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Are You Ready To Pick Up Your Pace?

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It’s a new season in our home. A new season in more ways than one.

Only Andrew is playing baseball this fall. Zachary is waiting to start a sport when schedules for his brothers slow in October (this child is a gift to us in his selflessness). Jacob is trying a new sport. Cross country.

Running is a good fit for Jacob. It takes patience and endurance. Your true competition is with only yourself. It takes training and dedication. It takes pushing through pain. It takes a laser like focus. It takes a decision not to quit before you take the first step.

Yes, running is a good fit for this first born of mine.

Listen to how good the Lord is. Several weeks ago, Jacob said to me what he loves most about cross country is that the coach cares about each individual runner on that team. The fact that an 11 year old noticed this is a pretty big deal to me. She must REALLY care.

In the race of life, our Coach cares about each individual runner as well. He’s running alongside us, coaching, encouraging, carrying, refueling. 

Oh the value to a child to know that an adult other than their parent cares for them is huge.

There are snapshots in my heart of seeing pure joy on Jacob’s face when he’s running to a finish line. It’s this head toward Heaven and wonder-filled eyes, a smile that speaks its own language. Joy.

Years ago Jacob ran a 5K with Steve and me and some of our friends. He smoked us all. In fact his time was a full minute per mile faster than mine!

I’ve seen this joy on his face, but I’m his mom. Recently, his coach stopped me to share how she felt the Lord speaking to her as she watched Jacob run. How she felt he was made to run. Watching Jacob made her think of Chariots of Fire “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” One of my favorite quotes of all time.

What is it you do that when you do it you feel God’s pleasure? What is it that when you do it, you feel a joy come bursting forth?

Jacob had his first meet this week. The night before the race, Andrew said, “Jacob I hope you win and beat everyone.” Jacob answered back, “Well, I’m not really trying to beat anyone. I’m running to get my personal best.”

I’ve replayed this over and over in my mind since I heard him say this. I’m running to get my personal best.

Is this not life? Are we not in a race to the finish line? In a see-all world where comparison tempts us, our life is a race to finish as well as we can possibly finish. Regardless of the race anyone else is running.

Christians, we are in our final laps in this race of life. It’s time to pick up our pace. Picking up our pace will look different than the pace the world is running.

In a distance race, you start easy. You set your pace. You gain confidence on the course. As you near the end, you pick up the pace. You’ve reserved enough energy to be sure you make it to the end, but when you get to the end, there is no need to save energy anymore. You increase your speed, you pump hard, you realize you have more in you than you anticipated. You see the finish line, and you go hard.

I watched Jacob start his race at a decent speed. I saw him at mid-point slower than he started. Then I saw him at the finish putting forth all he had left in him to give.

It’s time for us to put on our sprinting shoes. It’s time we graduate from a slow jog and run like it’s a 50 yard dash.

God has specific uses and purposes for His children. We all share one ultimate purpose in this life, which is to glorify God. Under that umbrella we each have unique ways we bring Him glory. It’s time for us to rise to the race and finish well.

I imagine one of the biggest regrets of my life would be to reach the end and look back and see all along I had more to give but I held back.

Run hard. Run fast. Say yes to God. Don’t hold back and save anything for later. God will replenish you along the way. He will sustain you and carry you. Run hard to the finish. 

This new Toby Mac song has become a family favorite. (And if you run to it, I promise you will run faster than you typically run.)

“I can’t stop
I can’t quit
It’s in my heart
It’s on my lips
I can’t stop, no
I can’t quit
It’s in my heart, yeah
I’m all in

[Chorus: tobyMac]
Til the wheels fall off
Til the spotlight fades
I will lift your banner high
I will lift your banner high
And til the walls crash in
For the rest of my days
I’ll lay it all on the line
Til the day I die
Til the day I die
Til the end of the line
Til the day I die
It’s Your name I’ll glorify

Toby sums it up well….”all in til the day I die.”

I want to be all in til the day I die. I want to give every ounce I have to give to the Lord til the day I die. I long for the day I see Him face to face. I want to know I lived my life with no regrets from the moment I surrendered my life to His lordship til the day I die.

Do I though? Do I really? Sometimes. And if I’m honest, sometimes not.

Remember those small assignments? Those are the ones I’m tempted not to give my all to. When my kids make me late, and I begin to scream and the meanest words fly out of my mouth with disgust. I’m not running so hard in that small assignment.

When my husband has a hard day, but I’m too busy running in 3 other directions to take note of what he needs. And I run hard in other places, but running hard in that moment might look like stopping, looking him in the eyes, and hearing what’s on his heart.

Running hard isn’t necessarily doing more. Running hard to the finish is seeking God with my whole heart and obeying Him at every turn. Chasing Him, not chasing life. Studying His Word harder than I’m studying Facebook. Spending more time in prayer than I spend in worry. Running hard is literally keeping my eyes fixed on Him.

Running hard is reaching out to the lost. Serving in His name. Running hard is a heart and soul clean up. It’s getting rid of what needs to go to make room for more of God. Running hard is killing selfishness. Running hard is slamming shut the door of pride.

Running hard is an awakening to the days we are living in and a new resolve to face each day with a bold courage wrapped in grace, love, mercy, and truth.

Running hard is letting the light of Christ shine brighter than it’s ever shone before.

Running hard for Christ is chasing a love affair with the lover and creator of your soul.

