Special Invitation: Come have a (virtual) cup of tea with me!

I wish you could sit beside me on the wooden porch rockers for a lingering chat with a cup of something delicious.  I would love to know what is swimming in your own heart and to hear your thoughts about life. Meeting with women, hearing your stories and encouraging you through my own stories has brought me great joy over my life.

Even more, though, when I look at the landscape of our culture and the values that are being supported in public arenas, I see that the foundation of family is being destroyed every day. And yet, I believe that a strong family bond, mothers dedicated to building emotional, spiritual and moral strength in the lives of their children and marriages that hold fast through storms of life are more important than ever.

A strong family life is still the best indicator that a person will thrive and be able to live a sustainable life. But the carrying out of these traditional biblical ideals is challenging and lonely at this time of history. These are the messages I would share with you—your life as a mom, wife, and Christian matters more now than ever. And in a world where relationships have been broken, and families have been fractured, all the more, we each need support and encouragement of one another of how to keep building strong foundations for life.

This is why I am excited to announce a new project that has been bubbling up in my heart.  Cultivating Life with Sally is my new membership site designed to encourage you in the areas of motherhood, home, discipleship, leadership, and education.   

Cultivating Life with Sally will be a place to find lifegiving messages from me and my friends along with supplemental materials to help you dive deeper and bring God’s grace into your life and home in new ways.   There will be audios and videos, printable PDFs, reflection questions and more.  The lovely ladies at Storyformed will also be providing bonus content that will not be available anywhere else.

Cultivating Life with Sally will provide a place for me to mentor you toward a deeper relationship with Jesus.  I can’t wait to share with you what I am learning as I study my Bible each day.  My goal is that women will grow in their walk with God and then in turn grow in their capacity to love and serve their husband, children, friends and neighbors. 

Join us in Cultivating Life with Sally- with new content each month, it will be as if we are attending a mini-conference together several times a year.  Doing the leadership intensives in my home has been rewarding but this gives me the chance to share the same encouragement and Bible studies with anyone who is interested. 

During the first few months, we will also have a special study of composers and maybe along the way, artists. This is something that you can listen to with your children, then run to the library for a few of the suggested books and enjoy learning about the lives of some amazing musicians together as a family. 

I will be discussing the book of Hebrews and principles of how to have faith and stay faithful, even when you don’t feel like it. Recipes, traditions, and ideas from our lives will fill your library of resources as we slowly build a treasury of training and ideas over the months.

Here is a little video to introduce you to Cultivating Life with Sally.

I hope that you’ll consider joining me at Cultivating Life with Sally.  Registration opens September 5, 2017.

A Heart For Patience

Episode #92 A Heart for Patience

Podcast: Download

Subscribe: iTunes

I can do all things through Him [Christ] who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty … I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well."

TEDDY ROOSEVELT

What are you bearing today that feels impossible to you? Are there circumstances, difficulties or burdens that drain your heart and soul? Often times, when we are called upon to grow in character and endurance, when we need others to help encourage us most of all, is when we can feel the most isolated and utterly alone.

In this podcast, Sally and Kristen want to encourage you and give you tools to overcome what you are facing today by giving FIVE practical ways to cultivate a heart of patience and peace in your own life and in the hearts of your children. They talk candidly about their own struggles, verses that have helped to bolster their hearts and have meant so much to their own families, and what it has meant to them to learn how to trust God's story for their lives. 

Then, Kristen is joined by Mom Heart national team member, Gretchen Roberts who shares her heart for ministry and has an exciting announcement about a new membership site called Cultivating Life With Sally that is opening in September! So many of you have asked for more teaching, training and opportunities to learn from Sally for so long and our entire team is thrilled that there is now a place where you can do just that! Check out more information below and be sure to subscribe to SallyClarkson.com to stay in the loop on updates about when membership opens.

What we Talk about:

-5 Things you can cultivate in your life to be able to endure faithfully

-How to embrace faithfulness as a daily choice in your life

-Learning to believe that God truly cares for you, that He will be faithful in His time, and believe that your faith has value.

-How to gain an eternal perspective and allow our character to be formed in suffering.

