“For last year’s WORDS belong to last year’s language and next year’s WORDS await another voice.”  T.S. Elliot

Have you found it yet?  This year’s voice?  It feels like a lot of pressure, like a lot of weight.  And it comes so fast… before the last of the Christmas mess is cleaned up, before the leftovers are gone.  Red and green are traded for glitter and fireworks and a thundering demand to “be intentional, set goals, tackle the New Year” blasts over “Old Angzine.”  SHHHH 2018!  I’m still in my Christmas jammies….

We all know that New Year’s Resolutions are SO  2015 and now we are to declare our “word for the year.” And listen, I am here for that!  You know how I love all the words so that is enough to get me out of the Santa flannels pronto!  Therefore, as all good bloggers do in January, I will share my word of the year with you today.  But, here is the thing, I have two, because OBVIOUSLY I do.  And they aren’t brand new.  And they aren’t just words.  They are the filters God gave me as I desperately circled the drain of exhaustion and disillusionment back in the Fall.

Do you ever feel like your voice gets lost?  If so many others are living your exact life, only better than you, why try?  If so many other’s are closer to the calling you thought God put on your heart, what’s the point?  When the to-do’s and demands feel overwhelming, do you find yourself longing for clarity… for ONE THING?  I’ve always been attracted to the “one thing” verses in the Bible, the 3 point sermons, the “5 easy steps to _____.”  I suppose it’s because I don’t ever feel the luxury to focus on one thing at a time in my “real life,” 3 points always end up being 27, and there are no easy steps.  There are good steps, yes, but they are never easy.

So this is where I found myself, so many balls in the air I was dizzy.  Opportunities coming my way I had prayed for, and yet the laundry still needed to be done and groceries bought.  Was there room to be the old me but do new things?  Could I be faithful to old roles and forge new territory?  To do the things that made my heart sing, and do the things on my to-do list?  Was there room?  Was there time?  Is there ever?  Currently I am reading “Chase the Lion” by Mark Batterson and “Chasing Slow” by Erin Loechner.  Can I do both?  Chase a lion and chase slowness.

What divine rhythm does God have for me?  What divine rhythm does He have for you?

Dizzy I tell you.

“God, give me my one thing… give me a measurable filter for my days, my yes’s and no’s, give me a grid for my focus.”

“Be a Spark and a Bridge.”

Wait, isn’t the saying something about burning bridges?  Don’t sparks = fire which burn bridges?  How can it be both?  How can there be room for both?

Can I tell you something hard.  On the very weekend that my daughter’s hundreds of hours of hard work paid off in a breathtaking performance in The Nutcracker, I said goodbye to the best dog I will ever know.  So I smiled and cheered and checked eyeliner, and then laid on the floor beside my favorite nonhuman ever on her last night and sobbed my eyes out.  See, there is room for both… it’s always a tension.  New and old.  Lions and slowness.  Life and death.  Sparks and bridges.

So, that is it.  When the confetti welcoming 2018 cleared, when I quieted the voices and lies and expectations and noise, when I got up off the floor, that is what I heard.  Be a Spark and a Bridge.  Now, it’s not ONE THING, it’s two.  It’s not my WORD of the year, they are WORDS.  But they have given me a clear window view to my role.  Those signposts point me to what I need to focus on and what I need to let go of.  They are the rumble strips for my attitude and calendar.

I can’t wait to share with you how each of them will (prayerfully) play out in my mothering, gathering, and ministry this next year… I can’t wait to discuss ways we are all called to be sparks and bridges and to pay homage to those who have been that to me. Join me for part 2 and 3? And tell me, at this precipice of a New Year, what do you hear calling to you?  What is imprinted on your heart for 2018?  I can’t wait to hear.

 

 

 

Let me just confess this right here at the beginning… This last stop on our Golden Hour Tour of beautiful words and sacred practices is not one I frequent enough.  I am a poor tour guide, the blind leading the blind.  The residents here do not know my name or recognize my face as I step off of the fast moving train breathless.  Rest.  Here is a vulnerable truth about me… I still haven’t learned to rest well.

But I want to.  Or at least I want to want to.

After we have Savored every last drop out our “lot in life” blessings, those common beautiful graces, and after we have recognized, remembered, and reclaimed Celebration from the world, then we must rest to do it all again (repeat).

