Summer Book Blog Giveaway of "A Million Little Ways"!!!!!!!!

Hello Girls!!!!!!

I hope you had a wonderful year.  Mine was, well, C R A Z Y-and not in the good, fun way...(I'm all over that kind of crazy:); however, the sweet Lord was with me through all the difficulties I encountered and there were blessings along the way as well.  God IS good even in the midst of the hardships we face...of that He has proven Himself trustworthy again and again.  All of that to say:  I AM READY FOR THE SUMMER AND HANGING OUT WITH YOU!!!!  This summer we will be reading a book together that is very unique in style and content, and I think you will love it!

Every year the Lord finds the perfect book for us.  Most of the time it is through friends who tell me of a book they have really enjoyed, but this year is a little different.  Amazon suggested this book.  No kidding!!!  I was looking for a book and had actually ordered few to take a look at; but, after a quick scan, I knew they were not "the one."  Then one afternoon as I was perusing books, Amazon put a book on my page as a "featured recommendation."  They must know me better than I realized because as I read the description, I thought..."I need to give this book a try."  I am so glad I did!  From the moment I began to read, I realized this book would be become one of my favorites.  
  
Soooooo here is the BIG REVEAL!!!!  Beginning the first week in June, we will be reading and discussing Emily P. Freeman's book, A Million Little Ways~Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live. 

 

This is unlike any other book we have done in the past on this blog. First, there is no homework.  This will make some of you happy and others of you disappointed.  Let me assure you...there will be plenty to do and plenty to talk about.  Secondly, Emily is a beautiful and unique writer...and I truly mean B E A U T I F U L and U N I Q U E.  Let me give you a little taste:


"South Carolina is the home to some of the most audacious trees I've ever met.  These old men with their mossy gray hanging beards seem to behave all wrong for trees.  They have trunks, and that seems right. But here is where the rightness ends.  Their branches start at normal places, but then reach out, around, twist and tangle all the way to the ground, out nearly as far as the tree is tall.

It's as if they've spent a lifetime declaring God's glory, but their arms grew tired.  So they found another way to worship, to reflect the glory of God.  It's different, but no less beautiful."

See what I mean?  She had me at that very first sentence.  She "meets" trees and calls them "audacious":)  I can definitely hang-out over the summer months with someone like that!  

I am not the only fan.  I love what these ladies had to say about A Million Little Ways.  Ann Voskamp said this: "Emily Freeman's luminous words  hand you your rightful birthright.  Read them and exhale.  These pages just might wow you awake to who you are meant to be."  And Myquillyn Smith says it this way:  "Enjoy your last day of wondering if what you do really matters, because this book will forever change the way you see everything you do, from the mundane nightly dishes to your most risky creative endeavor." 

I completely agree.  I found myself continually 
sharing with others...including my dear husband what I was learning through the pages of this book.  In fact, I think it just might be the first book I actually drained a highlighter on:)------------>

So I would love to have you join me on the pages of this blog during the summer as we discover that we are God's "masterpiece" and there are "a million little ways" to live a life that brings joy and fulfillment to us, blesses everyone around us and reflects and glorifies the God we love and serve.  What could be better????  Believe me when I tell you that this is an adventure you do not want to miss.

To have some fun and connect before the summer begins, I will be giving away two copies of A Million Little Ways.  All you have to do to enter the drawing is leave a comment on this post between now and Sunday, May 18.  Simply leave a comment at the bottom of this post telling us a little bit about yourself and why you are joining the blogosphere this summer:).  I will announce the winners of the drawing on Monday, May 19, in time for you to receive the book for the study.  I may even throw in a purple highlighter:).

For information on how to get connected with us on the blog this summer, take a look at the post "How to Use and Enjoy This Blog" at the right.  You will have to create a gmail account in order to post to this blog.  Why, you ask????  I have NO clue!  I had to have one to begin this blog, but then they allowed me to use my hotmail account as my primary email!  It is surely one of the unsolved mysteries of life.  Please email me if you have trouble and I will ask my blogging expert daughter-in-law, Jen, to give us a hand...LOVE that girl!!!!

