Words are Powerful to Bring Life or Death! Sally's Membership Bible Study # 2 & Podcast

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Many of you know that lifegiving is a theme in my life. Often, I ask myself the question, is what I am doing, thinking, saying, planning, going to bring the life to myself and those I am with today or will it kill or destroy my soul or another’s heart or soul?

I arise early to go walking every morning. Yes, sometimes it takes a lot to get our of my comfy bed to face the cold or rain, but I wanted you to see a bit of my pathway. Springtime brings with it the greenest of green, life proliferating everywhere. This is a picture of how your words may influence others—you can create life that will grow into beauty in another’s soul, or you can create death.

Misty and I are back this week with another sneak peek into our membership site, Life with Sally! Every month, I record a new Bible study just for members. My desire is to leave a legacy of encouragement, trust and wisdom to those who long for it as I do. Consequently, I do a Bible study every month for my membership to encourage them from my own walk in scripture. We’ve been looking into the book of Proverbs recently, and today we are sharing the second half of a particular study on the power of words.

The words we speak reveal what we’ve been spending time pondering, and they have the power to shape the world around us. That means—the atmosphere in our own homes can be changed by what we say! Have you ever considered the ways Jesus spoke into the lives of the people around Him? He encouraged and uplifted, exhorted and corrected, all while expressing perfect love. But Jesus also gave us an astounding example by the times He did not speak. Scripture tells us that “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). How amazing that He held to His peace (because, of course, He IS peace!) in the midst of betrayal and unjust accusation!

Last week in our first sneak peek, we shared the printable outline and study guide from Sally’s teaching. This week we’re sharing another monthly feature: our wonderful team has created a lovely printable of this verse that we’re sharing with you today! Woohoo— click here to find and download it; we like to put these scripture reminders on our refrigerators or dining room walls so we can memorize them easily!

1 Peter 2:23 Printable

We hope you’ll enjoy today’s podcast, and consider some of the questions we’re asking ourselves:

Are you sowing a treasury of great words to those around you?

Will your children be able to recall your words of life as they look back on life in your home?

Words were important to Jesus. How does it feel to know that it is what comes out of your mouth that defiles you? Ask the Lord to grow you in maturity and self-control with your words.

Of course, this sneak peek is just a tiny bit of all the wonderful content available in membership! Book clubs, legacy talks, recipes, artist studies, the Bible studies, great composers … the goodness goes on and on! We’d love to have you join us. Find out more here: Life with Sally Membership

Building A Palace Takes Time: C.S.Lewis with Michael Ward & Podcast

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"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The Sitting Room where C.S. Lewis wrote his books at his home, the Kilns.

The Sitting Room where C.S. Lewis wrote his books at his home, the Kilns.

As I am going through my book, Dancing With My Heavenly Father in my podcast, I am reminded so very often that all of us have context to our story—where we live, our past, our present circumstances, our hurts and pain, our successes and productivity. But it is in our stories where God is building faith, character and commitment. Strength comes through training of muscles exposed to great pressure.

C.S. Lewis is one of my heroes. I love his writing and thinking. Yet, I appreciate him even more because of his very difficult life. He wrote great psychology of many characters not just because of his imagination, but because of the experiences of His life which taught him to forge through the dark times to strain into the light.

I hope you will enjoy my podcast today talking with my friend, Michael Ward, where we discuss the context and perseverance of Lewis’s life. His faith inspires me to have faith.

This weekend I will be repeating a very familiar trip—one from London to Denver and then to Monument. It is long, taxing, but the reward is home at the end. As I was packing, I was remembering another time when I had taken this trip. And it applies to living into the season of stretching towards godliness, as Lewis so deftly points out.

Flying Home to America

Twenty hours of flying and waiting and standing and carrying bags left me a bit weary and exhausted, but the feeling was a familiar one for me, and I knew that in a few days I would be over jet lag. But on my journey, I sat next to a young mother from Paris who had a 9 month old baby to wrestle with through out the wakings, feedings, playings and keeping her precious little boy sequestered in one seat on the plane.