In a world that has hijacked rest as much as celebration, what does real, soul-restorative rest look like for the people of God?  Very few Scriptures have impacted my life in the last year as much as the Message’s version of Matthew 11:28-30.  Slow down, breathe this in deeply, and picture it as a balm being poured over the cracked places in your spirit as you read this divine prescription for rest:

“Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me- watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”  Matthew 11:28-30

Real rest is not found in the lies or trappings of the world… in the Netflix bingeing, or sleeping late, or even the vacation in the fancy hotel.  None of those things are wrong, and they can certainly be savored and celebrated!  But when your soul is fatigued to the point of exhaustion, you will still be worn thin when the show is over, the alarm finally goes off, check-out time comes.

Real rest can only be found in Jesus. 

We have to watch how he does it, like Matthew 11 says.  We watch how he savors a breakfast of grilled fish on the beach, early morning chats with His father, friendships with the simplest of people.  We watch how he turns water into a divine vintage at a wedding celebration.  We watch how he participates in the feasts and festivals of his culture and how he brings others in close and rejoices with them as well.  And then we watch how he rests… how his earthly life was simply following the Holy Spirit from one place to the next, from one life to the next.

Over the last 6 months I have been neck deep studying the Biblical principles of Fruitfulness. One of the most interesting concepts I came access was the idea of the Sabbatical year for the land itself.

Leviticus 25:1-7 says, “The Lord said to Moses at Most Sinai, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord.  For six years sow your fields and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops.  But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord.  Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.  The land is to have a year of rest.  Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you – for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired workers and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land.  Whatever the land produces may be eaten.” 

I love how practical our God is.  He knew all about water levels, PH balances, and nutrient deficiencies in the soil centuries before farmers ever would.  He knew there was wisdom in letting a field go fallow for a year, in taking a rest… and He always has a spiritual truth for us in the physical.  Think of the faith it took for the Israelites to be obedient to this command.  Most families only had one field.  If they weren’t growing crops on it, there was not grocery store.  This was it.  Their land, their one field, was their source of sustenance. Their crops, their harvest was their life.  Could they trust that the sowing and laboring of past seasons would provide enough of a harvest in the resting?

The same is true for us.  We can only rest when we have learned to trust.  We trust that God will provide, that we don’t have to hustle for everything in life, that we don’t have to make it all happen or that we won’t fall apart in the fallow season.  He has promised not to lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on us.  We can trust the harvest because we can trust our God.

So, October was a whirlwind for me.  I was honored to speak at 2 out-of-town retreats and another local women’s night.  We also CELEBRATED fall in a big way with our 4th annual Family Fall Festival, inviting the whole city to the Ranchito.  I have committed to projects I haven’t started yet.  My kids are taking gymnastics, playing basketball, and rehearsing Nutcracker 20+ hours a week.  There isn’t a night off right now.  At the dawn of November I felt myself circling the drain… running on empty, forsaking what matters, unreasonably affected by the smallest thing.  I began to believe some old lies… “You can’t handle this.”  “Quit trying to be more than you are.”  “Close the gates.  The sacrifice for community is too much.  No one cares.”    My levels were off and nutrients low, just like the Israelite’s fields.

Time to rest.

I’ve taken a few practical steps in the last couple of weeks.  I have made peace with the term “self-care” in measured quantities.  (See, I even typed the word without rolling my eyes.  Progress).  I joined a Yoga studio and am giving myself the gift of something I really love.  I have released hosting Thanksgiving.  I have visited a friend who practices wholistic healing and let her do a little work on me, body and spirit.  I literally have “breathe and pray” and “HYGGE” on my daily to-do lists.   I am preaching rest to all of you so please hold me accountable as well.

The Golden Hour is coming to a close.  I can see the last rays of its sunset melting away.  The dawning of the next season will be wonderful, “the most wonderful time of the year” in fact.  But it will have a different pace.  For all the Hallmark commercials and hot cocoa propaganda, we women know.  We know that for every beautiful meal, every perfectly (or imperfectly) decorated home, for every gift under the tree, and Christmas card sent, there is a woman staying up late into the night planning, baking, working, wrapping, and addressing.  And we love it.  And it is worth it.   But it can leave us circling the drain as well.

So I pray the treasures we have found on this tour of beautiful words and sacred practices stay close at hand through the holidays.  I pray we will savor all of our “lot in life” blessings, those common graces and we will view all that the coming months bring through a HYGGE filter.  I pray that we will reclaim celebration, especially during the Advent season… that we will build alters and remember and celebrate others really well.  And I pray that we will find rest when our spirits are circling the drain of exhaustion.  That we will simply watch how Jesus did it and trust in a God that commands a sabbath.

