A Wardrobe of Grace (&Giveaway) and the Soli Deo Gloria Party

Welcome to the Soli Deo Gloria party!

This is a place where women gather to encourage each other to live authentically,

sharing our heartbreaks, our joys, and the wisdom from God that sustains us.

Please, link up your heart with ours and encourage other's before you leave.  Only have time to read one?  Choose your neighbor -- no one wants to leave a party empty-handed!

If you would like to be a part of a Soli Deo Gloria small group, now is a great time to join.

Click here for more details.

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I feel this cracking happening in me -- I realize how much "unhardening" has already taken place as I write the forgiveness chapter in our book.  I realize what amounts of pride consume my heart and how I thought in terms of hierarchy and levels and scales.

But I realize today that I still have quiet a ways to go in the way that I wife, mother, and live.  It is difficult for me to look at a mistake in a way other than some level of failure. I tend to beat myself up about it, shaming myself, lambasting my soul for not knowing better.

I read in  my morning devotional (Jesus Calling)--

"Don't be so hard on yourself."

And my first reaction is, "How can I not be? It could all fall apart."

And there is the lie of pride: "If I can do good, everything will be okay."  The motivation of my heart, I realize, sometimes, pulses with self.  "If I do the best I can, I'll be protecting myself from future pains, catastrophes, discomfort." 

Here's the thing: There are many times I am more comfortable clothed in pharisaical robes than I am with grace.  I like black and white and the color of grace is gray.  I like rules that I can follow with rewards and consequences that are appropriately scaled.  I dislike the unexpected because I am afraid.  "Let's all play it safe. Let's not get in trouble."  (I can see why I am hesitant to break down and have fun -- to what might that lead??)

Oh, but God.  He is cracking me and with each new fissure that emerges, I see and taste and smell freedom.

And I don't fully understand it, but I'm learning to embrace it, welcoming it in my arms with a somewhat awkward hug.  And I realize I can't hold both grace and worldly scales at the same time.  These dual world views conflict too much, weigh too much, and make me go cross-eyed. 

I am reading Beth Moore's Jesus the One and Only and I'm enraptured by the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist.  Moore writes:

John proclaimed, "prepare the way of the Lord / make straight paths for him" (Luke 3:4).  The original Greek word for "paths" is the word tribos, which means a "beaten pathway." In a personal way God wants us to prepare a path.  Have we made a path for Him to come and do a powerful work in our lives?...I believe God's word to us in, Make a beaten pathway.  Come to Me.  Make it your practice to approach Me over and over and over again, so that when I am ready to pour out a fresh work, the way will be made clear.  (page 57-58)

I love how Moore highlights the humility of John the Baptist, how he wasn't about scales, rewards, or accolades.  He simply made a way for the One who is greater.  The One who made it so that I do not have to pay the ultimate price (death) for my mistakes, my sins.  The One who made it so there would be nothing I could do to justify myself.  The One who made grace happen for me.

What God has been speaking to me through His Word and through this book is this: Jesus is not about following the rules.  Jesus is about love.  And as I reread stories, I take in all the times He forgave.  All the times He healed.  All the times He loved.  I don't want my pride to be a roadblock that prevents God's fresh work in me.

I am making a beaten path, realizing that there are some high stone walls still that God needs to break down from time to time, but that's okay.  Because my failure to always do the right thing keeps me hungry for Him.  Moore writes, "Even if we could get our external lives perfect and under legalistic control, we'd probably rot on the inside with the heinous sin of pride."  No doubt, Beth.  I've been there.  And perhaps, this is why I'm determined to accept my failures, for they make a road with easy access to a wardrobe of grace.

T.R.U.S.T. Question: My biggest weakness is my pride.  But in 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul writes: "“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”  What is an area of weakness for you through which God has revealed His strength?


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*I received two copies of Beth Moore's book, Jesus the One and Only, free of charge, but was not paid to write this review. These are my own opinions of the book.

Because He Wants You to Know

Linking with Sandra today for some stillness.