As I was watching her in constant motion--changing, cajoling, nursing, bouncing, and doing it all over again, I was reminded again how much being a mother of my children has shaped, stretched and enlarged my soul.I could fairly see the soul and character of this young woman being stretched.

Often times we consider our tasks as being performed for the benefit of the children or babies.

But from God's point of view, he gave us children that we might learn how to become unselfish, to love generously, to work more heartily, to understand forgiveness, perseverance, endurance, graciousness, creativity, the skills of life-giving--because through this great work of motherhood, we are slowly being conformed into the image of Christ--and from this commitment of motherhood, we come to better understand His fatherhood, His sacrifice, His unmerited favor for us. His plan has a purpose that will create beauty of soul and heart and mind.

The very act of submitting to His plan for motherhood, became the long term instrument through which He shaped and crafted my soul.

But to become this vessel where He is willing to dwell and to become the soul that reflects Him and his gentle love and powerful reality, we must submit to the building and crafting that He has designed by making us mothers after his own heart and submissive to His design. I did not know that this journey was about soul-making, but now I see that in the shaping of my soul, He also designed the end result to be deep fulfillment and happy pleasure. For being with my adult children is my greatest joy and brings me the deepest happiness in my days of living on this earth.

Dr. Ward can be found at: http://www.michaelward.net where you will enjoy finding the books he has written, his speaking schedule and all things he is involved in. What a privilege to have him on this podcast.

I will have such great pleasure in being back where I belong, in the company of Clay and Darcy, in my beloved Colorado, in my own bed, sitting on my front porch watching the sunset. Yet, I will also have Oxford and the sweet memories I made with my precious ones, always in my heart--and it feels so very good to be in the place that I belong, here or there. My belonging is with my people.

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Motherhood: Beautiful Design

Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.

— Robert L. Peters

While traveling in Vienna one day, I was struck by the beauty and quality of design in almost all of the buildings downtown. Each building was constructed with an elaborate plan, that not only considered structural strength, but also beauty and detailed design that validated the skill and craftsmanship of the architect.

Our modern day homes lack the craftsmanship and artistic skill of historical buildings that were built to last for centuries. And so the pragmatic and common place has swallowed up the art, beauty and strength of the design of a dwelling crafted for beauty and visual design as well as structural strength and longevity.

Similarly, while walking the streets of Vienna, I was struck with how much we have lost the value for the beauty of God's original design for home and family. We have replaced the purpose, beauty and meaning of family, home and motherhood with the common and demeaning value our current culture has placed, by  devaluing of the original purpose and beauty of family and home. And so we are not always even aware of what we have lost because we lack a perspective or memory  of the beauty of the original design and what God intended it to be.

When God created the heavens and the earth, he created it with minute and detailed intricacy and order. There was color and form and beauty woven in every aspect of His creation, as an expression of His own life art.

The pinnacle of creation, though,  was crafting man and woman in His image. And with this image, and relationships amongst those who would be his children, sharing His image, he created order and beauty within the structure of relationships called a family--a father, a mother, and children, and generations of family connections.

God's purpose in giving order and structure to these relationships was to provide a community of security, comfort, pleasure, inspiration, purpose and belonging. When children are born into families where the structure is intact, there is beauty, strength, health and moral and educational strength. Family was the perfect design before the fall, before there was any sin in the world.

Mother was the first name of the woman. Mother, by its very nature, embraces the giving of life to another outside of herself--a real live human being whose life will have implication for all of eternity. Motherhood requires accepting children as a gift, and giving them life--both spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and moral--is the greatest civilizing and most beautiful work a mother can perform. And when she skillfully builds a soul, by taking the time to give structure, beauty, excellence to the life of her children, their souls will emerge with the design, the very imprint of God's image and capacity for excellence in their lives.

If we have lost the imagination of how beautiful and meaningful motherhood and family was designed by God to be, we will lose the value and ability to reconstruct the beauty of God's original design and settle for something much less.

And so that is why we must return to the original design of motherhood and family. We must get into the heart of God's design if we are to manifest his purpose in relationship to our children, and value them appropriately, as God intended us to do.

