Returning With Thankfulness

This isn't how I imagined coming back to the blog. I wanted more of a BANG to mark a new chapter, ya know? I knew I would need something to compel me to write again on here, and funny enough it wasn't any of the wonderful or challenging things happening in my life. My kids, my work, the new business, the new house (16 days 'til we move!), baby on the way…it's all worth writing about and there is much I have gained and learned about the spiritual disciplines in all aspects of my life. I just couldn't pick which one to talk about or how or when. But I've been reading this blog called Mama:Monk and I absolutely love it. It's one that I MUST read every post of. This girl is someone I can relate to on almost every level (particularly in relation to my journey of the spiritual disciplines). Motherhood, spirituality, marriage, simplicity, creativity. She does a Thankful Tuesday post and is starting to ask others to write their own and link our blogs together. It's a way of having online Christian fellowship, and that's what is compelling me today to write a new post. Because Micha Boyett (Mama:Monk) had a good idea and I wanted to join in.

I am thankful for…

• my little boys who can hardly let me walk out the door in the mornings.
• people that can disagree and journey in love through that disagreement.
• God's surprises and the mystery of walking with Him.
• the incredible emotions of pregnancy that make me ultra-sensitive and reactive (as annoying as it can be at times, I love that emotions remind me I'm alive and human.)
• the greater depths of knowledge of our God that my husband and I are reaching together.
• the book our small group is reading together called Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas.
• crisp spring mornings that smell like the countryside.
• simplifying my home, design projects, my way of thinking, my hopes.
• change. It makes me hopeful and forces improvement.
• the people in recovery at UGM who work hard and face the darkest places in order to obtain life-change and walk with God.
• occasional time alone.

Lent

Since I'm on a blog sabbatical for the time being, here is a fitting post from my friend, Mary, on her hopes for Lent.

http://strangecapers.blogspot.com/2012/02/lent.html

The Discipline of Simplicity

The chapter I've come back to most since starting this book is the one that discusses the discipline of simplicity.  I'm drawn to and hunger for this kind of simplicity.

"The Christian Discipline of simplicity is an inward reality that results in an outward life-style."

The Inward Reality of Simplicity:

"Seeking first God's kingdom and the righteousness, both personal and social, of that kingdom is the only thing that can be central in the Spiritual Discipline of simplicity."

"Freedom from anxiety is one of the inward evidences of seeking first the kingdom of God. The inward reality of simplicity involves a life of joyful unconcern for possessions."

"If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is to be cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety. This is the inward reality of simplicity."

The Outward Expression of Simplicity: 

"Every attempt to give specific application to simplicity runs the risk of a deterioration into legalism. It is a risk, however, that we must take..."


1. Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.
2. Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.
3. Develop a habit of giving things away.
4. Refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry.
5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them.
6. Develop a deeper appreciation for the creation.
7. Look with a healthy skepticism at all "buy now, pay later" schemes.
8. Obey Jesus' instructions about plain, honest speech. "Let what you way be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil" (Matt. 5:37).
9. Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others.
10. Shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the kingdom of God.

Richard Foster further explains each of these outward expressions in his book, if you're interested.

Quotes from Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster

Sunday Notes

Notes from a Sunday sermon.

ASK.
"Humble persistance is what will transform your heart and mind to be more prayerful.
 - Pastor Kevin

SEEK.
When prayer and movement go hand in hand, the reality of the kingdom begins to happen around us.

Just begin moving.

KNOCK.
Faith.

Being a disciple of Jesus is not a reasonable thing to do. But it's radical and beautiful. Be persistent in your faith.

Prayer | My One Wild Word

I have been practicing a way of prayer I learned from Jan Richardson's book In the Sanctuary of Women. She calls it One Wild Word. She asks God for one word that comes from her deepest of longings when she can't' seem to find the words to pray.

I tried it on a work day last week and searched for my deepest longing to pray from throughout the day. I came up with "Forward." But I realize now it was a word that came from my personal addiction to productivity. I tried to justify that prayer by telling myself, "I want to move forward in my walk with God." It's a silly prayer really because it's not like we can move backwards ever, even when it seems like it. We're always, always moving forward in some way. Learning, experiencing, trying again. I lost track of that "Forward" prayer anyway as I got busy with my tasks and responsibilities.

