What are you worrying about today?
Would you like to not be worrying at all?
Saying these three words to ourselves when we worry is not a magic mantra to stop our worrying. But it can be an exercise of intentional prayer to bring us back to a moment of grace.
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I’m writing today at Do Not Depart. Please join me there for 3 Words to Silence Your Worries.
When you hear the word “worship,” what do you think of?
Maybe someone idolizing a pro football player. Or an ancient worshiper burning a bull on an altar to their gods.
I often think of Sunday mornings. In the past we called our church gathering a “Worship Service.” Many still do; it remains accurate. We do offer our worship to God there.
I know, though, that our worship extends past Sunday praise-singing. It’s Monday clothes-washing, and Tuesday dinner-cooking, and Wednesday pantry-serving, etc.
But still. Singing my worship on Sunday mornings starts the week with joy and peace and power.
I believe how David Mathis describes it in Habits of Grace is true:
“Like no other means, corporate worship combines all three principles of God’s ongoing grace: his word, prayer, and fellowship.”
But I don’t always feel full of grace at 8am on Sunday mornings when I walk in our church building to review the songs we’ll be singing.
Yet once I’m there, God pours grace on me before I get a chance to offer anything back to him.
As God reveals himself worthy of worship, it’s easy to give him praise. We lose sight of our own woes and gain clarity of Christ’s awe.
Self-forgetfulness and Jesus-awareness are heightened during worship.
“Worship is an end in itself. We do not eat the feast of worship as a means to anything else. Happiness in God [which is the heart of worship] is the end of all our seeking. Nothing beyond it can be sought as a higher goal.”
– David Mathis
Worship is a perfect way to start a day, a week, a life. And a perfect way to end one as well.
Worship now with “He Is Yahweh,” a song we’ve been singing with our church.
[click here if you can’t see “He Is Yahweh”]
VERSE 1
Who is moving on the waters
Who is holding up the moon
Who is peeling back the darkness
With the burning light of noon
Who is standing on the mountains
Who is on the earth below
Who is bigger than the heavens
And the lover of my soul
CHORUS
Creator God, He is Yahweh
The Great I Am, He is Yahweh
The Lord of All, He is Yahweh
Rose of Sharon, He is Yahweh
The Righteous Son, He is Yahweh
The Three-in-One, He is Yahweh
VERSE 2
Who is He that makes me happy
Who is He that gives me peace
Who is He that brings me comfort
And turns the bitter into sweet
Who is stirring up my passion
Who is rising up in me
Who is filling up my hunger
With everything I need
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What do you think of when you hear worship? Do you have a favorite worship song that you sing with your church or at home? Please share in the comments.
What’s your tipping point for clutter?
I reached mine last week with my bathroom closet. It was overflowing with expired medication, raggedy towels, old plastic bags.
Clutter can be painful.
It’s mentally disconcerting to see a mess every time we open a door or drawer. It keeps us from finding and using the stuff we already own because we can’t get to it. And it makes it hard to add anything new because there’s no room for it.
Clutter messes not only with our physical space, but it spills over into our mental spaces as well.
My bathroom closet was a relatively easy fix (although time-consuming). No sentimentality was involved in throwing away rags (or giving them to Jeff for the basement). No gifts to discretely discard of. No dilemma about whether or not to keep the 1994 Sudafed sample (the only relic from the 90s, thankfully).
But getting rid of other areas of clutter isn’t so easy.
Sorting through the clutter of guilt is often the hardest part.
The clutter of guilt weighs heavy.
“We gather our arms full of guilt as though it were precious stuff. It must be that we want it that way.”
John Steinbeck
But I don’t want to hang on to anything because of guilt, any more than I want to hang on to guilt itself.
Jeff and I started watching a movie Saturday night with intent to stop if it wasn’t interesting (I’m trying to declutter the DVR, too). The movie began slowly, had poor acting, and had a ridiculous plot.
We kept watching. Surely it would get better. It didn’t.
Two hours later, we couldn’t believe we had watched the whole thing.
What a waste of time that could have been spent better.
I felt guilty that we hadn’t stopped the movie earlier and used our time more beneficially.
More clutter of guilt.
Yet I know guilt is not ours to bear. We’re supposed to use it to change our ways, then let it go, not shove it on a shelf to keep around a few years.
God paid in full for our spiritual clutter, and whatever I’m storing of it needs to be released.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:1
Just like I cleaned out my bathroom closet of its physical clutter, I need to continually clean out my spiritual junk drawers of clutter, too.
I need the space. Space to breathe, to grow, to love.
I’ve returned over and over to my bathroom closet the past few days just to marvel at its sparse shelves and clean floors. It brings me joy.