-When and why it is important to get help and counseling to encourage you.

-Why it is important to rest and refresh in the midst of stress and ideas for how to find simple ways to delight in life and find strength to keep going.

-Learning how to invest yourself in Truth, and take every thought captive when anxiety and fear creep in.

links:

10 Gifts of Heart: What Your Child Needs to Take to Heart Before Leaving Home Buy on Amazon

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” 

James 5: 7-8 “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being A HEART FOR PATIENCE 162 patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near."

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him [Christ] who strengthens me."

Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline."

Hebrews 10:35-36, 39 "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. … But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul."

1 Corinthians 10:13  "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." 

Psalm 18:31-32  "For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God, the God who girds me with strength and makes my way blameless? He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, and sets me upon my high places."

***************

I am so excited about projects I have been working on this summer with my dream team--sweet kindred spirits who are so skilled at helping me put together messages, resources, study guides, and of course Bible study and interesting stories for your children.

But, I can't wait to share my new book, The Lifegiving Table, with all of you. I am passionate about discipleship and mentoring your children and influencing your friends and this book will open new ideas and windows of wisdom to help you know how to do this. 

And we have some really amazing gifts to give away to celebrate the launch. But, you have to be a subscriber to my blog to win. The reason for this is that we have had numerous winners in the past who were not a part of our network and never answered our emails. One grand prize winner who won a plane ticket to my home had never even heard of me. We want to have people who participate and win be those of our regular audience so we can bless those who read and listen to us every week. So this is our attempt to be able to bless those who are a part of this community. So, be sure to sign up to subscribe to my blog so that you can be a part of receiving my weekly newsletter with different articles and also to be able to enter the giveaways that are coming. We will develop a launch team this week and you will hear more.

So excited!  

Sally

Cultivating Life with Sally Membership Site

We are really excited to introduce Sally's new membership site.  The areas in which Sally will be mentoring us include: motherhood, home, discipleship, leadership, education and Storyformed bonus content.  Check back tomorrow for more information!  

Find this week's Bible memory pdf by clicking here: Week 9 Bible memory

This is our last calendar to be posted on the blog--we hope you've enjoyed them this summer! You'll find more about our plans for similar things as part of tomorrow's announcement. Find this month's Lifegiving Calendar, here! LifegivingAugust

LifeGIFTS for Life Giving: Grace

In planning for an intentional life with our children, it helps to think through what sort of framework might be necessary in order to build what we envision in our homes.

In Matthew 7:9-12, Jesus pictures God as a good father. A child who asks for a fish knows he will receive a fish, not a snake. A child who asks for bread knows he will receive bread, not a stone. Your children are asking you to give them a taste of real spiritual life—the same life of the Spirit that they see at work in your own heart. They want to learn from you not just how to live for Christ, but also how they can have the life of Christ they see in you in their own lives. If you are not actively imparting that life to them, then your passivity is the same as a snake or a stone to your child. Decide what you will give them and then determine to provide it. Like the five loaves and the two fishes offered in simple faith by a young boy, God will take what you have to give and multiply it to spiritually feed your children.

LifeGIFTS: A Model for Home Nurture

There is a tendency to view nurture as a kind of home version of “Random Acts of Kindness.” It’s not often viewed as something that necessarily needs to be planned for ahead of time, but rather as the spontaneous, by-the-Spirit acting out of life-giving love and good deeds. Spiritual spontaneity is a commendable characteristic for any Christian home, but a full expression of home nurture requires more. If nurture is about feeding your children’s spirits so they will grow in their longing for God, then you need to approach that task with the same forethought that you would a garden. If you want to nurture something to grow, you have to go about it thoughtfully and deliberately.

When we were starting our family, we realized early on that we wanted a simple model to help us give to our children gifts of life—gifts that would enable them to become life-givers to a world of life-seekers. That thought gave birth to LifeGIFTS, an acronym reminder of the five gifts of life we wanted to be sure we were passing on to our children—Grace, Inspiration, Faith, Training, and Service. LifeGIFTS became a simple model to help us actively nurture and disciple our children. The illustration below visualizes the balance of the five priorities among head (knowledge), heart (faith), and hands (actions), with one side fostering desire, the other ability. The result is that LifeGIFTS instill desireability in your children.

