A Modern Family's Guide to Surviving the Sabbath

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 The Message

This is the message I keep hearing. Everywhere I look, every song I like, every book I read, every message I hear...REST. You have my attention, God! I am listening!

In my previous blog post about striving, I talked about my journey toward resting in obedience rather than striving and wrestling with God for control. It really resonated with people. This is a hot topic!

One of the things my husband and I have integrated into our family life in our quest for rest and seeking obedience in our walk with the Lord is observing the Sabbath. It's an interesting topic. One that people don't really feel they need or maybe feel as though it's an option. I'm here to tell you, it is an important practice in the Christian life! If you are not currently embracing the concept of taking a Sabbath rest, I encourage you strongly to try it! Your life will never be the same and you will NOT want to go back to the way you were before.

Life is busy. This is not breaking news to you. God knew that life would be busy. And so He modeled for us a way to break through the busy-ness of life and get away from the noise long enough to hear His voice. In Genesis 2, we see where God finished His work of creation, and then took a day to rest. People argue, "I'm not doing a Sabbath because that's Old Covenant." Sabbath existed before any covenant did! The precedent was set by God Himself! Kinda hard to argue against that.

You may think that you're too busy to "waste" your time on a Sabbath day. I don't know how to explain it, but since we have committed to keeping a Sabbath day, I've been able to get more done in 6 days than I ever could in 7.

We observe our day of Sabbath on Saturday since our Sundays are full with responsibilities at church. It's a wonderful feeling to go in to our worship experiences on Sunday with a rested heart and mind!

On paper, a Sabbath sounds wonderful! All this restful time and moments spent in solitude with God and reading the Bible...Well, in practice, it's different for us as a family with young kids. Over the last year, we've worked on making the Sabbath work for a family. Here are some ideas:

- First of all, if you have young kids...it's not going to be an incredibly restful experience! Remember those pre-children Saturday naps? Sabbath or not, those days are gone. However, one thing we try to do is have our kids all either nap or sit down for a movie or some video games in the afternoon so Mom and Dad can rest a bit. It may not be a nap, but it's not chasing kids around either! It's just a season of life- later on there will be time for lazy naps. Until then, take what you can get!

- I try as best as I can to minimize housework on our Sabbath day. I try to prepare as much food as possible the day before (or, my favorite, order pizza), we use paper plates (sorry environment...we do recycle though!), and I do my best to get all laundry and similar household work done the day before. I used to get really frustrated because I found myself still cleaning up after everyone. People, give yourself permission to not get the kitchen cleaned up on your Sabbath day. The mess will be waiting for you the next day. That said though, there's no reason to get legalistic about it. If you need to fold some laundry, wash a pan, or do some yard work, do it- particularly if it's something that you enjoy (like working in your garden). The point of the day is not to get nitpicky about what constitutes "work" and what does not. The point is to prioritize engaging in restful, meaningful activities and to take a break from the normal busy schedule of life.

- Plan something fun with the family- go to the park. Go swimming. Pull out some board games. All those little things that you've been hoping to get to all week long but haven't been able to? Do those. Ask your kids for input on something fun to do as a family and do it. If you have hobbies like sports or a particular craft or art activity, incorporate those into your day.

-Try to carve out some time for solitude. This could be a challenge, but for us, the way it works is my husband and I try to give each other some downtime by trading child-watching time. The way this might work is he plays with the kids for an hour while I go for a walk in the woods, or read a book or the Bible outside on the hammock. Then, we switch.

-Above all else, use the day as a way to recall together the many blessings in your life. Slow down and watch your kids play. Put on some worship music and sing together. Put the kids to bed early and enjoy some one-on-one time with your spouse. There is no formula to this- as you go through the day, just try to keep relaxation and enjoyment as your goal.


Particularly if you have a family with small children, your day of rest may not be all that restful. But it will be a change of pace in which you can enjoy life and take a break from working and the normal routine. Our kids look SO forward to Saturday "rest day", as they like to call it. They know that they will have time to do things they enjoy and that as a family, we'll be spending time together. It's a day we look forward to and a day that makes us appreciate the love and the life that we have.