Blessings on you, my sweet girlfriends! 

Love,

Cherri

P. S.--A Million Little Ways is available at Amazon and Dayspring.com. 

To leave you with a smile on your face, here is a cute promo video for the book.  Enjoy!!!!

I Bow My Will in Worship...even when the ugly happens

Sometimes ugly comes into your life.  You don't see it coming and then...BAM!  It wags its beastly head at you and says, "Now what?  How are you going to handle me?"  And you stand stunned and reeling.  Your will rises up along with an angry fist and through a waterfall of tears and overwhelming pain that leaves your spirit breathless gasping for air, you think "I cannot bend...not this time...not to this"

Along with the beautiful, I've had some real "ugly" in my life this year.  My will wanted to get angry...and I did.  My will wanted to feel sorrow...and I did.  I am sure these eyes have never cried so many tears.  My will desired, almost more than anything, to see some kind of godly retribution for the pain and sorrow inflicted on the innocent, but that did not happen (Though, Lord forgive me, it did a thousand times in my mind).

For two weeks I have wrestled with this post.  I have asked the Lord to give me words...none came.  Night after night, morning after morning, I would sit with my laptop and NOTHING...except a constant theme that seemed not even remotely related to "bowing my will"  kept popping up everywhere I went.  I opened the new study our women will be starting to a random page and there it was.....life.  I read my Jesus Calling for the day...again...life.  I attend the Women of Faith and listen to Rick Warren speak about the testing in life we all face.  I listened to Lisa Tekeurst talk about how to handle the conflicts that will come to us in life.  I worship and hear ten thousand women sing about life in Christ...unfathomable love shown, hope for the lost, strength given to the weak, grace...undeserved...richly poured out, power to walk through the storms of life.  And then to punctuate His message to me. TobyMac's song, Speak Life,  shouts the message to me from my car speakers.  Hmmmm?  Could it be there is something He is trying to say to me?

I could not possibly write about "bowing my will in worship"...not when I had not bowed my will regarding the all consuming heartache in my own life .  Oh, that "ugly thing" kept coming up day after day, night after night...to the point of sickness.   I had this thought in my head that if I bow my will here to this evil thing...it wins.  And there is the lie.  My life had become a constant conversation about the sorrow in my life, the pain I saw in others and the hurt I felt myself.  And then one afternoon, I picked up my study book with a few moments to spare and read Angela Thomas's words.  Paraphrased, they go something like this..."I heard what everyone said.  I heard all the predictions of the devastation I and my children would be facing in the years ahead because my husband chose another path...and I thought...why, Lord?  This is not the way I planned my life.  This is not the life I planned for my children...all this brokenness...NOT in my plan."  In the midst of her hurt and pain, Angela heard her Father tell her that her job was not to heal her children or even herself.  Her job?  Her job was to stop focusing on the "ugly" in her life, bend her will and speak truth and good over her children.  She was not a healer, or a fixer or a hero...but HE was!

Rick Warren, still grieving from the loss of his precious son, talked with us at the "Women of Faith" conference about the ways God tests our faith during our lives.  As I listened to him that day, it occurred to me that many times these tests look pretty "ugly."  Testings of loss, of change, of pain, of delayed promises all can have "ugly faces" when we are staring at them straight on in the moment.  And yet, as bad as it looks, faith bows the will...like Abraham with his Isaac...like Moses leading a complaining, rebellious and ungrateful people to their promised land...like Paul in prison penning letters of truth and hope to the churches...like Noah building an ark because God told him to...like David writing Psalms of worship while running from a deadly enemy...like Job refusing to curse God when he faced the worst Satan had to offer...like Angela speaking life over her broken and hurting family, like Rick continuing to teach hope and faith in the midst of profound grief.  Faith bows the will even when it doesn't seem fair...even when we don't get it AT ALL.  That got me.  

What happened in my life this year was completely baffling.  It was beyond my comprehension and did not seem fair to those who were affected.  But this is what Rick said about faith:  

Faith is facing the future without knowing what will come next.
Faith is following God's leading without knowing where.
Faith is waiting for God's timing without knowing when.
Faith is expecting a miracle without knowing how.
Faith is trusting God without knowing why.
Faith is continuing to persist without knowing how long.

