June 12 2022

Shifting Gears – Who’s Strength Are You Moving In?

Biking Hill

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help?  My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2

How is it two months since we last chatted?  It is an interesting writing season – although the thoughts come fast and furious, the release to share them is happening a lot less often.  There are seasons like that – when what God give you, is really more for you than for others.  He is a gracious Father and He knows what we need and when we need it.

Last time we talked about learning to let go when seasons change.  That has been a hard lesson for me – so I have been sitting with that one a lot lately. I would love to hear how you are doing with learning to let go.  It is always nice to share with others; it helps us to feel less alone in our journey. What we are learning could also be the lesson someone else is waiting on. Feel free to share in the comment section below.

The weather has been wonderful of late – I love the spring, as the days get progressively longer and warmer and I feel more like being outside and less like hibernating inside. Now it is almost summer, and last night it was still bright after 9pm.  This makes me very happy.

For the last few weeks, I have been biking with my husband – we started with 10 kms and are now up to 20 kms.  I love biking.  The wind in your face, the speed.  What I have not always liked about biking are the hills. Hills are hard.  And I am competitive.  Therefore, if my husband does the hill without getting off the bike and walking up, I want to do the hill without getting off the bike and walking up (even though he bikes A LOT more than I do).

The first few days we biked, I was determined to make all those hills – they were pretty gradual ones, but I still had to work hard to build up speed before the hill and then make a fast run at it to have any chance of getting to the top in one piece.  It was exhilarating but exhausting.

My husband pointed out that I was not shifting my gears. Now, in my defence, my old bike had terrible gears that practically threw me off the bike when I shifted.  Because of that, I never got in the habit of using them.  My husband pointed out that the bike I am using now has nice smooth gears that shift easily and he showed me how to shift into the lower gear when going uphill.

Because I am in a season, where I am also trying to do new things – even though change is scary and difficult (even when you know it is good for you) – the next day when we biked I tried out the gears.  What a difference!

The next day when we were biking, I was happily shifting gears all over the place – and feeling pretty good about my new skills.  Still, there were more lessons to be learned. As we were approaching the last gradual hill on the way back (about 17 kms in), I was peddling fast to build up speed before the hill, expending a lot of energy, when I heard God say, “You don’t need to run the hill, just shift the gear down and maintain your normal speed.” 

Now, you may think it was odd for God to be giving me direction about how to use my gears (although He does speak to us in the little everyday things), but He had a bigger lesson for me.  

I slowed down my fast pace and shifted the gear as I hit the bottom of the hill.  To my surprise, He was completely right! I made the hill with energy to spare at the top.  YEAH!

As we continued on, God spoke clearly, “you have been running the hills fast and furiously, expending so much energy, doing it all in your own strength when all you had to do was use the gears – that is what they are there for”.    

While I was still processing that, He continued, “you have been doing the same in your life, all of your life – running the hills fast and furiously, expending so much energy, doing it all in your own strength  – but I have given you the Holy Spirit –the gears for your everyday life –use what I have given you.  You do not need to do it in your own strength – know how to access and use the power you have within you – the power I have given you.  In your strength you can get to the top of the hill, exhausted, discouraged, maybe even disillusioned.  When you use your gears and go in the power of the Holy Spirit, wait and see where I will take you, in my strength, not yours.”

WOW!

Pause for a minute and let that sink in. 

Did that hit you as it hit me when I heard it? 

Did it hit you as it has hit me every day since?

If not, then maybe you need to sit with it a little longer.

After a few days, we went beyond the 8km mark one way and hit the BIG hill.  It is a winding, back and forth, very tall and steep hill.  Remember the competitive me.  My husband graciously offered to walk up the hill with me (even though I knew he could do it without getting off the bike). I said to him, “can you bike up the hill?”  He said yes and I said, “Well I am going to give it a try.”  This time I did not run the hill, I maintained my speed, used the gears the way they are meant to be used and I made that hill on the first try! YEAH! 

