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.

Because no matter where you live, there is Community 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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Today, I have a special guest.  His name is Justin and he is married to one of my best friends, Jenny, a fellow Soli Sister.  Because I am passionate about people living into their callings AND community, I asked Justin to tell us about his new adventure.  And we SDG girls love adventure (or at least we are learning to, like me).  Here's Justin's amazing story.

Community?

I sometimes feel that my community is lost and disconnected.  Not because it actually is, but because I have been disconnected and kept myself apart from the masses.

Why?  Good question.  I used to believe “people” made horrible decisions and only “individuals” could be a light to those in darkness.  I avoided the masses because those were the “people” who cut me off in traffic, had 21 items in the ‘20 items or less’ checkout line, or insisted on paying by check at the exact moment I was in a huge hurry.  In my opinion, these “people” – the nameless, faceless masses – made horrible decisions that would inevitably annoy me.  Frankly, I had the attitude: “who needs ‘em?”

These days, however, I’m singing a different tune.  Over the last couple of years, as my circumstances changed, my understanding of community has drastically shifted.  I used to think that my community involved my wife, my children, and five others with whom I have walked for two decades.  I didn’t need anyone beyond that.  Until, that is, I did.

After a series of really hard life changes, my wife and I found ourselves without money and scrambling for everything.  I was diagnosed with epilepsy, we had our second child, and I lost my job.  My daughter developed inexplicable health issues, then my wife also started dealing with severe health problems that still aren’t resolved, and on and on.  Nothing seemed stable and it felt like everything was always crumbling around us. We were drowning, and we definitely needed help.  

We were beyond pride.  It was time to reach out.

As we slowly started letting down those outer walls of pride and sharing our circumstances with “people”, we started to experience two Scriptures that, I believe, embody community:

Mathew 18:20 – Where two or more are gathered in His name, He is also there.

Galatians 6:2 - Help carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will obey the law of Christ.

In the last four years I have been challenged to rethink what my community looks like due, in part, to kind gestures from strangers.  Here’s one of about a thousand stories I could tell you (all of which God has used to transform my perspective and realize the supreme value of people, as God sees them).

There was one night early on in our ‘Period of Poverty’ when I knew Jenny and I needed time together, desperately.  We needed a night out, we needed a break, but we only had $30.00.  Not, I just got paid so let’s blow $30.00.  That is all we had to our name.  We thought: let’s split a meal to save money.  Let’s not even go out to save the money. Shouldn’t we give this to the church?  My stomach won out and we went to dinner.  I could feel tension rising as the bill came to the table.  Had we made the wrong choice?  Would God be mad at us for eating out instead of buying groceries?  How would we ever afford our $25 meal?

The waiter walked over and, instead of handing us the check, she simply said: “That table over there took care of it.”  We looked and there was no one there.  They had already left before we could acknowledge their gift.  Jenny cried with joy and humility; I changed my definition of community.

As far as I was concerned those strangers were the “people” I had previously resented and avoided, and, yet, they had just bought me dinner for no reason.  To me, that couple embodied both of the verses above.  They were gathered, God was with them and did amazing things through their community, and they truly helped carry our burden.  For me this was the beginning of a giant leap in my personal understanding of what community is and can do.

The stories (experiences) kept coming.  Neighbors brought us groceries.  Fellow church-goers (anonymous) paid our mortgage.  Family and friends and strangers alike stepped up to help us get back on track in known and unknown ways.  In the end, I realized I was living Matthew 18:20 and Galatians 6:20, and I was on the receiving end.  All of those folks for which I had had disdain – those “people” – were now the very ones that helped me feed my kids and keep a roof over my family.  Talk about humbling.

With this realization and new understanding of community, after many other transformational experiences, I have decided to start a new venture called Stonebridge Coffee.  I have always wanted to own my own business, and a coffee shop fits me in so many ways.  I like places where you can hang out, be yourself, and slowly, over time, get to know others.  I like places where live music can be heard.  I like meeting places.  I like the idea of owning my own business so that I can buy strangers dinner some day, employ people and help them pay their bills, and provide a physical space where God is present on a daily basis.

Stonebridge Coffee is designed to be a light in my community and serve what I once called “people”.  Now, I look at “people” as part of a greater community that has the ability to make a powerful difference in individuals’ lives.  That’s why Jenny and I decided to try to raise our startup capital through something called Crowd Funding. 

Crowd Funding is a way for “people” to support and build up other people, whether they know them personally or not.  To us, this process is all about Hebrews 10:24-25: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” 

Stonebridge will strive to live that out as a business in the way we can give to those around us, but we also want to live that out in the ways we receive.  For Jenny and me, our understanding of what it means to walk in community has had a lot to do with learning how to humble ourselves and ask for/receive help.  That’s why we jumped on the chance to write this post when Jen asked us to.

So, why a coffee shop? Why Stonebridge Coffee? We see Christ in a community of twelve, impacting the lives of millions, and all of it being launched with a last supper. Stonebridge Coffee, with God’s help and our community’s help (which now includes you) will be for some the first time they experience a smile, a safe place, new music, coffee and even Christ.

Won’t you join our team?  You can help launch this venture by giving to our startup needs and/or by spreading the word to everyone you know.  

(Note from Jen:  And guess what?  There are rewards for those who donate, level by level, so YOU can have a reminder of what YOU helped to build!  I know how the SDG gals feel about prizes, so I thought you HAD to know about this!!)

www.indiegogo.com/projects/stonebridge-coffee