Is 2014 running you ragged already?

Every January, my calendar gets insanely clogged up.  Social dates with friends to make up for the hustle and bustle of the holidays, dentists & doctors I cancelled on in December and appointments with the gym (because every self-help article says make it an appointment…whatever.)  

In addition, I'm in the full-sprint season of launching a new church in Austin, and as some of you might know, January is the time of new routines for most every human being.  The result is that church is FULL of new people to meet, greet and connect in our church.

By February, however, most of my personal calendar is wiped clean because I realize my life is unsustainable at that pace.  The first week of February left me gasping for air and sleeping 9 hours a night…. wondering if I had taken up some primal form of hibernation or if I had just gone plum crazy thinking I could run at this pace.

But wait….January was all about new beginnings….new goals…. reaching for the stars…. now I'm so tired I can't even reach my shoelaces!

Friends, have you been there?  I'm just going to be honest here and tell you that I have…. and I was.. 

I think this post might be for both of us.

"Because NOT giving up is a conscious decision." 

(Care to tweet?)

And we can do this.

If 2014 is already consuming you, overwhelming you or letting you down, can I just encourage you to press on?  Don't be paralyzed by your discouragement, fear or insecurities.  This is not the time to second guess yourself… you haven't been in the game long enough!


This feeling reminds me of my kids basketball games.  I may have already needed to let go of a few calendar obligations, but getting my kids to their sports games remains a priority.  I can't make every game, but I sure do love to watch them play.  Here's something I've noticed about kiddos…

When the game remains close (within 2-6 points,) the kids go after each possession with vigor, determination…. a "full-court" press, if you will.  But when the gap gets bigger than 8+ points, even my oldest son, who is in 5th grade, will lose steam in his effort.  You can watch the team become erratic, panicked OR watch them deflate… slow down….. give up.

We can really become taller versions of kids sometimes, can't we?  Have you ever found yourself making erratic decisions… panicking…..lobbing a ball from half-court in a wild effort to gain ground?  Or maybe you take the other direction and slump to the bench with a towel over your head.

Friends, this is not a time to loosen your laces.  Instead…. even if you don't feel like it… it's time to suit up and get back on the court!

Why?

Because fear blocks your destiny.  Quitting before you reach that which you were going after will never get you where you wanted to be.  Besides, your coach hasn't given up on you.  He hasn't sent you to the locker room.  He's PATIENTLY, LOVINGLY waiting for you to get back on the court.

That's right.  Your being coached by the one who never gives up.  You see, Jesus has watched you every day of your life.  He is the one who planted the desires and passions in your heart.  (And you thought you were so cool you dreamed them up yourself…sorry to burst the bubble.)  

The truth is, Jesus is your biggest cheerleader because when YOU complete your dreams, it points the way for others to follow Him.  So of course he's going to give you the best game plan to get there!  Now in case you are being stubborn, I'm not just dreaming this up.. check this out:

1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NLT)

"God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful."

Philippians 1:6 (NLT)
"…God, who began a good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day Jesus Christ returns."

I'm no SAT score master, but it looks like your coach isn't giving up on you.  He will help you make it happen (through your faith) AND since Jesus hasn't returned, you still got time on the clock to finish this game!

So what's left?

A change of attitude.  A fresh declaration of your faith.  Trust.

I'm asking you to do it one more time.  And then, when you've lost perspective….do it one more time again…. and again… until your dreams and goals come to pass.  

So many of us give up when the finale is right around the corner.

You've got it in you; otherwise, God wouldn't have put it on your heart in the first place. So what do you say we run this race together… in faith…. knowing that our coach knows exactly what's on our plate… he knows our opponent and the obstacles we face…but he also sees the end…. and he says, "It's good… more than you could think or imagine!"

Friends…what about you?  Is your year a close game or do you find the point spread getting too far already?  Did this help?  Take a moment to talk back to me in cyberspace and let me know you are here!

If you like… or you think a friend would like…I'm not selfish… "share!"

Heels on Hardwoods

Hi Y'all!
(Just practicing.)

But don't count on me getting a cowboy hat.  After all, I may be headed to Texas, but I'm moving into Austin and from what I have gathered so far is that much like Seattle, very few are actually from Austin. So, wear a 10-gallon hat if you want, but as for me and my house...

no way.

Hey.  How is everybody doing on their "new year resolutions?"  "Goals?"
Are you tracking well...seeing results?  A few slips of the program but you are back on track?

Anyone fall off completely?

Did you get back up?

If you didn't, can I just remind you that the only way you can fail is if you don't finish?  The only way you lose a game is if you don't play?

I have more... I could keep going you know..... (I play this venue alllllll daaaayyyyy)

It seems like there is a lot going on in the beginning of 2013... a lot of people really searching for a change in their lives, circumstances, values, etc.  I don't know if the elections caused people to take stock in their lives, the economy, or perhaps many people just realizing that we can't rely on people or organizations to make us happy, fulfill our needs and be our end-all source.  I know that for people who follow Jesus... he's REALLY up to a lot of stuff in people's hearts and lives.  The updates, stories, blogs, posts I have been reading in 2013 are so encouraging.... God's really got some amazing plans for so many of us... well, for ALL of us actually!!!!