Welcome to the second stop on our Golden Hour Tour of beautiful words and sacred practices.  This one may be a bit more lively than the last.  I hope there are cards and banners and high fives and parties.   I pray there are gifts and candles and music and laughter late into the night. We move on from Savor to Celebrate.

The older I get, here On the Other Side of Middle, the more aware and angry I become that the enemy of our souls has stolen celebration from the people of God.  This world has robbed us of this gift.  It tells us what is worthy of celebration… it shoves it down our throats and blinds our eyes with the flashing lights of how it should go.  And I suppose if we desire to be a people set apart, sanctified and holy, then we must turn our backs on all the fun.  Right?  Oh, I hope not!

One of my nearest and dearest friends, a steadfast presence in my life for more than a decade, has a slight thing for the Green Bay Packers.  And by slight, I mean full on love affair.  She painted her laundry room green and gold.  She listens to Packer’s Podcasts as she drifts off to sleep (yep, that’s a thing).  She has a cheesehead hat and dreams of trips to Lambeau Field like I dream of trips to resorts and spas.  And she and her husband do it!  They go to the games and brave the cold and choose to spend vacation time and travel money on watching her team play.  She loves being in that legendary stadium with thousands of other Packers’ fans cheering for her boys.  I currently live in the literal home of Friday Night Lights… Let me assure you that the hype is very real.  So what is it?  From PeeWee to the Pros, from football to baseball, to basketball, to soccer, what is it?  Why is it so much fun to go to a game and shout with friends and strangers alike, to jump right into the crazy?  What does this speak to in our spirit?  I’m making the case for CELEBRATION.

My roots run pretty redneck.  Cheesy country music gets me every time and I don’t care who knows it.  I tried to be cool for 5 minutes in high school and tuned the station to “alternative,” but quickly found my way back to George, Trisha, and Martina.  So, when GARTH BROOKS made his way out here to West Texas this past Spring, I WAS HERE FOR THAT!  Being in that arena with my husband, brother, sister-in-law, and thousands of other fans singing every word along with Garth was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.  Why?  It was a CELEBRATION of memories and music, of family and “Friends in Low Places.”

I believe that great concerts, big sporting events, moving movies, beautiful ballets… they tap into something spiritual.  It’s called worship.  It’s called celebration.  See, we were created to be a small part of something much bigger than ourselves… something good and exciting and worthy of all the yelling and singing and high fives in the world.  We were created to do this in community with millions of other worshipers.  When we are in a stadium or an arena or a concert hall and the celebration takes over and we are swept away in the joy and emotion, I think we put a tippy toe into what heaven will feel like.

We all know this can go too far.  I will not belabor idolatry here.  My friend does not worship the Packers.  I do not worship Garth Brooks.  But the very reason it can be a slippery slope for so many is that we were made to be worshipers and celebrators.  When we let the world dictate what we will worship or celebrate, it gets funky fast.  Does the celebration terminate on itself… end right there at the game or with the last song? Or worse maybe, do we turn our backs all together on these little tastes of heaven, deeming them too worldly to partake in, and give celebration up to the world?  Or do we credit a big, fun, creative God with giving us the gift of sports, music, art, and community to share it with?  All this fun was His idea after all!

In the classic devotional “Abiding in Christ” first published in 1895, Andrew Murray writes these incredibly convicting words:

“So there is nothing quite so attractive as JOY, no preaching so persuasive as the sight of hearts made GLAD.  This makes gladness such a strong element in Christian character.  There is no proof of the reality of God’s love and blessing He bestows, which people so quickly feel the strength of, as when the joy of God overcomes all the trials of life.”  

Celebration, joy, gladness in our lives will win more souls for Jesus than preaching any day… certainly more than “holier than thou” or “holier than fun” living ever will.  So is it?  Is joy and gladness and celebration a strong element in your life, in your Christian character?  Never underestimate its power.

Let me state the obvious: we cannot celebrate what we do not recognize.  I’m afraid our fast-paced, drive-thru culture has rushed into our faith walks just like it has rushed into every other aspect of life.  We order up a prayer request, a new gift to savor, and by the time we make it to the window we are hungry for something else.  The Bible gives the command to “remember” over and over and over again.  We cannot celebrate what we do not remember.