So yesterday I stopped searching for my word and just asked for it. Communion. It seemed so simple but it brought tears to my eyes because it's what I long for in every way. Communion with God, first and foremost. Communion with my husband, my sons. Communion with my friends and coworkers and with the people I communicate with through my work. It's what I long for other people as well...that they experience community in some amazing way. It's what brings joy and fulfillment and what sharpens us and changes us.

The more I realized what this word meant to me the more I was able to pray it fervently and honestly. And I remembered it. It was what came to my mind every time I started to feel something throughout the day. I felt hurt by something Shane said. Communion. I felt regret for words I said. Communion. I felt embarrassed by my childish tendencies. Communion. I felt joy for my sister's new start in a new home. Communion. I felt a desire for a home of our own someday. Communion. I felt affection and pride for my adorable little boys. Communion. I felt excitement for seeing friends we haven't seen in months. Communion. I enjoyed hot cider and a fire on a chilly night. Communion. I felt relief when laughter healed wounds. Communion.

It was a word-companion throughout the day, and the Holy Spirit knew every meaning and desire behind that word. It was a new day for me because I experienced the discipline of prayer not as a discipline really at all. It was so natural and fulfilling as I experienced each segment of the day to its fullest. It was of way of drawing near to God that wasn't hard for me. I felt like a child on God's knee throwing fits, feeling confused, being safe, glad and thankful. It was not always happy, but I wasn't alone.

When you wake up, ask God for one word to carry through your day. And when you sense a change in the moment of any kind, good or bad, say a prayer with that word. See what it teaches you and how it centers you.

Penny Said It For Me

"I’ve got two [kids], which means I can’t spend days in a cave or hours on my knees. Something about the mental and physical exhaustion of child-rearing makes even the leanest spiritual practice a near impossibility. The proffered solutions are laughable, even ridiculous. Get up earlier to read the Bible. Seriously? Is that a joke? Find space in the small moments of each day? I might feel guilty about it sometimes, but I’d rather wrangle some control over my house and my self lest I turn into the baby food-wearing, greasy-haired, haggard mommy I am but a few small steps ahead of becoming.


I often think there must be something wrong with me, because drinking coffee and brushing my teeth usually takes precedent over reading the Bible.  I berate myself, saying that if I really cared about my spiritual life I would make the necessary sacrifices. I had almost convinced myself of this when a friend suggested Bonnie Miller-McLemore’s book, In the Midst of Chaos: Caring for Children as Spiritual Practice. Miller-McLemore* rejects the notion you must say goodbye to a vibrant spiritual life when you become a parent. She challenges us to get rid of the belief that the sacred is found only in certain rituals, practices, and places, noting that Protestants have forgotten about the sanctification of the ordinary."    - Penny Carothers, from a post on Donald Miller's blog

Hard Work vs. Inspired Work

"...spiritual disciplines have "not been tried and discarded because [they] didn't work, but tried and found difficult (and more than a little tedious) and so shelved in favor of something or other that could be fit into a busy [person's] schedule." - great article from Christianity Today

I can relate to that. Is the reason I don't really want to integrate a routine of spiritual discipline in my life because it's "more than a little tedious"? I'm sometimes really good at tedious things. I also enjoy putting things on my calendar and following through with it. It's satisfying. But putting "prayer time" or "meditation" on my daily calendar doesn't satisfy me. It seems so unnatural and sterile.

"Work harder" just isn't that appealing to me. I have a difficult time working hard on something unless I'm inspired to do so. Is God really saying, "If you really loved me, you would work harder on praying more. You would open that Bible more"? Maybe all God is saying and has said over and over is, "I love you." Every command, nudge, whisper, every experience we have with Him is an act of love. That's inspiring. That makes me want to do something. With that kind of inspiration, my work is for real. It's out of real devotion and love for God because He is good and first loved me. Isn't that the kind of devotion He wants from us? Not forced or scheduled.

I might have figured something out just now...

Maybe the disciplines that I need to practice more are the ones I am weak or lack experience in. I think I need to read the rest of Richard Foster's book; read what the rest of the disciplines are and what they suggest. Maybe I shouldn't draw conclusions yet on integrating spiritual disciplines in my life.