Hello, Ladies. I'm sipping a latte on this cold late afternoon, pretending you're all here with me. Actually, it's going to seem even more like that in our new Google Group. I hope you'll continue to report in when you're having trouble getting in there so Leah can sort that out for you. (As you can imagine, I'm just as clueless as you are!) I think it's going to be a good extension of our twice weekly posts. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see yesterday's (Monday's post) by Leah, entitled "Announcing."
One of the things you'll be able to do there is make prayer requests, but I hope you'll continue to do it here too. I like this part of our visits, and I think a lot of you do too. We've seen some God-things happen, haven't we? Today, your sisters have asked you to pray for:
SARAH ELIZABETH'S friend Shannah's mom who has no end of serious health problems. Pray for Shannah too; she's under a lot of stress.
ABBY who has a math test she's freaking out over on Thursday, and who is dealing with a change of schedule at her church that will keep her from going to the high school service.
ALISHA, who has a set of exams starting tomorrow. Please pray that she'll stay vertical! Seriously, do pray that health issues won't interfere.
Merciful God, please hear the prayers of your daughters.
We also have some things to give thanks for:
The continued improvement in Baby Em, ALISHA"s very small friend.
The presence of the Spirit in ALEXANDRIA and her group's work at the theatre Competition and Convention -- a spirit the Broadway director judge said he saw but couldn't define.
I have one too. YOu know how in the last post I confessed that I'd been whining because I hadn't heard from a publisher on a project I really, really wanted to do? They're offering me a contract! Just found out today! Ya gotta love what happens when you do what's in front of you and wait for God. (It doesn't always turn out the way you plan, but this time it did. I might have TWO lattes!)
Your Responses To the Last Post:
You were your usual honest selves when I asked what you might be whining about, instead of well, you know, obeying. You said:
* You've tended to ignore these posts because they've struck a nerve. (I must be doing something right, then!)
* It's easy to think something you deep-down know is a nudge really isn't because you don't want to go where it's pulling you.
* You whine about: parental authority; letting go of things that, even though they don't serve you well, have come to define you -- like depression; school . . . school . . . and did I mention school? -- especially with semester exams lined up like planes waiting to take off.
In your discussions on the Google Group or even here, please continue to tell us what you plan to do about that. Is God nudging you at all? Can you take a baby step? Or do you need somebody to get in your face and say, "Get over it, girl!" (The way my daughter sometimes has to do with now two-year-old Baby Maeryn. I just smile . . .)
While you continue in that vein, I'm going to take us in what may seem like the opposite direction, but bear with me, because I think some of you have experienced this too -- maybe even at the same time that you're whining about one thing . . . Life can be so confusing!
Obedience Session #4
READ: John 6:14-15. This comes right after Jesus has miraculously fed the five thousand, using the loaves and fishes provided by a small boy. (John's is the only Gospel that includes the kid in this story; that's why it's my favorite version) You've probably heard every interpretation of that miracle possible, so we're going to look at the aftermath, where two things happen:
(1) The people are so impressed and awed by the whole thing they try to take Jesus by force and make him king.
(2) Jesus gives them the slip and goes off to the mountain by himself.
IMAGINE AND PONDER: First THINK about the fact that Jesus has reached a peak in his popularity and yet he runs away from it. He doesn't just say, "No thanks -- I really couldn't." He physically removes himself from the situation and goes off by himself, presumably to pray. IMAGINE what he discussed with his Father. Did he ask for strength to continue to refuse their plan? Did he ask for guidance in what to do next? One thing to consider is that in the very next scene, Jesus walks on water. Do you think his talk with God had anything to do with that new evidence of his power? Now PONDER your dream of success, and IMAGINE yourself at its peak. What's going on? How are people treating you? How are you feeling about your sweet self? What could possibly be un-godly about the whole thing? Do any pitfalls yawn before you -- holes of pride, ego, loss of perspective you could fall into? Now IMAGINE going off by yourself to pray about it.
PRAY: This time, write in your journal or on your drawing pad so you can include some art if you want. Ask God to show you a current situation in your life where you are either: (1) feeling a little too, what my grandmother used to call, "big for your britches;" or (2) putting somebody else on a pedastal they don't belong on (because, um, nobody does). When you know what it is, write it down. Make it visual if you want. (And by the way, anytime you do a drawing or other piece of art connected with these sessions, feel free to snap a digital photo and attach it to an email to me to include here on the blog.)
NUDGE TO ACTION: What do you need to do to either (1) back off the ego thing or (2) get perspective on this person you're practically worshipping? Obey. Do it. Do it now. If that means going off by yourself to think it and pray it through, do that first.
SHARE: Tell us anything about this experience that you want to. If you like a specific question, here's one: Where do you need to remind yourself that neither you nor anybody else is that good, that powerful, that awesome? What are you going to do obey what Jesus demonstrates in this story?
As for that Treasure Chest where you're storing up signs and wonders, anything that symbolizes a call to humility (not beating yourself up! just perspective on yourself!) should go right in there.
Right now, I'm going to go bake a humble pie. The first person to tell us what that means gets a free book.
Blessings,
Nancy Rue
Humble pie is what they used to say (Still say? I still say it) for swallowing your pride and admitting you're wrong.
When I imagine myself at my peak, I imagine being happy, healthy and vibrant. But the problem I have is whenever i feel like I'm getting there or getting close to being happy and really ok something comes in my way and I get the whole guilt thing going on, like "Really? After what happened to you you're just going to move past it?" And i get thrust back into the same patterns. I think I'm scared of not having that extra padding that comes along with holding on to these issues that i have.
