I just couldn’t fit Him in my schedule. The birth of our third child pushed me over the edge – the pages of my carefully crafted day planner fluttering in the breeze. Normally, I spent time in Bible study and prayer in the morning after the kids left for school. But nothing was normal.

I tried getting up earlier for a while, but my sleep deprived body revolted. I tried doing it during naptime, but realized I needed a big dose of Jesus just to get me through the morning.

For two years (Did you read that? TWO YEARS!), I worked to fit my quiet time in whenever I found a moment alone (almost never). But, determined, I began bringing my Bible down in the morning with my toddler and read while she ate breakfast and watched cartoons. I sat at the end of the kitchen table reading God’s Word and praying. She was happy, and I was a better mommy.

My quiet time didn’t exactly fit the title – quiet – but it was time with God nonetheless. Daily, I would pause reading to tickle toes or kiss boo-boos. Sometimes a little girl would crawl into my lap for all of fifteen seconds just to wiggle down again. God didn’t seem to mind the interruptions, and I didn’t either.

Then one day while I read, my daughter Grace climbed into the chair beside me with a hymnal. She flopped it open and slid the pages with her tiny chubby hands. “You reading the hymnal?” I asked as I glanced her way.

“No.” Grace said. “Bible. Bible like Mommy.”

And then I understood. I needed to have my not-so-quiet time in full view of my daughter. She was watching my every move. By choosing to read while my toddler ran in circles around me, I was leaving a lasting effect on my child.

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
~Deuteronomy 6:6-8 NIV

Are you struggling to find time to meet with God? Plop yourself down in the middle of it all. You might be surprised who is watching.

But when I asked the six felons at the table around me what they wanted for Christmas, they responded in unison. “Papers!”

“Papers?” I naively asked.

“Yeah. Parole papers,” the one closest to me explained. “We want to be home for Christmas.”

Half of the men at my table were in the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary prison ministry degree program. (Yeah, I know. It’s a mouth-full.) I questioned those three again. “But what about your degree? If you got out on parole-” They stopped me before I could continue.

“There’s a N.O.B.T.S. on the outside. We’d be knocking on the door to finish there,” one of them explained. He’d obviously already followed that somewhat unattainable train of thought. I imagine they had each dreamed the what-if-I-wake-up-tomorrow-and-the-warden-tells-me-I’m-free-dream at least once or twice.

I returned home from the prison Christmas party to piles of laundry, but I couldn’t stop thinking about parole papers. Parole, according to Webster’s, is the conditional release of a prisoner serving an indeterminate or unexpired sentence. It’s when a prisoner is released before having paid their “debt to society.”

Although not often found on holiday wish lists, parole papers really are a fitting gift for Christmas. You see, at Christmas we celebrate the birth of our Savior – the one who died for our sins. The one who went to the cross in place of you and I, in exchange for our debt. The debt we didn’t pay. Jesus Christ is the only one who can provide parole papers.

Standing in my laundry room sorting the darks and the lights, I realized I’m just as desperate for “papers” as the men locked in Phillips State Prison tonight. Without those papers, I have no freedom.

True liberation can only come from Christ. Because of Him, I’m no longer bound. So the real great news of Christmas is this. Christ offers free parole papers to each of us.

Will you accept them?

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 NIV

Though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. Psalm 37:24 NIV

“Spencer! Spencer!” Amy called around the house looking for her son. Hearing stumbling from above, she walked to the stairs. On the top stair was Spencer – seizing. In distress, he had been searching for his mother. He knew she would help him through this storm. Like a dance they rehearsed, each knew their parts – neither chose them. His head drawn, voice gone, and arm jerking; he tried to take a step.

And fell – into the arms of his mother. She guided him to a safe spot and sat beside him. Together they waited for it to be over.

I spent the next day in the hospital emergency room with Spencer and Amy. As I listened to my friend recount the story, I was struck by the mental image of the falling and catching. I couldn’t help but notice the similarities to our relationship with Christ. When we are in trouble and stumble, He hears us. Sometimes, like Spencer, our voice is gone; we haven’t the strength to call. But in our hearts we cry out, “Help me.” Hoping, wishing desperately that miraculously He will hear us and will come.