Can you see all the bending of will that is taking place in this walk of faith?  Faith is...and here is that "C" word AGAIN...a choice.  I can choose to bend my will in faith even if I don't understand...even when it doesn't seem fair...bending the will in worship is a conscious and determined choice to the "without knowing" part of faith. 

Please don't misunderstand me.  I am not bowing to what is ugly in my life...not at all.  Rather, in the midst of it, I bow my will in the matter to the only One who can make any sense of it...make any victory out of it.  I bow to Him...to Jesus as Healer and Redeemer in trust and allow the Holy Spirit to work His will.  Huge difference.

Life...I can spend this one life of mine focusing on all that Satan brings my way.  I can worship the ugly or I can bend my will against every justified human feeling I have and really LIVE with joy and anticipation for the future God has promised is ahead.  And my job?  My job is to bow it all...my life, my words, my attitude, my work, my times of waiting, my pain in worship to the ONLY ONE worthy of it. 

I love what TobyMac says in his song "Speak Life"...

 

I am asking the Lord to "lift my thoughts higher" so that my will might be in tune to His GOOD will.  To be honest my will is not so good...especially during the ugly times of my life.  What I can do is choose to speak life and then, you know what?  I may not win, but HE DOES!!! 

I don't want to leave you with the idea that a life of faith is bowing your will to a bunch of "bad stuff."  No way!  Living a life a faith, trusting God brings His good favor!  Listen to this:

For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;

     the Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does He withhold 

     from those who walk uprightly.

O LORD of Hosts,

     blessed is the one who trusts in You!

Psalm 84: 11-12

So my friends, this post is an exercise for me in bending my will, walking uprightly...putting an end to all the "worship" of ugly stuff and instead trusting that though I don't have all the answers, He does and I can rest in that:)   

Blessings to you...

Cherri

I Bow My Pain

The most beautiful person I ever met was in her 60s and suffering the effects of Parkinson's Disease.  Her name was Charlene Shurtz.  She was the grandmother of my daughter-in-love, Jen, who is married to my son, Tyler, and my son-in-love, Jonathan, who is married to my daughter, Kaley.  (Yes, siblings married siblings, so I am doubly blessed:)  The very first time I met Charlene, the first thing I noticed was the dancing sparkle of joy in her eyes.  Looking back, it seemed  her body could not hold such joy, so it had no choice but to radiate from her beautiful blue eyes.   Her sense of humor was mischievous.  I remember her gift to Jen at a bridal shower of a nightie that was anything BUT dour, and Jen's reaction of "GRANDMA!!!"  Charlene's impish and delighted smile lit up the room:)  When she was in town, she and her daughter, Kathy, would invite me to lunch and honestly, I would treasure and still do the moments I had just to be in the presence of such a great example of faith.  Charlene bowed her pain in worship.  She never let her pain or discomfort keep her from enjoying a beloved granddaughter's bridal shower or spending time with friends and family.  And the truth is...you cannot fake that kind of inner peace, exuberant joy and lavish love for others.  She could have been discouraged, felt sorry for herself, embarrassed of her failing health and "checked-out" on living life, but I am certainly thanking God she didn't.  She has been my beacon now for years.

And isn't that what bowing your pain in worship ultimately does???  Doesn't it provide hope and promise to those who follow behind us?  Over thirty years ago I had a difficult miscarriage.  I was rushed to the emergency room and to make a long, sad story short...I spent the night listening to babies being born while I lost mine.  Nothing went easy or normal.  Two days later when I came home, I was a changed person. I remember thinking I would rather have physical pain any day than this deep, aching, heartbreaking pain of loss and grief.  Thirty years later would I change my life?  If I could, would I sweep away the pain I felt during those dark days?  Never.  Not for a million dollars.  Through the years, time after time, the Lord has brought across my path young women who are in the midst of the pain and loss of a baby, and I know their pain...I can still feel it.  I know what to say and what NOT to say.  I can tell them you WILL make it through.  Is my pain of miscarriage worship bowed to the Lord?  It is my sweetest worship given every time another precious woman reeling from such a great loss comes my way. I bow it again and again with a grateful heart for the value He has given to the pain I endured.