Grace

The gift of grace is the desire and ability to relate personally and purposefully to God and people. The gift of grace prepares your children to become channels of God’s grace and love to other people. A person who cannot relate personally and purposefully to God or to people will, without fail, be handicapped or even hindered in life and ministry. A faithful message and a fruitful ministry are effective and powerful only to the degree that they are characterized by grace in the messenger and minister. In order to be channels of grace, your children must not only know how to receive grace from God, but they also must know how to give God’s grace to others. The quality of graciousness (being a grace giver) will make your children equally at home with both commoners and kings and will make others they come in contact with feel accepted and valuable. Even simple courtesies become powerful tools of God’s grace. Graciousness removes barriers and builds bridges. It affirms the worth and value of another person. It opens the channel by which the light of God’s grace and truth can flow into a darkened world through your children.

Read more about LifeGifts in Educating the Wholehearted Child!

Educating the WholeHearted Child -- Third Edition

By Clay Clarkson with Sally Clarkson

Storyformed Podcast Episode #11 - Pursuing Wisdom For Life

In this episode, Holly Packiam and Jaime Showmaker discuss our quest as Christians to be lifelong learners and carriers of wisdom. They share from their own journey as children of God, moms, and parents what it looks like to pursue wisdom for a lifetime. 

Topics include:

• The understanding of a disciple of Christ as a learner
• The characteristics of a lifelong learner
• The importance of modeling a lifestyle of learning to our children
• Practical ways to pursue wisdom
• Books to inspire lifelong learning

Click HERE to listen to the podcast!

The Importance of Training in Love

"Love covers a multitude of sin."  "Love is a perfect bond of unity." "A gentle answer turns away wrath." "They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another." "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging symbol." The Bible is full of verses about love!

What a motley crew we are! Some introverts, some extroverts, some moody, some more prone to anger--and all a wonderful mix of personality, love, dreams, passion, messes -- human! Yet we are held together, by God's grace, through love, loyalty, and a commitment to be there for each other no matter what.

I am a harmony-oriented person. I do not like arguing, harshness, anger, or critical attitudes (unless of course it is my critical attitude, because of course I am perfectly just in my opinions!) But raising a family of sinful, immature people is most often a challenge. My boys are so different that I thought they never would grow up to be friends. There is so much natural tension between a couple of my children that I wondered if they would ever get along. 

When the boys would fuss, I used to read them the story of Cain and Abel and tell them that all boys are tempted to fight and be jealous and that it results in terrible consequences. Obviously, Cain and Abel served as quite the models for that! Then I would read them Psalm 133:1 where it says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!"

"That is the standard that pleases God. Unity. Peace. How could you have said that more graciously to your brother? You boys need to stay in this room until you have settled your differences. I don't care if it takes two months! You cannot come out until you have made peace and have prayed together and can behave in a civilized way."

Not only did that force them to come to some agreement, it removed the disagreement from the middle of our living room! Often, the issues would be so petty. Does that ever happen in your house? "He sat on my side of the cushion!" as I was reading out loud to them. Or, "Why do I have to clean up the dishes, I didn't even eat lunch here today" or some combination of these types of words! There was a constant dripping of fussing and complaints over the years, always followed by correction, instruction, and saying words of forgiveness and prayers. I had no idea if they were listening to Clay and me as we trained and disciplined and corrected all those years.

With the girls it was often a matter of correcting those disrespectful or condescending attitudes or looks--especially in the teen years. No one got away with an "attitude" toward me or Clay for too long. Heart correction was our focus.

This kind of training and instruction can be wearying. Not to mention the stresses in marriage--finances, values, neglect, work loads, all sorts of issues that could be damaging. 

But we sought over and over again to love, correct, forgive and give grace. We always said, "It is natural to fuss and disagree and hold grudges. It is supernatural to love and be humble and give grace. When we live in the power of the Holy Spirit, He calls us to love and give grace--period--no excuses--it is the standard of God's love and ways for us."