And then He does.

So when you are falling back reaching anxiously for something, anything, your Heavenly Father is there. He catches us and guides us to a safe spot. Christ lovingly sits beside us and waits for it to be over. He didn’t stop the storm, but like the devoted mother of a child with epilepsy, He sits and waits with us for it to pass.

Are you in distress? Do you have a fear of falling or maybe failing? God will catch you. Just lean into His arms and trust. He will bring you through.

Lord, I pray for each person who reads this post today that is in desperate need of a safe landing. So many are hurting. Father, cover them with Your grace. Help them find shelter under Your wings and let them know You will never leave or forsake them. Amen.

***You can read more about my friend Amy and her courageous son HERE. Please pray for God to be in all of the medical details of Spencer’s life right now. And stop by to give my dear friend Amy a word of encouragement.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. – 1 Timothy 6:6-7

“If only we lived near ski slopes again, then I could be a professional skier,” said my son, presenting a fair argument for packing up and moving back to the cold.

I didn’t want to dash his hopes by being utterly logical; instead, I explained that this is the location where God currently has our family. The best place to be, no matter if it goes against your wishes, is where God puts you. If God wants you to become a professional skier, then that’ll happen no matter what. Our first desire must be to be obedient to God and to where He has placed us.

Because my son’s heart was set on a different scenario, my answer didn’t truly satisfy him. He was looking toward his own dreams of what could happen instead of being satisfied with the current situation. In fact, this is a hard lesson for most to learn.

As Christians, it’s easy to fall into the ‘if only’ trap. These two words, when used as an excuse, have the power to not only render us helpless but also to justify our inactivity. It allows us to wallow in our current situation while doing nothing productive with where God has us. We’ve heard the excuses: if only I lived in Africa, then I could be used by God; if only I could get a record contract, then I could reach millions. The list is endless.

If we truly want to be used by God, then we should have grand plans of God doing miraculous things through us. There is nothing wrong with this perspective. However, we need to be content with where God puts us. Some people have dreams of going to Africa but never make it. Some people aspire to use their gifts to reach millions but end up only touching their closest friends. These don’t have to be failures.

In the end, if everything is done for God’s glory, the location and situation don’t matter. We don’t need to wait to be used by giving the ‘if only’ excuse. We need to be available to God now and not let our own dreams get in the way of true satisfaction.

Dear God, Thank you for creating me with the desires that I have. Though I want to be used by you, help me to surrender my own dreams. Use me, Lord, how You see best and help me to be content.

Buhfai Tham means a ‘handful of rice’. It’s a ministry started in Mizoram, India one hundred years ago. The ladies, though they have not much more to give, set aside a handful of rice each meal to give to the church as their tithe. The church then sells the rice in order to sustain her ministry. Millions of dollars have been earned and thousands of people have been reached through this sacrificial giving.

I can’t wait until I get to heaven to see this parade of women, who by monetary standards have nothing, come before God. I want to see the rich rewards they’ll have for all eternity.

A widow’s mite. We think of it as nothing, but Jesus said:

“I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:4 (NIV)

Even in today’s economy, we are still called to give, not out of our wealth but out of what is honoring to God. You may not be able to measure the impact your giving has on the kingdom, but I encourage you to examine what you give, and give sacrificially what has been entrusted to you. God will do the rest.

Dear God, thank you for these faithful women in India who, in monetary standards have nothing, but take the rice they have to live on and sacrifice a portion to grow Your kingdom. Please help me to follow their example, to tithe according to the riches You have given to me, so that it may be a pleasing gift in Your sight.

To learn more about this ministry, you may click on this link:  http://vimeo.com/16288195 

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”  ~ Hans Hofmann

“Hey!” Kendall walked into the kitchen. It was the twinkle in her eyes more than her excited tone that captured my attention. “Can you come here for a minute?”