Hey, okay, so I have been typing and having a FB conversation with someone at the same time.  (yep... multi-tasking means I didn't give either my full attention and actually slowed down my productivity.  I have to write that because my husband reads my posts and he's constantly encouraging me to increase my capacity by stopping my multi-tasking.)

I'm pretty convinced that God has something to say here and so I'm going to just change directions and swing for some other fences... now stop browsing FB & Twitter so you can pick up what I'm laying down....


Okay, so here is what I think God is wanting to talk about today.  Not that I called him, per-se.... but I started typing on my Iphone so fast and furious to my friend (with typos in FULL FORCE... WHO HAS THAT SMALL OF FINGERTIPS...GOOD GRIEF!) but my mind was so far ahead of my fat little fingers that I needed post the ideas here and hope they bless you this morning.  (And, because quite frankly if this was my last day on earth I'd feel much better that I obeyed what God wanted me to do.)  Like I tell my children, "we don't ask 'Why?' when I ask you to do something... we just obey... there are blessings when we obey...And when you learn to obey mom, you are learning how to obey God."  Now, you have to read that with a sing-songey voice and realize that I probably lost you right about the same time as I lost my children because my answers are too long.

Moving right along....

Did you know that amongst all of the gun controversy right now, each one of us actually already pack the most powerful weapon on earth?

Yep... no registration needed but this weapon is carried by the young and old alike, the rich, the poor, the nimble and the feeble....

It is our words.

Don't underestimate them.  God saved them for humans only.  They can build up the mightiest of nations and yet tear down the very essence of a soul.  What we speak can spur the ideas of mankind and yet wound a person so deep that they cannot go on another day.

Power.

The question for today is: "How are you using your words?"

If we take a few commonly accepted thoughts and put them together.. we see a chain reaction:


“As a man thinketh in his heart, so shall he be” 

“Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts
and actions can never produce good results … We understand this law in
the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental
and moral world—although its operation there is just as simple and undeviating—
and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.” 

― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh

James Allen's book title was taken from the book of Proverbs in the bible (23:7) that reads "As a man thinks in his heart.. so is he."  If we continue to look at the power of our thoughts... and we know that our words are just produced from what we are thinking... then we can begin to see the absolute power in the words we speak out loud.

Now, a disclaimer here are the words that don't come from what we are thinking.  Those words, I will lump together in the bucket called "B.S."  Because if we are saying words we really don't mean... then that is just a waste of air, time and space...right?  And we all know these words... just take, for example, the words your kids must use when they are apologizing to a sibling.  It is QUITE APPARENT when they have absolutely no heart intention behind their words.  So lets just cast the "B.S." words aside and deal with the ones that are coming from our heart.

The Bible tells us this, about words:

“Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts
and actions can never produce good results … We understand this law in
the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental
and moral world—although its operation there is just as simple and undeviating—
and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.” (Luke 6:45)

Oh wait.  Didn't we just read that?  James Allen understood it when he wrote an entire book on how the power of our thoughts and words directs our path.

After all... our words have power.  Let's just recall how the word started:

God said, "Let there be light... and there was light." (Genesis Chapter 1)

Notice how the Bible doesn't read, "God thought it would be cool if there was light so it just happened.)  No.  He had to speak it.

So what do YOU want for yourself in 2013?  What were your goals, dreams and desires?
Are you speaking those out loud?  Are you sharing those with your inner circle of friends... the ones that God put in your life to build you up, encourage you and keep you accountable?

By the way, friends, if you can't name 4 people that fit in that category, time to find some new friends!

You know, the friend I "chatted" with online via FB this morning was really hoping for an adventure for her family this year... which I assume to be some sort of location or job change.  Yet she didn't want to share it with me because she was nervous that talking about it would make it "not happen."

You know, "jinx it."

What?  WHAT?

That's not how we are to live, dear friends!  We believe in a God that BREATHED the universe into existence.  We believe in a GOD that said "light" and there was light.  We believe in a God that gave us words to use and those words, when spoken, can cause Mountains to Move!

Disbelief?

Martin Luther King: "I have a dream...."
President Lincoln: "Four score and 7 years ago..."
Susan B. Anthony: "... women, as well as men...."
Jesus: "Forgive them....."

Now hey, I am preaching to myself dear friends... you poor souls just got sucked into the ride!  Even this week, as I prepared for the pre-launch of my first published book... I keep dumbing down the end product.  "It's not really a big deal... just a little book... it's only an E-book... it's not a binded-hard-cover."

What?  WHAT?

No wait.  That book idea was given to me while I was listening to a worship song 2 years ago.  I did nothing with it until I ran into someone who started a new job and asked if I knew of any authors with original kids material.  I said I had a story if they wanted to look at it and 2 weeks later, they replied that they wanted to pay for the full production of an animated version!