Read more about the beautiful design of motherhood here:


Clarkson Thoughts About Life in the UK & Joel's Music (podcast)

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Joel at the St. Andrews Cathedral Ruins.

As I look back on my life, I am sometimes amazed at all the places the Lord has allowed me to live, the people I have met, the experiences I have had that have shaped my life.

It all started when I made a quiet commitment to him. I was by myself in a very small, cheap hotel room. The Lord had put on my heart Philippians 3: 8-9:

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

The Lord seemed to ask me, “Are you willing to give your life to me completely? Without holding back? To serve me? To do whatever you need to in order to get to know me?”

I wanted to be His, I wanted to serve Him with all my heart. I said, “Yes, if you will help me.”

And as I look back, many seasons, many passages have been more difficult and stretching than I could have ever imagined. But I also see that He has blessed me, stretched me, given me opportunities, helped me, deepened me through walking with Him day by day.

And this year in Oxford was another part of that journey—who ever gets to spend a year in Oxford. And yet, He led me here, by Clay initiating and finding an apartment for us to live in, by opening the doors for me to be able to support Sarah through the year of her scholarship at Oxford for her Masters of Theology, so that she could be more prepared to write the books that have been on her heart; that I would get to have a year with Lilian, my first grandchild and care for her during Sarah’s classes; that I could live with Joy and continue in bestfriending and mentoring together. That I could be stretched, grow, learn, meet dear friends and fall in love with Jesus even more.

I don’t take this year for granted and pray I will be an even better steward of all that He has allowed me to learn, know, think and grow in.

But today, Sarah, Joel, Joy and Joel and I share some of what we who are all a part of each others’ story, about what we love and what we have learned here in this God ordained place. I hope you enjoy.

And a bonus is that Joel just finished composing a brand new album that is quite wonderful. I hope you will consider purchasing this and enjoying it for yourself and with your family. (Thanks for your support of his music—it is how He is funding his way through His PHD.

To find out more about Joel, visit his website, www.joelclarkson.com, where you can purchase and download his album when it releases on July 1st, find links to his social media, and sign up for his newsletter.

Holy Joy! Cultivating A Dancing Heart DWMF 2 & Podcast

From the first, Satan has desired to reign over God's kingdom. There is a battle for allegiance. This fallen place we call the world, is the place Satan appears as an angel of light. He promises fulfillment through vanity, and materialism and power and extreme beauty and sex--but all of these, in the end, will disappoint and leave us longing for more.

But God created us to see the invisible fingertips of Him in our lives, the glory of His creation, the reality of His love manifested in countless ways and the generous and abounding love expressed throughout the story of His people.

But to see this glory and to experience the wild freedom He has provided, we have to look at our lives through the lens of eternity. We must develop ears to hear His true kingdom messages.

To be Holy means to be set apart--apart from the crowd--as David was. He saw the giant, Goliath, as an opportunity to show the glory of God and his reality and power. "Whereas David celebrated God as the One who created laughter, beauty, pleasure, music, food, and goodness, Satan would love for me to believe that God is a spoiler--one who looks for my faults, who delights in making my life difficult and in ruining my hopeful expectation fo what life could be. After all, didn't Satan start out by suggesting doubt in God's goodness to Adam and Eve? It seemed I had slowly forgotten that God was good. I had inadvertently bought into Satan's suggestion that God was only interested in my dry obedience.

What if, in truth, our God is the party Planner? (Didn't He say He was preparing a wedding feast for us and building mansions in heaven?) What if the same God who created a breathtaking garden, planned purpose and the love of family and friendship and the fulfillment of productive work, who delighted in children, who touched the sick and rejected, and who gave grace to the prostitutes and tax collectors is the God whose companionship we can enjoy each day?

As I thought on this, I realized that duty, forced obedience, and works never satisfied my soul or fooled my mind into thinking that dry acquiescence to spiritual dogma was equivalent to being a Christian who really knew and loved God. Knowing God deeply, intimately, personally within the borders of my own personality was what I hungered and thirsted for. I wanted to dance as David danced!

