Speak Up

I needed a getaway.

More than I realized.

The past year of my life has been packed full with activities, demands and that ugly word I so despise - depression.

At the end of last year, I informed Depression that she would not be making the transition into 2017 with me.  And for the most part, she hasn't - although she still finds ways to sneak back in if I'm not watching out for her.

Fast forward to last week, I attended a Speak Up conference for the first time ever.  I'd heard about it for years, but never made it a priority to go.  

This year was difference.  

Thanks to the persistence of my friend Carissa Yoder, I found myself sitting among hundreds of other writers and speakers at Calvin College wondering if there was still a message hidden somewhere inside of me and how, in Heaven's name, would I dig it out if I found it... much less find the time to share it?

God met me there.

He met me through the faces of several people.

He met me through the woman who told me that the only holdback she had with writing was TIME.

No kidding?!  

She had forty some years on me at least.  I sat listening to her tell of her life in the idyllic beauty of her life out west.  She told me about her lack of pets, children, husband and time... yes... time.

I stared stupidly as I tried to compute her words.  

No time?

I pictured my life back home - demands piled higher than my eyeballs.  A life where finding "time" is both laughable and seemingly unreachable.

Conviction slapped me in the face.  There will always be excuses for not writing.  "Time" is forever fleeting - no matter how full... or empty my hands may be.

Ironically, I never saw my new friend the rest of the conference.  

Curious.

After that, God grabbed my heart through the overriding message of the Speak Up conference - WE ARE ON THE SAME TEAM.

Those words fell like a healing balm on my heart.  I felt wanted.  Protected.  Needed.  Lifted up.

Renewed and refreshed - the calling He gave me rang louder than ever inside my soul.

New friends and old - what a gift!

And then there was FRIENDSHIP - That weekend, God broadened my circles.

He gave me the gift of renewing old friendships and discovering new.

The enemy does his best to make our world feel small and insignificant, but God calls us to step out and discover how big His plans really are.

And finally, FEAR.  I watched as some fancy little layers were peeled back to reveal the truth of what was hiding in me.  Fear of man.. fear of failure.. and fear of man again.  

And in the knowledge of this newfound truth, I found the key.  By letting fear dictate my actions, I had opened myself up to the presence of Depression.  By refusing to do the thing God had asked of me, I was left vulnerable to all that Depression has to offer. 

What is the message you carry?

How do you plan to deliver it?

When do you officially become a writer or a speaker?  

Do you even have the right to try?

These are all questions I ran into at Speak Up - and conviction fell heavy.  

I do have a calling.  I do have a message.  

And I've also let pride and fear close my mouth and shut my laptop (hence the date of my last blogpost).

I wonder if you've felt the same?  Truth is, we all are invited into the calling of speaking up.  Our messages aren't all the same nor are the sizes of our audiences.  But we can't deny the truth - God gave you a message - don't deny the world the gift of hearing what He has to say through you.

Speak Up!

Low, He is With You

Trust.

Many people struggle to trust God with their lives.  Even harder – the lives of their children. 

We tell ourselves peace will come when the control to life’s situations is placed firmly in our hands.  But the truth is… that’s a lie.

Truth is, we know our strengths… and we know our weaknesses.  And the struggle of trying to keep everything on track wears us down and burns us out.

But trust?

Release?  Surrender?  Rely?

The what if’s pile high and anxiety pushes its way into the forefront of your mind – stealing every moment we willingly lay on the altar of fear.

This weekend, Tim and I travelled to Georgia.  Flying has never been my favorite thing to do since it correlates so well with my fear of heights.  (It’s true that Jesus said, ‘Lo, I am with you always’... but I often wonder what if He meant ‘Low, I am with you always?’)  Needless to say, we had air miles to use up and I found myself, once again, sitting on an airplane. 

Just before takeoff, the pilot poked his head in to announce that there was a problem – something with the pressure system for the cabin. 

Oh fantastic.

I immediately began to wonder what that could mean – would we all look like shrink wrapped versions of ourselves if every ounce of air got sucked out of the cabin in mid-air?

Hmm..  or more like beef jerky? 

I looked at the other passengers, trying to imagine the scene.  It wasn’t pretty and suddenly I wished I had reminded my kids where our will was filed… or better yet - that we had just stayed home where life is safe (yeah right) and the ground meets my feet and cabin pressure never crosses my mind.

Too late.  Here we were, stuck on a plane with faulty mechanics.

“Not to worry though,” the pilot said, interrupting my thoughts, “maintenance is on it’s way.”

Sure enough.  Two burly men soon boarded the plane and poked around at stuff up near the cockpit.  In my opinion, they didn’t look like they knew what they were doing, but they appeared to know more than me so I didn’t offer my assistance.

Knowing trained professionals were on the case (even if they didn’t look the part) I sat back – a little more at ease.