More importantly, in the last few weeks, as God continues to remind me that I do not need to do everything (anything) in my own strength, I am learning to access the power of the Holy Spirit that is within me.  Do I get it right every time?  No.  I am learning.  Is it always easy?  No. Nevertheless, I will never learn unless I choose to surrender, submit, and lean into the strength of the Father. 

We were never meant to be independent and self-sufficient.  We were meant to live in relationship with an almighty and powerful God and in community with one another. 

Whose strength are you moving in today?

Are you ready to shift gears?

As always, it is so wonderful to chat with you.  Drop a comment below and let me know how you are doing. I would love to hear from you!

Until next time,

Remember,

you are valuable,

you are loved,

where you are,

just as you are!

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5,6

Category: Life, Moments, Nature | 3 Comments on Shifting Gears – Who’s Strength Are You Moving In?
April 24 2022

Learning to Let Go- When Seasons Change

Path through the woods in the spring

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

How have you been?  Really?  The last time we chatted, we talked about “living in the what if?”

Has that begun to percolate, not just in your mind, but also in your spirit? Have you sat with it and allowed it the opportunity to shift your thinking?  If not, you may need to go back and revisit it.

One of the truths I have come to learn this year is the importance of sitting with the information we are reading, hearing, and learning.  We are a society that loves to devour information – the more information the better.  However, I fear that our devouring is superficial at best.  When was the last time you sat and thought about what you read?  Discussed it with someone else?  Prayed about it? Allowed it to get down deep into your thinking and into your spirit? Gave it the opportunity to make a difference in your day-to-day life?  Before moving on to the next reading, conference material, sermon, etc.

I think we need to question our intention in devouring such vast amounts of information.  What do we actually intend to do with it?  Do we intend to learn, change and grow?  Or are we just checking off “done” on some invisible checklist, trying to prove that we are smart and capable, that we belong? I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I was caught up in that cycle.  Reading, listening, watching but never really participating. I was working hard to try to fill a void inside with “learning”.  Only to find that even just a few days later I couldn’t recall many of the details of what I had given away so much of my time for; it had been devoured by the next thing.  I was left feeling rushed and disillusioned with my inability to find what I was looking for, despite all the “learning”.

These days I am working on watching what I am taking in, how much I am taking in and being intentional about the time I spend with what I am taking in.  This means I am sharing less on my blog as well.  Moving from sharing just to share, to sharing when there is something to share.

If you have not spent some time in the last blog and wish to stop right here and go back to take a look.  Or if you want to start from here and spend some time in today’s chat. Whatever you choose to do, please consider taking the time to sit with what you read.  Think about it.  Talk about it.  Pray about it. Wrestle with it.  Comment on it.  Ask other readers, or me, questions about it.  However you choose to do it, don’t just devour it and move it- participate, engage with it, and allow it to settle deeper than the surface.

 

Now, onto our thought for today.  How many of you are happy that Spring is finally here? Nico the cat loves the longer days (more time to lie in the sun)!  I have been enjoying more walks outside.  The woods trail I like to walk in was groomed for cross-country skiing only all winter, so I am excited to be able to walk in the woods again.  There is something about being out in the midst of the trees and beside the river.

The first time I got back onto the woods trail, I must admit, I was distracted thinking about how beautiful it had been in early winter, snowy, untouched, soft snow falling and covering the surrounding trees.  Right then it looked bare, somewhat dirty, and unkempt even.  As I walked, I heard God say, “Are you ready to let go?”  “Let go of what?” I quickly responded.  I was in the process of much change and He could have been referring to many things.  His answer – “Everything.”  That was all I heard for some time.

I have been thinking about this for a few weeks now.  The question pops up frequently and at the most unusual times, “Are you ready to let go?”

Has anyone else heard this of late?  Perhaps something similar? It has been my experience, that when God speaks to me about things, He is also speaking to others about the same or similar things as well.

How have you responded?  Do you know what you need to let go of?  Is there one thing in particular or are there a few things on the potential list?

