Living A Better Story

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A Better Story

I recently returned from a glorious week at the beach with my family. There is nothing better than waking up when the sky is dark to wait for the sun to paint the colors of a brand new day. With a flashlight in one hand and the palm of a three-year old in the other hand…we walk together down to the shore. She shines the light on the waves splashing our feet as the sun begins to peek over the horizon to swallow the darkness. We shield our eyes and we say, “God is good. He is good. He is good!”

Experiencing God’s goodness with a three-year old holding a flashlight makes for a better story.

I’ve been creating and writing my storyline…a timeline of my life thus far, mapped out with dates and a few words describing significant events and memories. Spilling those words onto paper has stirred my emotions like ocean waves rolling in, rising and falling till it meets the sandy shore, only to begin again. I wipe away tears of joy and taste the saltiness of regret and sadness…and hope for a better story.

A living hope is needed to get through life and endure suffering. A living hope enables a better story of both sorrow and joy. This living hope is an inheritance achieved for us by Christ. (a living hope…1 Peter 1: 3 ESV) [1]

Writing my storyline has been a challenging exercise, yet beneficial because it has forced me to unpack a trunk full of tattered and worn out memories…some that I’ve tried to patch-up or forget with a quick fix of self-medication. I find it easier to put messy things that aren’t very pleasant in an “out of sight–out of mind” place.

Writing a better story has the power to change us. It tells us we must change and it tells us how we must change. We learn from our lines in the script. The gospel of grace does that.

Of course, my storyline begins with the day I was born and that date is marked with an image of a rock. There are many rocks–stones marking light-hearted and significant events on my storyline but the first image of a boulder was placed on the date of my ninth birthday…the beginning of a remarkable deeper story of learning what it means to be rescued. [2]

A storyline with God as the rescuer is a better story.

We all have a story…a story worth remembering…a story worth passing on. A better story is to preserve knowledge and a legacy of God’s goodness over many generations. I chose to use stones or a boulder as a visual reminder of pivotal moments that are life changing and undeniably God working. There are many references about stones in the bible. For example, Joshua’s pile of stones is a story prompt, by which a new generation could understand the power of God. [3] [4] For me to live a better story is to take all of those stones and boulders—chiseled, hammered, cut and etched with scars—and learn from the tears, celebrate the joy, and never forget that my human heart is so hard like a stone, so self-absorbed, so filled with anger and self-pity and pride, that nothing but God’s power can cut it, change it.  [5]

Living a better story is to belong in God’s storyline…this is a very good story!

What is your story? How are you living a better story?

Footnotes

Remembering the story of a nine year old child:  “God doesn’t dress you in dirty clothes”

[1] Our Living Hope, 1 Peter 1:3-5  |  [2] Living Stones, Peter 2: 4-52  |  [3] Joshua 4  | [4]  Our Cornerstone, Peter 2: 6-8  |  [5] The Alter, Tim Keller

To Treasure This Red

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RED

The sky burns red the glory of God yet is just a flicker of a glow of His majesty and power and humbleness. Oh, to be brave and steely as the three with faith and resolve to embrace those shackles without fear of the fire. They are rescued by grace, refined by the fire.

When facing the furnace of the refiners fire, He sweats drops of red while I sleep, yet I whimper and cower when the rooster crows because I’ve grown accustomed to taking lightly this treasure of red.

To wake up early to see the sunrise and stay awake to watch the sun go to sleep. The fire in the sky is a safe place to find comfort but it stirs a longing. I want to feel the red in my soul that longs for more of the refiner’s fire. To be made pure but not consumed. Not destroyed. Refined by grace.

 

 

FLIGHT PATH: A Biography of Frank Barker Jr [Book Review]

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Flight Path

This is a book review of, Flight Path by Janie Buck and Mary Lou Davis.  Flight Path is the page-turning biography of Frank Barker, Jr.  This is a book of incredible adventures! It is hard to fathom how close Frank came to death many times only to be rescued by God for a greater mission in life.

