“Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:2, ESV)
A common lie that I have caught myself falling for is this:
“The only thing of value is something I have to work hard for.” Continue reading “Easy Going”
A good friend of ours, Michael Ramsey, wrote a blog this week that I felt resonated with some of the things we have been recently discussing. We talk a lot about knowing who we are and this blog fits in perfectly. He says “When people don’t have a clear sense of who they are, they are in danger of becoming whoever they are around.” Michael then goes on to give some tips on being your authentic self. Continue reading “Sharing a great blog!”
I look in the mirror, and I do not like what I see. The labels of failure, loser, outcast, and idiot all whirl around inside my head. Do you ever have days like that? I’m talking about those days when we do not feel like we measure up. We find ourselves comparing ourselves to those around us. We don’t feel as well put together as the people we see and know. Continue reading “We Are Being Lied To”
I’ve been searching and searching for how to fix this funk I’ve been in lately. The more I search and read the more deflated I’ve been feeling. I just beat myself up over and over again. I’ll never measure up. I’ll never figure out why I am so irritable. I’ll never be content. The more I search, the more this is enforced and believed. God keeps whispering to me to quit searching and just go back to the truths of who I am. Continue reading “Lessons from The Lion King “
Our friends at Trueface have released a free 7 day devotional available on YouVersion. It’s titled “Two Roads: Please God…or Trust Him?”. You can find it on the YouVersion Bible app on your phone or click here for direct access. Neil and I have started it and it has brought about some great conversation. Hope you enjoy!
-Melissa
****Over the summer months we will continue blogging but we will also slow down a little along the way so we may not post every Tuesday. We hope you enjoy your summer!
When something goes wrong with the HVAC unit at my home, I have someone I call for help. He has all the knowledge and ability to repair and perform maintenance on the unit, but that’s not the main reason I call him. Of course, those things are important, but there’s something much more important to me. I trust this guy. He does what he says he is going to do. He is dependable. He is honest as well. One time, he made a minor mistake, but he owned up to it immediately. I would have no problem leaving him a key to my house for him to go in while I wasn’t there in order to complete a job. Continue reading “Priceless”
There are many turns in life. One chapter ends and another one begins. Ups and downs throughout the process. We recently experienced another turn in our life. Our son graduated from Campbell University! It was a very happy and memorable day and we celebrated all weekend. See Neil’s post from last week for more on this wonderful occasion.
Prior to the graduation, I was thinking about our son and our life with him. There have been happy times, sad times, good times and not so good times. Each one created a pivot in our life’s journey. I asked myself what I was most happy about during this graduation season. It would be easy for me to say that I was proud of him because of what all he has accomplished and I am. I could also say that each pivot was a literal turning point in our lives and those pivots helped make him what he is today. That is true. But it boils down to something much more……who he is.
Pivots do not define us. They can describe something we did or did not do but they do not define who we truly are. Life’s pivots can mature us and teach us more and more about who we really are. Life experiences offer an opportunity for us to look a little deeper at ourselves. What made us choose this or that? What part of my true self does this experience reflect?
I encourage you to look at pivots in your life and take some time to reflect on them. What have they taught you about who you are?
-Melissa
****Over the summer months we will continue blogging but we will also slow down a little along the way so we may not post every Tuesday. We hope you enjoy your summer!
As I watched my son graduate from college recently, I was beaming with pride. A quick google search provides this definition for the word “proud”: feeling deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one’s own achievements, qualities, or possessions or those of someone with whom one is closely associated. That about sums it up. I know the hard work he put into his education. I know how he put great effort into learning things he wanted to learn, along with things that he did not necessarily care much about. I know how he was met with great professors who walked along beside him and encouraged him over the course of his college years. I also know there were likely professors that were not so easy to get along with. He persisted and prevailed through it all, good and bad.
Although I am thrilled to see him accomplish such a task, I am even more pleased with the young man I know that he is. It’s not all about what he does or doesn’t do. Whether he succeeds or fails at any given task, I have seen first-hand what is inside of him. He is loving, caring, passionate, driven, and discerning. Those qualities are always there (and others as well), despite what circumstances come his way. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him grow, and I look forward to seeing the impact he will have in the world as he moves forward from this point in his life.