Has God been gracious to you, even in hard times?  Has He answered just one prayer?  Are you in a different place in your marriage, with a difficult child, in your finances than you were 5 years ago?  Has He illuminated things in Scripture for you that have changed your life, your faith, given you hope where there was none before?  Has He spoken quietly, “this is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21) to you and now your feet are on a different path?  Has He just let the Packers win or granted you some sweet Garth tickets?  All of those things deserve recognition, remembering, and celebrating

In the Bible, the people of God not only remembered, they set up alters when God did a mighty work.  They rolled bolder upon bolder into place.  Their remembering took time and sweat and left sore muscles and a lasting, visible evidence of God’s presence in their lives.  Their celebrating took weeks, and preparation and travel and pause.  They knew, God knew, that they needed those alters and feasts so that they wouldn’t forget because they were human just like we are.  They had kids and jobs and natural disasters to worry about too.  They had a new set of desires every day just like us and they first needed to take a breath, say thank you, and celebrate.  We all need reminders that God was faithful before and He will be faithful again.

I know the hubs would think I was crazy if I started building actual altars around the Ranchito every time God answered a prayer or came through for us… if his weekend “honey-do” list included rolling stones on top of one another.  But I have my own alters.  I have journal upon journal of prayers prayed for my children, my husband, my tribe, myself.  I can go back and celebrate those victories over and over.  When things are tough and I am doubting, I can re-read those prayers and marvel at how far God has brought us.  Those are altars of remembering.  My youngest child sort of came into this world in miracle fashion and his birth was an enormous victory for my faith.  All our kids are special, but his birthday is an alter of remembering for me.  God hears.  This humble 7 acres that I sit and write these words from is an altar.  There is a literal pipe fence around an altar to obedience, and staying when we wanted to quit, and trusting and praying and honoring childhoods and community and messy floors and real life friends.  When my kids ask if I have ever seen a miracle I can open those journals and read them the stories of their God moving on their mother’s behalf, I’ll show them pictures of a crowd of warriors around a birth center bed and a 10lb. 11 oz “surprise,” I’ll walk them around the perimeter of the Ranchito and tell them of His goodness.  Build alters.  Remember.  Celebrate.

And just like there is more to Savor when when learn to enjoy our “lot in life,” everyday gifts, we have more to celebrate when we learn to celebrate others well.  Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”. I think maybe we put the mourning on a spiritual pedestal while giving the rejoicing a bit of a cold shoulder.  How well do you celebrate others?  Rejoice with those who rejoice?  Just like discontent can steal our ability to savor, envy can steal the joy of celebration.

The older I get, the more FOR the women in my life I become.  I am FOR every single one of them running their race, doing their thing, finding their lane.  I may have given this lip-service in my 30’s but I am all in at 40.  I use to live under the cloud of a scarcity mentality.  You know, like there wasn’t enough to go around… Not enough blessing, not enough gifting, not enough calling, not enough Jesus.  Crazy, right?  We serve an endless God and if we believe Jeremiah 29:11, that God has a good plan for each of us, then how can your plan, your blessing, something to celebrate in your life ever steal mine?  It can’t.  Your calling does not lessen mine.  My race isn’t going to cause me to steal your prize in the end.  If I know anything about our God, it is that His character is generous- it is the opposite of scarce or lacking.  When we root ourselves down deeply in this truth, it frees us up to celebrate others well… which ultimately increases overall celebration in our lives, and brings us one step closer to looking like Christ on this earth.

The only way we can truly celebrate others well is by knowing them well… by being a real part in their real story, by letting them into your own, by honoring their vulnerability with your own courage to step out.  Every baby shower is a lovely celebration, but when you have walked through infertility and loss for years with a sister, that’s a whole different party!  The graduation of a friend’s child is exciting, but when you have sat on the floor with her for years praying and crying and believing for favor and maturity for that kid as they have struggled through school, that celebration is a victory!  Marriages restored, business succeeding, callings clarified… All of those celebrations are increased when you have driven a spiritual stake deeply into them.

So have you?  Are you?

Are you connected enough with a few souls, that their blessings, their celebrations feel like your own?  ARE your own?  Have you invited others into your own story, your own life deeply enough that they can celebrate with you when that prayer is finally answered… they can come over and help you roll some stones into place for the latest alter of remembering?

At this moment in history, when there are so many to mourn with, so much tragedy, so much loss, can we, the people of God wave a banner of celebration as well? Can we recognize God’s goodness, remember His works, and reclaim celebration in His name?  I believe it would be a kick in the face to the thief who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

So, throw another baby shower, host another birthday party, keep someone’s kids so they can toast another anniversary.  Spill out little tastes of heaven everywhere you go. Joy is powerful. Celebration is holy work.

P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe for a chance to win the “Savor the Season” Fall Bundle, full of beautiful gifts to usher in a moment of HYGGE for yourself and celebration for your people (even if it’s as simple as sharing a yummy cup of coffee over candlelight with close friends).