What Do You Need to Let Go Of? – Day 5 of Handmade

DAY 5, OCTOBER 5

Release

I unfollowed another friend on Facebook this week.

I did it so we could remain friends in real life.

I’ve had to do it before with other friends and family. Hopefully they never knew.

Let Go - Release_pnt

One Thing for Another

It’s more important to me to love my friend, to look forward to being around her, to not get angry when I think about her political views.

Sometimes we have to let go of one thing to keep another.

But do we have to be Facebook friends too?

I get too riled up when I see things she posts. I’m sure she has her reasons. And if we sat down face-to-face to talk about them, maybe I could see her position.

But because we can rarely do that, I’d rather preserve our in-person friendship.

So I’ll let go of the digital one. For now anyway. I’ll try again later.

What thing have you released so you could hold on to something better?

Three Questions

(1) Is it hard or easy for you to get rid of clothes you rarely wear?

(2) What’s the last thing you’ve let go of?

(3) What new thing has God given you after you let go of something else? Is there something he’s asking you to let go of in this season?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers:

(1) Ugh. I have a hard time letting go of sentimental t-shirts. Memories are attached. But I can keep the memory and get rid of the shirt, yes?

(2) We pulled out our daughters’ old highchair from the attic to see if it would be in good enough shape for our granddaughter. I decided this week: no, it’s really not. It’s still in the garage, but the decision is made. I’m letting go of it.

(3) When we let go of our old church six years ago, God blessed us with a new community that has breathed fresh grace into our worship and service opportunities.

More here:

Get the whole Handmade series here

Handmade - Finding God in Your Story


Why, Why, Why – Day 4 of Handmade

DAY 4, OCTOBER 4

Why

I want to know. I like to know why.

We think we know a lot of things.

But often those who think they know the most, actually know the least.

Day 4 Why

Keep Asking Why

So we must not stop asking why. Even when we don’t hear God answering.

Why? Because he is listening.

And in his own way, he is also always answering. Maybe we just aren’t ready to hear or understand yet.

As I’ve heard it said, the miracle of the burning bush wasn’t that God spoke through a bush. It’s that Moses heard him there.

Tweak Your Why

In the meantime, we might need to adjust our why to more productive questions.

But don’t abandon the question itself of why. It makes us dive deeper, swim underwater, get a new perspective.

Asking why expands our conversations instead of shutting them down. 

And if there’s anything we need right now, it’s more grace to understand who we are, who God is, and why he has us right here, right now, in these circumstances.

What Do You Think? – 3 Questions

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) Why do you live where you do?

(2) Why are you with (or not) your husband/wife?

(3) What “why” would you like God to answer right now?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers:

(1) Jeff and I like living in the same area as family and it’s basically where were grew up.

(2) I knew Jeff’s brother, and met Jeff through him. (And…God wanted me to really know the love of Jesus in the flesh, so he gave me Jeff.)

(3) Why don’t You intervene more directly when bad things happen?

More here:

  • Why Are You Still Here?
    When my baby died, part of me wanted to die too. In times of pain we often wonder why we’re still here. But there are reasons.
  • Why Don’t You Ask?
    4 reasons we don’t ask more questions. But should.
  • Why? The Practice of Purpose
    Hank confused me. Here’s his story. And his purpose. And how the rest of us all still learning that loving is our purpose. We’re not done here yet.

Get the whole Handmade series here

Handmade - Finding God in Your Story


Who Do You Believe? Day 3 of Handmade

DAY 3, OCTOBER 3

Believe

Do you believe this is true? It’s what A. W. Tozer said:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Day 3 Believe

I grew up believing in God. Both my parents believed. And practiced what they believed.

I think that’s what made the difference in my coming to belief so easily, too.

My dad was a favorite among the song leaders at our country church as I grew up. He sang what he believed. It helped me to believe.

As he got older, his faith shifted. It was okay. My faith has shifted, too.

When he died, one of the treasures I wanted was his leather-bound songbook, Songs of the Church, 1975 edition, that he often led singing with. I keep it front and center on our old piano.

I still flip through the hymns from time to time (even yesterday) and play a tune.

When my granddaughter was here a few weeks ago, she played her first song with it, too.

[if you can’t see the 13-second First Concert, click here]

If my daddy can see from heaven, I hope he was listening. He would have been pleased.

Here are our three questions of the day. Answer any or all.

(1) Did you grow up believing in God?

(2) Have your beliefs changed since childhood? A little, a lot, none?