Two lessons here:
1.  Speak words.  Had I kept quiet during that conversation... the book would still be on a notepad.
2.  It was God's idea he just happened to use me as the vessel... so don't shortchange God and the idea he planted in your heart.

Oh it's easy to dumb stuff down.  Be afraid to "jinx" it.  But let's call that for what it is.  FEAR.

And God did not give you a spirit of fear...  (I put it in Amplified version so you would catch this):

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

If nothing else, today... be painfully aware of what comes out of your mouth today.  Does is speak "life?"  Does is speak "encouragement?"  Even more pointed, ask yourself this... "Does that pay homage to Jesus or the Enemy?"  Because trust you me, the enemy wants nothing more than you to doubt your dreams and your ability to reach them.

Your dreams are God-designed... so when we speak them we are likely to follow them.  When we follow them... we are likely to reach them.  When we reach them, we are changing the world.

Hockey legend Wayne Gretsky said, "You will miss 100% of the shots you never take."

So take that shot.  Aim at the goal and then CONFESS IT WITH YOUR MOUTH.

Be blessed today.

Floating in Pea Soup

I can just hear it now:

9 year old: "Teeeee hheeeeeee heeeee"
6 year old: "Mom, you can't say that.  That is potty talk."
3 year old: "Mom, you just said Pee!" (Giggling)

No.  Not floating in pee... although I admit, I've seen plenty of pee where it wasn't supposed to be, but I'm talking about the vegetable pea for just a few minutes.

Why on earth would I blog about this?

Wind your memory back just a week or so ago when the Seattle area was snuggly wrapped up in the thickest layer of fog I can remember.  (For my loyal readers in other locales, just work with me on this.)  This was the kind of fog that wasn't all "majestic as the morning sun filtered through, illuminating the fog as if it were clouds from heaven."  No.  This was the " so thick you wondered if an asteroid hit the earth and the sun was gone forever, I-empathize-with-Triceratops-thick."  It was the "all of the light sensors are still on and the street lights couldn't tell if it was day or night" thick.

Bone chilling damp and cold.

Now, as I'm typing this, I realize that "chilling damp cold" has nothing to do with being in a hot pot of soup....but you know that saying when the fog is "as thick as pea soup?"  Okay, THAT was the connection I was going for.

After day six of solid fog, I finally decided that the fog must be the Ark of the Covenant of God... you know, in the old testament when Moses was leading his peeps through the wilderness out of Egypt... the presence of God hovered above his people to show the way... a cloud during the day and a fire by night.

(I realize so many of you are like, "No, Erin, I don't know" but isn't that GREAT that you got some bible in you today without even having to get off your chair?)

You're Welcome.

No, seriously, it hit me that the fog was such an illustration of my heart.  What do I mean by that?

Well, sometimes we have a period of our lives where things are crystal clear.  Clear as a whistle.  You get my point, right?  I mean, we know where we are at in life, where we are headed and what our target is.  We are driven, we are pushing hard, we are prioritizing, on task, and kickin' some tail.

Then there are times we feel quite the opposite... like we are in the spin cycle of life...getting tossed around and we don't know what side is up.  Man, I hate those times!

But in between the two spectrums, there is that foggy haze that we can sometimes find ourselves in.  No, it's not because we have a head cold, but it's as if we knew where we were headed, and we know where we want to end up but it's those next few steps that we can no longer see the ground.

I don't know about you, but when I have to walk in a space where I cannot see a bloody thing, I am hesitant to take steps.  (Ever had to stumble down the stairs in the pitch dark?)

It is in these times that we have a couple of choices:

1.  We can start running blindly, grasping for whatever we can hold onto...good... or bad.
2.  We can be patient and wait for the fog to lift.  Because eventually, it does.

"I am with you always, even until the end of days."  Matthew 28:20
"I will never leave you, nor forsake you."  Deuteronomy 31:8
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

You see, sometimes things aren't clear, because the road ahead of you needs to be repaired.  You can't walk there yet because God has to work some other things out...sometimes in you...sometimes in others.  And when we wait patiently for that fog to lift... the outcome is ALWAYS BETTER than when we try and force the issue.... race blindly through the fog, running into this or that.  You'll exhaust yourself and likely come out black and blue, quite frankly.

Now don't mistake what I'm laying down here... being in the fog can also be a time that God is asking us to "walk by faith."  I am certainly not encouraging you, if you find yourself in a patchy fog of life, to simply give up and go take a nap until it lifts.  No.

Instead, I'm asking you to be at peace during times of fog.  Know that your Lord will never leave you or forsake you.  Know that he's constantly working in your life.  Stay in the direction you were set to go.... and by faith.... continue your journey even though you don't know where your next step will take you.  That, my friends, is the "foggy" walk of faith.... the "being a pea" in the soup of life.

December was a very, very, very "pea soup" kind of month in my life....and the fog has lifted....and the path is clear.......


and...

You'll have to tune in tomorrow to hear what path was revealed...... but it's a BIGGIE!!!!