Many words of kindness were given in notes, appreciation and life-giving words were modeled and practiced, and even though our household could shake the roof with issues and disagreements, the standard was always to get back to loving, giving grace, staying committed, and adjusting to each other's differences.

How important this "love training" is. The reason there are so many divorces, child abuse, feelings of abandonment in the hearts of children and adults, is because loving and serving one another takes a lot of work and sacrifice and humility--and that work is not natural to us.

To love is a choice of obedience out of our own love for Christ. And every single time you choose to extend love, to speak gently instead of losing your temper, looking to the heart of your little ones instead of judging them harshly, you are serving God, loving Him well. Our service of sacrifice to others if our worship to God--and it matters. Indeed it does. I have seen that my boys and my girls were taking it all in, but the seeds I planted just took time to grow strong and big. Don't give up--your life and love matters so much. 

If we are to please Christ, there is no other option--we are commanded to love.

How are you focusing on "love training" this summer?

A Heart for Hospitality

Episode #91 A Heart for Hospitality

Podcast Download

Subscribe:  iTunes

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2

"Hospitality isn't about inviting people into our perfect homes, its about inviting them into our imperfect hearts."- Edie Wadsworth

Do you want to open your home but find it to be so much work to get everything perfect before welcoming friends in? In this episode of At Home With Sally and Friends, Sally and Kristen talk about what lies at the very heart of hospitality: a willingness to make room for others, because that is God's heart for us. They share about precious memories that they have over the years of times when they prepared their homes for others to enjoy and why the love of God, and the love of a family are meant to be shared. Then Kristen is joined by Chystal Evans Hurst who shares how she teaches her children to practically make room for others and how we care for our own souls while pouring out to those who need us. 

What we talk about:

The Heart of Hospitality

Practical ways to welcome others in and show God's love

What it means to welcome and show love to strangers

How Christians must keep doors to the world around us open

How to plan a feast for those you invite in

How to teach your children to add beauty to your home

How to train your children in the art of conversation and prepare them for guests

The Keys to Understand Being a Great Host

Links

Hebrews 13:2 "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it."

Romans 12:13 "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."

Psalm 68:6 "God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land."

Matthew 25: 31-46 "

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?  And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;  for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;  I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’  Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not [a]take care of You?’  Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’  These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Links to find Chrystal Evans Hurst

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrystalHurst/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrystalHurst

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrystalhurst/

Blog: http://chrystalevanshurst.com/

Chrystal Hurst is writer, speaker, and worship leader in addition to serving as the chief executive operating officer in her home as a wife, mother of five and grandmother to one. She is a self-proclaimed ”geek”; and bibliovore, who is actively seeking help for her addiction to Starbucks, sweet tea, and chocolate chip cookies. Chrystal is co-author of, Kingdom Woman and her second book, She’s Still There coming out this summer. She also blogs and podcasts regularly at Chrystal’s Chronicles where she poignantly reflects her thoughts about her faith and day-to- day experiences.

Click here to download and print this week's Bible Memory Printable! Week Eight Bible Memory

Living a Life of Joy--in an Imperfect World!

      One afternoon, I was particularly determined to get all my work completed by the end of the day. I drove downtown toward a quiet hotel, with a secluded lobby, where I would be free to write without any interruptions. I had to stop on the way because my gas tank was on empty. (Someone had borrowed my car and left it without gas!)

      Next, I stopped at a coffee shop. Before I ordered, I saw a mug on sale and thought, I would much rather drink out of a real mug so I bought it. I turned to walk away from the counter—and promptly dropped my new purchase. It shattered into hundreds of pieces. I bent down to clean it up and saw that the coffee had spilled on my new shirt. Finally after I cleaned up the mess and fixed my shirt as best as I could, I got on the road again—and was promptly halted by a long, unexpected construction detour. It wasn't dire circumstances, but every moment was a new irritation. I suppose we all have days like this. 

      I could feel my frustration mounting, my stomach slowly turning in knots. Tempted to become irritated at how my day was going, I realized that I was wasting my time, fretting and that it wasn't going to do any good. It's as though a little angel pricked my heart to remind me that God had not lost control. Slowly, I decided to give this book I was working on and its deadline over to the Lord. I  chose not to pay attention to the broken mug and my dirty shirt. After so many years of living in the throes of life, I breathed and remembered that this chaos is just part of normal life. So I put on some quiet instrumental music, sat back in my seat, and slowly began to enjoy the peace as I waited to move through the congested traffic.