When we fall in love with Him, running hard becomes pure joy. And that’s when I get it. Jacob’s face – pure joy when he’s in a sprint is a reflection of the pure joy when we are so madly in love with our Lord that we run hard to the finish line.

And the finish line we are running towards….well, I tend to look at it as the start line. When we cross that line, when we’ve finished this race, the life everlasting begins. And it is beyond the wildest of imaginations and dreams. It’s worth the race.

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What If We Lived Like Today is Our Last Day?

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“Mom, I think I just heard Jesus tell me I would see him soon.”

I looked at Andrew to see if he wore his ‘I’m just tricking you’ grin. He did not.

“Andrew. Really? No, you didn’t,” I patted his back giving him a playful grin.

“I’m not joking, Mom. I really did. I heard him in my heart. And I really think I just heard him tell me I would see him soon.”

“Well, I can’t wait for the day I get to see Jesus. But even when we are here on Earth, He’s around us everywhere we look.”

On any other day, I would hear his precious words and move right on into our next moment. But in light of this sense of urgency God has laid on my heart, I was unable to shake Andrew’s comment.

I could tell it bothered Andrew that I didn’t believe him. I can relate. I’ve shared my passion and conviction for the times we are living in only to receive a blank stare back, a no response email, or an actual audible laugh.

After last week’s post, for the first time since I’ve started blogging, I received more unsubscribes than subscribes on one particular day. People begin to squirm when we talk about end times. People don’t like to think about things that bring fear or discomfort. The unknown is not fun. And we’d rather read about how much He loves us, and how special we are, and how we are chosen and blessed.

While I don’t want to make you squirm, I do want to remind you that if you are in Him, there is nothing to fear. We are to take heart, to be courageous, to share His love, and wait with excited anticipation, and pray. Yes, excited anticipation for His coming.

At the same time, we feel a sense of urgency because we know the majority of people in our lives don’t hold the same beliefs, and we are desperate for them to know what we know.

While I did receive many blank stares, unreturned emails, or laughs, the Lord was gracious in leading me to others He’s placed the same stirrings in. He crossed my path with others who feel the urgent call to get on our knees and repent, to return to Him, to seek Him, to share with everyone.

Driving to school, Jacob, my insightful and wise old soul, said, “You know, Mom, it’s weird to think how we just go through our routines all the time. We don’t really think about life being different at any given second. We just go through our familiar routines. But then one day, in like a split second, we will see Jesus, and life will never be the same again.”

I’ve pondered that thought all morning. I’ve always been a moment maker, lover of relishing in the moments, tasting and experiencing to the fullest. I understand that each moment is a gift to enjoy because we never know what the next moment holds for us.

But Jacob’s thought has led me in several directions. As christians we often say that we live with eternity in mind. But to be honest, I really don’t live moment to moment with eternity in mind. I’m thinking about what is next on the to-do list, or how to discipline a particular issue, or how to celebrate someone’s birthday arriving in mere days.

Over the last few days, Steve and I have spent more time discussing what really matters in life. I don’t know many believers who disagree that we are living in end times. When you read the signs of the end of the age in Matthew 24, we see all the signs. Jesus tells us they are the birth pains, they must happen, but he also tells us not to be alarmed.

When I was pregnant with Andrew, our youngest, I felt birth pains for what felt like ages. At about 30 weeks, I began having contractions. I went into the hospital for monitoring and went home on bed rest for a short time. For the remainder of my pregnancy, Andrew gave me signs he was ready to be with us always. I got to a point the contractions no longer concerned me. The doctors kept a close watch and everything appeared fine, but the early birth pains remained.

The night of Andrew’s arrival took us by complete surprise. You would think it would have been no surprise, after all, he’d been alerting me with contractions for weeks. But the day he arrived, he became a bit silent. He stopped kicking and squirming as much. Steve made the comment it would be nice if he waited until after Thanksgiving to arrive so we could enjoy the holiday.

10:00 pm Thanksgiving Eve, Andrew went from what felt like slumber to a desperate attempt to escape. We arrived at the hospital in extreme pain, we received no epidural, and Andrew arrived in record time for us.

It happened so fast it took us by complete surprise. Yet, he’d been reminding us all along he was coming.

I feel we are at the same point in our nation’s history. The Bible is clear a date of Christ’s return cannot be predicted, but it is also clear what the signs are leading up to His return. The signs are all around us if we open our eyes.

If we lived like every day was our last, what would our life look like? Would we be a little kinder? Would we speak a little gentler? Would we help with no motives? Would we share the gospel with no fear of rejection? Would we stop caring so much what others think of us and start sharing what matters most? Would we put down our phones and pick up our eyes a little more? Would frustrations suddenly become blessings? Would moments we’ve taken for granted revive us?

If we lived every day like it were our last, would anxiety cease to exist? Is that where true soul rest comes in? When we lay down our worries, being still in Him, and walking in His will. Would today be more than we fathomed because tomorrow wasn’t assumed?

I just wonder what happens to our soul when we live like there is no tomorrow. I wonder if I’d pour out myself with a little more generosity.

Today is September 1st. Today is the day we begin praying for our nation and ourselves to return to God, to seek Him. We pray for a revival and repentance like we’ve never seen. We pray God would heal our land and draw hearts back to Him. We pray for our nation to fall back in love with our God and to serve Him with our whole hearts.

For 30 days, we pray with urgency. All day long as the Spirit prompts, and specifically, 3 times a day we lift our voices together to the Heavens. Thank you for being here. For those who’ve stuck around, thank you. Let’s watch God do amazing miracles before our very eyes.

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