SO if you're feeling frantic and pulled apart by how busy your life feels, even though it may seem counter-intuitive, take a day to rest. You will be amazed by how the Lord responds to your obedience to this necessary and highly enjoyable commandment. And you'll be amazed at how truly rested you feel!

Stop Striving!

I started WorshipU through Bethel church 10 weeks ago with a couple goals in mind- I wanted to pick the brains of some of the best songwriters in the worship music world and wanted to pick up some practical tips for how to be an awesome worship leader.

But God had other plans. I went in to this course work the same way I go in to every other venture and the way I approach every single area of my life- I wanted to "do" instead of "be". God quickly made it very clear to me that this time was not going to be practical, though I have learned some practical things. It was not going to be a time to sharpen my skills as much as it was going to be a time to soften my heart. He showed me that I operate primarily from a place of striving instead of from a place of rest. Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God" always just sounded like a kind suggestion or option for me. But now I realize it is a command and that I was willfully ignoring it.

It is a statement of fact to say that I have a busy life. I am married. I have three kids (boys, mind you) ages 1,4, and 6. We are still finishing our final touches on our house (and by "final touches", I mean things like "siding" and "drywall"). I work part time for our quickly growing church as the Director of Worship. Jarrod and I lead a Connect Group. In my spare time (what, wait, you mean there is spare time?) I write blogs and devotionals and songs and read loads of books. We go on camping adventures as a family. I hang out with my close family members often. I have a large garden I (try) to keep up with. I love to bake. I love to have a clean, organized house.

People, on a very regular basis say to me, "I don't know how you do it all." 

Well, I know how. I exhaust myself. Because I don't just "do" all the stuff above- I try to do it all perfectly. And here lately, especially in the areas of family and ministry, God has essentially put His hand out and said, "Stop." And I am so glad that He has.

Christa Black is the speaker at Bethel who has driven this truth in to my life more than anyone else. A wife, Mother, and amazing songwriter and musician in her own right, this lady is busy! And yet she knows the way to have a full life, but not a life that runs you over and makes you crazy.

Some of her wisdom: 
You can only love God as much as you know He loves you.

“Obedience is better than sacrifice.” In other words “To hear is better than your effort to do the right thing.” (1 Samuel 15:22)

• God’s obedience is shama (Hebrew) - To hear, to listen towards.
• Obedience is not rules. Obedience is towards a person. Obedience is about love. Obedience is all about relationship.
• Obedience is not the act of doing something.
• Obedience is not measured by the act I do or how well I perform.
• If you are going after discipline, discipline yourself to be in love-retreating into the presence and receiving and hearing.
• Receiving and hearing must come before doing.
• Resting and hearing inspires us to do things for Him.
• Obedience is an expression of love.
• God loves to be with His kids. It’s not about what we do or how we do it. He shows up when we seek Him.

I have a personality that loves to do and achieve. I despise process. Science and Math were always a huge waste of time to me, because I do not care HOW things happen, I just want them TO happen. And I will make them happen with a fierce determination. A person like me is an amazing wife, Mom and employee. Because I will work myself until the bitter end to get something done and to get it done well and try to please the people who matter in the process, subtly discarding the rest. I am the Western Industrial World's dream come true. Tireless, tenacious,hardworking, excellent. In other words, I have no idea how to rest. Call it "personality", call it "wiring", I thought I was stuck in this mindset. But you know, God is powerful enough to change personality. He is the master re-wiring expert. And He has changed my mind.

I don't believe God is opposed to people doing things. Jesus, after all, did a whole lot of "doing" in His life. But He always got away and listened before the doing.  

His relationship with God was more important than the results He got.

Excellence was the goal, not tidy perfection. Yes, Jesus was perfect and sinless, but a lot of the things He achieved on this earth were more than a little messy. The start of His life, being born in a filthy cave with livestock comes to mind, as does His brutal death on a cross. 

So this is what God has been speaking to me- louder than song ideas, louder than tips on how to manage a team of people, louder than how to be more skilled or organized. 

His voice is speaking loud and clear- "Carrie, I love you. Just slow down and let me love you." 

And that statement is a game changer. 

I've been so busy doing, that I forgot to be His daughter and let Him be the Father. I've been so busy being perfect that I forgot to value processes and people. I've worked so hard to get my voice heard, that I forgot to listen to His. And even worse, I have applied this "Just Do it!" attitude to my relationship with God- like somehow if I am good enough or work hard enough, I can earn His favor- a cycle that ends in complete frustration. 