       A commitment to living a life of joy involves a one-time decision in our heart: "Lord, I want to know your joy every day of my life, and I will seek to find out what it means to dwell in your presence in joy."

Choosing to cultivate joy through challenging circumstances requires us to look for God’s fingerprints along the way. 

      Experiencing joy, though, is a long-term process and it takes a lifetime to slowly move from stress mode to living into the peace God wants us to know through all the moments of life—a journey toward maturity as we begin to be aware of those thoughts and worries that would steal our joy.

        The more we practice taking all of our troubled thoughts captive, the more easily we will recognize them before they take hold in our heart. Practice and discipline provide strength training for our mental muscles and heart responses. So walking in the reality of joy is a road we truly find only as we mature and become stronger. The more consistently we follow that path—believing in God's goodness and turning away from Satan's taunts—the more the habit to submit to the Lord and trust him becomes second nature.

        We can make a commitment to take every situation, every feeling, every fear to God as it happens. We don't have to remain in a state of emotional separation from the Lord every time we get out of step. We simply have to practice walking each step with him and allow his presence to bring us the joy that comes from resting in the arms of our capable dance partner through each measure of life's song.

Dancing with My Father: How God Leads Us into a Life of Grace and Joy

By Sally Clarkson

Paul wrote, "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). What does it mean to take every thought in your head "captive" to the obedience of Christ?

Are there any specific patterns of thought (fear, jealousy, irritation, impatience) that you struggle with? How does this rob your joy?

What do you need to do to change that pattern?

I've written more about intentionally living a life of joy in Dancing With My Father. You can find it here!

A Wholehearted Booklist

One of the requests we get most frequently here at Storyformed is for book lists. We love to give recommendations and, while we are always working behind the scenes to curate the very best books for you and your family, today we thought that we would point you to a list that our lovely founder, Sarah Clarkson, compiled.

Storyformed is an arm of Whole Heart Ministries, founded by Clay and Sally Clarkson. The mission of Whole Heart is "to encourage and equip Christian parents to raise wholehearted children for Christ." As part of that mission, Sarah has frequently spoken at conferences about the impact of story in the discipleship process. She created this list of recommended children's literature in response to requests for book recommendations from her talks. We hope that you will enjoy this resource and then take some time to look around at all of the other resources that Whole Heart Ministries has to offer as you and your family live a story worth telling.

Click HERE to view Sarah Clarkson's list of recommended children's literature. 

The Importance of Humility-Sowing Love At Home

Jesus once told story of a wealthy man who forgave the debt of a man to whom he had loaned money. Later, the man whose debt had been erased went out and showed no mercy to a man who owed him money. When the wealthy man found out about the man's ungrateful, vindictive deeds, he went back to the man who had been released from the debt and threw him in prison to be tortured until he had personally repaid all the debt. Jesus gives us a powerful warning: "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." (Matthew 18:21-35)

This story is about our relationship with the Lord. If He has forgiven us and humbled himself to the point of death to bring about our debt being paid, then we owe everyone we meet the grace, love, mercy and forgiveness that we have received. If we do not forgive others, no matter how unjust their actions were, our hearts will be damaged and we will feel far from God.

I was talking with a godly, older, wiser friend of mine the other day, and she said, "You know, I have lost so many friends over the years because of issues with my children."

She was referring to a situation in which one of her children had been immature and offended one of her friends, and the friend held it against her personally. What a travesty! To lose a friendship over a silly incident is a waste of a good friendship. If we expect our friends and their children to always be mature, we will surely become disappointed and disillusioned. Yet I see it happen all the time. No wonder so many people are suspicious of Christians, if they act just like all other normal, self-centered people, rather than like those who have been redeemed!

There is so much potential for broken relationships--hurt feelings, different values, different philosophies, immaturity, insensitivity, harsh or careless words, bitterness, and irritation. 