The first chapter opens with a hair-raising experience on an aircraft carrier, “In a panic I jammed the throttle up. Too late! I shot off the deck and dropped like lead…My life flashed before my eyes.” [1] Frank had many “Top Gun” fighter pilot experiences!  It seemed with every close collision with death, Frank would question if God was trying to get his attention. On one such occasion, he was driving back to base, very late at night after hours of drinking a lot and raising Cain. He fell asleep at the wheel of his car but managed to wake up in time to slam on brakes, coming to a stop in a ditch.  As the dust began to settle, he looked up and saw a sign that his headlights were shining on. In large black letters was written: “The wages of sin is death.”  He marked this event as a “star” from God to get his attention. Like the Wise Men who were guided by a star to the place where Jesus was born, there were several “stars” that guided his life. [2]

The book flowed at a fast pace with humor when speaking of his reckless lifestyle, while most chapters will make you ponder and consider the “stars” in your own life that represent a reminder of God’s precise grace and action at the perfect time.  With Frank, some of those “stars” just caused him to try harder to be a better person…he did not know about grace being a free gift of God.

The authors wrote the book as if Frank were telling his own story, which made reading the book even more enjoyable and enthralling.  During the military career, Frank had the nagging thought that he should go to seminary so that his life would be more pleasing to God. While in seminary, he discovered the incredible good news of Jesus Christ. The book is filled with innumerable lessons in life.

There was the humble beginning of Briarwood Presbyterian Church, PCA meeting in a store-front, and is now a mega-church in Birmingham, AL. It is worth mentioning that Frank Barker was one of the “fathers” of the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America). Throughout the book, there are glimpses of a family learning to trust God for money to pay bills or learning to be thankful for cream of wheat for dinner when it was the only thing they could afford…because of their enormous generosity to give from their income.  You’ll read about his passion to reach the kids in the city and students on college campuses (He established Campus Outreach, a ministry to college students) and how God is faithful to answer prayers. When there was a need, Frank prayed and God provided.  I do not believe that anyone can read this exciting and moving story of lives lived for the kingdom of  God without becoming a better person through the experience. [3]

Flight Path is a fascinating read about a humble man broken to the will of God, chosen, called and guided each step of his way by our great God.  Frank Barker is an example to follow.

Footnotes

[1]  Page 14 | [2] Page 28 | [3] Page 10

Addendum:

A few months ago, my husband and I had the wonderful privilege of hearing Dr. Frank Barker share his life story to a group of college students who are involved with Campus Outreach, in Indianapolis, IN.  Frank Barker is the founder of Campus Outreach, which had its very humble beginning at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. So It was very thrilling for all of us to hear him retell some of those very funny yet scary hair-raising experiences but most importantly, to hear him tell of God’s grace rescuing him over and over again.

A note about Campus Outreach:

Each Campus Outreach region sits under the authority and supervision of a regional church. Campus Outreach partners with numerous denominations that are healthy, Bible believing, evangelical, Gospel preaching, and reformed in their doctrine. These Regional Churches provide a crucial source of accountability, leadership and a substantial percentage of the resources for the region’s effective existence.

Campus Outreach is not a para-church organization, but rather an extension of the church on the college campus. As a result, the ministry at each campus is connected to a local church near that campus. This provides our Campus Staff and students the opportunity to partner with that church by bringing non-Believers and Believers alike to sit under the teaching of scripture. It also provides connection with the larger body of Christ and instills value for belonging and partaking of the Body of Christ.

