Run Your Race #FortheLove

A few weeks ago I was checking out the scripture for the upcoming sermon, so I could prep for my children's sermon (when I mean prep, I mean read the scripture, think about it for a week, and still go up to the front of the church with a general idea and hope for lots of grace).  I read the title, Running to Win, and saw that it was based off of 1 Corinthians 9:19-27.

19 Although I’m free from all people, I make myself a slave to all people, to recruit more of them. 20 I act like a Jew to the Jews, so I can recruit Jews. I act like I’m under the Law to those under the Law, so I can recruit those who are under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law). 21 I act like I’m outside the Law to those who are outside the Law, so I can recruit those outside the Law (though I’m not outside the law of God but rather under the law of Christ).22 I act weak to the weak, so I can recruit the weak. I have become all things to all people, so I could save some by all possible means. 23 All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it.

24 Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win. 25 Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies. 26 So now this is how I run—not without a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadowboxing. 27 Rather, I’m landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this to be sure that I myself won’t be disqualified after preaching to others.

When I read this verse it immediately took me to a chapter that I had recently read in Jen Hatmaker's upcoming book, For The Love (available Aug. 18th).  In the chapter Run Your Race, Jen discusses how we are each running our own race, and how we should not only feel encouraged for ourselves, but also cheer along other running beside us.  I decided that God had put that chapter in my life to preach to the kids at our church.

On Sunday I went up to the front of the church again with just the general idea.  Let's be real here,  You can right a script for a children's sermon, but inevitably one of the children is going to start chasing rabbits and throw you off your script, so I prefer to chase rabbits with them instead. :)

I asked them how many of them liked to run, and just about all of them raised their hands.  I told them that when I was a kid, I loved to run too, but now that I am an adult, my body is not quite the same, so I do not enjoy running as much.  I told them when I am asked to sign up for a race, I usually say no since I do not enjoy running.  Then I went on to say if I don't like running does that mean that I can never do races?  I asked them what other kind of races there are.  I got many answers (car, three-legged, bike, motorcycle, pie-eating - we will save that story for...NEVER!).

I told them that just because I don't like to run, doesn't mean that I can't compete in a race ever again.  It just means that I need to find MY race and join in.  I told them that this is kind of like how we serve God and our race to the finish line of life.  Some people are good at singing in the choir or the band, while others enjoy evangelizing.  Some of the them may like to go on mission trips, but some of them may prefer to serve at our church.  I told them that each one of those things is important in bringing people in and closer to Christ.

I asked them what they would do if a friend was in a running race and beating them.  I asked if they would reach their foot out to trip their friend, so they couldn't be ahead?  Many of them shook their head with a horrified look on their face while others giggled.  I said that they were right, we shouldn't do that.  Tripping their friend is going to make them run any faster, and it's only going to create bad feelings.  In that same way, when we see our friends doing well for God, we shouldn't be jealous.  We should be proud of them and cheer them on.  Their race is not our race.

 Plus the race to God is not about who finishes first.  It's about doing the best with the gifts and opportunities God has given you.  At the end, we don't want a 1st place medal.  We just want a seat in Heaven and to hear the words, "Well done." from our Heavenly Father.

My hope for each of you is that you find your gifts, realize your opportunities, and run your race.

Throwback Thursday about Good Friday

I was looking back through my facebook and found this "note" from Holy Week of 2009.  I know that Holy Week has come and gone, but we are still celebrating the season of Easter. :)

This post was inspired by my son at our Good Friday service.  The simple, innocent, yet brilliant view of a 4 year old child.

April 10, 2009 - It was funny tonight at the Good Friday service, in the choir, we are singing The Weeping Tree cantata, and as we go through the story of Jesus's crucifixion the pastor's are laying the cloth on the cross, putting the cross of thorns at the top of the cross, and the nails. The final piece the pastors put on are rose petals to symbolize the blood of Christ as he died. Before the final song, the congregation was invited to lay stones at the foot of the cross to symbolize laying down our burden and sin. The pastors also invited to to take us rose petal for remembrance if we would like. I happened to get down from the choir loft at the same time as my son and husband were at the cross. We all laid down our stones, and my son picked up a rose petal. Before we split ways back to our seats, my son grabbed my sleeve and said "Mommy, this is love" is a sing-songy voice as he held up the love petal. In his mind I am sure that he saw a flower petal and you give flowers to those you love. It really struck a chord with me though when he said that b/c it hit me that yes, it is love. It was God's love for us shown through his son's blood on that day. I am not normally this in depth with the things I write, and I usually prefer to stay away from stating my opinions on religion or "witnessing" ( I am a former Lutheran, I can't help it! :) ), but I kept thinking about it all the way home, so I thought I would just put it out there, how my son in his simple observation really brought one of the points of Good Friday home for me. Happy Easter!!!

Go Get Your Sister

We had an ice week about a month ago where we were stuck at home, schools were closed, and it was really too icy to even venture outside to play.  So there we were all at home...together.  It started off pretty well, and I have to say that I love that my children are getting more independent in keeping entertained.  One thing that I did start to notice though was something that moms have dealt with since the beginning of time.

Me: "Go get your sister and tell her it's time to get ready to eat."

Son: (From the couch yelling upstairs) "Wash your hands, and get ready to eat!"

Me: (in the kitchen rolling my eyes as I could have yelled on my own) "No GO to your sister and tell her to get ready to eat."

