Limiting Our Fears

Year 8-Day 113: Today, I am grateful we can limit the power of fear.

Sometimes, I need a little Bob Goff to brighten my day.(I need to remember to pray for his sweet wife Maria, as she has her hands full with him.) If you've not read "Love Does" and "Everybody, Always" use this time of quarantine to read something that will brighten your day and lighten your soul. 

Early this morning, a group of friends gathered online for prayer. One friend shared this passage: 

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. -Romans 15:13

Good stuff, right? We are living in a time when fears are high and solutions seem limited or unknown. For many, it is easy to feel hopeless and helpless, if we forget the source of our peace and joy. 

I am not minimizing those who have ill loved ones. I ache for families...  including ours ...  with family members who have compromised immune systems or with other health issues. This all feels so scary at times. It is hard to be with people who are hurting when we are, literally, not allowed to be "with people". This is the strangest season.

Later, another friend from my morning prayer group shared this image because she knows I love Bob's books. She shared the image with this quote:

"Fear only has the power we give it. Hope works in the same way."  - Bob Goff

I am absolutely aware that God speaks through His Word, His children and His Holy Spirit. Still, it makes my senses come fully alive when it happens.The good kind of chills, right?  

Interestingly enough... I could not find one other passage where the exact words "God of Hope" is used. The timing was perfect. (Try it. Do a search with quotations around "God of Hope") So,what were the odds of these this quote and scripture coming together today? I'm not a mathematician, but I bet pretty slim, but we have a big God who has his hand on our circumstances. 

We are told that the "God of Hope" is ready to fill us up with something better than fear. Joy and peace. When we are full of joy and peace, there is less room for fear. The power of the Holy Spirit is greater than anything we have to face today, tomorrow or the next day. 

Hope, also, has the power we give it. We can choose hope over fear. 

Today, I am grateful we can limit the power of fear.

Mama Ina Mae

Year 8-Day 112: Today, I am grateful for my Mama Ina Mae’s Birthday.

"When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you" -John 15:10-12

Her joy overflows! Not grief, or disease... or life’s tough stuff can steal her joy. She is Proverbs 31.

She grew up with one glass of milk a day, because milk was for the babies and she was the oldest of seven born in ten years. Some become selfish. She is the most generous person I know.

She taught me "necessity was the mother of invention" and "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent." She taught me the opinions of the masses don’t matter but you had better be true to the Lord.

She taught me to serve in love or it doesn’t really count, because God knows your heart. She was an example of serving with expectation of reciprocation. She served with a heart full of gratitude because she had something to give.

She taught me that God gave us wonderful plants and teas for healing. She taught me that God designed our bodies to heal themselves... we should let them try and seek medical help if they can't. She modeled respect for the ways of other people and cultures, always believing we can learn from people who are different than us. She was right.

She taught me music! She was harder on me than her other students... so she would teach me from another room correcting my mistakes with her sharp ear. It worked. When I surpassed her, she advocated for me with my Dad for lessons at Olivet. She wanted my teacher to be her old friend, Dr. Ovid Young. I ended up with another professor teaching me, because Ovid was too busy, but I will never forget her fierceness for the cause. Mama had to teach three lessons in her home music studio to pay for one of my lessons at the college. I am sure, in my teens, I didn't always appreciate her sacrifices on my behalf.

She provided an amazing example of a Godly wife and mother. I am still a work in progress.

She taught me to be bully proof when I was hurt by fickle friendships. She said, “Oh Valerie, Be thankful. If they are picking on you, they are leaving someone else alone.” In other words, “You are strong enough to face hard stuff and I believe in you.” She built us up in ways I didn’t understand.

She taught me that reading was a gift, even though it was hard for her. What she read, she remembered. Smart... just not fast. She put Nancy Drew in my hands in second grade and took me to the Library whenever I was out of books. She taught me the most important book was the Bible, because it is the one I would be help accountable for reading.

She is a gem... rare and priceless. 7 decades of refinement have only made her more special.

She’s my Mama. Her birth was a gift to the planet. Love you, Mama.

Today, I am grateful for my Mama Ina Mae’s Birthday.

A Perfect Trio

Year 8-Day 110: Today, I am grateful a perfect trio. 

There is something incredibly calming about the sound of the waves kissing the shore. Do you ever feel a pull to the water's edge? Is it the song of the waters or the scent? I think these elements are part of the call, but I think it is all about the peace we feel when we are there. Perhaps is simply a perfect combination. 

There are some perfect trios in the scriptures: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Our beliefs are anchored in the Holy Trinity. Either we believe, or we don't. 