My husband and I are grateful for the opportunities we’ve had to meet Campus Outreach Staff and college students while living in Jacksonville, FL, Charlotte, NC, and Indianapolis, IN.

http://www.coindy.org

www.campusoutreach.org

To Count It All Joy is a Real Life-Change

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TRUST

I’m so thankful to have coasted through life without a major illness, broken bones or high blood pressure, or anything else. I’m never ill and instead of medications in the medicine cabinet there are vitamin supplements. I love to run and work out at the gym but now all of that has come to a screeching halt. I’ve not been able to pick up a thin brush to watercolor paint, nor able to sit at my desk in front of my computer because of excruciating nerve pain. It has not been easy to deal with this trial.

I understand that no one is exempt from difficulties and trials. The business you work for is downsized and suddenly you find yourself facing the trial of how to provide for your family when you are unemployed. We hope our children are given a pass from hardships, but they are not exempt from a serious illness or being bullied by a cruel kid at school. Every individual and family will have their share of trouble and stormy seasons to plod through.

Trials should be expected. But you don’t know where your heart will go until you’ve been hurled into a specific trial that will cause a life-change. This life-change can be one of bitterness and constant complaining or it can be a life-change of joy and perseverance that keeps you in the boat, steadily rowing against the headwind, perhaps exhausted but not without hope. (Mark 6:45-52) There are moments when we’re crying out, “Where is the grace of God?” and we’re getting it. But it’s not the grace of relief, and it’s not the grace of release. Largely, those are to come. We get them in pieces, but largely they’re to come, because what we need right now is the grace of refinement. We better become committed to teach, comfort, preach, and encourage one another. [1]

I’ve been close to losing hope and have the weight of depression over this unfortunate situation. I once wrote a post about being a “Mat Carrier”…the service of intercessory prayers, carrying my friends to Jesus when they can’t walk to him on their own. (You know the story in the bible of a lame man being carried on his mat by four good friends so that he could meet Jesus and be healed.) In my state of despair and weariness, I realized that I am like that lame man in need of help from my family and friends to carry me to God through prayer.

The faithful and consistent prayers of family and friends on my behalf has helped renew my strength to persevere, to be hopeful, to experience more grace from God to stay the course…to be steadfast with rowing, making headway painfully for the wind is against me. (Mark 6:45-52)

I would like to say that I’m a brave person, able to face any challenge, but I’m actually afraid to face the unknown. I’m frequently asked, “How are you doing?”  So, instead of saying that I feel awful, I answer with a brave response which I believe they would rather hear. I think being afraid and wanting to be brave all in the same heart-beat is quite normal. Being angry or sad and asking God, “Where is the grace?” is quite normal. “If you have a body, you are entitled to the full range of feelings. It comes with the package.” (Anne Lamott, Grace (eventually): Thoughts on Faith)

What isn’t normal for me (or perhaps for anyone) is to have my first response to a trial as the apostle James exhorts us to do in James 1:2: …”to count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds.” Contrary to the way many believers sometimes think and act, Christian joy does not mean that we ignore or deny the pain of suffering and grief. Nevertheless, suffering and grief can lead to joy, for trouble provides an opportunity for us to deepen our relationship with Christ and to learn how to walk more intimately with Him. [2]

And there’s the rub! Suffering and grief can lead to joy…there is an opportunity for us to deepen our relationship with Christ and to learn how to walk more intimately with Him. I must make the choice to pray to God for more grace to be able to count it all joy. My life-change is becoming a deeper story of knowing Jesus more intimately and holding on tight to the gospel of grace.

Sure, I’m asking God, “Why now?” and “How long will this continue?”  I don’t know the answers to those questions  but I do know that the key to rejoicing in suffering is to trust that God is good and is sovereign. I am asking God for a life-change of deeper faith, a faith that is not just something I do with my brain (head knowledge) but the way that I live my life. [1] I am not being forsaken. I am not being forgotten. I am being refined. I am loved.