I dried my hands on a towel and then followed her into the living room. She walked to the hutch which now housed the collection of salt and pepper shakers I had inherited from my grandmother. I thought for sure she must have more questions about them. She reached one tiny hand out but – instead of fingering one of the sets in fascination like she had earlier – she pointed to the round tin with the letters S I M P L I F Y stenciled on the side that sat tucked out of the way on the bottom shelf.

“Did you know – ” Her voice lowered to a bare hush “- that there’s change in there?”

I did know, but often forgot.

I had picked up the tin at a little store in Jefferson last year during our annual cousins trip. Mike and I had just entered Phase I of our “Big Adventure” and the message on this can was a ready reminder that everything we might be sacrificing in the short term was going to pay large dividends in the long term.

We placed it on this shelf and had gotten into the habit of dropping all of our spare change into it. A few quarters here, the occasional dime found in the sofa or dryer, and the bevy of pennies which never fail to accumulate in the change holder of my pocketbook.

Over the course of many months it had become quite a nice change cache. One that we rarely thought about, except when dropping in that weeks’ collection. But for a curious six-year old…well, she thought she’d just hit some serious pay dirt.

Kendall’s words still linger with me – even now, almost a full year later.

There’s change in here.

The irony isn’t lost to me.

Mike and I have made a very deliberate choice to live the simple life. Not just A simple life, but THE simple life. Making daily choices that bring us closer to our ultimate goal. This exists for us in the physical and in the spiritual.

Physically, we’re working toward a place we want to create for us and for our families. A place that will be the legacy we hand down to our kids, and watch their kids enjoy it as well. It’s where we’ll gather for holiday dinners, where we’ll gather for much-needed recuperation, and it is especially where we’ll meet to slow down the busyness that is this life and savor the small things. This is the place where we plan to grow old together, sipping early morning coffee on a back deck and hosting large, loud family weekend dinners in our outdoor living area. It will be the hub of happiness and hope, where love is the constant that bonds us all.

But this place of simplicity is also a real place in our hearts. A destination that we both seek with hungry hearts and thirsty spirits. It is the place of sanctity and rejuenvation that we find when we draw close to the Master, when we seek and find His will for our lives. It is in these moments that I breathe the most deeply, drawing in all that is REAL, all that is TRUE. Complications melt away, worries are abated, and my heart undergoes much needed change.

The plan is in place, physically and spiritually,  and we’re taking daily, constant steps that are drawing us closer and closer to this exciting, ultimate goal. But sometimes - in the midst of THE RIGHT NOW – when the issues of work and the busyness and craziness that come with our schedules rears up…I forget.

I forget that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

I forget that life really is simple, and that it is us who insist on making it complicated.

I forget that we will  have succeeded in life when all we really want is only what we really need.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12 KJV)

There is change in here!

I know this, and don’t want to forget. This morning it is fresh on my mind and newly imprinted on my heart.

Change resides in simplicity. Simplicity seeks the heart of  Him. That is what I am in pursuit of.

My husband drove a burgundy Saturn in the early days of our marriage. And it stunk. For a male, a little stink in a car is like a trophy. What guy wants his wheels to smell of strawberries and roses?

But over time, the smell was more than he could bear. He tried scented pine trees fresheners. When that didn’t work, he put oil of wintergreen on cotton balls under the seats.

No matter how he tried to mask the terrible odor, it remained. When co-workers suggested lunch outings, Alan cringed at the thought of shuttling friends in the stink-mobile, and rolled down the windows to blow the stench away.

One afternoon, my husband stopped to pick up some groceries. When he opened the trunk, he found the source of the offensive aroma – the trash.

As newlyweds, Alan and I lived in an apartment. We had to drive our trash to the receptacles in the front of the complex. Most of the time, my hubby would balance the garbage on the back of the car on the way to the dumpsters. But one day, for whatever reason, he put the trash in the trunk and left it there – for almost three weeks.

When we hide grievances in our marriage, it has the same effect. Out of sight, out of mind may apply at first, but eventually hidden trash will create a rotten attitude. The longer it festers, the worse the smell.