And isn't this right where the enemy wants us? Spinning our wheels as hard as we can, but never leaving the rut? Burning out quicker than quick and never getting to our destination and certainly not picking other people up to take the ride with us?

This is the brand of sin I hate the most- the kind that comes in and robs you in broad daylight. 

I can't explain how thankful I am that I was lured in to doing WorshipU out of my own selfish ambition to "do" more. In the process, God has shown me that it's more important to "be". What it looks like practically is I'm not as worked up about things. If a dilemma comes up, I'm not going to scheme in my mind constantly. I'm not going to feel compelled to have a museum showroom level of housekeeping. My kids aren't going to go to bed without me saying goodnight because I have my head buried in a computer screen. I won't go to bed and find that my husband has been asleep for hours without me as I was finishing up working on songs that were very forced and not worth singing anyway. 

Achievement is not my goal anymore. Obedience is my goal. 

So basically, will I be less effective? Some kind of hippie just going with the flow living in a messy house being lazy? I believe quite the contrary. I'm still going to work hard at creating an atmosphere in my home, career, and hobbies, but it's going to be an atmosphere led by God. Not by me. I'm going to do things a little slower- because I need time to listen before I take off running to the finish line. 

I have traded in my old values: I have traded in Perfection for Excellence. Striving for Rest. Results for Relationships. Fear of Failing for Obeying His Voice.

If you're like me and feel caught in a never-ending grip of busy. If you're trying to muscle your way through life and make things happen. If you're often frustrated with the pace of things- nothing is happening fast enough. If time is passing by quickly but you didn't even see it coming. If your priorities are completely out of whack. Then BE STILL.

 It's going to be a process for me. I'm always going to have a tendency toward being a Martha rather than a Mary (Luke 10) But I didn't even really know I was trapped before. I thrived on the striving. But the feeling of resting in obedience and receiving His love has by far replaced the thrill of achievement.

I don't have to do it all. His grace is nothing I can earn anyway. His gift can't be repaid. All the things of God must be received with an open heart and out of obedience, we will do more than we ever imagined. Not because of us, but because of Him. That's the kind of life I strive for now. 

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27)

When Hope is Gone

When bad things happen, we feel that breath of hope that was filling our lungs escape our lips. And we feel empty. We are left with questions about life and God and why and how.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. 2 Thessalonians 2:16

We have hope because of God's grace- that grace is the reason we hope.

Who is this grace available to?
This grace is available to people who have


1. Made Christ their Savior ("Now may OUR Lord") and


2. those who have placed their future in God's hands and see Him as a loving Father guiding their life ("and God our Father") releasing anxiety, trusting God with the future.

This is something I have always struggled with and that God has given me a lot of victory over in the past few years. I used to be the queen of what-if. I would get so down if things weren't going the way I thought they should go. My mind would swirl with all the negative possibilities. But I now realize that it’s crucial to release the outcomes to God. Let go of tension and stress. This is not only a good thing for us personally, but also important for the Kingdom. People around us are not going to be drawn to Christ if they see us worried, anxious, and hopeless. So if we have Christ as our Savior and allow God to guide us, our hope should be evident to the world-

1 Peter 3:15:
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the HOPE that is in you;

But how often do we NOT stand out as being hopeful?

This past week at the grocery store, I looked at the faces of the people around me and there just isn’t a lot of hope in the world right now. People are so weighed down by their problems. Even in my family, we've had some hope stolen in the past couple weeks as Jarrod's dear Grandmother passed away. A young girl in Logan was recently and tragically killed in a car accident, leaving a town and family in shock. It's at times like this that our hope takes a hit.


Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5

The reason why so many people come in to church week in and week out with defeat in their lives, unable to worship, unable to live out their calling and purpose is because they aren't putting their hope in the grace of God. They aren't leaning into the Holy Spirit's power to get them through rough times. They are hanging their heads in shame and are unable to enter into worship because they feel hopeless- they aren't accepting His grace and they aren't actively receiving His love. The reason that people will turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, or any number of other fixes to numb their hurts, is because an enemy wants them to not only be hopeless, but also to be destroyed.