The reason for broken relationships  today is because there is so little glue--no commitment--no covenant that says,

No matter what, I will be loyal to you. I will commit to loving you, not with feelings, but with my heart, because God has loved me.

Our children need to see this kind of loyal love demonstrated so that they will stay faithful, strong and true in the difficult relationships they will encounter. They need to know that loving unconditionally is a choice, an obedience.

So many people are brokenhearted because of the actions of others.

But our hearts don't have to stay broken. We can always choose to love, even when we are not loved by people--because God is absolutely, forever committed to loving us.

"I will never leave you or forsake you." Hebrews 13

"Nothing can separate us from the love of God." Romans 8  

"I pray that you may know the Father's love, with which he has loved me from the foundations of the world." John 17

The Role of Humility

I have found that I have had to humble myself so many times in relationships--sometimes when I was wrong, but many times when I thought the other person was wrong. Do you know what I've learned? The more you practice humility, the easier it becomes. We are the most like God when we love and "cover a multitude of sin" with our words and compassion than at any other time. He has not called us to judge, but to love. 

In reality, we all sin, fall short, come up short in some way or another. And so we must understand that everyone we meet comes up short, too. Humility says, "I will never be perfect. I will not condemn myself for being perfect. I will not condemn you for not being perfect."

Does it hurt to be ignored or mistreated? Of course, but if we love Jesus, we are called to love and forgive, not because the person deserves it, but because He wants us to! We love out of our commitment to Him. Loyal love, humble love, "I don't care what you have done--I will always be your friend" sort of love is what makes us, as Christians, a picture of His reality in this world. 

There will be times when relationships are beyond repair. There are so many things in a fallen world that are broken or damaged from generations of sin. Many people are emotionally fragile and scarred, and beyond the ability of being healthy in their responses. These broken friendships break our hearts and the hearts of our children. I wish I had obtained more training earlier in my life or had tools to access those who were incapable of having healthy relationships,  sometimes toxic relationships. But, scripture tells us,

"As far as it is possible, be at peace with all men." Romans 12:18

Proverbs tells us not to relate to fools, (unhealthy, immature,  or destructive people). So we can see that there was some provision for the possibility of being in relationships that we cannot mend or control because we do not control the behavior of others. 

Yet, if we want to be free from the prison of emotional chaos, we have to forgive, we move in the direction of sowing love whenever possible. We grow in humility and giving grace because of our love and obedience to Jesus. Growing in love in relationships takes a lifetime, but Jesus teaches us how to pursue love one lesson at a time and extends His grace as we grow.

And sowing love will produce a wonderful crop of love--eventually! I was talking with Nathan the other day and he said, "You know, Joel is one of the people in the world I most admire. He is a great big brother to follow. I think he is one of my favorite people in all the world." 

Victory! Amazement! They love each other and prefer each other! And it only took over twenty years! Little by little, we sow and water and in time, the seeds will bear fruit. 

Are you a committed believer? Then choose to love! It is your spiritual service of worship to Jesus because of how He loved us.

We love because He first loved us. May God give us the grace today to love. 

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." Luke 6:35

A Heart for Taking Initiative Changes History and Destinies

An Invitation

Many years ago, I was embroiled in the details of life, caring for my young family. Washing 2 loads of clothes, promising a song and rocking chair time to my little toddler, emptying the dishwasher with my blooming pre-teen son who wanted to talk and yelling out the door to my "wild man" that the sun would soon be down and he needed to come in and set the table. 

The phone rang and jarred me out of my whipping around the house.

"Hi, is this Sally Clarkson? You don't know me but my name is Beth Martinez and I live in California. I wondered if you would consider coming to California and doing a mom's conference if I made the arrangements, gathered helpers and found a suitable hotel?"

After talking with her, I prayed about it with Clay, and we decided to do it. 

Wonderful, dear Beth and me!

The next 12 years, thousands and thousands of women attended our Mom Heart conference in California simply because one woman had an idea, took initiative to call me, and helped launch a conference that transformed women all over the west coast.

On a fun helicopter ride in Kona, fast friends forever because of our time together in ministry. 

