Tag: life

Chains and Change

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized

Have you ever had an experience where something you heard, watched or experienced had such an impact on you that you knew you couldn’t do anything else but to change some things in your life? I have recently changed churches at God’s leading, and I attended a class on “Belonging” to this particular church and family. However, as I listened to the pastor share his heart about what belonging to this church means, I knew immediately that I would be challenged in a BIG way!  What is it that really reached down into my heart and stirred me up? Let me share some thoughts with you.

We can so easily get seduced into thinking that what we are doing and the way we are living is “ok” with God. God knows my circumstance and He will understand why I do what I do, say what I say, get mad over anything, call someone a name, say words I shouldn’t say or any number of things we justify. The fact IS? He does care. He asks us to follow Him and leave that all behind us when we accept Him as our personal Savior. I can’t look like the world and live my life for Jesus. I have to do life differently.

So as I listened, God began an excavating process and exposed things for me to change. I have lived all my life for God, but there are areas of my life I don’t like much. My challenge? How am I going to change and adjust my life so I live more fully for Him?

You see, we can get caught up on all kinds of moves and activities; so much so, that we get desensitized to our busyness and begin to justify it to ourselves. We ignore that voice that says, “That isn’t going to take you where I want you to go.” And, let’s face it, change is HARD! It’s so much easier to just ignore it. Shoot, we are so busy doing OUR thing, we don’t even hear that voice trying to encourage us to move toward HIS thing.

So what will I be working on? I will be transparent with you for a minute because I know that is the first step to changing what God wants to change in me. Here I go:

▪                I love to serve, help and encourage people. I love being involved in my church. But in my involvement, I have to be under the authority of the pastor who has a God-given vision and leave my agenda behind. I don’t think that my ideas are the only ideas. I just get excited about what could be! It’s hard for me to keep a lid on it because I’m a visionary! I get all excited about what could be done to help others in their walk with the Lord. But I’m going to work on that submission area.

▪                I’m asking God for control over my mouth, where it can be easy for things to come out that aren’t edifying to anyone.

▪                I’m putting my message that God gave me three years ago and is on my wall, back to work in my life. It says, ” To JoAnn…praying without ceasing. ~God”  Oh, I pray all the time. But I have had a season of time where I have not been as consistent as I was.

▪                I’m expecting that because God is asking me to change these areas, that He will give me the grace to do it; expecting answers to prayers and needs.

▪                I am watching my associations and situations which would get me agitated or riled up. I want the things that stir me up to be God’s agenda.

▪                I will learn with God’s help to be consistently content with what He gives me and also the home where I live. Sometimes, I can get off track when I see others who have more or seem to always have “it”, as my pastor shared last Sunday. I want to be consistent in the area of “living satisfied”.

  • I am creating an environment in my home that says, God lives here, and what I have, I owe to Him. So my husband and I are working on areas that will improve our home to make the atmosphere cozy and inviting. We want our life to me just like a door header I saw that said, “We live to make God famous.”

I’m excited! It’s not going to be easy. But I know God spoke, and He asked me to step up to this challenge from Him and see what He will do! I talk about the journey of my heart on this blog; this is my heart. I’m hopeful that my journey will inspire you to take up the mantle and ask God for the changes that YOU may need in your life, SO THAT, you will have both feet on the side of Jesus! Get your expectation motor started! He will take you to places you never dreamed of! I would love to hear from you! Let me know what God is working on in you! Blessings on your journey!


Does Your Life Need Balance?

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized

The other day, I was out by the water here in Whatcom County and witnessed an interesting situation. Out on the channel there was a log with three seagulls perched on it. They were in perfect balance and enjoying the ride as they floated down the channel. I raised my camera to get a picture when all of a sudden, one decided to take off. What happened next was pretty funny but also an interesting life lesson. One of the seagulls decided to lift off and it left the other two struggling to maintain balance as the log shifted and moved. So I got the picture of the two seagulls who were left trying to work together to save themselves from having to leave the log. They raised their wings to maintain balance as they slowly moved up on the log. However, as they moved to correct themselves, the log also rotated, and so they were doing some pretty fancy foot work as they worked to stay on. Eventually, after each trying to right their position, it failed and they flew off. This whole scenario seemed like a great lesson in a balanced life for me.

