another ordinary day

the birds join the ancient harmony. the breeze wafts cool through the open window. and i am roused to another ordinary day. 

it's the second day of Ordinary Time according to the liturgical calendar and i can't get that word out of my head.

the introduction to this season of the church year has captivated me and gotten me thinking deep thoughts. 

"The first half of the Christian year, ranging from Advent to Pentecost, is devoted to tracing the grand arc of God's saving action in Jesus Christ. The second half of the Christian year is a long stretch of time called Ordinary Time. It starts the day after Pentecost Sunday and leads right up to the first Sunday in Advent, meaning most of the year is spent here,

With all the big holidays and celebrations over, Ordinary Time offers us the space to find our place in God's story. We've celebrated and taken in the momentous life of Jesus; now we need a long stretch of days to absorb and assimilate it. In Ordinary Time, we fully take in the gospel, allowing it to take shape in our daily living, making connections between Jesus' story and our lives." -Philip F Reinders, Seeking God's Face: Praying with the Bible through the Year

i have been reading the Time Quartet by Madeleine L'Engle recently and it's got me thinking about the pivotal role we have in the grand story of the world- how even a single decision can alter the course of time. and i don't say that to make you fret and worry about making the wrong choice every single second- i believe God sits on the throne and His Spirit lives within us working all things for good. i do say that to remind us that the enemy would love nothing more than for humans to live numb and distracted, or paralyzed by fear of making the wrong choice. 

God is calling you to arise and take your place in the grand story He is writing- with the Spirit alive within you and your ordinary life looking more and more like Jesus'. and i'd be honored to journey with you. we cannot do this alone. we need other pilgrims to sing the ancient melody to us when we've forgotten it's tune, and to break bread with at the table.

what does finding your place in God's story look like today?  

i'll be going on a walk, tending kids after their dentist appointments, setting up more meetings to share God's vision for our new ministry, and cooking dinner. oh, and i'll be praying for you and your role in this gospel story. 

Body + Soul + Mind

God is in the business of restoration. He is a healer. He desires connection and wholeness even more than we do and He doesn't care how long it takes or how painful the process. He cares more about our character than our comfort... a friend of mine likes to remind me.

It has been an intense season. And God is doing some deep healing in my soul. He is renewing my mind. He is arming me for battle. After reading The Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson and walking through the Steps of Freedom I was set free from some major lies I have been believing and was able to  break some agreements that I have made with the enemy.

So, during retreat in Kenya I felt the need for my body to catch up with my soul.

It is Lent... a preparation season... as I was crucifying more of my old nature, God invited me to experience these truths in a fresh way. By making a physical, public declaration I was identifying with Christ in His death on the cross and in the power of His resurrection! What precious timing.

The work of God is a spiral curriculum. He addresses something within us. We think we have mastered it. Then it comes back around deeper and more thoroughly. I've been saved since I was six years old. I surrendered my future to God when I was thirteen. I surrendered again when my mom was diagnosed with cancer when I was fifteen. I surrendered the daily living of my life to God (dead to self alive to God) my freshman year of college. And countless times since then I've laid it all down. But always deeper and more thoroughly. He is preparing me for some big things (please watch this 1 hour talk)- and all it stirs in me is humility- I've got so far yet to go!!

He is so kind. But also jealous. There is no room in my heart for God + _____...

He doesn't just want our songs on Sunday morning. Or our prayers when we wake each morning. He doesn't just want our weekly tithe. He wants all of us- our whole lives. And the good news is- when we give Him all of us, we get ALL OF HIM. Seriously the best news ever. He wants authority over my eating, my resting, my preaching, my parenting, my screen time, my spending... and guys, I want that too... He is so good. I can trust Him with it all. There is so much freedom there! Just a one piece life. (I struggled to find the Ann Voskamp post about living a one piece life- here is an excerpt from another blog- sorry I can't link it for you)

"When you let all the fabric of your life weave fluid together — the kids, the serving, the going, the giving — your life becomes this seamless tapestry. Live into the kind of ministry that lets you bring your life with you. Live into the kind of vocation that lets you live a full life. The work of family can flow fluid into the work of serving, which can flow fluid back into the fabric of the family, and family and ministry and your life’s work can be a One-Piece Life and what corporate model threatens to make our lives so profoundly disconnected? What corporate model has infiltrated our collective thinking such that family and work and living and modelling for the next generation what life is all about —  has left us with painfully disjointed and fragmented and compartmentalized lives? When you live a One-Piece Life — you don’t see your life as falling to pieces as much as it is falling together.... 

I have profaned the sacred, treated the holy in an unholy way. There are times, I still do. But I am prayerfully purposing to walk towards all of life as sacred ground, all of life as hallowed--because God is here, everywhere.

For me, it is about holistic living. We know that our health is not limited to just what we eat, or just if we exercise, or just where we live, or only what medications or vitamins we take, but it is about being a whole person--all of those elements factor into our being healthy. To live a spiritually holistic life, one can't simply have "Bible time" and expect to nourish an intimate relationship with Jesus. It is about keeping company with Jesus for the other 23 hours of the day, speaking with Him, singing toHim, praying to Him, calling out to Him, resting in Him--living in Him. There is no divide between holy and sacred. God wove life to be seamless, a tunic like Jesus’: one piece. For all is in Him. “In God…we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence” (Ps. 139:7).


Some may think of this as "Practicing the Presence of God"--but to do that we have to practice being *aware* of the presence of God. He *is* already here--we just need to wake up. We do not have to practice *making* Him present--He walks this moment with us.


His word is not confined only to a quiet time for “they are not just idle words for you—they are your LIFE”( Deuteronomy 32:47).


Life is our liturgy. *All* of Life is our time with God.

Throughout your day, you will worship God, together. And you'll learn to die to self together. There will be no fragmented scraps of learning, home-life, friends, work, God.

You will make a one-piece life--hallowed threads of parenting, love, education, living, creativity, wonder, sacrifice, and God all woven together. You'll wear it, and it will fit: Grace, Love, Gratitude." -Ann Voskamp