Cherishing "The Life"

And in Him was life and that life was the light of man. John 1:4 Wherever the Spirit of God is hovering, moving, working, we will see "life". His spirit will bring a deep, indescribable heart response to a musical composition whose beauty touches our soul. Love poured out through touch heals wounds. Generosity given to one who is poor brings hope. This "life" that brings more life and light is expressed through the ways we live. He sweeps through real human beings to bring restoration, beauty and we are the vessels through which His beauty and His life comes to others who do not know or understand Him. When we yield to His Spirit, life will come and create a reflection of His being in our own lives.

When we allow Him to work through us--we live into the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the small flame in another's soul will be fanned to brightness.

And so we live to bring life and we will begin to see this life lit in those who come in our wake, because life grows and multiplies and spreads--and so it will spread into the lives of our children, our friends, our husbands.........

Words are another way that life is ignited and felt. I felt such life yesterday, my soul was deeply touched,  when I read these words:

GOD WEEPS

There it is, the shortest verse in the Bible.

We can discard it so easily, pass over it so quickly, but really, it is incredible.

Think of it. Let is sink in as I write it again: Jesus Wept.

The all-knowing ruler and God of the universe cried.

For what? The loss of a friend that he already knew he was going to raise to life in a matter of minutes? Why would He cry for that?

Because God loves us. He loves us with a depth we cannot understand because the very God who made the stars feels our pain in the depths of His heart. He shares our hurt, and communes with our struggles.

Jesus stood at the tomb of his friend, and though he knew that he could bring Lazurus to life in a matter of seconds, he knew that death still grieved the people around him to the depths of their souls. Jesus wept for the pain, the fear his friend felt as death took him. Jesus wept for Mary and Martha, the sisters who watched their brother die and thought that God had forgotten them. Jesus wept for all the watchers in the crowd, living in the world where death and pain still have the upper hand.

Jesus wept to show us that never again could we doubt that God knows our pain. God knows every tear that we cry.

Nathan J Clarkson  Wisdom Chasers

And then, I knew, that my son, had caught "the life" in our home--He had met Him face to face and taken Him deep into his soul. May we be vessels every day of His life that others will carry that life to their world that they may carry the light.

Darling, out of the box, ADHD Nathan has written a book and giveaway!

Wonderful Nathan in Hollywood

Always when I tell stories about my sweet Nathan, moms say to me, "I have a Nathan!" Nathan is such an amazing blessing to me now, and many of you know him through his work to promote Dolphin Tale. But, as a little boy, Nate was always out of the box. When others walked on the sidewalk, he was on the grass, running around the bush, playing air fights with imaginary dragons, and living in a super man world in his mind. He wiggled, questioned, was loud and vibrant and fun and never liked academics but loved great stories and literature and heroes and discussion.

Many people wanted to label Nathan with consonants and vowels and or tell me to spank him more, but I knew in my heart he had the making of a great man and he needed love, patience and faith. I also knew that he was a lot like me--just made to be active and questioning and out of the box of norm. I can now see in my own life, that what has always felt like too much for me--my personality--was just what God needed me to be so that I would love speaking and writing and traveling all over the world.

And so with Nathan, I loved, encouraged, trained, confronted, believed in his dreams and prayed that God would help me support the person that God had designed him to be. I believed that maybe God did make Nathan to go into the world to be a "superman"--his favorite childhood character--one who would come to our world and save and help and redeem those who needed someone to save them.

All you sweet ones who are worried about your adhd, odd, ocd kids, just trust God, love a lot, give grace, and watch what God does--they are probably just artists or heroes in your midst and they must be a little bigger than life because of what God is going to call them to do--just like my wonderful Nathan--a true and faithful hero in my midst.

I will write more of his story tomorrow, but am off with Clay to Denver for surgery. (So please pray for us!)

But wanted you to see Nathan's new book and have the opportunity to buy it. (You will be helping this starving artist who wants to be a light in Hollywood stay afloat a little longer! Please share it with your friends and let Nathan hear from you! Nathan said that he would send a free pdf to anyone who would blog about his book to help promote it. And I will give away 3 copies. To enter the giveaway, please go to Nathan's blog and leave a comment and read all about him and pray for him! :)

When he moved to New York City a few years ago, he was confronted with what it would take to be a light in a very dark place. This is a perfect book of encouragement for anyone who wants to be encouraged to make the choice to follow God, to hold fast, to cultivate faith and to live to make a difference in the world. Also a great book for young men and appropriate for anyone. Devotionally written with short chapters and application. I am loving reading it, but of course he is after all my own personal hero!