That’s when God decided it was time to have a conversation.

“Soooo… it appears to Me that you trust them more than Me.”

“What?  What are You talking about?”  I was appalled at the thought.

“It’s true, Lynette.  You trust the maintenance guys – whom you know nothing about to make the right adjustments to this airplane more than you trust Me with your life.”

I sat there wondering if I should tell God that He was sitting in someone’s seat and that He needed to move – but He kept talking.

“More than that – you trust that pilot – whom you do not know – to get you from here to Atlanta.”  He paused, then went on.  “You are willingly placing your life in his hands and you know nothing… nothing about him.  You have simply chosen to trust him with your life.”

Ouch.  Point taken. 

But He wasn’t done.

“Lynette, I am your Abba Father – I know everything about you.  I love you more than anyone on this earth ever could – and you trusted the maintenance guy more than Me!” 

We live in a world where we grasp at anything or anyone in whom we can place our security.  We look to money, politicians, friends, family, spouses, status, titles, abilities and so much more to calm our frantic minds and tell us everything is going to be ok.

Ahh… but Jeremiah 17 tells us the folly of trusting in that which is imperfect.

Are you struggling to trust the Perfect One?  Eat up these words and welcome the blessing of trusting in God. 

God’s Message:

“Cursed is the strong one

who depends on mere humans,

Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone

and sets God aside as dead weight.

He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie,

out of touch with the good earth.

He lives rootless and aimless

in a land where nothing grows.

“But blessed is the man who trusts Me, God,

the woman who sticks with God.

They’re like trees replanted in Eden,

putting down roots near the rivers—

Never a worry through the hottest of summers,

never dropping a leaf,

Serene and calm through droughts,

bearing fresh fruit every season.

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,

a puzzle that no one can figure out.

But I, God, search the heart

and examine the mind.

I get to the heart of the human.

I get to the root of things.

I treat them as they really are,

not as they pretend to be.”

It Is Well

It's the stuff from which fears are realized, ‘whys’ are birthed and the deepest of soul pain claws at your throat.

A mother shouldn't have to...  She just shouldn't have to…

She shouldn't have to walk out hospital doors with empty arms and a breaking heart.

Shouldn't have to rouse from a dream where he is still alive and happy and giggling... only to enter the hollow reality that his bed lies untouched.

She shouldn’t have to.

She shouldn’t have to choose what he’ll wear to his funeral.

Shouldn’t have to stand by his coffin holding a handful of Kleenex, unfulfilled plans and not enough memories.

Some question God.  Wondering how an all-knowing, all-loving God could allow such grief to take place?

He could have stopped this!  He could have spared them the pain!  Why didn’t He?

We listed out the the good his parents had done – their love for others… the ministry they’d birthed… the church they’d planted.  We reminded God of the crazy faith they possessed – their outlandish obedience.  Obedience that would scare the mess out of most Christians.  We considered the complete devotion to God… and wonder why?

Why did God allow their son to die?

They didn’t deserve this!

Yet as I watched my friend mourn the loss of her two-year-old son last week, I witnessed a strength that defies all earthly explanations.  

For on a cold day in Michigan, as the winter winds swirled through the headstones and out over an open grave in a small town cemetery, a young mother cried in a church down the street.  Before her, a tiny white coffin held the body of her little boy. 

There at the very point where her greatest loss and deepest fears were realized, this grieving mother rose up and worshipped...and in her worship, God came near.  

There’s a surreal beauty that comes from a heart that’s surrendered. 

Through her pain, Malyn found comfort by choosing to worship the One who had given Camden to her in the first place…this child who needed a family and a home and a name.  She invited the congregation to sing one of Camden's favorite songs with her.

Far be it from me to not believe
Even when my eyes can't see

And this mountain that's in front of me
Will be thrown into the midst of the sea

Through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
Through it all, through it all
It is well

So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name

And it is well

With me.

(Bethel Music)

Malyn's act of release and surrender shook the place, leaving no one untouched.  

And in it we witnessed the power of love – no matter the cost.

You see, loving comes without guarantees.

Love makes us vulnerable to pain.

Brian and Malyn were not promised thousands of tomorrows with their son.  Oh, they hoped for them – likely hadn’t considered the alternative.  What we saw on the day of his adoption was the beginning of a lifetime of happy memories…and really – that’s exactly what they got… even if the lifetime was much shorter than anyone could have imagined.

So the question comes down to this - is love worth the risk?  Worth the possibility of pain?  Worth the price of loss?

Some would lash out at God – blaming Him for not stepping in.  Accusing Him for allowing such tragedy.  But the truth is this - death was never God’s plan.  He never wanted tiny coffins.  Never wanted empty cribs, crying mothers and hurting fathers.  That wasn’t His original design.