A memory I have from my childhood home is seeing the phrase, “Count it all joy” written on index cards and taped to the fridge, or in the corner of a bathroom mirror or on the dashboard in our car. My mom would also write those words in perfect calligraphy, framed and displayed on our family room wall. My mom suffered through chronic pain and illness for most of her life. Those four words, count it all joy, reminded her that God is good and she will lack nothing. I once read that joy is the best makeup [3] and mom wore it well. Truly, I am depending on more grace from God to strengthen my faith before I can even begin to smear on joy.

The joy is not in the trial but in the work of the gospel transforming and changing my heart. God is giving me more grace, albeit an uncomfortable grace. I visualize myself in that row-boat with Jesus’ disciples, fighting the headwind and struggling to row through the storm.  And there Jesus is, walking on the water towards me.  “I AM” is here! The One on whom all the covenant promises rest. The One who’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. The One who created the world by spoken word. The One who holds it together by his power. The One who is sovereign over every experience I will ever be in. The “I Am” has invaded my life by his grace. [1] This testing of my faith will produce steadfastness and I will lack nothing.

Throughout life, our faith must grow. We start with a small faith, but as we live the Christian life our faith becomes stronger, enabling us to trust God more and more. As the disciples once did, so too must we ask God to increase our faith (Luke 17:5). This He will do by bringing us through various trials so that our faith will produce the steadfastness of perseverance, guaranteeing that our sanctification will be complete. [5]

I’ve been writing this blog post for a few weeks, already, taking a few quick moments here and there to type a few lines or to share a few quotes from authors and pastors that communicate my thoughts precisely. This trial is not over and is bound to change in time, in some way. What will never change, however, is God’s gift of grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. His grace is filling and satisfying my faith. God’s grace is enabling me to count it all joy. That’s a real life-change!

God will take you where you haven’t chosen to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own. ~Paul David Tripp
Count it all joy…when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 ESV)

Footnotes

 [1] The Difference between Amazement and Faith |Faith is not just something you do with your brain; faith is the way that you live your life. | Paul David Tripp. [2] Counting It All Joy | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org.  [3] Anne Lamott  [4] Anne Lamott |Grace (eventually): Thoughts on Faith. [5] Trials of Various Kinds | R.C. Sproul

The Saturday Assortment #9

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The Saturday Assortment

The Saturday Assortment is a collection of unrelated and random things that I find interesting, challenging, motivating and sometimes quite out of the ordinary. It’s an assortment of meaningful things that caught my attention throughout the week.

Faith and Doubt. Doubt and Faith. Both are present in every believer. I recently shared with a group of friends that I have doubted God’s faithfulness to keep his promise. I have doubted his love for me and his sovereignty. I have doubted God’s word to be true.

I remember that time in my life as very challenging and very depressing, yet has now become the most significant nurturing and building blocks of faith in my life. I had to go to the source that I doubted to find the answers to why I doubted.

God is always faithful even when we are not faithful.  God demonstrates his patience by loving us more and to rescue us with more grace…even when we are not asking for more love and have no idea that we need rescuing from doubt…that’s more grace!

If you are struggling with doubt and faith as I have, the following posts will encourage your faith as you sift out the doubt.

1. I Believe in Doubt by Oz Guinness Just because we have a deep faith in God and in the scriptures, doesn’t mean that we will bypass a struggle with doubt and unbelief.  “Faith is much more than the absence of doubt, but to understand doubt is to have a key to a strong faith, a sound mind, and a quiet heart. Yet more confusions surround doubt than many Christian believers realize.” Here is the link to an article I read from Ligonier Ministries that is very helpful with understanding the good reasons for doubt and how our faith will be made stronger because of it.   http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/i-believe-in-doubt/

2. When Doubt Becomes Unbelief by Alister McGrath When does doubt become unbelief? Answer: When you let it. When you cling to unrealistic ideas about faith, when you get hopelessly preoccupied with the doubts that are a natural part of the Christian life, or when you fail to allow your faith to grow. These pitfalls can all be avoided. Don’t feel ashamed about your doubts. Talking them through with older and wiser Christians can be a vital safety valve which stops a head of doubting steam from building up—a head of steam which could eventually lead from normal doubt to the hopelessness of unbelief.    http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/when-doubt-becomes-unbelief/

Boundaries for Leaders by Dr. Henry Cloud [Book Review]

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Boundaries for Leaders

This is a review of the book, Boundaries for Leaders: Results, Relationships, and Being Ridiculously in Charge by Dr. Henry Cloud, a well-known clinical psychologist and leadership consultant and coauthor of Boundaries.