The article below is about his new book. Here is his blog http://nathanjclarkson.wordpress.com/ where you can leave a comment and get a free download for blogging about it! Also, for the free entry to win a copy--leave a comment on my blog and promote it on fb and just let me know what you did. Thanks a gazillion--I try not to impose on my friends for me--but for my kids, I will impose on anyone! :) Have a blessed day!

Wisdom Chasers

October 8th, 2011

I was faced with a decision when I was 19. Let me explain. I had moved out and was living in the Big City (New York). I remember it was a cold and rainy night my family had left and there I was, little old (well actually very, very young) me. I had no idea what I was doing and I was all alone. But there on my first night alone on my own, as I was sitting on my Ikea bed in my small apartment bedroom in Harlem (Yes… I know the fam wasn’t thrilled, but I was poor) I heard a voice. It was God, He said “Chase me” and he suddenly ran out the door and into the pouring rain. I yelled after him that I was cold and alone and was kinda tired, but He just kept running.

So there I was, faced with a bigger decision than I could ever imagine. Chase after God or do what I feel like. Well I chased God, I chased him right into the pouring rain where I danced and sang with the Creator of the universe. I chased him through the next year of ups and downs friends and heart-break, hurts and joys. I chased him right out to Hollywood California, where today I finally am able to look back at all the chasing of God and say with complete honesty… It has made all the difference.

These are a collection of thoughts and the glimpses of Gods wisdom I had to chase down. All compiled into my very first book I would love for you to become a Wisdom Chaser too. Click to get your very own copy. Thank you so much.

Off to chase!

-Nathan

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Discipleship is a choice that will cost you your time and your life

Go into the world and make disciples.....My disciple, Joy!

A disciple of Christ, one wholeheartedly devoted to Him and His kingdom work

The next few weeks promise to be pretty overwhelmingly busy. Clay goes in for pre-ops on Monday and will have surgery on Tuesday, and I will have the care of him next week and beyond until all is well. I have book proposals, am teaching 2 discipleship groups in my home for young moms and have a Bible study of 60 women every month. Attending 2 conferences at the end of the month--Relevant (can't wait) and an officer's wives air force conference in Hawaii and then the holiday season hits as well as work on our 4 national women's conferences, and blogs and you all know the story of a busy life. meals, cleaning the house, washing clothes, email, family responsibilities. But, I seek to keep my goals of discipling my children at the center, along with having a quiet time and prayer with God and loving and walking with Clay in our lives together.

So, I charted out my day: Call each of the kids, encourage them, pray with them, share verses, write emails to the boys who especially need encouragement right now, to keep hope and to keep faithful. I needed to fill their cups so I could have integrity when I pursued my other responsibilities. They are the book most people will read in my life, so they come first.

It  is also why I knew I wanted to spend all day yesterday with Joy, because she is my priority and it was her day off from college classes. The piles of work and housecleaning will still be there, but this could very well be my last year with Joy. She is such a driven, idealistic, motivated young woman, and unless the Lord changes plans, she will be off to college next year. I do not want to miss one minute of being with her--speaking into her life, continuing to help shape her ideals, filling her cup with love and affirmation. So, she came before the piles.

But even as Jesus took three years off from the work of the universe in order to pass his ministry on to his disciples, to live with them, eat with them, love them, instruct them, so as mothers, if we want the same kind of life-changing impact on our children, it will require the sacrifice of our time, our commitments, and it will be inconvenient and life-consuming. But leaving godly disciples is the greatest work we will ever achieve. As I have said many times before, when I meet Jesus face to face, He will say, "What did you do to invest, love, teach your children the secrets of the kingdom of God so that they will love me and serve me with wholehearted devotion?"

Yesterday, I took Joy away to the mountains because I wanted to have extended time with her on her day off to focus on messages of the heart and to just tie the strings of our hearts a little faster. It took over 6 hours and I left my computer, and my cell phone in the car as we hiked. We decided that if we were eaten by a bear, everyone would think we were like Enoch who walked with God and then he was not.