There is an easier way.

Burdens of life are heavy, but the grace of God lifts our burdens.


Matthew 11:28-30 The Message
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

How many of you could use some life recovery?

How many of you could use a real rest?

Friends, we need to replace our hope in the temporal and find our hope in the grace that God gives us:

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God. Psalm 43:5

Are you dragging something around that you need to let go of?
Do you feel guilty?

Do you harbor sorrow for something you couldn't stop from happening, couldn't fix, couldn't make better but you can't let go?

Do you feel loaded down with responsibility for someone else's behavior or addiction or feelings?

Do you have anger you can't let go of?

Do you have hurt feelings, embarrassment, anxiety?

We drag all these things around with us. We let them take up space within us. We've been carrying them so long we don't know what to do without them.


And it all makes our hearts and souls heavy. So heavy.

What would happen if we were to lay down our burdens? What would happen if we gave these things up? What would happen if we just would let God love us?


Take some time to pray about what is stealing your hope and ask that God would replace that with His grace and His abundant love.

On paper, write a burden (or a list of them!) weighing you down. If you are willing to release the burden, get rid of it in some way! Rip it to pieces, burn it, trash it in whatever way you wish. But DO get rid of it.


His grace is enough. Our hope is found in Him alone.


"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11


Perfect song for this topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmnGtfpmy-Q Spend some time alone with Him and place your life in His capable hands.

The More We Seek Him

The more I discover about God, the more I realize how little I truly know. Not because my access to Him is limited (because it's not). Not because He hides Himself (because He doesn't.) But because of how absolutely amazing and great He is. We can't even scratch the surface of how big our God is, and yet, the mystery of all mysteries is that we can still have a relationship that is personal and intimate. He is near.

The last few weeks, I have been taking a course through Bethel Church on worship. I have had such an eye-opening experience through that- and not even so much because of what they are directly teaching, but more from my own desire to deepen my relationship with the Lord and what He is teaching me as a result.

One concept that keeps coming up through my courses is how every person has the potential to be a carrier of the presence of God. Think about that- we are designed to be a vessel to carry His presence to the world around us. And not just on a stage when singing and leading people in worship- but in every part of our day and in every situation. This is not a new concept for me, but the idea of it is really resonating with me as I am learning more about what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit and what it means to bring about His Kingdom on the earth. 

Being in God's presence is where we find our rest. But it's also where we receive direction for life. It's where we can bring our questions, but also get some answers and clarity. It's where we can stand in awe of how much we don't know, but also where we can sit at His feet and learn and just be loved. 

Imagine if every person in your church realized the potential God has placed in them- to be a partner with Him to carry His love, grace, and power to world? If every one of them would seek after God and ask Him to fill them up until they were overflowing with His presence, it would be incredible. It is in the presence of God that we are healed, changed, and loved- my prayer is that we all would seek more of Him and make every effort to get in to His presence, both individually and corporately. Not for a "feeling" or an "experience", but so that we can truly know Him and make Him known. It's all about Him and it's all for His glory! 

"But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 4:29

Standing In The Wind

I am a big fan of gardening. Correction- I am a big fan of the product of gardening. All of the work that goes in to harvesting those big, ripe tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, green beans, and herbs is time-consuming. But oh so worth it! The last few years, I have tried to grow my plants from seed. The first year was a massive success. I had all kinds of time to baby the seedlings and get them growing really well. Last year, I had a newborn baby (not nearly enough time to take care of the seeds, but I did manage somehow) and then our stinking cat sat on the seedlings that I had half-attempted to nurture and killed them. This year, my carefully planted seedlings did really well for a couple weeks and then one night, somehow, the door the tomatoes were placed near came open overnight. The cold air crept in and made them wilt to the point where they were not salvageable. I was ticked (and our house was freezing cold!) Thankfully, there is a local grower who has the most productive, beautiful plants around for sale. It's just a bummer to have to pay more cash for your plants and not feel the victory of growing from seed. But life goes on (and tomato sandwiches are still had.) 