This is nothing new.  I remember doing this as a kid, and I am pretty sure my parents did it to their parents.  In fact, I am pretty sure it has been going on since Bible times.  

The word "Go" is used so many times in the Bible.

*GO, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites GO out of his country. - Exodus 6:11 (NIV)

*GO!  I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. - Luke 10:3 (NIV)

*But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or turn back.  Where you GO I will GO..." 

- Ruth 1:16 (NIV)

*Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "GO and make preparations for us to eat the Passover." 

- Luke 22:8 (NIV)

*"Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." - Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

The last one hit my core when I was reading the book Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker.  (A great read, but be ready to be changed!)  How easy it is to just think "make disciples" and leave out the "go," just as my children do when I tell them to "Go and tell..."  Go requires action, requires sacrifice, requires commitment.  As frustrated as I got that day, it made me step back and think how frustrated God must be at me!  

"Go and get your sister/brother...

-and invite her/him to church.

-and bring her/him a meal.

-and invite her/him to a bible study.

-and have coffee just to talk.

-and give her/him a hug.

-and tell her/him about Me!

As uncomfortable or inconvenient these may be what about this:

"Go and get your sister/brother...

-and give them them grocery money instead of getting my nails done.

-and hold their hand and look in their eyes as they tell you their story even though you don't know them and you don't know how long it has been since they showered/washed their hands.

-and visit them in the hospital,

-and tell them that you love them and God loves them even when they have messed up and maybe even hurt you in the process.

-and help them out by bringing food to their apartment complex even if it means missing the big game on tv.

How often am I so comfortable to just sit on my computer and invite everyone to come to my church and church events?  I would so rather do that than actually face to face ask them (My introvert is showing!)  Isn't it so much easier to just give to a mission rather than GO and do one?  (Not that giving to missions is bad - both sides are definitely needed).  But just telling and giving aren't enough.  I am so much more likely to follow up on an invitation of someone's of I have been personally invited instead of "group" invited.  I am much more likely to attend an church or event with someone that I see "walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk."

We cannot help people understand the love of Jesus unless we GO show the love of Jesus through our actions.  

"As the body without the spirit is Dead, so faith without deeds is dead." - James 2:26

How many times has God told me to GO and get my sister or brother and do something?  How many times have I just yelled from the couch half-hearted because I was either too lazy to get up or was afraid to get off the comfort of the couch into a zone where I many not be so comfortable?  How many times have a flat out ignored him?  

All I can say is thank goodness for grace and second chances!

I am now making an effort to hear those GO calls and actually get my rear off the comfy couch and do something.  It's not always going to be easy and it definitely won't always be comfortable, but I have a feeling that I will come out ok in the end. :)

Go and get your sister!

I don't want to be awesome #FortheLove

Awesome.  It's become a thing in our culture.  If you google just the word awesome, tons of images and memes pop up, some funny and some quite "interesting" to put it nicely.

Being "awesome" is a running joke in my house as my husband likes to claim it's pretty much woven into his DNA.  My son even has a shirt that just says #awesome, and we searched for one for my husband b/c my son only felt it was appropriate. (We didn't find one though.  His awesomeness will just have to radiate from his inner being instead of from words on his shirt).

Just recently though I received the motivation to stop being "awesome."

As I have posted previously, I was chosen to be on the launch time for Jen Hatmaker's new book, For the Love, which will be released in August.  I have already devoured the book that was sent to me.  I have laughed, been humbled and inspired, and even learned some new recipes!  For those of you who cry, you will probably cry too.  I am just not a crier.

In her first chapter in the book Jen talks about the pressure we put on ourselves to be everything to everyone and be great at everything.   I don't know about you, but this goes straight to my core.  I know that I feel pressure from every which way of my life to volunteer, make things, attend, support, etc.  I feel the need to do all things things asked from others (and from myself), but why?  If I am going to be honest here, sometimes it's because I want others to think that I can do it all, that I am talented, that I have it all together.  In reality, piling up these expectations does the opposite.  I am unfocused, my house turns into a bigger disaster area than it already is (which I am pretty sure is just a physical representation of how my brain looks), and I don't do anything well.  My husband and I have talked many times about when one of use is overstretched about how we feel that we are getting nowhere.  We are doing a bunch of "things" but we feel like we are failing at all of them.

In her book, Jen says, "We need to quit trying to be awesome and instead be wise."

Wise.

When I think of wise, I think of people who are experienced in years, who have been there and done that.  I think of certain long time members in our church, who I look up to.  When I think of them, I think of people who are God-focused.  They have their channels that they are plugged into and passionate about, and they don't have a problem saying no to those things that they know are for other people's gifts.

In another study that I am doing, The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst, she says, "we have to know that God is especially fond of filling the empty spaces.  God is a master at providing just the right thing at just the right timing."

Hello!  Wake up call!!!  I am not meant to be everything to everyone.  I am not meant to fill every volunteer spot.  I don't have to do everything at my house.  I don't even have to be everything to my children.  In doing that I am saying, "God I got this, I don't need to trust you to fill those empty spaces."  Yikes.

How about I just be wise, and instead let God be awesome?

Isn't that the way it is supposed to be?  Shouldn't God be the awesome one, and we can just give Him the glory?

Lesson learned.  Take stock of my commitments, be wise about what I am choosing, stop getting in the way of other people trying to use their gifts, and let God be awesome.