our blog
Feb
Even “The Flash” Took Baby Steps
My wife and I have learned a valuable lesson: don’t blink or “The Flash” will be long gone. “The Flash” is the nickname we’ve given our three-year-old daughter Paige. To say she is quick on her feet would be an understatement. If you turn your back for a second, Paige is bound to be three-quarters of the way up the stairs, jumping from couch to couch, waving to you on top of the table or dangling from the chandelier (okay, that last one is a bit of stretch, but she is very determined).
It’s funny to think how something which comes so naturally now was so foreign to her just a short time ago. Yet, she wouldn’t be the speed racer she is now unless she took those first wobbly steps. Back then she needed her mommy’s fingers for a sense of security or the edge of the table for balance. There were times when Paige’s eyes would get so big and you could tell she was thinking “Just one step…just one.” As she’d stare down at her knocking knees, she had to have faith to move regardless of the outcome. One foot in front of the other.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve learned that our walk with God assumes movement through disciplines and requires the same type of faith my daughter had when she started to walk. Whether it is finding new ways to deal with old frustrations, responding to life’s difficulties or being transformed into Christ’s character, it all comes down to arranging our lives for growth to occur. What you’ve probably realized after two weeks of putting disciplines into place is how change is always met with resistance.
It is very easy to come up with excuse after excuse as to why growth can’t happen or explain why we refuse to take steps of faith. Anytime we face a difficult task, we feel a pull to go back to the way things were and remain the same. It might be selfishness, not wanting to appear foolish, fear of failure, or doubt; but whatever the excuse may be it comes down to perception. Inadequacy is not a concern of God’s, but this mindset of inadequacy plagues us from taking steps of faith.
We have been invited to walk–not accomplish. The things we accomplish are simply expressions or by-products of following the footsteps of Christ as we walk with Him. Stop focusing on all the places where living out your One Word still feels awkward and unnatural. This only leads you to focus your attention on the negative rather than celebrating those small baby steps of growth. Continue to take those next right steps of faith. It turns out those baby steps may be the most giant ones of all–paving the way for God to fulfill the purposes He’s established for you. As the life of Christ makes a difference in our hearts and souls, we live this out and God uses us to bring His change to the world around us.
• After spending two weeks setting up disciplines to live out your One Word, where have you witnessed the most growth? Where have you met the most resistance?
• As it relates to your One Word, what do you believe is the next step you need to take? What actions or changes do you need to put into place to make this change a reality?
• Read Philippians 1:6 and Romans 5:1-5. How do these passages give you hope in regards to the resistance you might be feeling with disciplines being formed into your character?
Are you looking for a way to keep your word in front of you all year long? Register for a My One Word account! One of the key features of a MOW account is an online Word Journal that allows you to capture your thoughts to reflective questions like you see above. You can go back at any time to read your completed journals to see how God has been moving in your life through your word in 2010. If you already have an account, the questions from this blog have been posted to your Word Journal — log in to your account to start your Word Journal today!
Feb
Swimming Pools & Winter Time
Psalm 42:1, 2 (New Living)
1 As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?
The last time I checked it was 38 degrees outside, but for whatever reason all I can think about are swimming pools. Growing up as a middle schooler, the City pool was the place to see and be seen. Since we were too young to get a part-time job, our days were consumed with playing Sharks & Minnows and Marco Polo while filling our stomachs with Sunkist Soda and Twizzlers from the Snack Bar. Still, in terms of popularity, nothing topped the diving board. When someone made his or her way to dive, they knew all eyes were fixed on them. Pull off a cannonball, screwdriver, or back flip, and the audience was left utterly impressed.
I hate to admit it, but I was always a bit reluctant to go on the board. While waiting in line, I would marvel at how my friends would run to the end of the board then twist and contort their bodies with no fear on their faces. Even though they didn’t often enter the water perfectly, they made their actions appear almost effortless, and from the looks on their faces there was no doubting how much fun they were having. As I climbed the ladder, my nerves seemed to get the better of me. Face to face with the board, my feet felt like quick sand and I froze. With friends egging me on to do something, I knew retreating back down the stairs would be an action I’d never live down. It was now or never to perform my first front flip.