On the day sin entered the world, God the Father was the One left with empty arms, broken dreams and unfulfilled plans.  The separation brought Him such grief and He longed for what once was…wanted it so much so that He took a risk and laid all that He had on the line in hopes of winning us back.

The death of His own Son, Jesus, was the price God paid for the chance to love us and call us His own…and He did it knowing there was a possibility we’d turn Him down. 

It was a risk, but He did it anyway. 

Did you know He loves you that much?

Loved you enough to risk it all?  All in the hopes that you would accept the love He has to offer?

He did and He does…and He’ll never stop… because death might separate, but it can’t keep a Father from knowing your name, longing to hold you and loving you still.

The offer stands ready... I hope you will receive it.

Camden David Sneed
June 1, 2013 - January13, 2016

Click here to watch Camden's funeral.   The sermon was preached by Camden's grandpa, Don Smith.

(A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with the funeral, medical and adoption expenses for Camden.)

If this story has touched you, please share it with others.  Camden's life impacted us all and we want many to know the love he taught us in just two short years.

Life Beyond the Picket Fence - Meet Brenda Yoder

This coming Saturday, I have the privilege of sharing a book signing event with another author. Brenda Yoder is from northern Indiana with a special interest in parenting and teens (HELLO!  I am LISTENING!)  and she has an amazing blog full of real life and real hope.

Brenda recently released a book titled Balance, Busyness and Not Doing It All (HELLO again!)  and I CANNOT wait to get my hands on a copy.

Here's a review on Balance, Busyness and Not Doing It All from Brenda's blog:

Buy one here!

"Kids, laundry, ballgames, music lessons and project deadlines….

How do you balance it all?

Can you balance it all?

According to everyone on Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, it looks like everyone has their life together.

Expect you.

Put down the phone. Balance is a powerful book filled with the practical, spiritual, and personal tools you need to manage the busiest years of your life. Brenda shares honest struggles and offers real solutions for managing a busy family, while making time for what’s most important.

You and your relationship with God. Surprised?

Balance is a book you’ll read once and go back to again and again for the practical reminders it offers."

***

What I love about Brenda is her obvious interest in the family.  In children.  In parenting well.  In helping teens dealing with identity issues.  As a woman whose life can be summed up with these very things, I am excited to meet her, drink up any knowledge she has to give and hear her words of encouragement.

If you are in the area, come see both of us this Saturday at the Red Wagon on the 3rd floor of the Mercantile in Shipshewana, IN.  We will be there from 12-2.  At 2:00, I will be speaking for a short time in the Davis Theatre about Fearless Living.  

Overcoming Anxiety

Anxiety is one of Satan's greatest tools.  He laces lies with just the right consistency of truth so that we will take it in... and believe it!

Once ingested, the lies cause your blood to run cold, your heart to race and, ultimately, paralyze your mind… and sometimes even your body.

But you don't have to live like this.  After all, you only have today once… this week… this life once.  Do you really want to spend another moment bound by fear?

While it can come in many ways, anxiety is often fueled by a lack of trust.  There are a myriad of things that take our eyes off of God and strike fear in our hearts and we soon convince ourselves that this trouble can only be handled by the person we trust most - ourselves.

Problem is - we know our own weaknesses.  So fear begins again and we find ourselves trapped in a vicious cycle.

It is a character of the orphan spirit - a desperate need for security and control.  The orphan finds it difficult to trust... to connect with their AbbaDaddy, to rest knowing that He has our best interest in mind.

But remember this, to doubt God is to align yourself with Satan.  (That’s what Eve did when she chose to listen to Satan’s lies.)  Once you begin to doubt, Satan has his foot in the door and he'll keep on pushing until he's able to barge in and flood your mind with endless fears and worries.

***

Here are several tools you can use to fight anxiety:

-Control your thoughts – make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6 – worth memorizing).  Ask God to fill you with the mind of Christ.

The Lord confides in those who fear Him;

He makes His covenant known to them.

¹⁵ 

My eyes are ever on the Lord,

    for only He will release my feet from the snare. 

Psalm 25:14-15 

-Don’t live on mental Twinkies.  Your mind needs to be filled with more than just a quick sugar rush.  Instead, dig deeper into the Word and discover the power of God – that alone will lift your spirit to a level of trust you never expected!

-Worship! - I am convinced that entering in to the presence of God is the most empowering, most secure and most accepted place of love you can ever experience.  When faced with fears, start worshipping.  You'll be amazed at how your mind will be transformed.

***

Take your eyes off of the world around you – this stuff… that drama… those troubles… that sickness… these needs… they’re all gonna pass away.  And though they’re here today for you to deal with, you have an AbbaDaddy who says, “Come to Me.  Let Me deal with your worries.  All I want from you is your trust, your love, and your worship.”

Look up!

Reach out!

Trust Him!

PS - If anxiety and fear is something you struggle with, please email me.  I would be happy to pray for you and help you find freedom.

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