I had to smile at the "carrot, egg, and coffee" analogy Linda gave in this chapter, "I Bow My Pain."  I'll give a quick synopsis here:  A young woman told her mom the pain in her life was so unbearable she was thinking of just giving up.  Her mom took her into the kitchen, filled three pots with water and placed carrots in one, eggs in another and ground coffee beans in the last and then set them on to boil.  Twenty minutes later, she pulled the carrots and eggs from the water and placed them in bowls and ladled coffee into a cup.   She asked her daughter what she saw and her daughter said, "Eggs, carrots and coffee."  The mom asked her to really take a good look at the carrots and eggs and the daughter then noted the carrots had become soft while the eggs had become hard.  The coffee on the other hand had become rich and flavorful.  This wise mom went on to explain that all three had faced the same adversity...boiling water...but each had reacted differently.  The carrots had been strong, but came out weak.  The fragile eggs became hardened, but the coffee had changed the water! 

So then the question is:  Which are you?  Carrot, egg or coffee?  I thought and thought about that question.  I remembered past difficulties, pressures, worries, painful experiences both physical and emotional and I came to this conclusion:  I go in a carrot or an egg and sometime during the "boiling process" praise God!  He turns me into coffee!:)  I wish I could remember one time that I went in ground beans and came out coffee...but I can't.  I usually have my "carrot" moments:  "I can't do this...This is too difficult...I quit!" And I sometimes have my "egg" moments:  "I am done, Done, DONE!  I don't care anymore!  Forget it all!!!"  For me, all of this carrot and egg stuff is "grinding the coffee beans" to get me to become the coffee that I truly want to be.  The older I get, the shorter my carrot and egg processes are and the more quickly I surrender, allowing the Great Coffee Maker in the Sky to have His better way with me and my life.

I never saw my friend, Charlene's, carrot or egg moments...she was always, always coffee around me.  I am pretty sure if Charlene where still here, she would tell us she had plenty, but she found bowing her pain in worship to be far richer and more satisfying then allowing circumstances of pain to turn her weak or harden her heart.  I know there are many more "Charlenes" out there in the world, bowing their pain in worship each day, and I also know that these people are put into our lives to point the way...to show it IS possible to live a life of faith, hope, love and promise even in the midst of pain. 

Let's face the truth:  pain is an absolute certainty in this life here on earth.  None of us will escape it. It all comes down to the "C" word again...choice.  What we choose to do with our pain will define us and our lives for years to come.   We all know someone who has been weakened by the pain in their lives and they retreat from really living.  They try to make their lives "safe" so that pain won't be an issue...or so they believe.  Others are hardened by the pain.  NO ONE gets in too close.  They close themselves off to sympathy, empathy and, at times, even love in the false belief that they are protecting themselves from  pain.  Whether you retreat or slam up walls...pain will seep in, over run your retreating footsteps or crash through walls.  But there is a choice to do something different...

Surrendering our pain to God gives Him the open door to comfort, give strength and turn our pain into something valuable, something that someday we will look back and find worthy of our sweetest praise.  

So what to choose?  Carrot?  Egg? or Coffee?  For me the real miracle is that I might go in a carrot and even morph into a hard-boiled egg, but sometime during the process I make a choice and come out coffee:).  I always knew there was something deeply spiritual about coffee!!!  

Worship in the midst of pain????  Absolutely.  Maybe tremulously like a soggy carrot at first, or haltingly, barely lifting a hand through the cracked surface of a protective facade, like a seemingly impregnable over-boiled egg, but ultimately we worship with a rich fragrance that fills the air near us and beckons those around to come near and share the comfort and the goodness that is our Lord.

Love to you, my dearest "coffee" loving friends!