A lot of the time i feel like i'm in over my head, like I can't balance my life and wanting to move forward and be ok with my new diagnosis or be ok with the fact that i'm sick and work on getting healthy and my past and the little voice that tells me I need to feel emotional pain every second of every day for it to count.
I'm working on doing this little thing every morning, and basically it goes like this, "Even though I'm stressed out about whatever, or worried about this thing, or feeling this way, I love and accept myself completely, or I know God loves me regardless."
I'm taking small steps forward, and hopefully someday soon I can stop taking steps back too.
Posted by: Alisha | 01/22/2013 at 05:57 PM
Ooh... this was a good one...
After reading this post and thinking about it for a minute, a situation where I may be slightly "too big for my britches" already came to mind. There's a certain friend of mine who, I really do care about, but she can be difficult to love at times. As of late, I've had somewhat of a bad attitude about her and have had trouble forgiving her for small, silly things she's done that bother me.I don't really want to think about it, but, this is definitely an area where I need to be reminded that I'm not as good or awesome or powerful as Jesus.Instead of working with Him and asking Him for strength to forgive and love my friend, I've let myself focus on what I dislike about her and how "I'm in the right"... Definitely something I'll be praying about this week :)
Alisha, I love what you say to yourself each morning! It sounds like an awesome way to remind yourself to keep trusting in God and His love :)
Posted by: Sasha | 01/23/2013 at 08:06 AM
Still thinking about this post... I'll probably comment again either later on today or tomorrow morning.
Shannah's mom is home from the hospital! I'm not quite sure how well she's doing but she must be at least a little better since she's out of the hospital. Thanks for the all the prayers - please keep praying though! :)
Praying for all of you girls!
Posted by: Sarah Elizabeth | 01/24/2013 at 08:55 AM
Well, this is a hard one. Being honest is NOT easy,but we need to do it.
When I imagine myself at my peak, I imagine me having three kids,a wonderful husband,and an art gallery.( I LOVE to draw!)I have always wanted kids, a wonderful, God-Fearing man, and a studio where I can paint.But I probably have an ego, and I can't spend as much time with my kids and Husband as much as I would like to. And I get stressed,and depressed.
Where do I need to remind myself. Hmm. I am constantly talking to my Lord, whether with algebra, or how to win my argument with my mom(Not to great, but I do it..)But WHERE do I realize I am just a grain of sand, helping to carry out His great, and awesome plan? I am only human, and I will have to accept that I do not know. I have not been through any life challenging problems, of which I am grateful.But, hey, my life is just beginning,Hey, I am only 13, so I can not wait to see what God has in store for my life. I honestly do not know how to answer that last question. So I am going to leave it at that.
Oh, hey. As some of you MIGHT know, I have been having some problems with my "Friend" Well, I have made the very hard decision that we can't be friends. She does not seek me out, and I her, so it isn't like we have to see each other often, and such. But it still cuts a deep wound in my heart, so please pray for me. And her
Posted by: AnnaRachael | 01/24/2013 at 12:37 PM
For me, I think I really need to learn to be more humble at work. This is something that God's really been tugging on my heart about. I'm the 3rd youngest, but my bosses all put me in charge of everyone else because they trust me and know I can run the business. I've come to enjoy the power and taken a little too much pride in it.
One way I'm going to try and work on it is to do those tasks that nobody likes to do. Like washing dishes more and such. It's not fair of me to make other people do the jobs I don't even want to do.
I actually read this chapter a few days ago and something that really stood out to me was how Jesus intentionally sought time with God. It wasn't a convenient time when there's nothing else to do and you just dust off your Bible from under your bed and read it purely because of boredom. No, Jesus stepped back from the crowd and sought the face of God. How often I forget to do this. I let myself get wrapped up in the cool things, then pause later when it's all still.
Posted by: Paige | 01/24/2013 at 02:08 PM
Prayer request: My church youth group retreat is tomorrow night ad really excited but also kid of nervous. I'm hoping that all goes well and I get to meet and bind with people who love Christ, and that I get enough sleep! :)
Also, I'm feeling really tired lately, and I think I might be getting sick.
Posted by: Grace Anne | 01/24/2013 at 08:17 PM
All right, I'm still a bit behind, but I'm loving this series so much and I want to do all of it! So here's my super-belated comment:
This is actually a perfect post for me right now, because I've been struggling with jealousy of one of my best friends. She just seems to have everything under control, the perfect boyfriend, perfect family, perfect grades, an incredible relationship with God, and everyone likes her. And recently, as I've been working through some issues with God myself, I've been feeling a lot of envy because of that perception of her life being everything I want mine to be. So I guess the thing is, I need to take the time and make the conscious effort to sacrifice my pride, and admit that I am not her, and I will be miserable if I keep comparing my successes and failures and everything else to hers - my mom's always said that you're guaranteed to be unhappy if you try to live someone else's life. Not that I've been imitating her or anything, but I think I've definitely been putting her up on that pedestal. But while we were on a pilgrimage together this weekend, she opened up to me about some things that she's really been struggling with herself. And I realized, no one has everything figured out. Every single person has a cross to bear, a cross that is specifically designed by God and fits their capabilities to a tee. So I told her that I am committing to praying for her each night to help what she's going through, and hopefully that time alone away with just God and I will bring both of us the graces we need right now.
Love you girls so much, still praying even though I'm in catch-up mode! ;)
Love and Blessings,
*Rachel*
Posted by: *Rachel* | 01/27/2013 at 08:22 PM