The world seems crazier than normal right now. In the uncertainty of what our leaders will do next, we can rest assured that none of them will save the world or even the day in most cases. Where we see the good stuff happening is any place people are tuning out the noise and drama on the television and internet feeds to focus on the these three things:

"And now these three remain: Faith, Hope & Love, but the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13:13

Yes. Faith, Hope & Love are evidence that we have not been abandoned, but that his Spirit is alive and well in us. Because there is free will, some humans will choose to act selfishly. Others will embrace their calling. They will present their bodies as "living sacrifices" to help a world in need. They will lay down their lives for another. 

Today, I am grateful a perfect trio: Faith, Hope & Love.

Mistakes We've Owned

Year 8-Day 109: Today, I am grateful for we can own our mistakes so they no longer own us! 

We all make mistakes. The curse of trying to do things 100% right all the time is perfectionism. It keeps us stressed and it keeps us from experiencing the freedom in owning a mistake. Yes, freedom. 

We grow and learn so much more through failure than success. We become more mature as we try to reconcile disappointments and unrealized dreams with the reality that life is rough sometimes. Bad things happen. They are often unfair, because there is sin, evil and selfish ambitions in this world.

Yet, we are called to love. Love big. Love loud. Love when you're tired. Love when you been quarantined together for more than a month. 

Love when when others make mistakes. Show yourself some grace when human imperfections make the person in the mirror a disappointment. 

Failure isn't final. Our Savior set us free and elevated us to joint-heir status. He died for all of us... but he would have completed the mission for even and only one. The heaven's rejoice at one soul set free. 

Don't carry your mistakes around like they are a final determination on who you are. That is unacceptable to our Heavenly Father who made each one of us unique and special.

"When you own a mistake, it no longer owns you." -Lisa Bevere

Let go of the fear and let Love reign. Love is waiting. God is love. 

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.-1 John 4:18

Today, I am grateful for we can own our mistakes so they no longer own us! 

Gentle Reminders

 Year 8-Day 108: Today, I am grateful for gentle reminders.

"Remember when we were little and had underwear with the days of the week on them? Yeah. Those would be helpful right now." 

A little laughter always makes the day better. This meme hits home. What day is it? It is hard to keep it straight when all the days are so similar. I had not thought of those little undies in years, but I know April and I had them. 


All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.-Proverbs 15:15

Keeping it today simple. Thinking about ordering that underwear. 


Today, I am grateful for gentle reminders.

The Space In-between

Year 8-Day 107: Today, I am grateful for the space in-between the stimulus and response. 

I read the book "Man's Search for Meaning" in college for a class. I probably need to re-read it someday, but this quote was my favorite: 

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” ― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

He, also, said:

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is a power to chose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." -Viktor E Frankl 

The man survived a Nazi concentration camp. He lost his family. He lost everything. He refused to surrender his soul and his dignity. Some call it courage. He calls it a choice. 

The apostle Paul give the perfect example of this kind of choice in one of my all-time favorite passages. 

"For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.  For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better." -Philippians 1:21-22

As my sweet Mama Ina Mae lives with joy in the midst of Huntington's Disease and my treasured brother-in-law, Monte, battles cancer again... they both have amazing attitudes and peace in their souls. They both know who holds their tomorrows. They trust His hand and His plan. It is humbling to watch them walk in the space in-between the stimulus and the response. It is sacred, holy ground, because they know they are never alone. They have a freedom in knowing however the day ends... they win. 

Today, I am grateful for the space in-between the stimulus and response.

Complete Surrender

Year 8-Day 106: Today, I am grateful for complete surrender. 

"You see, a potter can only mold the clay when it lies completely in His hand. It requires compete surrender." -Corrie Ten Boom

When the days seem bleak or dark, I often turn to Corrie Ten Boom or Elizabeth Elliot for inspiration. Both women endured great difficulties, painful losses and came out the other side so in love with the Lord that they nearly glowed with the Spirit. Both women had faced situations where they had to surrender to the Master Potter or go their own way. Both chose to trust in God's plan and his hand. 

The potter and clay analogy makes me think of our Morton Mascot, "Clay Potter". His head is a piece of pottery. We have taken some abuse over the years for our "Potters" mascot. Then came Chris Carter. Our Jr. High assistant principal and AD has personally taken on the mission of making Clay into a mascot we can be truly proud to call our own. 

Honestly, in the eight years I've been on staff, I think he has accomplished his mission. Children now recognize and look forward to seeing Clay at events at their schools and in the community. Clay has been molded into a mascot that loves representing our community. Surrendering to the reality that our mascot is a piece of potter was the first step. Then we had to embrace it and make it good. Yes, Clay is a rock-star these days. 

Surrendering isn't always easy. Our human natures fight it. It is where trust truly takes root. "Thy will be done.". It is how Jesus taught us to pray when he was asked how to approach the Father in prayer. To find real peace in the trials and storms, we must learn to leave it in His capable hands. He is the "Master Potter". 

Today, I am grateful for complete surrender.