Cherri

I Bow My Times of Waiting

Waiting has never been one of my best attributes, in fact, I am flat-out lousy at it.  However, I can say this...I was WAY worse when I was young...like 40:).  When I read Linda's chapter on bowing our times of waiting and what that DOES NOT LOOK LIKE, I saw myself as if looking into a nice, newly windexed mirror.  But I am definitely not alone down through the ages as Linda reminds me...for instance, there is Sarah...

Sarah really messed things up, didn't she with her inability to wait?  Her consequences still reverberate down through the generations. I think just about every woman on the planet can, at some time in their lives, identify with Sarah...especially if you are married...ESPECIALLY if you have children.  We are by motherly nature:  fixers.  So here is my transparent moment:  Hello, I am Cherri.  I am a recovering fixer.

It is difficult for me to wait on a checker who is as slow as molasses in January as my mom used to say.  Peter and I stood in line at Walmart...the express line for 30 minutes as the checker kept trying to put through a credit card that her register would not accept.  She would look up every once in awhile smile and say, "Have patience, please." As time went on, she began joking about how she has lots of "patients."  "Look at you in line" (smile smile smile).  "You are all my patients" (smile smile smile).  I think I gave a gratuitous fleeting smile, but that is truly all I could muster.  I don't think Peter could even lift the corners of his mouth.  For the life of me, I don't know why she kept trying that same card, but eventually the machine had had enough and just locked itself up.  So then she had to call for a manager to unlock her machine and give her some help.  But, of course, Mr. Manager was no where to be found.  Finally, I thought..."I know what will get us out of here...the self-check line."  Have you ever tried one of those?  Oh My Gosh!  Peter and I froze one register because it could not sense the paper towels we put in the bag.  "Please put your item in the bag."  So I picked it up and put it down a little harder.  "Take unidentified item out of bagging area."  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!  So I take the towels out.  "Please put items back in the bag."  And then just like our happy checker's machine...this one froze too.  So we moved onto another register.  We managed to freeze this one as well, but a young man who worked in the area solely to unfreeze machines walked over and waved his magic badge and Viola! register healed.  I want one of those badges.  We walked out an hour later with some pretty soft ice cream, questionable popsicles and of course our problematic paper towels. 

Linda writes we get in the way of God when we get impatient with waiting and try to fix things ourselves.   I think I can accurately say many times we get in our own way as well...much like my dear husband and me during our Walmart fiasco.  I have found waiting to be a skill that needs practice.  I could have practiced a bit in line with our comedian checker...but we had ice cream and that changes everything...nobody messes with my ice cream.  But seriously, we could have handled it differently...with grace. 

Years ago as a young wife and mom, I was disappointed in Peter and his spiritual leadership in our family.  I had a picture of what it looked like and he was not coming NEAR the ideal.  I tried to "help" him by getting him books on how to be a "great spiritual leader."  I told him about programs he could listen to on Focus on the Family.  I bought devotionals by the stacks for him to use in the evenings with the kids and I.  And still he refused to be the man I knew he could be.  For years I devoted myself to forcing, coercing, manipulating and even pleading with the most emotionally charged words I could muster in an attempt to "help" Peter become the spiritual leader I envisioned.  One day I spent some time with my friend, Nancy Robinson, who was a pastor's wife.  I knew here I would find a sympathetic ear for my dilemma and maybe some new ideas.  So she listened to my very sad, dramatic tale of spiritual neglect and then when I finally had spoken my last word, she looked at me with a smile and said, "Cherri, you make a very poor Holy Spirit."  I was stunned.  She went on to explain to me that many times God is working in the lives of people we love and because he does not work on our time schedule, or it doesn't look like what we envisioned, we will push our own agenda and cause a "miscarriage of what God had been trying to birth in that person."  I understood miscarriage.  I'd had a devastating one and realized full well the death that miscarriage brings to a newly formed and developing life.  Nancy went on to say that what I say and do can delay what the Lord wants to do in Peter's life.  It won't derail it by any means (thank goodness I don't have THAT kind of power) but my "fixing" wastes valuable time. 