And another story below was another time my life was changed by someone taking initiative.

Just reaching out, making one little phone call, an email, a card, a plate of cookies or a fb message can change another person's day, giving them hope for this day in their lives. Just a few invitations from friends have changed my life forever.

That's how it has all started for me--these friends I have and don't deserve. One person took initiative to reach out to me, to share Christ with me 45 years ago, and through following events, thousands of lives influenced, family foundations changed for eternity, because of her faithfulness to reach out to me.

No one else saw my silent prayers to know if God existed, but God saw. He put it on the heart of a woman to give me the time of day.

Someone knocked on my dorm door and asked if she could talk to me. She took a risk.....

She graciously showed interest in me and then told me how much God loved me and then invited me to a student meeting.

That's how it all started--finding love, finding friends, purpose, adventure, meaning, friends, fellowship.

Starting a ministry, writing books, creating a blog, hosting intensives, creating conferences.

She changed the course of my life, my marriage, my children's lives, my very destiny--all by one knock on my door and an invitation.

It just takes one person saying, "You want to go out to lunch or coffee?" Or "Would you like to come to my house for a cup of tea?"  "Do you want to talk?"or "Do you want to go with me to a Bible study for moms? It sounds interesting."

By training our children to reach out to others in love by modeling it through our lives and our home life, may mean our children will learn how to be life-changers. 

I am amazed at how much has happened in my life because one sweet, shy woman, boldly took initiative to knock on my door and talk to me.

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Through the years, others would volunteer to work at our mom's conferences and we became fast friends because they asked if they could help.  I have been on the phone talking with different friends from all over the United States recently, and realized that we could never have hosted our conferences without their help. 

 I, in no way, deserve these sweet women but they are now in my life because 40 years ago, someone took the initiative to share a life-changing message with me. And so now, though I sin and make mistakes and do things I am embarrassed of, I learned to live by faith, believe in His miracles, invest in ideals and then share this with those He brought into my pathway. And now, I am over blessed with connection to women I never deserved to have as friends, but who willingly move into my heart, all because we are connected by this invisible, creative and loving Life--called Jesus.

I sit in my home and marvel what God has let me be a part of--a movement of like-minded women world-wide who want to make a difference in their own personal worlds. I am blessed with them because

 just  one woman

encouraged me to reach out and to call some friends to tell them about the good news that had changed my life.

So today, I am sitting in the adventure of my little den and seeing miracles take place.

One  friend, just called to pray with me about our family and ministry and health. Others wrote to offer to  are organize  the teas at the different conferences and to offer great ideas about food, talks, devotionals. Some are going to search out our traditional  hearts and chocolates that will grace the tables at the tables of each conference, as always in the past.

Talking to Sarah Mae in Penn. about our chapters in the new book we are writing. Talking with Kristen Kill in New York who is helping design a new ministry. Talking to Lynn Custer in North Carolina who called to say she found some favors. Emailing Misty in Florida about a new book club she is working on. Emailing with Courtney in Ohio about her ministry to women and spreading gentleness amongst the moms from her blog. Talking with Sandra Maddox in California who is providing a ride to the airport and an adventure and a poem. Getting emails from sweet friends saying they will organize the speakers, make meals, buy chocolates, ........

Feeling quite blessed to be associated with precious, servant leader women--they are amazing and we are all connected because of

One Invitation that someone took the initiative to give me to know Him, just 40 years ago

Is someone waiting for an invitation from you, that just might, beyond your imagination, change the course of history?

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Episode #90

Do you ever feel that you are victim of circumstance? That there is nothing you can possibly do to flourish or cultivate a meaningful life because of all that has happened to you? In this episode Sally and Kristen discuss how its vital that we learn how to grow in initiative. They share about the importance of choosing to cultivate responsibility into all areas of our lives, and how we can impart a heart for initiative into the lives our children as well, so that they can lead, serve, work and live faithfully into their own callings as victors and over comers. Then, Sally shares a special story about her son, Nathan, and the unlikely way that God is currently using his initiative to bring forth Kingdom messages in Hollywood. 

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Here's this week's Bible memory PDF for you to download! Click here ... Week Seven Bible Memory