(3) Who do you want to influence to believe in God?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers:

(1) I grew up learning about God at home and in church.

(2) My faith shifts every few decades. I like to believe each shift brings me a little closer to Truth, Grace, Jesus.

(3) I want my kids and now my granddaughter to be strong believers.

More here

Get the whole Handmade series here

Handmade - Finding God in Your Story


5 Links, Books, and Things I Love – October 2018

What was a highlight of your September? What are you looking forward to in October?

1 Second Everyday

[If you can’t see the 1 Second Everyday video, click here]

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

5 Things Around the Web

1. 5 Ways to Be a Godly Grandparent
by Avery Foley

5-ways-to-be-godlly-grandparent

Thankfully, we’re getting the opportunity to do this. Here are five ways to impact the next generation.

~ * ~

2. Why People Don’t Report Sexual Assaults
by AJ Willingham and Christina Maxouris

A few reasons include: victims are made to feel it’s their fault; they’re told to dismiss it; they’re afraid no one would believe them. Painful stuff.

~ * ~

3. You’re Welcome, World! You Can Thank Alabama for These Things
by Kelly Kazek

booksamillion

Don’t believe all the negative things you hear about Alabama (although many are true, unfortunately; see below).

But here are 20 good things that Alabamians have contributed to the world (yes, Wikipedia!). I knew most of them but some were surprises. Which ones have you heard of?

~ * ~

4. Why Pastors Should Consider Preaching (At Least) 5 Minutes Shorter
by Kevin DeYoung

My pastor must already do this. I don’t get tired of his sermons.

And along the same lines, but this can be applied to most ANYTHING:

Say it in a Sentence
by Justin Buzzard

~ * ~

5. Can’t Get Comfortable In Your Chair? Here’s What You Can Do
by Michaeleen Doucleff

Comfortable in chair

Jean Couch, 75, perches on the edge of a chair at her home in Los Altos Hills, Calif. She teaches people the art of sitting in chairs without back pain.
Erin Brethauer for NPR

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

5 Things with Words

1. “Thinking the Best of Your Spouse” (podcast episode)
on Family Life Today

These were excellent episodes on relationships.
Don’t frame the issue as who’s right and who’s wrong. Think: what does the other person need? Two parts: Part 1 – Stinkin’ Thinkin’ and Part 2 – Thinking the Best of Our Spouse

~ * ~

2. 25 of the New Words Merriam-Webster Is Adding to the Dictionary in 2018
by Michele Debczak

Do you know what these mean?

  • BOUGIE (ADJ.)
    Short for bourgeois, this term means “Marked by a concern for wealth, possessions, and respectability.”
  • TL;DR (ABBREV.)
    “Too long; didn’t read—used to say that something would require too much time to read.”
  • BINGEABLE (ADJ.)
    “Having multiple episodes or parts that can be watched in rapid succession.”
  • PREDICTIVE (ADJ.)
    As in predictive text: “Of, relating to, or usable or valuable for prediction.”

~ * ~

3. Are Audiobooks as Good for You as Reading? Here’s What Experts Say
by Markham Heid

It seems we have this discussion a lot: Is listening to a book really the same as reading one? How would you answer?

~ * ~

4. The Top 10 Books Everyone Lies About Reading
by Ariel Zeitlin

How many of these would you say you’ve read? I don’t think I ever read all of Romeo and Juliet.

~ * ~

5. Six Books I Recommend – September 2018     

These four nonfiction books and two novels made me laugh, cry, and inspired my faith, each in their own way.

6 Books I Recommend - September 2018_LisaNotes

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

5 Things I Love

1. Ashley came to town

ashley and lisa

I love the adventures that Ashley and I got into when she came up from Mobile to spend the weekend with us for a wedding + much, much more. I hope I didn’t scare her from visiting again.

~ * ~

2. I don’t golf

PAR Golf Tournament

Golfing is not my thing. But PAR, our local Prepare and Respond Disaster Response team, holds an annual charity golf tournament each year. This is year 2 that Jeff and I have been witnesses to watch for a hole-in-one to win a new car. No winners yet!

~ * ~

3. Mini-Civil Rights Pilgrimage

civil rights

Go! If you get a chance, go to Montgomery, AL, to The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration. Then to The National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

We did our own little mini-pilgrimage last week of civil rights sites in our state. Unfortunately, there are lots of sites to choose from because racism has been so rampant in the deep south. We went from Montgomery to Selma (Edmund Pettus Bridge) to Monroeville (home of Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird).

