other families going to know this book is available?

Emily Freeman said it best in her book “Simply Tuesday” ::

“I felt the longing to build something important, and the disappointment that comes when the outcome looks different than I thought.”

Since receiving those harsh words from the director, God has been doing a work in my heart.
He’s reminding me that His ways are not my ways; they are better. He’s teaching me that small does not mean insignificant. {Tweet that.}

“Jesus himself arrived small on earth, but he was not insufficient or lacking in significance. We don’t have to worry that embracing smallness will shrink our impact.”

{Emily Freeman in “Simply Tuesday”}

God continually asks me to pen words and pray they make a difference in one life! And as I’ve released my dream and grabbed hold of His, He’s been faithful to reveal the impact a few words can have.
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Jennifer Jackson Linck blogs about everyday life at Bringing Home the Missing Linck. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and son. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 
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An InLinkz Link-up

Want more insights? "Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family" is available on Amazon. Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, peek into my life on Instagram, follow 152 Insights at Bloglovin', or subscribe to receive "Insights in Your Inbox."