How could I have known what was going into her heart? She told me through her own blog! But here is the rest of the story, written by Joy, which was a gift to my own heart.  She started it herself, she wrote the article from her heart, unprompted, but fully an encouragement to me. Your heart will be deeply encouraged by Joy's article, to know that God has created you, too, to have heart impact on your own precious ones. What a blessing to be a part of God's work and to have a best friend in the end, as well. Below is her link:

http://joynessthebrave.wordpress.com/

Lovely, fun, interesting, spiritual, intelligent, charming, 16 year old, Joy. We drank coffee, played music too loud and sang lots of songs, amongst others, Chris Rice--Here in My Cathedral, Rich Mullins and others. She is my cherished, heart friend.

The Many different seasons of a mother's life

Albert Bierstadt

I think that fall may be my favorite season (or spring!). I love the colors, the sunny, crisp days, the opportunity to begin drawing in and making homemade soups and breads and reading a great book and creating more beauty and life-giving friendship and fun with more people inside the walls of our home. (I also love autumn art!)

Even as there are seasons with variety and scope in our lives, so there are so many seasons to a mother's life. One day she loves her children and thinks they are the greatest gift God has given. Another day, she isn't sure she even likes them, but she is obedient and has to put one foot in front of the other just to keep going.

Recently, a young mom I know confessed that she sometimes has a hard time "feeling close" to her young children and being available to them emotionally because she is tired. Most women feel this fairly often. I know that as the tasks of motherhood need to be pursued every day with intention, or they will overcome the home, so life can feel tedious. There were many times throughout the years that I did not feel like giving or even feel close to my children. But, I would just put one foot in front of the other and seek to be loving and gracious and patient, even though I did not feel like it, and eventually, my joyful feelings would return.

It seemed to me, that I would read stories of families that seemed to be all together--studying Greek and Hebrew by age 5, perfectly neat house, home-cooked meals and all in order, with children who had perfect attitudes.

That was not my reality. Mine was a whirlwind of seasons--some were fresh seasons where I loved my children and they seemed to be growing and I enjoyed them and others were winter seasons of darkness and struggle and seemingly no real life or  growth in our home. But I learned that all homes have seasons and it is the faithfulness through all of the seasons that determines the outcomes.

Seasons of a Mother's Heart is the first book on Motherhood I ever wrote. I would learn different truths about God, about how to cope with the different demands and challenges of each season and write down what I learn and how God showed me to walk through the seasons by faith and with His wisdom. Topics addressed in the different seasons of my own life were coping with messes and learning to focus on relationships in the midst, dark seasons of depression, learning to live free of other people's rules and expectations, growing with my children through the seasons of babyhood, childhood, teenage years and beyond!

I wanted to write about this book today because it answers many of the questions I get in my emails from sweet moms and just can't seem to find time to answer.

A sweet friend, Erin,is hosting a book discussion of Seasons of a mother's heart.You will also love her blog and her encouraging writing at Homewiththeboys.net.  Find all the info about how you can join her book club discussions at: (http://homewiththeboys.net/seasons-of-a-mothers-heart-getting-started-connected/)

I know I love seeing what other moms are learning and thinking when reading a book. You will enjoy her blog and her musings about the book. In light of her book club, wholeheart will give away one book by Monday morning if you leave a comment telling me a little about season of life you are in right now. Or tell me your favorite chapter or topic that you have read in this book.

I have just gone through a season of winter with deaths and children leaving and medical and financial issues and weariness, but every time I go through difficult seasons, I know that spring is coming and I will see all sorts of growth and blessing springing up everywhere. I am so very encouraged already to see God's grace and blessings in my life. He is so good and He always leads me in His blessing, when I endure the seasons with His grace and waiting for Him to bring the life. He shows me the reasons for the seasons and has given me such deep fulfillment in my life as I have learned to trust His timing and live by HIs strength and grace.

May our precious Heavenly Father strengthen you today in whatever season you find yourself and may you hear the voice of His love and encouragement in the midst of it. I hope you will find His encouragement as you read Seasons of a Mother's Heart.

: You may order it here: http://www.wholeheart.org/store-2/#ecwid:category=1117022&mode=product&product=4605088

I am woman, hear me roar, kinda

So, Joy goes out to start the car in order to drive to her college class. The battery is dead.

"Mom, what do I do? Do you know how to charge a dead battery?"

"Let's not call Daddy and see if we can do it. He's at the office and I hate to  bother him."

