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[Being] Present: 7 Ways to Be “All There” with God This Christmas

December 10, 2020 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes
being present Minor confession: In the midst of putting out our family’s prayer letter last week…I declined a call. My husband walked into the kitchen, and I had this look like your dog would when it pees on the carpet. I explained my sheepishness. “Why do you feel guilty about that?” he asked, direct as ever. “I want to be the kind of person who will drop everything and be present with whoever needs it,” I shrugged. His eyes had this kind look around the edges. “You know you can only be present by shutting other stuff out, right? You’re present with our financial supporters [my husband and I are supported missionaries with Engineering Ministries International] right now. When you’re present with someone else, you’re shutting out other things you could be paying attention to.” I literally thought about the post I wrote about being distracted with others–and how to be fully, powerfully present. We all know what it’s like to compete with headphones or a smartphone. So often in my attempts to be everywhere, to be everything to everyone, I’m not “all there” with anyone.

Being present is about being there…by not being somewhere else. 

So to be present, it’s fair to say there are boundaries involved.  When it comes to Christmas, being present with God is sucked away by schedules and material stuff and worry: the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful (Mark 4:19). The Psalmist prays, Unite my heart to fear your name (Psalm 86:11). I wonder if I was on God’s mind when he penned this one…because at Christmas, my heart can be going in about 167,856 directions at once.

I’m just not all there with him.

So I’m pulling ideas together to help me/you hone in on being “all there” this Christmas, starting with our audience of One. being present

Don’t do something.

To an already-packed schedule, Christmas can feel a bit like “more bricks, less straw.”

If your goal is being present in the ways that matter, cut out a few of the “have-to’s” that aren’t. read more

Best Posts of 2018!

December 27, 2018 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Blogging can be a little too much like having an imaginary friend.

Picture sitting at the smallest table at your coffee shop. (I’m having a seasonal special with half of the pumps, decaf. …Because as someone told me, with natural enthusiasm like mine, I should remain uncaffeinated. You?) read more

Caught Up in the Wonder: When You’re One Lucky Dog

June 26, 2018 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

This week, my daughter turned 11. She was, of course, giddy about her birthday–something I don’t take for granted, since a lot of parents can’t afford to celebrate birthdays where we came from in Uganda.

And she’s so easy to celebrate: a keen mind, a generous heart. People tend to adore her. I have witnessed for years as she’s made friends with kids in poverty because they’re just kids to her; as she’s put out a donation cup for the pregnancy center at her lemonade stand.

So someday in the future, I can see my eyebrows arched over some guy garnished with peach fuzz who wants to take her out. I see myself thinking, You have no clue what you’re getting. You think she’s a pretty face and a great dancer. You may come back to take her out when you understand what a lucky dog you are. read more

Adore: 5 Ways to Easily Do More of What You’re Made to Do

February 1, 2018 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

So last night was one of my favorite kinds: date night. I won’t gush too much. But suffice it to say I don’t take for granted being married to my best friend. I love tucking myself under his arm at a movie, laughing at the jokes together, wandering around a bookstore and laughing at off-the-wall titles, sharing real conversation that changes us right over the tops of plates from our favorite salad bar. I guess there were probably a few productive parts of the evening, but mostly we just get to enjoy each other. To revel in being an “us.”

Ask any widow, anyone who serves overseas, anyone who’s just sent their child back to college: There’s a luxury to simply being with the people we love.

Spiritual Life Skills for Kids: 14 Creative Ways to Help Your Kids Praise God

October 4, 2017 / / 2 Comments
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Want to catch up on this series? Start here.

Would your kids believe me if I told them eating mac and cheese could praise God? read more

Finding God in the Hot Wheels: Circling the Grace in Motherhood

February 28, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

My seven-and-a-half year old sat near me as I typed quietly yesterday. His Hot Wheels were performing gravity-defying stunts; he rather violently hummed the Cars 2 theme song, replete with adrenaline-loaded sound effects, of course–over and over. And over. I almost quietly asked him to please desist. But then–I realized my Hot-Wheels-overlaid-with-Cars-2-soundtrack days are kind of winding down. (Sniff.)

Keep hummin’, buddy.

10 Questions to Take Your Relationship with God Deeper in 2017, Set #3

January 20, 2017 / / 1 Comment
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last year, I kicked off 2016 with 6 Ways to Take Your Relationships Deeper, parts I and II and dug into that a little with six sets of questions help tug your most intimate friendships to the next level.

This year, I’ve kicked off 2017 with questions to help us pursue our relationship with the most potential for fulfillment and gut-level happiness, no matter what’s around the corner. (Check out the previous two sets here and here!)

read more

10 Questions to Take Your Relationship with God Deeper in 2017, Set #2

January 14, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last year, I kicked off 2016 with 6 Ways to Take Your Relationships Deeper, parts I and II and dug into that a little with six sets of questions help tug your most intimate friendships to the next level. 

This year, I’ve kicked off 2107 with questions to help us pursue our relationship with the most potential for fulfillment and gut-level happiness, no matter what’s around the corner. (Check out the previous set here!)

read more

10 Questions to Take Your Relationship with God Deeper in 2017, Set #1

January 2, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Last year, I kicked off 2016 with 6 Ways to Take Your Relationships Deeper, parts I and II and dug into that a little with six sets of questions help tug your most intimate friendships to the next level.

This year, I’m gonna party like it’s 2107 with a few questions to help us pursue our relationship with the most potential for fulfillment and gut-level happiness, no matter what’s around the corner. I’m raising my glass: to the One who fills every soul-hole this year. Cheers, friends!

Prayer in a Broken Christmas

December 22, 2016 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like I was walking against the wind so much of the day: straining uphill, my too-thin sweater tugged around me as I grimaced, head down. As my husband and I lifted down plates for dinner, I recounted the parts that made me want to tear my hair out. (Or maybe a small tuft of my children’s. …Joking.) In the course of things, I did remember some good points. Somehow, as I relayed them, they grew a little. I tucked my head with a smile.

He put his hands on my shoulder, leveled his hazel eyes with my blue ones. “I want you to know,” he said, “that you are incredibly blessed.” read more

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