In my research over the last years of gardening, I came across something that was so interesting. If you have tomato seedlings and don't "toughen them up", sometimes when you plant them outside, at the first sign of wind, they will break and bend and be useless. So some master gardeners suggest, when the seedlings reach a certain height, to get a household fan and turn it on low for a few hours, pointed at the seedlings. Then you put the fan on the opposite side of the plants and do the same thing. For a couple days, you keep the speed on low. Then you turn it up to medium. Then you crank that fan up all the way! What this does is puts stress on the plants so that they learn to handle the wind they will face outside in the real world of the garden. 

As I read about that- I thought about my Christian walk. I know- strange to compare tomatoes to people. But trust me, there is a great correlation here. As a growing Christian, sometimes it seems like we are faced with all kinds of turmoil, both externally and internally. God knows about all of this turmoil. He even allows it to happen. And you know what happens to us if we can take the low, medium, and high speed wind that life throws our way? When we're placed into the really tough life situations, we will not break. We will not bend. We will stand firm and tall in Christ and His redemption of us. I know a lot of people right now are going through some terribly difficult things. This world is just ridiculous. It seriously is. But the truth is, that God loves us so much. He wants us to be strong. He wants us to grow. I do not believe that He is turning the fan up a couple notches and watching us get pummeled and taking some kind of sick satisfaction in it. On the contrary, I think He feels our pain. He mourns with us. But in the end, He knows we will come out of all of our temporary trials stronger and more fruitful. He simply wants us to still ourselves, be in His presence to get perspective, and to press in to His loving embrace as we weather life's storms. 

I'm working on writing a song right now based on Psalm 73:26 ("My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever".)that I think captures this concept. So far, it goes like this:

In this life, there is pain
But You give us hope that heals
In our hearts, there is peace
That drives out the doubt we feel

When the wind and waves come
When the storm is raging over me
I hear You saying, "Peace, be still"

Though my heart breaks
Though my flesh fails
You are my portion forever
You are the strength of my life

So friends, whether it feels like the fan is barely on low, or if you're getting blasted by strong winds, God is Your source of strength. Let Him love you, Let Him comfort You. He wants You to grow into the person He designed You to be- a person with a colorful story who can help others out along the way because of your many experiences of His faithfulness. We've just got to dig in-hold on-and know that He is our God. He loves you and knows every detail of every situation you have ever faced or will ever face. As you consider your current life situations, ask Him to be very close to you- so close that He will shelter You and carry you through. And trust Him! He really does know what is best and can see the bigger picture that we can't even start to understand. 

Letting Go of Ungratefulness

God has been working on a sin in my heart lately. And when that happens, I start noticing that same sin in others. And let me tell you, MANY people struggle with this. It's not in a self-righteous way, but more in a "let's talk about this and figure this out together" sort of way that I write this post. So let's dig in. I will warn you, this is not a post of soft, fuzzy puppies and fragrant spring flowers, people. This is ugly. This is serious.

And here's what it is about: Being ungrateful.

I've got admit right off the bat that I don't have any extreme trials in my life right now. I'm relatively healthy, I'm married to a wonderful, Godly man who knows how to love me well (don't hate, but in the 12 years we have been married, we have never, ever had an argument. Discussions, yes. Arguments, no.) I have 3 handsome, healthy, fun-loving sons. I have a lovely house that we are building ourselves, surrounded by the forest and nature on 12 acres. I have no debt other than our mortgage. I do not have to work outside of the home. I have a completely stocked pantry and refrigerator (for the moment...), I am part of a growing, vibrant church where my family and I experience the power and presence of God in our lives, and where we are vitally involved in the worship ministry.

Sounds pretty good, right?

Sounds like I have a pretty blessed life, right?

Sounds like God has provided for me in some pretty incredible ways, right?

Well why, then, do I find myself, more often than not, in a state of frustration over something? Why do I look at all the blessings above, not for what they are (which is blessings), but instead, look at them as a source of curse? The answer is simple. I am ungrateful. I need more thankfulness in my life. If you were to take a look at your life, I bet you could come to the same conclusion.

How do we get ourselves into such a miserable "woe is me" type of mindset in the first place? Well, it turns out that we're in pretty good company. One might even go so far as to label it a generational curse on humanity- one that has been in place since the bite of the forbidden fruit in the garden. Nothing is ever enough. Nothing is ever satisfying. And the reason is, that we don't seek our satisfaction solely from God and we don't thank Him for the many blessings He has given.