Out comes my computer and we look up "charging a dead battery" on youtube.

Brought it out to the garage, and we both gingerly took different sides of the cables, as we have no idea what we are doing.

Turned on the video and followed directions and voila-the battery started and we felt empowered by our genius.

So, what have you conquered lately?

Accept the Invitation

When I set the table for Father's Day breakfast, or any other event of celebration in my home, I see myself as sort of a spirit of creativity. I choose the china I will use, bake the breads favorite to the person being celebrated and lay the table to be colorful, beautiful, and a proper celebration of the person being honored. I have put so much time, thought, work and attention to these celebrations over the years because of the deep love I hold in my heart for my beloved husband and children and friends. It is a physical expression of my love and delight in them.

I would be so disappointed if, after I planned such a meal or celebration and had done all of the work and put on the finishing touches, if no one ever came to the meal or sat down. I create the beauty to show my love and also to show a part of my own soul in crafting a place of warm fellowship and feasting. The pleasure of preparing it is not as much as the celebrating it with the ones I wanted to show my love--they are necessary to complete the celebration.

Yesterday, the Lord prepared a party for me.  I almost didn't go, because I had planned busy-ness and duties for the hours of my day. But, something deep inside spoke to me of His invitation, and so I put everything else aside and drove to the party where He was graciously waiting for me. I am so glad I showed up, as He had prepared so very much for me to enjoy. I would have missed out on so much, had I ignored the invitation.  His decor was exquisite, His design, breath-taking. I sat on His table and looked out over what He had crafted for me to enjoy.

The gentle music of wind whispering amongst the aspen trees, ruffling their glorious gold across the mountain side and the leaves shivering in rhythm of the life all around, the birds singing with all their hearts, nature crying out, filled my ears with delight and my soul with rest, comfort, assurance and awe that comes from such beautiful music.

I played amongst the trees, and drank in the sun. Pleasure abounded in my day as I a picnic-ed with Him on the side of a cliff,  gloried in my my sugar crisp apples, roasted pecans and strong organic English Cheddar--the tastes beyond compare. What a feast, deep therapy to my thirsty soul. An unforgettable memory made with my Father who had prepared so much.

My heart was joyful and I was hesitant to leave the party, but as I left, I realized, I felt His love so much more deeply than when I had awakened to face the responsibilities earlier that morning. Being at His party had changed everything.

As, so few people attended the grand event,  and my sweet friend, Denise and I celebrated almost by ourselves at His banquet table, I wondered where are all the others He invited? I hoped He was not disappointed since He had gone to so much trouble to prepare the celebration for our pleasure.

And now, my precious friend, Denise, and I, have this treasure of a secret memory shared with Him, my ourselves. I am so glad I said yes.

Have you rsvp's to your invitation yet? You will not regret it!

Small and Insignificant

Tonight I feel small in the scheme of things. The world seems so caught up in the impressive--who has the most numbers, who is the smartest, the most beautiful, the most successful.

What is the loudest voice? The most commanding person. Who is organized and on top of things and has it together? There are some who pretend to have all the answers and who are confident that their way is right.

I cannot compete with those people or with other's standards. Comparing myself to anyone else always brings me up short. I must live happily in my own skin.

A wise friend said, "Never compare yourself to others because you will either come up short and feel inadequate or you will think yourself greater and be filled with false pride."

So very true.

But when I look to His ways, and observe what He has made, and listen to the voice of creation, I see that He has made even the insignificant, a small vibrant red leaf, a thing of glory, beauty to behold, heavenly art in which my heart and soul is amazed. In His hands, the small becomes significant. And so I take hope.

Those who humble themselves will be exalted. The little boy with only 5 fish and loaves fed 5000. The idealistic youth defeated the giant. The poor widow with meager drops of oil,  fed the famous prophet Elijah.

And so, my comfort is not in who I am, or how well I am doing, or in what I accomplish. My strength is in the one who is strong. My miracles are dependent on the God who threw the stars and galaxies into place.

Whatever task is ahead of me, if He is the wisdom for that task, or the strength to complete it or the understanding to show the way, then I know I will find the miracle I need.

Always, this has been my success--He is adequate, I am dependent on Him. I am weak but He is strong.

He, the heavenly Father who created, provided, instructed, saved, redeemed and forgave, and is preparing a place in heaven for me--He is the one who is committed to my well being, He who began a good work will complete it.

