She hooked my arm and pulled me off to the side. “How are you?”
For a brief moment I contemplated generically saying, “Good, how are you?” simply so I could get on with my day. But this voice at the back of my mind told me this time it had to be different.
If I want anything to change about the way I do community, then I have to be willing to step out and lead.
So I went for it.
It’s called a fork because we’re given three choices in life. Go straight. Turn right. Turn left. The straight path stretches safely and evenly into the future. The scenery is…
There are days when I’m running on the treadmill and I don’t have it in me to run. There are days when I’m watching a World Famine commercial on TV…
I saw a gratitude challenge floating around Facebook recently that caught my eye: “List three things you’re grateful for.” The goal was for people to post three things per day…
I called my friend because I knew. I had spent two full days stewing over thought-chaos that had exploded in my brain. I was stumped, confused, tired, frustrated and I…
You know when you’re walking down a road, you think you know where you’re going, and suddenly you realize you don’t? There are forks in the road, you don’t know which one is safe to take, and which isn’t. So where do you go? You could just stop walking, sit down in the road and hope life comes to you while you sit there. Or, you take a deep breath, say a prayer, and take one of the paths before you.
Trust is hard. Leaps of faith are scary. But sometimes – sometimes they lead you here. To safety. To unspeakable joys, to a life of gratitude you didn’t know was even possible.
Yesterday my son wore Superman’s cape with Spiderman’s body suit with Iron man’s mask. He called himself “All Man!” and it looked ridiculous.
This epiphany hit me like a ton of bricks. “Cindy… this is who YOU try to be and it’s not possible.” I’m not the only one, am I?
Everywhere I look I see people running ragged at lightning speed trying to achieve what’s trending: perfect marriages. Perfect homes. Perfect children. Perfect bodies. Perfect outfits. Perfect careers. Perfect faiths. Perfect questions. Perfect answers. Perfect opinions. Perfect everything!
Is this what life is about?
If what we’re “busy” doing isn’t serving the greater purpose, then what’s it all for?
“I hate Father’s Day,” the bootless guy said.
“Dude, that’s weird. Why?”
“People go all out for one day then forget about the meaning of the celebration every other 364 days. I get to hear how awesome of a guy I am for one whole entire day, but then the very next day it’ll be back to being bagged on for everything I DON’T do. It’s bogus.”
It was an insightful conversation to eavesdrop on and I began to think of the dude’s in my own life: my dad, my husband, my step-dad, my father-in-law, my Grandpa’s, my brother-in-laws, my nephews and all my guy friends.
When I am around these men, do I take a few moments to tell them what a great job they’re doing? Do I pat them on the back and acknowledge how hard they work and how hard they try to live with integrity and character in such a tough society?
I bet it’s hard to be a man. I’m betting they could ALL use a little more encouragement.
Maybe it’s time us girls start being as strong for them as we expect them to be for us!
There was a time when I didn’t feel community was important.
The thought of admitting weakness struck a fear of being judged. But, experience has taught me that these kinds of thoughts only lead to isolation from the very people who help carry you through.
Haven’t we ALL fallen short of the glory of God? So why not confess to one another so we can all live in freedom?
From a young age we are taught to impress people while striving for perfection. Humility in admitting imperfection is regarded as weakness. But if more people started to be truly honest with each other we’d realize that we’re all in the same place.
No one is perfect.
None of us can do it alone.
There is power in belonging to a community.
We need each other. We need to be real. We need to encourage one another. We need to inspire each other to be better, and to feel like we aren’t alone. We need to take off the masks and let others see the true us.
Carving Out time For God in the Midst of Your Busy Life
Whether it’s early in the morning, late at night, or smack dab in the middle of a tiresome afternoon, this short ebook will help you learn to include Him in your daily circumstance.
Carving out time for Him is not another thing to add to your plate, but a pause in the midst of it all.