We hear so much about the importance of keeping balance in our lives. We have a lot going on, and if we don’t maintain balance, one area of our life can get out of control and take over. We all know the story, right? Let’s think about the seagulls for a minute. Before the “situation” happened, they were just floating along enjoying the free ride down the channel. Then, the one decides to take off. No warning, no discussing it, just doing what that seagull wanted to do. But what was left in the wake of the one seagull leaving were the other two picking up the pieces of that one seagull’s decision. The other two of them scrambled trying to stay on for the ride. It was so easy when they were all together and no one else is messing around. Our life gets like that. One person does something, or a situation comes up, that sends us spinning out of control. Our life balance is totally off and we are dangerously close to upending our log and hitting the water in a belly flop. Oh, we try to adjust our lives at times with things such as time management, charts, clean and organizing our house, quit one thing to free the schedule, but then start something else. We try for a while to have more family time or time for the Lord in an effort to right our log, but it doesn’t last much longer then the float down the channel did for the seagulls. We flap and flutter, trying to do it by ourselves. We do the dance to stay on, flap our arms trying to keep from losing it, and end up leaving the log or, in other words, running away from the truth of what is really going on or how we feel.

So what is the answer? We need to have God on the log of life with us! I mean really. We trust Him with everything that is in us. Are we going to believe IN God or are you going to BELIEVE GOD? Just like He calmed the storm on water, He can calm the storms in our lives. If we partnered with Him to give us balance, we would have a different reaction when one decides to go off on some tangent of their own or life hits us full face. We still have God on our log to help us maintain balance. So we don’t have to do the happy feet to stay on, we can do the happy feet because God is there. He is reaching out to us to say, “keep your feet firm and stretch out those wings, catch the air and slowly move forward with me. I’m here.” You know what will happen?

He will give you a picture like He gave me that day! If our hearts are open to Him, He will speak to us through the simple things in our lives. He wants to remind us of His presence and to help measure our steps and stay on the log of life with Him. Lift your wings and let God be the wind beneath them, trusting that with His help, you can float down the channel of life and enjoy the scenery of life as you go! He may even ask you to dive in with Him! OR maybe you are the one leaving the log of the status quo to be lifted higher with Him!

God bless you as you invite Him onto your log to dangle your feet in the water together!

Who Me? An Example?

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized

Did you ever have your parents tell you any of the following?

  • You needed to be an example to your brother or sister.
  • They are watching you.
  • If you don’t do that, neither will he/she.
  • Show them how they are supposed to act by how you act.
  • They are younger than you so you have to show them how to act.
I don’t know about you, but I can remember wanting to ask my parents to look for someone else to show them how to act. It kind of makes me giggle a bit now, but I didn’t think it was funny then!

So what is it about us being an example that our parents hoped would carry over into our adult lives? Do you think they really thought WE were the only ones that would set an example to our siblings? I think it was an early lesson in taking the high road in situations where you wanted to react quite differently. I looked the word “example” up in the Vines Dictionary and it said, “a thing shown, tracing, writing copy, to make a show or expose, to teach, to show by example. Acts 20:35 , Jesus talks about giving us an example to follow and that He showed us what that example looked like. Let’s explore that idea a bit.

We have countless areas where we can be an example. We are always watched by someone. The saying that we might be the only Jesus someone sees? That is so true and so we want to be authentic in how we live. It’s not about the “appearance” of how we live, or what we show people through a Facebook status, or putting on our best face for Sunday mornings. It is about living as Jesus would live everyday. Jesus sees all. That means that when we are trying to put forth something we are not, He knows! We aren’t fooling Him! We can’t be an example without His help and we daily need to ask Him to show us how He wants us to be the example of Him in our daily walk.