And so in my smallness, I find rest, quiet, comfort. It is not my striving that will accomplish His will, but it is in trusting in His provision.

He whispers to me, "Be still and know that I am God."

I am quiet. I listen. I look at what He has made  in all the small corners of my world, and through these glorious works, I am aware of His glory and comforted by His adequacy and strength and I know that all will be well, because He is with me, and He is big enough.

I believe in angels! And a giveaway! (Trying to get it to show up!)

Today, after much gnashing of teeth and writhing on the ground, a wonderful mom from one of my Bible studies, came forward and helped me for two hours to get my blog up on networked blogs. I am trying this out to see if my posts will automatically go up on FB and on Twitter now and trying to see if you can put them on yours, too.

But I need your help. Please go to my side bar and sign up at "Follow this blog" so that I can see how it works and if people are able to connect. I want to reach the many sweet moms who have been writing me and telling me that they could not figure out how to do my posts or get them on their sites! Hopefully this will help.

If you sign up or connect it, just let me know in comments and you will be entered for a free book giveaway of your choice of the books listed on my sidebar. I will choose the winner on Tuesday morning. This is a sort of experiment, but I am grateful for you who have supported me and seen me through this whole blog.

I send my best wishes for a beautiful Sunday with your family and be sure to celebrate the vibrant outside color of the changing leaves if indeed your time zone is in autumn. To my other international friends,  I am planning some trips for the next year and would love to come your way. Let me know if any groups out there that are interested in doing some small international conferences. Of course we only do one or two international trips a year, but I love knowing who is dreaming of something like that.

Blessings of peace tonight--my heart is very full from a lovely, God-blessed day.

Now I know why I am not depressed! It's my coffee

Now I know why I am not depressed........

Since my early days in my 20's, when I fell in love with Austrian cappuccino's, I knew that it had to be somehow healthy for me. After all, I gleaned so much pleasure from my civilized cup of velvet coffee. Surely anything that came from a plant must be somehow organic and God made it good for my body.

Finally, I found an article that said that coffee kept women from having gall stones. Well, that was enough for me. At least 2 cups a day was the cure, and heaven knows I do not want gall stones.

How happy I was to read this most recent article that said that women who drink coffee are much less likely to be depressed. Well, maybe that is one of the underlying reasons I started a blog called itakejoy--it was helped by my predisposition to be positive because I drank coffee every day! Well, what do you know!

I like mine, at home, with just a dash of vanilla and natural sugar. What is your favorite?

Here's the rest of the story:

http://lifehacker.com/5844229/drinking-coffee-may-help-lower-the-risk-of-depression-in-women

Let me hear your opinion! And go have a nice cup of ......................?

My mama has lost everything dear and chosen not to be bitter

Larla, Gwen's mom, with Sarah, a couple of years ago

For the past two days, I have slept, eaten, been served and talked and talked to my sweet, kindred spirit friend, Gwen. In between as I sipped my tea in her living room, she would get her mom out of bed, bathe her, cook for her, dress her, undress her, feed her medicine, and all the other things a 96 year old needs to do, but cannot manage.

Throughout, I have heard a gentle, loving voice. "Hi, mama, you are dearly loved today."

"Sweet precious mama, are you hungry? You sure look pretty today."

Patient, kind, tenderhearted, for 10 years, as her sweet mom's brain has escaped into other regions beyond her grasp, at least most of the time.

Last night as we both put her to bed, there was a smile from ear to ear. "I love you, quietly slipped from her smiling mouth." Her crystal blue eyes sparkled as if she had secret delight, but we realized she was delighting in us laying with her and kissing her soft cheek.

"Gwennie, you are so amazingly patient and kind and content, even though now you have to stay here 24/7. How do you stay so joyful and content, knowing you have been in this place for 10 years," was my sincere question as I witnessed amazing strength and patience through out these days, as all of the days of the last years I have visited her.

"My mama has lost everything dear to her over the years. She saw my brothers die too early, she lost all of her relatives and friends one by one. She has seen tragedy. But through it all, she resisted bitterness and chose to be joyful and give love. And so, even the model of my 96 year old mom has spoken to my own heart. If she can do it, I have learned how. Every day she greets me with a smile and gentle soul. It is what she practiced and so it was easy for me to copy."