If you know the story of the Israelites from the Old Testament, then you can see we, as the descendent apples haven't fallen far from the tree. We read their story. We celebrate their release from freedom and then shake our head at their stupidity as they time and time again relapse into bad habits of being greedy, wanting more, not being satisfied with what they have, not being thankful. Here is an example:

And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them. Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat!" Numbers 11:1-4

Good grief, Israelite people! SHUT UP already! You just about got burnt to a crisp for whining, God saved you, and you are right back at whining AGAIN!?! It's frustratingly painful to read. And do you know why? Because we are just as guilty. We see our own reflection in the face of the whining Israelites. We are mired in the same cycle of stupidity.

I need more.

I need it now.

I need to get my way.

If I just had________, then I'd be happy.

We are so wrapped up in our petty, nonsensical "issues" that we miss the bigger picture. We are so miserable and so overcome by our First World Problems, that we forget that there are people living a world away who would love to be in our shoes. We struggle and strain and complain and get moody over NOTHING!!!! (I am speaking to myself just as much as I am speaking to you, so don't get defensive.)

Friends. We have it better than we deserve. If your life is not in imminent danger right now while you are reading this, you're doing pretty well. In fact, you're doing better than most of the people living on this earth at the moment.

Did you drive somewhere in a vehicle today? 
Did you eat anything at all today? 
Did you turn on a faucet and clean water came out of it? 
Did you put on some clothes? 
Did anyone acknowledge your existence today?


If your answer is yes to even ONE of these, then you have a reason to give thanks. But even if you couldn't say "yes" to ANY of those questions, you still have a reason to give thanks. And here is why- the God of the Universe is a prayer away. He wants to be Your comfort today. He wants to heal. He wants to love you. But you know why you won't reach out to Him? Because you're so concerned about all your little problems. 

Do you understand that in this world, we are up against a very strong, very evil enemy? Do you further understand that one of his best weapons is when he MAKES us a weapon against ourselves? satan gets us tangled up in our little webs of trouble and then all he has to do is sit back and watch the self-destruction begin. It is cunning and it is cruel. But it's easy to recognize. God has mercifully been waking me up to this truth and I feel like I'd be a real jerk if I didn't try to reach through this screen and grab you by the shoulders and shake you a bit. When we let our light and momentary troubles consume us, then we're fairly useless for the Kingdom. That is right where our enemy wants us. And most of us are there.

Are you thankful? Do you believe deep within your heart, soul, and mind that God has everything under control?

Then stop bemoaning whatever it is that you're dealing with right now. And trust me, I understand that there are seasons of life that are hard. I have been through them. God doesn't expect us to paste a smile on and pretend life is grand all the time. Because He knows better than anyone, that this is a broken world. He so longed to make it better that He sent His only Son, Jesus, to win us back. And He is making a home in Heaven for us where these troubles we face today won't hurt us ever again! 

That good day you had where you lifted your eyes heavenward and gave God a prayer of thanks? That's great that you did that. But today when the stuff is hitting the fan and you're feeling aggravated? Just take a moment to find something to be thankful for- in fact, make a list. And I bet you'll start to feel some chains falling off and hear them clattering to the floor. 

That "one thing" that's making you nuts? Let. It. Go. 

The list of grievances you have about your spouse or kids or house or body or job or friend or enemy? Burn it.

The way you rush around to try to get more done and more out of your day? That's actually causing you to MISS OUT on your day. Stop.

I have been doing 3 things on top of seeking God in prayer, the Word, and worship,  that are helping me overcome my ungrateful heart and they are as follows:

1. Read Ann Voscamp's book "1000 Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are"

2. Anytime you start to feel a sense of entitlement, dread, or frustration, just stop and find a way to find a reason to thank God in that moment. A silly example- I was looking at a huge pile of pots and pans to clean on my counter today and I was frustrated about the time it would take. As I started to wash, rather than get ticked off, I thanked God for each pan and thought about how my parents gave them to me as a wedding gift- and I gave thanks. I thought about my clean water that I didn't have to walk miles to get. I thought about the lovely view out of the window. I thanked God for all of it. Then at the end of that time, I thanked God for the time I had to just talk to Him and thank Him! And voila! The work was done! It seems silly. But it worked. The process of being thankful almost has a viral quality to it. We need to be infected with thankfulness!