While the emotions of this milestone continue to swirl around within me, I am reminded of something. THIS is how God views us, his beloved children. He is so proud of us. He is pleased when he gazes upon us. He loves watching us be who He created us to be. Yeah, He likes to see us achieve goals and cross finish lines, but whether we do or don’t, he loves us the same. He knows what is inside of us because He created us. We are free from any condemnation (Romans 8:1,2). We are beautiful, forgiven, and complete in His eyes (Colossians 1:14 and 2:10). We are never separated from His unconditional love for us (Romans 8:35-39). He has chosen each of us to bear fruit that He has prepared for us to bear long, long ago…even before we were born (John 15:16).
For those of us who are parents (either biologically or those who have chosen to be one in the life of a child who doesn’t necessarily share the same genes), as we look at them with loving eyes may we remember that we have a Heavenly Parent who looks at us in a very similar way.
-Neil
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I am not one who trusts easy. Throughout my life, I have leaned more towards waiting for others to prove their trustworthiness before letting down my guard. I have erred on the side of caution, assuming the worst in others. Self-protection often seems much more important than anything “trust” could offer. Hurt, rejection, betrayal, and a dose of what seems like an inborn tendency to mistrust have all led to this perspective. If those were not enough, my own failures in being trustworthy have added to the belief that trust should be regarded as something dangerous and bound to wind up in disappointment.
Trust is worth the risk.
Wow, what a ridiculous bolded sentence. For those of us who struggle with trust, those five words might strike us as annoying, at the very least. They likely have garnished a quick roll of the eyes. I will admit, I often do not believe that sentence, either. At any given point in my life, only a handful of people experience me turning off my self-security system and allowing myself to trust. So, why would someone who seems to fear trust so greatly bother writing about the “benefits of trust”? Despite my trust being violated many times, the times that it has been honored and treasured by others have been worth telling about. Those moments have been worth the risk to press forward in the realm of trust. I want to try to give you some ideas of why this is…for me, anyway.
Trust lets me be loved.
When I do not trust, I put on a mask. I hide myself from others. The most they get is what I want them to see, and I do not want them to see the real me. Therefore, when I do not trust, there is no way I receive any true love from anyone. This does not mean others do not love me. They may love me deeply. However, my mask and other methods of self-protection block any love offered to me. I do not get to experience it. The best I get is for others to like my performance (my mask). Many times it winds up with me pushing others away (rejecting them before the perceived rejection I think they will offer me if I let them see the real me).
Trust helps me grow and mature.
As I let others into my life, they get to see me. They get to see my true struggles. They get to share in that with me. They get to walk alongside me. As they love me in those ways, they also get permission to speak to me about those things. These moments help me to see things I cannot see myself. Everyone needs a mirror to see what’s really going on with themselves. Trusting others does something very similar.
Trust protects me.
Self-protection cannot be relied upon for lasting security. It may feel good, especially when we are fearful of being hurt. However, it is a lie that we can protect ourselves in this life. We need others. We are built for relationships, and part of that is needing the protection we can offer each other. As I mentioned before, we need mirrors to see what’s going on with ourselves. We may have something deadly going on that, without someone lovingly pointing it out, would go unnoticed to the point that it really hurts us and others around us. It may be the way we speak to those who work under us, how we handle our child’s discipline, or the way we neglect our spouse’s needs. Trust opens up the door for us to be enlightened to how we are affecting others around us and ourselves.
Trust is one of the most important things in our lives.
God has been very clear about trust. Above all else, He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to believe Him. He has demonstrated his love for us in such magnificent ways in order to win our trust. When we don’t trust Him, we lack the truth and we lack the ability to be loved and to love others. Without trust, we are lost. Faith (trust) is a gateway to experiencing His grace. When we fail in trusting Him, we will fail in trusting others, and vice versa. Our trusting of people and God go hand-in-hand. We cannot even trust who we really are outside of trusting who He says He is. Did you get that? Add that to the list of what trust does. Trust allows us to see and experience who we really are. That is something self-protection and mask-wearing can never do.
-Neil
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