The same holds true in regard to your My One Word experience. Many of you have taken the time to climb up the ladder by picking a single word to define you in 2010. Now you find yourself staring at the end of the board with a mental image of yourself diving into the water. Part of you cannot wait to launch out into the deep end. Yet, you’ll never experience that reality without movement. Thomas Edison once said, “Vision without execution is hallucination.” You may have a vision of the person you want to become, but it would be pure insanity to think you will transform into that individual without movement. Your feet are frozen and you are in desperate need of a push to put the movement toward growth into action.
Engaging in spiritual disciplines is what creates this movement. They enable your vision to become a reality by forcing momentum and setting a direction you are moving toward. Just like my friends jumping off the diving board, chances are good your movement at first won’t feel natural. But disciplines enable you to experience freedom and abandon, while standing on the board frozen by your vision only leads to frustration and discontentment. Disciplines do not produce change; rather they create a context where change can occur. They put us where God can begin to work within us to transform our character into His heart.
We’d love to hear your response to the following question: Since you have begun to setup disciplines to engage your One Word, what has been the biggest insight you have gained about the character of God? What have you learned about yourself? How has this surprised you?
Feb
Back To The Future
If you could grab a cup of coffee with your future self, what would you say to him or her? Stop for a second and think about that opportunity. The person you are going to become a year from now is sitting in front of you and is hanging on your every word. What do you want them to know about all the emotions, expectations and fears you harbored when you began the My One Word journey? How will you encourage them to see the growth which occurred in their character as well as challenge them in those places they let slip?
Chances are good your name isn’t Marty McFly and you don’t cruise around town in a DeLorean, so heading “back to the future” to encourage your future self seems like an idea stuck in the realm of fantasy. But, not so fast; there is hope. There is a possibility in which present-day you can travel into the future with a message from your past, coming in the form of a letter. The time travel journey begins by writing a letter today to your future self with the intention of opening it up a year from now. When your future self reads those words, it will be as if the letter is a visit from the past. In essence, you are creating a time capsule to capture God’s faithfulness.
We understand how intimidating this assignment sounds. After all, where does one even begin to capture everything you might want to communicate? How do you begin to figure out the main things you hope your future self would understand after speaking with you? In all likelihood, there are also some who doubt the overall effectiveness which writing a letter to your future self holds. In their eyes, it just serves as a futile exercise of cheesiness.
To relieve both fears and doubts, we want you to see the wealth of insight which can be gained by capturing your thoughts down on paper. By writing a letter to your future self you are articulating the picture of the person you believe God wants you to become through your One Word. As you read this letter a year from now, you are able to compare the person who you were to the person you are currently. This enables you to pinpoint reasons why growth flourished in one area while another aspect remained stagnant. Writing a letter also gives you a glimpse into the change that occurred in between. This activity will battle our natural tendency to forget God’s faithfulness by helping us witness the transformation which occurred only by His grace and through the Holy Spirit working inside us. Now, take a moment and go back to the future.
- Using the online word journal, write a letter to your future self that you will read a year from now. Make a note in a calendar or day planner to remind you to open this journal entry in 365 days. Here are a few things to consider when thinking about what you will write to yourself: (1) What led you to choose your One Word? (2) How do you hope God will move in your life in the upcoming year? (3) What do you hope to learn about God’s faithfulness through this experience? (4) How have you begun to arrange your life for growth to occur? (5) How will you be able to measure whether or not you have grown?
Are you looking for a way to keep your word in front of you all year long? Register for a My One Word account! One of the key features of a MOW account is an online Word Journal that allows you to capture your thoughts to reflective questions like you see above. You can go back at any time to read your completed journals to see how God has been moving in your life through your word in 2010. If you already have an account, the questions from this blog have been posted to your Word Journal — log in to your account to start your Word Journal today!