~ * ~

4. Friends

Kay_Mr Turner_Lisa

Mr. Turner wanted to have a picture with Kay and me, so we took a selfie and printed a hardcopy for him. He’s one of our dear friends that we get to see every Wednesday. He’s a praying man.

~ * ~

5. And of course, my little sweetie

Granna

It does my heart good that our sweet granddaughter loves to read books! I can’t get enough of her.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

5 Things on the Blog

Bible Memory Challenge Lamentations 3

  • Enjoy the Harvest
    Remembering God’s goodness in your past increases your joy with him in the present. Enjoy the harvest.
  • Missing Something? 5 Steps to Find It
    Have you lost your peace? Joy? Rest? Here at 5 steps to find what’s missing through the parable of the Lost Coin.
  • Reframing the Soul
    Just like a frame around a picture, our words frame our lives. Can we change the frame by changing our words? Review of Reframing the Soul.
  • There’s a Grace for That
    Maybe there’s an app for that. For the easy stuff. But the meaningful stuff? God’s got a grace for that.

* * *

What was a highlight from your September? What are you looking forward to in October? Please share in the comments.

I’m also participating this month in #Write31Days. It’s the last year for it, sadly. Knowing that, I committed to doing it one last time.

Join us to answer 3 questions a day to help us find God in our stories.

Handmade - Finding God in Your Story_tw

previous Links and Books


What Scares You? Day 2 – Handmade

Afraid

DAY 2, OCTOBER 2

If you scratch deep enough, you’ll find a fear.

Everybody is afraid of something.

Day 2 Afraid

I’m afraid of heights.

And that includes bridges. (Did you know it’s called gephyrophobia?)

Last week Jeff and I toured through our home state of Alabama. In Selma, we wanted to walk across the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the horrific beatings on Bloody Sunday, March 21, 1965.

bloody sunday_selma

On that day 53 years ago, the marchers feared for their very lives.

On my day in 2018, I only feared falling off.

Facing my fear was much easier than what they faced.

What Are You Afraid Of?

As we look at our stories, we inevitably will uncover fears.

Sometimes we run to God when we’re scared. Sometimes we run away from God because we’re afraid of him.

Think about your reaction to things that make you afraid.

Here are our three questions of the day:

(1) Are you afraid of the dark?

(2) What is one fear you wish God would take away?

(3) What is a recent scare you’ve had, big or small?

* * *

What are your answers? Please share in the comments.

My answers:

(1) I’m afraid of SOUNDS I hear in the dark.

(2) Among other fears, I’d like God to remove my fear of the unknown. But instead, he just keeps riding along with me head-on into the unknown.

(3) We had a mouse in the house a few weeks ago. I know it’s small and I’m big (comparatively), but the thought of it scurrying around my kitchen really bothered me.

More here

  • Don’t Be Afraid to Be Afraid
    God knows we have dangerous tasks to do. Even if we’re afraid. Can he have courage for us?
  • Are We Scared of the Wrong Things?
    Instead of being scared for our safety, what if we took Jesus at his word and refused to be intimidated…welcoming whatever comes because God is with us?
  • Everybody Is Scared of Something
    If even a Navy SEAL can have fear, we can, too. Everybody is scared of something. But fear won’t win if we’ll go forward anyway.
  • When Desire Is Greater Than Fear
    Behind many of our fears is the lack of control. But the way to overcome fear isn’t to have more control; it’s to replace it with something stronger.

 

Get the whole Handmade series here.

Handmade - Finding God in Your Story


Where Is God in Your Story? Handmade – A #Write31Days Series

Every life is a story.

  • Extraordinary
  • One of a kind
  • Handmade by God

Where has God been in your story?

Handmade - Finding God in Your Story

31 Day Series

For the next 31 days, let’s look at our individual stories, and help each other find God in those stories.

I’ll post three short questions a day. Answer below in the comments, or on my daily Instagram post, or just in your head. As few or as many days as you want. No rules.

I’ll be adapting questions from the one word prompts at Five Minute Friday.

Follow Along

If you want to get all the posts, here are five ways to follow along. Choose your favorite. I am also on Twitter and Pinterest.

  1. Sign up here for daily emails.
    Each post will automatically come to your inbox.
  2. Follow Lisa_Notes on Instagram.
    I’ll post a photo and the 3 questions on Instagram each day.
  3. Bookmark this page.
    This page will be the index.
  4. Subscribe in a news reader.
    Feedly is my favorite for all the blogs I read.
  5. Join me on Facebook.
    I’ll link the daily post on my LisaNotes FB page.