So back to our parents…I think they already knew this when they asked us to be an example our brothers and sisters. They knew that one day, that we would have to on purpose live for Jesus with all its hits along the way. And when I share some of those thoughts with my grandson, Ethan, I kind of smile and say to myself, “Thanks Mom and Dad for your Godly guidance of how I should live.” 

You have power and influence and you may never really know how much. But people ARE watching. Bosses are watching, people you live with are watching, and so are you kids or grandkids. They are forming life opinions based on yours. Will you join me in this challenge of being authentic and honest in how we live out our days, whether at home, with friends, church, on the job, or in social media settings?

I hope that as I run this race called life, that I can look over and find you in the next lane running with me toward that ultimate prize!

Who Likes Detours? I Do!

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized

What is it about changes or detours that can immediately get to us? We can have everything under control and then along comes some twist or turn, and we get all frustrated or stressed. I wish I could say that has never happened to me, but unfortunately, that is so not true. I have had more curves in my life journey then you can possibly imagine! But some of those curves and detours have taken me places I would have never gone otherwise. Those roads would not have been the choices I would have consciously made on my own. But along my life journey, I have come to realize the value in those twists and turns, and that ultimately, they have moved me up into a deeper walk with the Lord, to better understanding of the Word, and taught me better ways to come along side others in their twists and turns.

Here are a few things that I have come to know:

  • If I am surrounding my journey in prayer, then I can relax along the way; even enjoy it, because I will be looking for God’s meaning rather than how I might feel about where I am at.
  • God desires to walk every step with me, surround me in his love, and come along side me to guide my steps.
  • I see scenery that I would not have seen when I take the detours of life.
  • I’m never alone. He has His network set up for my support. I just have to look for it and be open to who He might bring into my life and situation.

I’m a very visual person and so this picture here is exactly what I’m talking about. Along time ago, I found what I call my “journey ring” that tells the story of the ups, downs and curves that life can bring. It ultimately journeys up and so can we. The second ring was one I designed for my husband and I for our 10th wedding anniversary that reminds me to always pray. I wear the rings every day. I think together they tell a wonderful story of how we can live in peace and joy by reminding ourselves that He is in control of our journey. If we are willing to surround our life in prayer, He is faithful to bring us up! Let’s go to the next level together! The climbing view is awesome!

Slowing Down…

by Journeys of My Heart, posted in Uncategorized

I had the pleasure and fun of having my grandson over night this weekend and what a great time we had. He is five years old and a very busy little boy! His energy is non-stop and as he tells me, he NEVER runs out of energy. After following him around for a couple of days, I am inclined to agree with him. But the other side of him asks me, “Grandma, why do you go so fast?”  When I look down at him, I wonder the same thing. What IS my hurry? He likes to stop and look at things; admire them, ask questions about them, ask what it means or why it is that way. I enjoy his curiosity and have come to adopt that in my life more and more as I am around him.

Just think of what that could mean in our relationship with God. What if we “slowed down” to enjoy time, or more time, with Him? What if we would stop and become a “noticer” of things and people around us? What would happen if we stopped to enjoy the flowers, or the hear the birds more, children’s laughter, our husband/wife, our family? What would happen if we started looking at things more simply or asked God what something means or why it is that way? The exciting part of that is, just like when Ethan asks me those questions and I want to answer him the best I can, so much more so, God wants to talk with us and help us understand and see things more clearly. Now THAT is something to get excited about!

So over the next few days, I hope this encourages you to slow down a bit, pause a while, smell a flower, see the mountains, smell the rain, and breathe deeply of a loving Father that wants to share in your life and loves you very much. When I hear Ethan repeat back to me weeks later what we have talked about, there is no greater joy to me. I know God feels the same way about you and me. He loves it when we come to Him and pause a while, and remember His goodness and enjoy His beautiful creation around us. Enjoy this week and God bless you as you journey on!