Five Minute Friday: Songs (and some Billy Joel for you to Groove to)

When I was a kid and didn't wear my hearing aids because, well, no one else was wearing them, I'd still find other ways to embarrass myself from time to time.

I would be in the middle of belting out an 80's ballad with my friends when all of the sudden they stopped singing when they realized I wasn't singing the right words.

It was all because I couldn't hear the right words.  Words wrapped up in notes and quickly strung together.  How could I possibly recite all the words from songs like "We Didn't Start the Fire?"

We won't mention the fact that I cannot get the notes right.  Maybe because I just have a bad voice.  Maybe because I can't hear the notes clearly.

But there are other songs God surprises me with - now that I'm a good girl and wear them (most of the time).  Songs of birds, a mother singing to hear baby in the stroller when I run past.  The songs of my sisters' prayers when they pray aloud in bible study.

Some of you don't live in a muted world like I do, but life can start to sound muted, endless streams of noise smashed together as we strive through life, if we aren't paying attention to the songs He sings over us.  The birds, the lullabies, the wind in the trees are songs for you.

Can you hear Him?

(Now, enough seriousness.  Go get your Billy Joel on.)

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I'm hanging out with Lisa-Jo this morning.  Want in?  Here's the deal:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

Food: Nourishing your body or your soul?

Some of you know I'm a recovering food addict.  Making healthy choices isn't as much of a struggle as it used to be, but I still have one downfall I to which I can easily fall prey:

Using food as a comfort to nourish my soul instead of my body.

Daily, I'm tempted.  I think I'll feel better if I had a chai latte after lunch.  I'm a bit sad when my coffee mug is empty.  Sometimes I'll think what's for dinner won't be enough to fill me up.  And sometimes, I let thoughts about my next meal to buoy or drown my excitement for the day.

It's an spiritual battle with emotional and physical consequences.

God created food so that we could enjoy nourishing our bodies.  We need food for energy and health.  Food also helps draw people together.  There is a reason Jesus broke bread with His friends.  But so often, food becomes a primary focus in our life that God wants reserved for Him.

Whether you find yourself eating too much or too little, God wants to bring wholeness into this area of your life.

After a conversation with friend, I came up with three strategies that might help her proactively keep her mind focused on how God intended food to be used in our lives.  They are similar to what God showed me to do as He was freeing my from my unhealthy dependency on food.  As with any new thing, it takes time and practice to build healthy habits.  It takes some experimentation to see what will work for you.

After you read the 3 target areas, I suggest taking them to God and asking Him how to customize them for you.  It was only through God that I realized why I was eating too much to begin with and only through His direction was I able to be satisfied with how He would have me eat in proportion to what my body needed, not my soul.

As with any addiction or area of struggle, this process is not based on willpower.  It's based on God's power.  And He knows there will be days temptation will get the best of you.  This is why He is One who offers grace and opportunity to get plugged into Him again.  This is not a process that is based on legalism, but on practicing habits that will give you life, energy, and joy.  This is also not a process about getting to look a certain way.  This is simply about putting food in its rightful space in your life.

3 Strategies to Keeping Food in its Rightful Place:

1.  Be consistent about what you eat.

2.  Be consistent about how much you eat.

3.  Be consistent about when you eat.

Over the next 3 weeks, we will discuss each one in more detail.  But between now and then, there is time to talk with God about your food habits.  What to discuss?  Maybe these questions will help:

{1}  What habits do you have that empower healthiness in your life?

{2}  What habits do you have that detract from being healthy?

{3}  When are the most notable times that you turn to food for something other than physical nourishment?

{4}  Can you correlate a desire for food with a desire for something else that you find missing in your life?

What other questions might be good to bring to God?  Will you share with us in the comments?

(FYI, most of you know I am not a doctor or a nutritionist.  I'm a simply a girl who works out this issue with God on a continual basis.)

Linking today with Tracy and  Michell.

Also, there is still time to support a new local business (and even if you don't live in Austin, TX, your donation goes to supporting the creation of new local businesses). Click here to read the powerful story of Stonebridge Coffee.