Today as I walked, I heard it again, “Are you ready to let go?” This time I answered, “Yes, I am ready, but you need to show me what I need to let go.” 

I paused and I heard the sweetest voice whisper in my ear, “When seasons change, there is a time of transition – there is beauty in the transition that you must learn to see –it may look and feel barren- but the barrenness is just an emptying so there is room within you to receive.  When seasons change, you must learn to let go, to be emptied, so you are ready to engage – and to be filled with the beauty and joy of the next season. The season is changing – what do you KNOW you NEED to let go?”

The new season is not just about doing something different, trying new things, gathering new information, being a different you.  The new season is mostly about what you let go of.  The doubts, the fears, and the lies you have built your current foundation on.  The obstacles you have placed in front of yourself.

I stopped in the middle of the woods path, beside the beautiful river, and saw for the first time this spring, the new buds on the trees, the new sprigs of green poking up through the dead leaves, the yellow flowers.  At that moment, I was able to stop longing for what it looked like in the winter (what once was) and waiting for what it will look like in the summer (the expectation of what is to come), and in doing so, I saw the beauty of the moment. 

It is a new season.  I need to learn to let some things go.  What about you? 

Are you ready to empty so you can be filled?  Can you let go so you can be in the moment? There is beauty in the transition if we are only open to seeing it.

As I finished my walk, God was gracious to help me to see some of the things I need to let go of. Self-sufficiency was number one.  We were created for relationship – relationship with God and then people.  We were never intended to figure it out or to do it on our own. Foundations built on “I can do it on my own” are foundations built on the sand. Structures or systems in our life that we have created to “survive” need to be deconstructed and reconstructed with the truths that only Jesus can show us. That foundation will be a foundation built on the solid rock.

What about perfectionism and false responsibility?  Doing as a way to prove your worth or to earn your existence?  Running fast and hard to outrun that “thing”? 

I don’t know about you, but these are all things I need to learn to let go. 

As I stood in the woods, by the bridge, over the river, I lifted my palms upward and gave it all to Jesus.  I asked for His forgiveness, not for building the structures I needed to survive at certain points in my life, but for turning away from His offers of help even when I knew, the structures “I built” no longer served me.

“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16)

The Passion Translation says it this way: 

“And from the overflow of his fullness we received grace heaped upon more grace!”

In the letting go, in the transition, in the moment, I found His grace.

Do you know what you need to let go of?  Are you ready to offer it up to Jesus?  He is not waiting to pounce on you and condemn you when you lift your palms upward.  He is waiting to hold out His hands to receive what you are ready to let go of and to hold out His arms when you are ready to run into His.

It is a new season.  I am choosing to let some things go.  What about you? 

This is not a word to devour and move on.  This is a word to sit with.  Take the time; allow it to seep below the surface.  Then respond and watch what God will do, not only in your life but also in the lives around you.

Thanks for stopping in for a chat!  I always enjoy our time together.

Drop your thoughts in the comment section below – I would love to hear from you!

Until next time!

Laurie

bridge in the woods
Category: Moments, New Beginnings | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 10 2022

Living In The ‘What If’

Bench in the trees

But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head.

Psalm 3:3

Well, it has been almost 2 months since we last chatted.  I had hoped to pop on sooner and share, but to be quite honest; I really did not feel like I had anything pressing to talk about.  The last time we were together, we talked about the word “expectation” and I asked, “What have you done for YOU lately?”  I don’t know about you, but I am still working on being intentional about self- care; making that a priority in my life.  Not necessarily, the bubble bath and chocolates kind of self-care, but more the saying “yes” only to those things I know I need to be doing right now and getting my walk three or more times a week, type of self-care.  How are you doing with that?

Today I want to ask you, “Are you living in the ‘what if’?”

This week in counselling, as we were looking at some of my writing homework, my counselor pointed out a series of ‘what if’ statements, one after the other.  She told me we needed to deal with these ‘what ifs’ because each one indicated a fear. 