When your husband spoke harshly to you in front of the kids or your wife brushed you off when you shared your needs with her, your feelings were trampled. It’s okay to overlook small misdeeds, but when dealing with an item you can’t resolve, speak up. Your relationship will be better for it.

Don’t allow lingering garbage to create a state of perpetual stink in your marriage. Air out your differences. Get rid of your sour thoughts. It’s as easy as taking out the trash.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor. 10:5 NIV

God had Moses write down his words to the Israelites. Jesus used stories to communicate God’s truth to his disciples and to the masses who followed Him. And when all was said and done, God gave us a book to remember what He’d done and to reveal Himself to we who live thousands of years later.

It’s true, if we got down to the most important words of all, we’d need nothing more than the Word of God. And yet, as a writer, I am still compelled to compile words of my own. Words that help me record what God has done. Words that help me share what he has done.

I’ve been collecting stories written by others that tell of God’s work in their lives for a project I’m working on. As I read through a couple of them I was struck by the similar message that came through their very different circumstances–a message that I needed to ponder. And I am drawn closer to Him by seeing the similarities of our experiences and the consistency of our understanding when we view those experiences through the filter of His truth.

“Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what He has done for me.” Psalm 66:16

We so appreciate the opportunity to share our stories with you; we’d love to hear yours as well. To help facilitate that, we’re updating the 5 Minutes for Faith Blogroll.

If you have stories of your own that you share to encourage, challenge or inspire, and your blog that is updated at least once a week, submit a link to 5minutesforfaith@gmail.com for consideration.

Has reading someone’s story ever changed you?

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26 NIV

photo © 2005 Luca Masters | more info (via: Wylio)

Have you ever thought about the power of the conjunction? A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses. It builds bridges between words, pathways linking words that may have otherwise never been united. One of my favorite popular and powerful conjunctions is but. A sentence can skip along in one direction, then with the addition of one little conjunction, the meaning can stop and march the other way.

Really. It’s that powerful. Here is an example. I want to give you half of the million dollars I just won in a contest, but I already spent it all. See? You were already planning a dinner of filet mignon until you got to that but, now you’re thinking grilled cheese.

God really makes great use of that crazy little conjunction. Just when we think things aren’t looking good, God throws in a but.

I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. Psalms 118:13 NIV

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. Matthew 16:25 NIV

I am a sinner. The debt I owe is great, but Jesus paid it all. I like the sound of that. My life is the sentence. I was skipping off one way. Asking Jesus in my life threw a but into my life, and now I’m marching in a whole new direction. That seemingly insignificant conjunction made a bridge between the path I was traveling and the true path God created for me.

Do you have a run-on sentence trailing off in the wrong direction? Just ask God for his merciful conjunction, and turn yourself around.

 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

I awakened this morning with the title of this post running through my mind. What if the first time you had a thought, it was just that . . . a thought? The second time you thought it, you were granted a mulligan by God’s grace. But if you continued spinning it around in your head, it appeared across your forehead in ticker tape format. Right there for everyone to see!

I often hear individuals say, “But I can’t control my thoughts.”

It’s true that it is very difficult to control our thoughts, but our heavenly Father must provide a way for us to do so or He would not have told us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Would we be more deliberate about controlling our thoughts if we new that they would be revealed to everyone around us? I think so!

If God gives us a command, He has a plan. He has provided us with ways to change our thoughts and turn to Christ.

1. Pray – If the first time we have a less than God-pleasing thought we repented of it and prayed for God to deliver us; I believe that with the help of the Holy Spirit we would be less likely to spin on it the third, fourth, or fifth time.

2. Read Scripture – The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is able to defeat the enemy’s attacks. Reciting or reading the Bible is a wonderful way to manage our thoughts.

3. Turn up the Praise – Play some awesome praise tunes, then sing and dance your negative thoughts away.

4. Count Your Blessings – Start thinking about all of the wonderful things God is doing in your life. Big things and even the little things. It’s harder to to have ugly thoughts when listing all of the good things God has done.

Okay, now it’s your turn. What will you do to keep from having ticker tape thoughts?