3. In Voscamp's book, she has a journal where she lists her blessings daily. I have a chalkboard by the door where we are writing what we are thankful for. I try to do one every day. Being thankful begins with paying attention and not taking things for granted. So take some time to really consider the gifts that you have in your life. They are countless and far outweigh the difficulties you face.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. 2 Corinthians 4:7-12

You don't have to make yourself miserable and frustrated. Life is in you. You get that one life to live in this world. One chance to make a difference. Look beyond yourself. Look at all that God has done and all that He gives. He is all we need. When we do that, our worship will become life-changing, our relationships will be stronger, our satisfaction will be fuller, because it's all based on Him. Give thanks to the Giver and you will not find yourself wanting.

This Was NOT a Pinterest Morning

Good Morning all you frazzled parents out there. I've got a little secret to share with you all--- this morning? My house? My kids? Total chaos. There was weeping and gnashing of teeth. There was a giant sized fit over the grey shirt that didn't match the camo pants. There was an uproar over breakfast. My little normally sweet 6 year old was so angry, that on the way home from dropping him off at school, my 4 year old, Cohen, quite seriously asked, "do you think Silas is going to the dark side, Mom?" Which caused me to have my own fit- of laughter!

Isn't it just annoying to have a morning like this? No one is feeling good about things. Everyone is insecure in their role as parent/child. All those "what have I done wrong?" kinds of questions linger. Your mind drifts to all those other "perfect" parents you know sending their smiling kids out the door with a beautifully packed lunch of epic homemade proportions, wearing clothes they made themselves, carrying a hand-folded cardboard box with hand-painted spring flowers on the side, with beautiful, perfect treats for their (also perfect) classmates inside? I'm not buying it. I have a day once in a while where I can achieve those things, but more often than not, my morning is like a circus. Or a marathon. Or a wrestling match. There is nothing I could take a photo of from this morning and pin on Pinterest boards today at all. My kid had a piece of bacon coming out of his mouth, tears dropping out of his eyes, and that wild brown hair shooting up in every direction. We ran from the house in a late frenzy to the van and scrambled in as fast as we could. Not exactly a peaceful experience.

In the end, after a long talk on the way to school, as he was exiting the mini-van, we both had smiles on our faces and he gave me two kisses and a big hug and said he was sorry for his anger and disrespectful words- and I forgave him. Lesson learned. Disaster morning over. And so we all move on. It was not the morning I would have wished upon us, but it was the morning that we had. We parents pressure ourselves so much to have every moment be sparkling and delightful, straight from the pages of a parenting magazine. But it's not reality. Life is not perfect. The sooner our kids (and we, as parents) learn that lesson and get the grace to deal with it, the better. I am the kind of person who has always liked things orderly, tidy, neat and wrapped up in a bow. Guess what? I'm getting over it. Because if you hold ridiculous expectations, you're going to be miserable, and I don't want to live my life that way. I want to let go of this idea that everything has to be perfect, because it can't be. It can be close, but only at the expense of our sanity and family. And those are two trades I am not willing to make. We are fallen, broken people living in an angry, hurting, chaotic world. The only perfection we can know is the perfection that is found in our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is our example, and though we strive for a whole lifetime, we know we will never attain that perfection. But along the way, even in mornings like this, our faith and our relationships are tested, torn, and strengthened once again. And we grow. There was nothing perfect or contained about this morning. But I'm pretty sure not much would have been learned had it been that way.

Just before he opened the door of his school, he turned around with a huge toothy smile and asked, "tomorrow is Saturday, right Mom?" Yes it is, my sweet son. A chance to recharge and regain our composure as we look to the challenges ahead. Because we never know what the next day will hold. But we know WHO holds our next day. Thank You, God. For loving us even in our chaos. For giving us grace that we don't deserve. For showing us perfection, but not expecting it from us. For being good. For giving us rest. For being our source of security. For Your love.

Praying that you all have a blessed, restful weekend. Give your kids an extra hug today. Life is hard for everybody and we all have "one of those days" once in a while.