Let’s pause here for a just a minute and let that sink in. 

Why do we need to pause? 

Because even though she and I took the time and walked through the process in the evening, identified the lies and fears, renounced those lies and fears and asked Jesus for the truth to proclaim in place of those lies and fears – the full force of what she said to me did not really hit me until I was out walking the next afternoon.

On lap three of four around the pond in the park, I heard Jesus say to me, “You are living in the ‘what if’.”  I paused for a minute on the pathway and repeated it to myself. “I am living in the ‘what if’”.

It was at that point that I got it, really got it. Because there is a big difference between intellectually working through a few ‘what ifs’ on a piece of paper and having the truth hit your heart and spirit hard enough to cause you to pause.

In that moment, I realized, I have been living in the ‘what if’ for a very long time.

Are you living in the ‘what if’?

What exactly is the ‘what if’?

Think about our conversations in the run of the day, or even just our self-talk.  How many times do we use the phrase ‘what if’?  What if I make a mistake, what if I lose my job, what if people think my kids are not well behaved, what if I do not get the job, what if I don’t have enough money, what if my house looks messy, what if I am not doing a good job, what if they don’t like me, what if there is a war, what if I get COVID, what if the grocery stores continue to have empty shelves, what if the car breaks down, what if the traffic is bad, what if my alarm does not go off and I am late, what if what if, what if, what if?

Think about the thoughts that keep us moving fast during the day and keep us awake at night.  Do any of them start with ‘what if’?

If any of this sounds familiar, then you may be living in the ‘what if’.

Why is the ‘what if’ a problem?

The ‘what if’ is not the issue; the problem is what it is covering up- what we do not see or choose not to see. 

The “what if” proceeds the fear and the fear is based on a lie.

When we are living in the ‘what if’, we are living life from a place of fear and a life built on lies.

What a set up for failure.

As I finished lap three around the pond and moved onto lap four, I pondered the fear and the lie.

As I walked, I thought, for me, the fear is not even that everything that can go wrong will go wrong, but that when it does go wrong I will not have the tools or resources I need or be equipped to deal with it. 

By the end of lap four, I realized the lie that feeds the fear, is that I am not enough.

Take a minute and think about the fear that proceeds your ‘what if’. 

Now, be brave, and go a bit deeper?  What is the lie that is feeding that fear?

Do you want the good news now?

As I finished lap 4 around the pond and headed back to the car, I still had a tall set of stairs to climb. That was just enough time to hear Jesus one more time. 

“I not only have the Truth, I am the Truth.” 

I paused and sat on the bench half way up the steps.  I hesitated for a moment then I asked, “What is the Truth.” 

“You are Mine and I live in you, I am more than enough and so, regardless of your ‘what ifs’, you are already enough in Me.”

What truth do you need to hear today from the One who not only has the truth, but even more importantly, IS the Truth?

Take a few laps around the pond, pause on the tall set of steps and sit on the bench for a moment or two if you need too.  If you are open, He will speak His truth to you as well.

Maybe your ‘what if’ sounds more like, ‘I wish I could’, ‘if only’, ‘when will’. 

I suspect anytime we are living outside of the moment that we are presently in, we are living somewhere that precedes the fear, the fear that is fueled by a lie.

Sitting on that bench, in the last few moments of a very productive walk, I took the time to renounce the lie that I am not enough and to proclaim the truth that I am enough in Jesus.  Then, I asked Jesus to guide and direct my steps and to continue to work with me to renew my mind, because I am done living in the ‘what if’.

What about you? Are you ready to give up life in the ‘what if’?

Jesus has you.

Perhaps this is the self-care you need for today.  Taking the time to let Jesus show you the fear and the lie and taking the time to nail them to the cross and proclaim the truth Jesus is in your life and has for your life.

You’ve got this!

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
 

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 2:1-2

 
 
Category: Life | 6 Comments on Living In The ‘What If’