Connection

Resurrecting Motherhood: Value

/ Jana

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Resurrecting Motherhood. Just the words strung together send a tingle down my spine. And yet it is the rumbling that began in my spirit three years ago? Frankly, I just haven’t had the courage to do anything to release it. And now, in the quarantined days of April 2020, I see the time is here and the I also see the very big Why.

So in the strength God gives, let’s begin a journey of Resurrecting Motherhood.

Today’s topic is Value.

What do you value?

Ask any woman or mom that question and we would rattle off various answers. But most of those answers would revolve around people.

We are relational at our core. It’s in our spiritual DNA. Think of how women nurture, work behind the scenes, coach and counsel in countless conversations, spark connection, make things hum and whistle.

Hmmm. . .this sounds like Holy Spirit, but we will come back to that.

Women are wired for relationship. So then. Ahem. Here we are today and our kids/ husbands/homes are DRIVING US FREAKING CRAZY. lol But seriously.

I really don’t think it is Too Much time together.

I think it is Too Little connection being finally revealed.

Did I mention that this journey might be a bit difficult? Just stay with me. God is taking us somewhere.

And our first bite of truth is about Value.

Lately, I’ve heard mom’s say honest and powerful truths:

I don’t know who I am now. My identity has been stripped.

I see my family doesn’t really like each other very much.

In my own house, and heart, I have been confronted with we don’t really know each other. 

All of these, and so many more, have been flushed up by the shelter-at-home orders. God has a funny way of working, doesn’t He?

And just now, in the moment, the Spirit whispers, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Have you read Matthew 6 lately. I just read it again. The Lord’s Prayer. The teaching on fasting. The teaching on giving. The teaching on serving God and mammon. Uhmm it’s loaded.

But I want to pay attention to this verse today:

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

God is telling us where His idea of value is. Heaven. Heaven’s ways. What does heaven value, treasure? People. Not bank accounts. Not houses. Not stuff. People.

When your kids say “Mom” for the billioneth time, when they spill it AGAIN, when you just need a moment to be alone, when you need a hug or a cry or a scream. . . you don’t need a sappy tidbit. You need a divine truth. Lean back into His Divine Presence.

He treasures YOU! He will show you how to treasure your kids.

And today, I want you to see the verse right before this passage:
“your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

He sees. He knows. He will provide you with what you need, moment by moment, if you will value what He values. He values relationship. He highly values connection. He has entrusted you with TODAY with your children and family. Keep your eye on Him today breathing in this prayer,

“Spirit, my ever-present Parent, you understand what is means to be with your kids 24/7. In the same way that You love me non-stop, without running away, or crushing me, strengthen me to love my kids. Give me the desire to be connected to them the way You desire to be connected to me. Thank You for seeing and rewarding my effort. Amen.”

Real Live Community

/ Jana / 2 Comments

I am shooting for the moon. I am flinging open the doors and inviting you in.

We believe that God wants to share life intimately with us. Most of us have heard that. Some of us experience that. Many of us are at least open to the idea. So we try different things to move into this life with God.

We also believe that God wants us to share life intimately with each other. And that is… where we close the book; turn off the TV; hit delete.

But it is true. From my humble perspective, after speaking to many, many folks from different parts of the country, and even in Zimbabwe, it seems that we don’t really like each other and for sure don’t want to get too close. This is especially true of Christian women. We often feel the most shut down and shut out relationally.

However. This is the very miracle of “God among us.” When we come together, it isn’t just you and me and our drama. It is you and me and our drama and the Living God. There is a power and synergy and healing that can happen when the Spirit of God is given permission and freedom to live and move and breathe within us together.

We see things. We hear things. We experience things that we couldn’t see, hear, experience alone. I have amazing revelations with the Lord alone. But it is radically different from what happens when I am with other believers. I hear your story and it taps into my story and vice versa. Your breakthroughs strengthen me. Your weaknesses reveal mine. And our shared bond of Christ keeps us looking to the One who heals and restores all things.

So I want to extend a personal invitation to you. Through the WGR class we desire to create a community of authentic, honest, real relationships. We desire to dispense with the petty comparisons, the surface mindless chatter and go for real heart connections. We desire to journey and not judge, to strengthen and encourage instead of play denial or fix-it games.

Women Getting Real Class is beginning August 23rd and you are invited to come. BUT you are also invited to join in with some of your friends and be part of the the online connection.  Many folks can’t come in person but they still want the connection. So can you, will you, take the effort and invest in real community? Will you gather 1-4 of your friends and watch the class together and really participate, share and go deeper with Christ and with someone else? You sitting in front of a computer is still you looking from the outside in. It is safe. And sanitized. And comfortable.

Life with God and others is messy and marvelous. It is a rollercoaster and a haven. Real honest relationship is life-changing.

If you are playing the “I just need me and God” card, will you consider adding a card to your deck called  “sharing your God life with others”? If you are playing the “I don’t trust other people” card, will you add the “I trust God in those people” card? Even if you have been burned before, will you learn the lessons of what not to do and try again?

Whether you like it or not, agree with it or not, even know how to do it or not, we are a Body. His body. We need to be together in some way, to share His Spirit among us. The WGR community on Tuesday nights, live in person, or live in your living room, is one humble honest way for us to share that connection.

Pray about it. Look at the obstacles and excuses. Then ask the Lord for the courage and faith to do Real Life with Him and others.