Lysa TerKeurst | 2010 June

Tuesday, June 29

And then she quietly came to sit with Jesus

It is very early in the morning. Not many people are stirring yet.

Though my body begged me just to roll over and go back to sleep, my soul was stirring to get up and go sit with Jesus.

Though I can’t physically see Him, my heart feels His presence.

I decide to open up my Bible to the Psalms and use the verses I read as prayers to start my day. And the more I pray those verses out loud the less I hear all the nagging things of the world. A beautiful melody of truth starts to rise up and suddenly my worries fade in the light of God’s truth.

His perspective on things that are troubling me starts to overshadow my anxiety. Like shade on a hot summer’s day, I feel relief in His presence.

I know that He is preparing me for what I will need throughout this day. He is already standing in every minute of my day and He sees what I will face. So, He’s equipping me to be able to handle what is ahead of me with His gentle boldness, quiet strength, and loving grace.

In Psalm 81: 10, God instructs me, “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” He will give me what to say today. What to say in happy moments. What to say in aggravating moments. What to say in moments where I feel insecure and what to say when I feel completely confident. What to say in disappointing moments. What to say in response to questions.

He also reminds me that sometimes it is good to keep my mouth closed and say nothing at all.

All the words that rumble about in my brain and those that will proceed out of my mouth, Lord, you be the author of those.

Psalm 84:1 reminds me that God’s dwelling place is lovely. So, I ask God to dwell in me richly. I want Him to be what radiates about me. I want Him to be my pretty today.

Not my hair… or the lack thereof. Not my outfit. Not my efforts of adornment. But simply Him and His spirit dancing invisibly about me… shifting a wrong attitude, guarding my words, and whispering constant truths into my heart.

Psalm 86: 11 is what I ask the Lord to give me. “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart…”

Lord, may nothing separate me from You today. Teach me how to choose only Your way today so that each step will lead me closer to You. Help me walk by the truth today and not my feelings.

Help me to keep my heart pure and undivided. Protect me from my own careless thoughts, words and actions. And keep me from being distracted by MY wants, MY desires, MY thoughts on how things should be.

Help me to embrace what comes my way as an opportunity… rather than a personal inconvenience.

And finally, help me to rest in the truth of Psalm 86:13, “Great is your love toward me.”

You already see all the many ways I will surely fall short and mess up. But right now, I consciously tuck Your whisper of absolute love for me into the deepest part of my heart. I recognize your love for me is not based on my performance. You love me warts and all.

Have mercy, that’s amazing.

But what’s most amazing is that the God of the Universe, the Savior of the world, would desire a few minutes with me this morning. Lord, help me to forever remember what a gift it is to sit with You like this.

What is one thing you are asking for from the Lord today? Leave a comment and I’ll join in praying this with you. Tomorrow I’ll announce the winner of the book from yesterday’s post.

Happy Wednesday~

Embracing Who I Am

Ten years ago I sat in a seminar listening to a very organized mom talking about how she parented her kids.

She was amazing.

A super-mom in my eyes.

I held up my feeble efforts with my three toddlers and determined I stunk as a mother. I thought that maybe if I went home and imitated her, I could enter into the world of super moms.

I mentally listed out what I discerned must be her secret to success and set about to be just like her.

But it didn’t take long to become absolutely miserable. I mentally beat myself up for not having what it obviously took to be a great mom. What was wrong with me?

I begged God to make me just like her- that really good Mom.

And then one day in Bible study I read the story of Mary, the teenage mother of Jesus. My heart beat fast as I realized she didn’t meet the standard of super mom I’d set for myself.

Somehow, just as she was, God chose her to be Jesus’ mother. And the only qualification that she seemed to have was her willingness.

I made the choice to try and let go of all those expectations I had for myself as a mom. I let go of the comparisons to other moms. I laid down the measuring stick of perfection. And I simply bowed my head and gave God my willingness.

Nothing more.

Slowly, I started to see my own unique qualities as a mom instead of always focusing on the places I felt I fell so short.

I may not be the most organized mom, but I’m a fun mom willing to drop my to do list in the name of spontaneity.

I may not do sit down devotions with my kids every morning, but I’m good at helping my kids see God working in situations all throughout our days.

I may not sew a lick, but I know where to find an alterationist that is the bomb.

I may not always keep my cool in the everyday aggravations of life, but throw something big at me and somehow I’ll be the most calm person in the room.

Sure, I have a lot of room for growth in my mothering. God and I work on things daily. But over the past ten years I’ve learned how to embrace who I am and the beauty of living fully as me.

And while I still fall short at times, I’ve finally learned that being fully me is so much better than an imitation version of someone else.

I have the exact qualities God knew my kids would need in a mother. So, each day I hold up my willingness and ask God to make me the best version of me I can be.

Have you ever struggled with this? Whether it’s in the arena of motherhood or your workplace or one of the many places we unfairly compare ourselves to others- realize your great qualities and be fully you.

As a special encouragement to you, I am giving away one copy of my book, ‘Am I Messing Up My Kids?‘ Just tell me why you or a friend of yours needs this book!

Winners posted and muscles pulled

If I won the lottery today I would seriously offer to take whole mess of y’all on the Girlfriend Getaway Cruise with me. I would. And we would eat the yummiest food and laugh until Diet Coke snorted out of our nose. Good times.

But I don’t play the lottery nor have I acquired a bundle of extra cash this weekend.

So, I can only take one lucky winner and her friend. I posted the winner on Friday beside the cruise button but I want to make a bigger announcement today! Sweet Valerie Post—- call your mama, you were randomly selected from all the many, many entries! Of course if you aren’t taking your mama, you’d better not call her. But you and your friend are CRUISING!!!

And if you happen to be one of Valerie’s friends, you might want to be extra sweet and start dropping hints about how much you love to go on Cruises.

Oh happy day. And if you’ve signed up to be one of the nearly 100 cool chicks joining us on this year’s cruise, we’ll be emailing you soon about some special P31 get togethers exclusively for you. I can’t wait. Maybe we could even plan some sort of mad four square game.

Have y’all ever played four square?

It is seriously fun. Holly’s family and my family have been getting together and letting the competitive sparks fly with this simple playground game. We won’t talk about how I’ve pulled a muscle in both my arm and my back. No, we won’t talk about that because that makes me sound old which I am not. 40 is the new 30 you know.

While it may not be good for my aging body to try and master the art of only letting the playground ball bounce once in my square before totally trying to slam it into one of my opponent’s squares, it is good for my family to play together. I’ve heard it said that a family that prays together stays together. I agree but I also think it’s important to play together as a family too.

We’ve been talking a lot on the blog lately about raw emotions and the crazy emotional situations that can happen with those we love the most. I think processing these things is good and important. But I also think getting the family outside and beating the tar out of a playground ball together can help help ease many an emotional situation.

What about you?

Do you have a favorite game you play with your family?

What are some other creative ways you’ve found to bond with your family?

And if any of you are masters of the four square game do tell me your version of some of the rules. My people can flat make up some rules y’all!

Have mercy! And happy Monday.