May I be equally grateful I can spiritually declutter, too.
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Is anything in your spiritual junk drawer that you need to declutter? Please share in the comments.
I went to a unique competition last night.
My brother-in-law Barry—a successful and seasoned aerospace engineer in his mid-50’s—entered a sports talk show contest, “Kickstart Your Career” with the Ump Sports Radio.
And he made the top 10.
So last night nine men and one woman took two minutes on stage to give us their best “Sports Update” broadcast. The judges critiqued; we audience members voted. Two people will be cut each week. This Friday we’ll find out the top 8 who will compete next week.
Here’s a 20 second clip:
[click here if you can’t see the video of Barry’s update]
The lone winner at the end of the contest will be the new host of his/her own sports talk show one morning each week.
But as I listened to each contestant, I struggled to compare them. One had great delivery, but another had better content. One made me laugh, but another kept me totally engaged.
Maybe I’m not supposed to compare?
I’m focusing this month on not comparing. For my One Word “Welcome” this year, June’s challenge is to let go of comparing and welcome creating instead.
Brene Brown in The Gifts of Imperfection says,
“For most of us, letting go of comparison is something that requires constant awareness. It’s so easy to take our eyes off our path to check out what others are doing and if they’re ahead or behind us.”
We all know how bad we can feel when we measure ourselves by others.
Instead, let’s celebrate our originality.
Brown suggests we do this through being creative.
“The only unique contribution that we will ever make in this world will be born of our creativity.”
And lest we think we are not one of those creative people, Brown says this,
“’I’m not very creative’ doesn’t work. There’s no such thing as creative people and non-creative people. There are only people who use their creativity and people who don’t.”
I saw Barry use his creativity last night when he gave his sport update.
And when the last contestant had finished, I realized this: it was far more about creativity in each of them than about comparison.
Sure, the judges will compare within limits to choose a winner.
But the winner will be the one who makes a unique contribution to the art of broadcasting, one who stands out, not a cookie-cutter announcer who is just like others already on the air.
Will Barry win the contest? In many ways, I think he already has. He’s sharing unique parts of himself with us through his originality with words and knowledge.
He’s creating.
The next time we’re tempted to compare, let’s create something, too.
“When I make creating a priority, everything in my life works better.”
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Do you consider yourself a creative person? What have you already created this week? Please share in the comments.
(And I’m not just bragging on my brother-in-law because he bought my dinner last night. He’s really good at what he does.)
Am I doing it right?
I’m not sure.
Let God blow His wind, His trials, oxygen for joy’s fire.
Leave the hand open and be.
– Ann Voskamp
I’m not even sure I have to do it right.
Keep an open hand.
It’s best if I do. But if I don’t?
Whether I successfully keep my hands open or occasionally close them into tight little fists, God still loves to give, still gives to love, and is still mightier than any obstacle I can place in his way.
“Be at peace. Bend the knee and be small and let God give what God chooses to give because He only gives love and whisper surprised thanks.”
I want to accept what he wants to give. He gives good. This I know.
This I see.
So I leave the hand open.
I bend the knee and thank.
I simply be.
I want to. He knows. That’s enough.
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Is it hard for you to live with an open hand instead of a clenched fist? Please share in the comments.
revised from the archives
If you want to take better photographs, you eventually have to learn about light.
I’ve tried before. ISO, aperture, shutter speed . . . do I really have to understand how each of those is affected by light?
Well, sort of. If I want to keep shooting in manual mode instead of automatic (which I’ve been attempting for a few years), the information on correct exposure needs to finally solidify in my brain. Seeing how they all work together and affect each other makes a difference.
And maybe now it’s clicked. Reading professional photographer Bryan Peterson’s 4th edition of Understanding Exposure has helped.
Peterson speaks mostly to the DSLR audience, and he assumes you’ll mostly be shooting in manual mode. But he does occasionally give tips for those shooting in automatic and with point-and-shoot cameras.
The sections are basically two-page spreads on a specific topic with text explanations and photographic examples. (The photographs alone are worth the book. Stunning!)
Sections include:
Do I understand everything Peterson talks about? Not by a long shot. But I’m understanding more than I used to.
Will my photos be better after reading this book? No guarantees.
But after reading this book I’ve been inspired again to try harder. I’m experimenting more (Peterson gives several suggestions for camera settings) and noticing more (he points out what to watch for). And I’ve even dug out my camera’s instruction manual again. I count it a win.
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Do you love taking photos, too? Which camera do you prefer? I love my Canon Rebel. Please share in the comments.
My thanks to Blogging for Books
for the review copy of this book