Who doesn’t want to be ridiculously in charge! I immediately began to dive into this book after reading that heading!

The principles in the book are universal. What ever you lead, you can make it thrive. This book is about what leaders need to do in order for people to accomplish a vision. It takes a great amount of time to get the people in your organization to be on the same page and working together in harmony.

Many of you reading this review are natural leaders and visionaries with an organization chart of followers or team players. Over time, you begin to realize the temperament and moods of each player on your team. You hear negative comments, grumbling, complaining…you need production and movement yet your team is stuck in a mire of negativism and lousy excuses for not producing. Soon you find yourself as a referee and “people manager” while the vision and goals you hoped the team would accomplish is sidelined.

If this is you, please read, Boundaries for Leaders. You will learn how to change your team’s moods and improve relationship outside and inside work. Dr. Cloud writes about a “working memory”…how are you establishing boundaries to include positive conditions and to rid the negative elements that stand in your way of production.  “Our brains need positive relationship to grow and function well.” [1] You want to establish a “working memory” with each person on your team.

You will learn what a “working memory” is after reading, Boundaries for Leaders.

As a leader, we don’t want people just to show up…we want them to soar! You want your team to attend  to the clearly defined vision and goals. Hopefully, you will inhibit the negative diatribes that diminish motivation and enthusiasm, and  cause them to remember .

Attend. Inhibit. Remember.

What do you want your team (employees, family, volunteers)  to remember?  Definitely not the negative comments and attitudes.

It’s all about “brain function”…find and focus on the things that you can control that affect outcomes. [2] In the end, as a leader, you are always going to get a combination of two things: what you create and what you allow. [3]  Through reading this book, I was motivated to set limits on the behaviors that sow the seeds of negative emotional climate and to realize how negative behavior infects others.

As a ministry team leader, I strive against silos, compartmentalization, personal agendas, isolation and division among people. [4] Weeks later, after reading this book, I continue to recall helpful tactics Dr. Cloud taught throughout the book. Here is one for you to save: ” …it is never about self-advancement but about seeking to meet their needs.” [5]

I highly recommend this book as instrumental with helping you align your organization (employees, family, volunteers) in order to create healthy boundaries for remarkable progress.

Boundaries for Leaders

[1] page 83 │ [2] page 130 │ [3] page 15 │ [4] page 17  │ [5] page 219

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

 

Confia en Dios!

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“Confia en Dios!” I heard those words everyday by the sweet and resounding voices of children, exclaiming very loudly and heard on the streets beyond the concrete walls. I, too, repeated those words over and over again throughout the week. When I woke up in the morning and as I fell asleep at night. “Confia en Dios!”

Trust in God. Trust in God, no matter what.

I just returned from a fantastic week of adventure in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, MX. What a privilege it was to be at Iglesia Bethel (in the above photograph) and help with a basketball camp, VBS, and serve the community. It was the most fun I’ve had on a missions trip in a very long time. Actually, it’s been a very long time since I’ve gone on a missions trip!

My husband has been to Monterrey much more than I have. For years he has encouraged me to go and see how God is working in the communities through the church planting efforts that we are passionate about. I usually had a number of good reasons or excuses for not going, but at this particular time I felt called to go…the persistent thought to stop delaying the inevitable–just GO! After a lot of prayer and pushing aside the rush of anxiety about the unknown, I purchased a round trip flight to Monterrey, MX. Now I was definitely committed!