I began to see that I was a "spiritual abortionist" in my family.  Ugly ugly truth.  I wish I had learned this lesson once and for all.  That I could say I applied this to all relationships in my life, but for some reason I felt my children were exempt.  I could tell stories about some really stupid choices  made as I navigated raising my brood of six, but I won't waste your time.  What I will tell you is that God would not let allow me to keep it up.  Eventually, He taught me the lessons of waiting, listening and obeying and now...when it comes to relationships in my life...I am big on waiting, listening, and obeying because I have seen the value of it.  He has shown me over and over He is trustworthy and I CAN wait.

Linda writes there are three reasons we do not wait and get in God's way:

1.  We only know part of the story.
2.  We are prompted to fix a problem because we care
3.  We are prompted to fix in order to protect ourselves.

And then she asks the question:  Which of these do you most identity with?  And I had to write "All of them" in big bold letters.  At different times in my life I have instantly come to a conclusion, worked out a solution to "fix" and then found out I made matters worse because I had NO CLUE what was really going on.  I rushed ahead with my assumptions...bad idea.  With my children I have jumped into fix because I cared...loved them with so much of my heart that I wanted to fix issues:  real and imagined...bad idea.  And in the case of Peter, many times, if I am to be really honest, my fixing was to take responsibility off of myself.  Back in those early days, I didn't want to be responsible for my own relationship with God.  I remember one time reminding him that if he did not lead me spiritually, he was going to be in BIG trouble when he got to heaven.  I had envisioned standing near as the Lord reprimanded Peter for not leading me as he should have, and I got some sense of satisfaction out of that thought.  But now, at fifty-six, I can say with all honesty I am so grateful Peter did not take on a responsibility that did not belong to him.  It forced me to seek God on my own and, through some difficult times and circumstances, my own roots have grown deep in the Lord.  I treasure my sweet relationship with my Savior.  Truly Peter was being led far better by the Spirit than I was in my arrogance and pride. 

Here's what gives me great joy...Sarah..."By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised." (Hebrews 11:11 ESV). She is mentioned in Hebrews' "Faith Hall of Fame"!  She was not a perfect woman or follower of God  but even with all her mistakes, eventually she got it....she believed!  JUST LIKE ME!  And girls, that just makes me smile:). 

What if we saw these times of waiting...the short waits..for slow checkers, slow drivers, slow internet connections, slow coffee baristas and the long waits...for lives to change, inspiration to come, prayers to be answered as times given to God in faith as worship?  This could change the way we react in our times of waiting.  It could be just the fertile ground we need to enrich and grow in our lives of faith.   Waiting=Worship...what a wonderful and encouraging concept!

We are imperfect waiters for sure, but we grow in our faith, we grow in our trust, and we grow in our ability to wait, to listen and then to obey.  And we like Sarah triumph over our mistakes and say with David, "But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, 'You are my God.  My times (and my husband's and my children's and all those who I care about) are in Your hand..."  (Psalm 31: 14-15 NIV)

Love to you, my faithful "Hall of Fame" sisters!!!

Cherri

I Bow My Work in Worship

You gotta love the Bible.  It breaks ALL the rules.  As a writer I am always careful of absolutes such as "all," "never, and "always."  But the Word of God uses absolutes ALL THE TIME.  Rejoice always.  Give thanks for all things.  Love never fails.  Whether God is addressing our words, our attitudes, our thoughts or our actions...it is always emphatically.  So there is no surprise this week as we read about worshiping with our work that He tells us:  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  BOOM!  That is pretty all inclusive from sunup to sundown. 

As I read this chapter I had to wonder what my life would look like if everything I worked at was done with all my heart and given to the Lord in worship.  I can tell you it would look a darn sight different than what has been evident.  My job at the moment is ministry assistant to Women's and Family ministries.  I LOVE my job!  I look forward to going to work.  I love the people I work with, and I completely enjoy the work I have the opportunity to do.  

But what if I had my friend Paula's job as a hospice worker?  Paula sits with the dieing and gives comfort and support to those who are facing imminent death, some of them in unimaginable pain.  Would my attitude be so joyful?  Paula's is.  When she shares about her job, you can hear the compassion and love coming through her words.  She sees her job as ministry...a kind of heavenly midwife.

