Battling Cancer

There are 4 very special women in my life fighting cancer these days. They join other men and women who've done battle with this insidious disease that I've been privileged to know and love and counsel along the way.

I'm touched and inspired by their courage and tenacity. The conversations we've had are soul-searching and deep. They weep and grapple and wrestle. They make their peace with God. They make me reconsider what's really important.

Loved ones and medical professionals begin to rally round. They're usually joined by others that you never expected to show up. Times of crisis remind us how absolutely essential it is to have a support team surrounding you - not only during medical crises, but in healthy seasons, too.

We just weren't designed to go it alone.

As in any challenge, there are some very real and valid emotions that swirl and churn inside that must be acknowledged and handled well in order to do more than survive.

To thrive. To grow.

And that's true for those who've been diagnosed ... and for those who walk beside them.

5 Tips for Staying Sane with Cancer arrived in my inbox this morning. And I'll add one more thing. If you've ever connected with your Creator, if you've ever needed Him ... it's now.

Pour out your heart to Him, the only One who truly understands your terror and pain. The anger and anxiety. The powerlessness and sadness. He's not afraid of your emotions. He's got big shoulders and tender arms and a heart of compassion that weeps with you. And He promises never to leave you. Never to forsake you.

Life happens. The unexpected and uninvited arrive. Things change. But God stays the same. And He's not going anywhere. He loves you too much.

Linda

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid"
- John 14:27.

Thriving in a Growth Climate

There is not doubt that Thessolonica was a growing church. Paul describes them - "your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope" (I Thessalonians 1:3)

That level of solid Christian growth is built on a foundation of faith, love and hope, and thrives in an atmosphere that is conducive to maturity.

Atmosphere has a lot to do with growth - lush vegetation flourishes in a tropical rain forest but does not do well in the frigid Antarctica.

The "Antarctica" kind of climate that stifles growth is: guilt, criticism, fear, intimidation, power plays, politics, individualism, "hot house" (protected and will not make it through the storms), "bonsai" (miniature of the real thing because its roots are constantly clipped by legalism), and the "potted plant" (keeps on moving to the best speaker or the best concert but has no deep roots in the soil of the Community where it is located).

Paul says that the climate that produced growth at Thessolonica was "Grace," "Peace," and "Thanksgiving." I Thessalonians 1:1,2)

If you are breathing "Antarctic" air, build a foundation of hope, love, and faith, and encourage your Community to breathe an atmosphere of Grace, Peace, and Thanksgiving. That lavish atmosphere will help you and others grow to your fullest potential in Christ.

Praising God for that kind of Community ~ Bob

A Consistent Ebb & Flow

"Jesus balanced work and withdrawal, solitude and service, engagement and disengagement. Part of the secret to His focus, His power, and His wisdom comes from that intense time with His Father. And if He needed that time away, alone with God, how much more do we?"

- Rubietta -

Jesus was actively engaged in the lives of people. Sharing their tables. Teaching and preaching. Asking the deepest of questions. Healing bodies wracked with illness. Touching sin-sick souls.

And then there was the endless traveling over dusty roads and stormy waters. And ongoing confrontation of Satan and evil spirits.

The needy crowds touched the hem of His garment, physically, emotionally, spiritually. And He became weary. Exhausted. Spent.

After all, He was human. God in the flesh.

He replenished body and soul by heading off to solitary places {Luke 4:42}. He often withdrew from the demands of life and ministry to search out lonely places to pray {5:16}. He pulled all-nighters, spending extended time on mountainsides, communing with His Father {6:12, 21:37}.

A consistent ebb and flow of focused, intense service

and deep, replenishing spiritual rest with His Father.

Would He require anything less of us?

2 QUESTIONS:

1. What's this mean for me today?

2. What do I need to give up to go there?

"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place

and get some rest"

- Mark 6:31.

Saying yes ~
Linda

Got Margins?

GOT MARGINS?

Healthy, life-giving space around your activities, your commitments, your thoughts.

Time to regroup, recalibrate, refresh, reenergize, reconnect with your Creator.

Peace, stillness, balance, wholeness, rest.

80% - 90% of all doctors' visits are stress-related. Read on and discover why:

"Whether we like it or not, we were all created with limits. However, we also live in a fast-paced, push-button, instant everything world. The significant impact of technological progress has increased the risk for overload - living beyond our limits in every area of life. Consequently, our marginlessness - the space between our load and our limits - is shrinking for far too many of us. This often results in anxiousness, discouragement, feeling 'driven' in most of our activities, and finally, a pervading sense of exhaustion across multiple fronts."
- Ohlschlager & Scalise

LET'S GET STARTED

Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives

The Overload Syndrome: Learning to Live Within Your Limits

Restoring Margin to Overloaded Lives: A Workbook Based on Margin and The Overload Syndrome

A Minute of Margin: Restoring Balance to Busy Lives 180 Daily Reflections

Don't wait until your body, mind, or spirit collapses ~
Linda

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed ..."
- Luke 5:16

Our Jealous God

We know Jealousy as a green-eyed monster that destroys relationships and feeds egos. How can our sinless God say in Exodus 34:14, "The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a Jealous God?"

When God uses the term, "jealousy," He is using a human expression that we can understand. However, His jealousy is without sin or selfishness. God's jealousy is not a compound of frustration, envy, and spite, but is "praiseworthy zeal to preserve something that is supremely precious."

God's jealousy is not, "I want what you have because I don't have it." It is rather, "I love our relationship and I will protect it at all costs." He is jealous at the intrusion of other lovers - idols. God is married to us in covenant relationship through Jesus Christ - He will not tolerate whatever attempts to intrude into that relationship.

Aren't you glad that God loves you with a zealous, passionate love and He will not let you go to another?

Should we then also be zealous for our relationship with Him and guard it as a passionate response to His love?

Enjoy the passion of a zealous God who is jealous for His relationship with you.

Thriving in His love ~ Bob