On the way to the airport, my husband asked what I hoped to learn and what I hoped to accomplish while there. I replied that I didn’t have expectations for accomplishing anything, however I did hope that God would accomplish something unique and extraordinary in me. I was going to see first hand how God has answered our prayers, to celebrate the growing ministry of Bethel in their community of Apodaca and to live in the midst of life-on-life ministry for a fast and furious week. I wanted to experience traveling with a group of people whom I hardly knew and to hang out with Mexicans that I’ve never met before and [attempt to] communicate with them when I don’t know Spanish.

I am humbled by the generosity of the family I lived with and the extraordinary gift of God’s grace that was evident every moment of the day. The adventure was fantastic…more than I ever imagined! I hope to return to Monterrey to see the smiling faces of my new friends, to sweat together while running around a park with children from the neighborhood, to break bread and commune in fellowship.

There is too much to unpack about the week in a few paragraphs here and I’m sure I will write about the lessons God taught me in the weeks to come.  And regarding “unpacking” stuff…my suitcase was full of items that I never used! I have a long list of, “What not to pack” (FYI: no need to bring a roll of toilet paper or a small personal fan!)

While there, I met Sam Ferrand, a photographer documenting the church planting efforts of Mission to the World in Monterrey, MX. I love how she writes about Monterrey, photographs the mountainous landscape, while capturing the essence of a neighborhood and the precious expressions of lovely people. Check out her blog here: Keep Calm and Drink Teaquilla!  http://samferrand.blogspot.mx

You may also enjoy reading these posts I wrote about preparing for this trip:

Imagine the Adventure!   https://donnaharris.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/imagine-the-adventure/

A Simple Devotional About More: https://donnaharris.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/a-simple-devotional-about-more/

To Be Present: https://donnaharris.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/to-be-present/

Here are a few photos from the week:

To Be Present

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Monterrey

Monterrey, MX

Here I go! The great adventure begins tomorrow morning at 3:27 AM when I wake up to sound of crickets coming from my cell phone alarm. I’m writing this quickly without editing so that I can close my heavy eyelids for needed sleep.

The best part of my everyday work life has been involved part-time to full-time in ministry to children and families. I get excited about helping parents help their children learn more about Jesus. It thrills me to be present in a community of people who are passionate about the same things that I am. I enjoy being present in the lives of young children every week but it’s especially grand to know them years later as teenagers still having fun learning about our awesome God…and if I’m really fortunate, I will meet them again as adults…

God is faithful to be present from generation to generation to generation. If you live long enough, you will experience seeing this too.

So, I’m going on an adventure to Monterrey, MX with some of those young adults that I knew in children’s ministry years ago. I love that! What gives me the most joy is that they will lead me on this mission trip. I love the full circle of this story about God’s faithfulness to be present as evidenced in the lives of these “kids.” And I love that we share the same passion to be present in the lives of more people–children!

We have teamed with Mission to the World, an organization that is very passionate about serving people all over the world such as: rescuing street children, working to stop human trafficking, church planting, mercy, clean water, education…the gospel. MTW’s vision is to be present. I am glad for the opportunity to partner with this organization, to serve children in a small community in Monterrey and also to connect with families in a rapidly growing new church. This church is making a big impact in their community.

I’ve written two other posts on the topic of this adventure. You can find them here.

Imagine the Adventure and A Simple Devotional about More

So, I’m going on an adventure in a few hours! More Grace to be present.

Números 6:24-26

Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI)

24 »“El Señor te bendiga
y te guarde;
25 el Señor te mire con agrado
y te extienda su amor;
26 el Señor te muestre su favor
y te conceda la *paz.”

Numbers 6:24-26

New International Version (NIV)

24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’

Photo credit: Wikipedia/Monterrey

Linking up with everyone for Five Minute Friday, where a remarkably encouraging and loving community gathers to write for five minutes. This week’s prompt is: PRESENT.