What if I had my friend Cathy's job at her retirement manor?  Cathy french braids long, grey hair, helps her clients bathe and dress, decorates for dances, and perhaps the greatest gift of all...she listens.  Cathy says there is a "story behind every door" and she truly enjoys listening to life stories of love and loss, of trial and triumph.  She continually calls herself blessed because of her work.

What if I had my friend Lynn's job of stocking shelves in the wee hours of the morning at a local grocery store?  She continually looks for opportunity to serve God by serving others in her workplace.  Lynn has been an inspiration to me as she sees opportunity for service and mission in her job.  

What if I could revisit my mom days...all of the cooking and cleaning, refereeing, teaching, the continual and non-ending everyday tasks of motherhood and homemaking?  Would I see a woman who saw her everyday tasks as worship?  Not often.  Back then the idea never occurred to me that what I was doing day in and day out could have been worship given joyfully to the Lord.  I certainly did see motherhood as a joy (sometimes), a gift (sometimes), as valuable and precious...everyday, but worship?  Not so much.  I think it was because so often I did it awkwardly, with a ton of "off key" moments.  Who would want that????  

I am in awe of a Lord who speaks to us with great compassion and tells us to bring our weaknesses and even our sin to Him...that He will take it.  Load it up..load it on and in those moments of humble submission...we worship...giving all of our "off key, off beat, tone deaf" worship to Him...and He loves it!  Who?  Who is like our God?

I spent two days attending the Global Leadership Summit that comes out of Bill Hybels' Willowcreek Church in Illinois.  If you get the chance to attend next year in August...jump at it. (For more information about this summit click here:  http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/) For two days I listened to speakers who encouraged their listeners to work "as unto the Lord."  Each speaker had their own perspective, but in the end it all came down to this:  As you work in whatever tasks you have been given, do it with passion and a great attitude, remembering that this is your ONE chance to work for and serve the Lord and others.  I left there pondering all I heard about being a positive influence in the work place.  Whether it is in your home or at work, there is incredible power in a godly influence.  I considered how we are given opportunities to influence and bless others everyday and in the process we have the opportunity to worship "in word and deed."  There is a great difference between work and work seen through the eyes of worship.  We act differently, speak differently, think differently.

I received a great lesson in the difference between seeing your job as "just a job" and seeing your work as serving and blessing others.  Recently I traveled with my eighty-two year old mom to South Dakota.  She hates to fly.  It is difficult and even fearful for her.  During our trip, she had no less than six different wheelchair attendants as we traversed airports.  Out of those six two stand out clearly.  One was a woman who treated my mom as a task she needed to complete, one that she did not appreciate taking up her precious time.  She was abrupt, hurried and annoyed and my mom and everyone else near her felt every ugly attitude.  The other was a man, Manuel, who treated my mom with value and kindness.  He asked her about her trip, smiled and assured her he would get her to the gate on time.  He made sure she was comfortable and ready to board the plane.  He changed my mom's anxious and fearful mood into joy and laughter.  I wish we could have taken him with us:).  The other four attendants ranged from complacent to cordial.  Manuel, out of them all, was the only one who saw his job of wheelchair attendant as something worth doing with joy and a positive attitude.  It was obvious the others were simply working to get off at the end of a shift.

I am finishing this post after going to church this morning.  The teaching was on the absolutely stunning, crazy, shocking love Christ has for us.  We read from Colossians 1:15-23, an amazing passage describing the "supremacy of Christ" and His great love and sacrifice for us.  It occurred to me while listening this morning that if we "got it"...if we "grasped how wide and long and high and deep is the Love of Christ," maybe worshiping Him with all the work of our hands would become second nature.  

One life...that is all we are given.  Twenty-four hours in every day...and we have the privilege and honor to worship with as many of those hours as we like.  What a thought!!!  Well, girls, I had better get going.  I am making tacos tonight as unto the Lord!

Love you, sweet things!  May you "know the Love that surpasses knowledge" and "be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God," so that worship will flow gracefully from your lives!

Cherri