Today’s post also includes Day 1 . . . Story.

1 – Story
Where has God been in your story? Answer 3 questions for 31 days to find God in your handmade story.

2 – What Scares You?
What are you afraid of? Which fear do you wish God would take away?

3 – Who Do You Believe?
What do you believe in? Who do you believe?

4 – Why, Why, Why
We never know as much as we think we do. So keep asking why, why, why.

5 – Release
What do you need to let go of? Sometimes we have to let go of one thing before we can receive another.

6 – Belong
Where do you go to church? Do you belong there?

7 – This Is Why It’s Safe to Hope
Sometimes we’re afraid to get our hopes up. But it’s safe to. Because God is already in our tomorrows.

8 – Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
Comfort zones feel safe. But not much growth happens there. What comfort zone is God calling you out of?

9 – Breathe in the Inspiration
When days are dark, what or who inspires you to keep going? What is God inspiring you to do in this season?

10 – How Do You Worship?
Often we know what and why we do what we do. But how to do it? That can vary. How do you worship?

11 – Oil the Hinges
Doors are made to both open and close. Are your hinges oiled?

12 – Which Side Are You On?
Through just one question, we classify people as right or left. What if we asked a different question instead, to heal instead of divide?

13 – Call or Text?
Text or call? How do you decide what mode of communication to use in each situation?

14 – When You’re Afraid to Ask
Why don’t you ask God for more? You don’t have to know how or when or who he’ll use to answer.

15 – When Will You Get Your Grace?
When will you receive a fresh supply of grace? Always today.

16 – Pray to Do More Than Pray
We often pray for people. But what if God wants to use us as an answer? We pray we’ll do more than pray.

17 – Worship in the Pause
Just sit still in the pause. It may birth the most radical worship you can offer.

18 – Call Off the Search
We look and look. But what if we already have it? Call off the search.

19 – When Did You Convert
When we turn around and head a different direction, we’ve experienced conversion. God continues to bring us times of conversion. These are no less real than our initial conversions.

20 – Do You Like an Audience
Some people crave an audience. Others of us avoid the limelight. Which are you?

21 – Just Start
Sometimes we fail to start because we can’t imagine finishing. But start anyway. Take one step today.

22 – Take the Shortcut?
Sometimes shortcuts give us the help we need. But other times? They rob us of time with God.

23 – Uncommon Things at Church
This homeless man was going to prove it wasn’t just another day at church. Uncommon things happen when we wake up.

24 – You Already Know Enough
Sometimes we think we have to know everything before we can do something. But as believers, it’s more about who we belong to than how much we know.

25 – How Does He Capture You
Is it safe to put all your eggs in one basket, if the Lord is holding the basket?

26 – When It’s Not Your First Time
There is a first time for everything. While we can never repeat a first ourselves, we can enjoy a first with someone else.

27 – See the Whole Picture
It helps to see the whole picture. I don’t like mopping the floor. But when I think of my grandbaby crawling on it, it’s much easier to do.

28 – Begin with Worship
How would you describe worship? It’s a perfect way to start a day, a week, a life.

29 – Books that Bring Us Together
Books bring us together with people we would never meet otherwise. Here are four books I recommend from what I finished this month.

30 – Hear a Different Voice
When we speak different languages, we sometimes tune out the other voice–and the other person–altogether. But we miss out when we ignore each other.

31 – Hurricane Michael Aftermath – Get Close
Sometimes you have to get close. We’re getting up close and personal with Hurricane Michael this week. Panama City is now more than a vacation spot to us.


Story

Day 1, October 1

Once upon a time. . .

Every story has a beginning.

(1) Where were you born?

(2) Are your parents still alive?

(3) How far away do you live now from where you were born?

* * *

I’d love to hear your answers in the comments.

My answers: 

(1) I was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi.

(2) Both my parents died in 2010, seven months apart. My dad died of lung cancer on Valentine’s Day, and my mother died from Alzheimer’s that September. I still miss them both.

(3) I live 170 miles from where I was born, but only 7 miles from where I grew up in Alabama.


Previous 31 Day Series

26-Surprising-Ways-to-Encounter-God_Lisa-notes

31-Tools-Memorize-Bible-Chapter

31-Quotes-of-Grace-2014_LisaNotes

31-Days-of-Books-at-Lisa-notes

31-Days-of-Grace_LisaNotes