As I searched scripture for a model for what I was feeling, I found David to be a kindred spirit in this. He learned to dance before God with all of His heart. He trusted God in season and out. I hope you will enjoy this chapter and thinking about David’s heart of Holy Joy.

May your heart, today, be filled with the invisible reality of His presence, His wisdom and His ways even in this day and this place in your life.

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There Is Beauty, Even Where There is Mess: Seeing With New Eyes!

Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox." Prov. 14:4

 

In every home we live in, I choose for my quiet-time area one with windows that look out on the most beautiful natural scene, so that I can have some of His life-stuff to bring peace and quiet to my soul each morning as I meet with Him.

In front of me is a pile of books scattered over a coffee table. There is also a couch pillow thrown onto the floor, a couple of pairs of shoes left where they were taken off, a wilting potted plant in desperate need of water, someone’s abandoned sweatshirt, and a half-eaten candy bar. And this is just the eight feet in front of my chair!

The rest of the house is much the same-- life messes in the midst of order and beauty. As the proverb says, “Where there are no oxen, the stalls are clean.” I comfort myself daily with the fact that I have as many as six or seven oxen living in my home sometimes, and thus my stalls are not always clean, but my house is full. My world is always a mixture of beauty and mess, order and piles of things not-yet-subdued-into-order.

Sometimes the circumstances of life are like our home--messes and joys, fears and blessings all in the same breath. But it is what we see and how we perceive what is happening that will determine our comfort or our despair.

I have purposed daily to choose to enjoy the beauty of the treasures He has placed in my path, because when I look for His fingerprints and whispers amidst the messes, my heart changes and begins often to sing with the rhythms and chords He has placed there.

Many years ago in the midst of another possible miscarriage, I was sitting by a window in our little mountain town in Austria. I was all alone, because Clay and his mom, who was visiting from America, had gone to look at some little shops. We were staying at a tiny lake-side inn in an obscure alpine village. Unexpectedly, just after they had left me to rest by myself in the room, I had begun to bleed, again, and was about 5 months along in my pregnancy. There was no one to talk to, no one to ask for help.

Fear gripped my heart, as I knew we were hours away from a hospital and my German was not good enough to explain what was happening to me! Tears flowed from an invisible inner spring, and I begged God, from the anguish of my heart to please, please let me carry this child to full term. All of the struggles of the last few months seemed to flood through my anguished soul.

Just then, a little sparrow hopped up on my window sill where I was looking out as I prayed, and began to chirp, as though it was singing directly to me. I was not more than a foot away from the tiny creature. It stayed there for several minutes, and hopped closer and closer to the edge where I was looking out, an it appeared the fledgling birdie was staring at my heart through the shiny brown glass eyes and literally chirping and singing wildly to encourage me.

What a sweet, delicate fuzzy ball of delight—singing its heart out with no one to applaud or respond, except for me. It was as though God was saying to me, “I am listening. I see the birds on a thousand hills, not one falls to the ground without my full attention. This little one is here to remind you that I see you and hear your heart's cry. I love you, and am with you! Do not fear. Leave your broken heart with me.”

I didn’t know what would happen, but suddenly, a peace blanketed my sore heart. I knew that God, who is love, was with me and would be with me in whatever happened. It was as though an angel, in the form of a tiny bird,  had visited and given me His deep, soothing comfort.

It was the last time, in that pregnancy, that I bled. The pregnancy delightfully turned out to be Sarah, my first born, now best of friends and a bigger blessing to my whole life than I ever could have imagined then.

From that moment, I decided to take notice of birds who sing—to believe that they are especially praising God, agents of His hope for me. I see them also as a personal reminder from God that He is present, every day, all the time--here with me. Often on my walks when I am pouring out my dark heart to God, a bird hops or sings along my trail and I am reminded that God is there— with me!

Now, I have birds sprinkled throughout my home--amidst the messes and art of my life--to remind me of the song so many years ago from God's feathered messenger.

We all have our own particular life and real messes, but even in the mess, God is there to redeem, to send His love, to show beauty around every corner. But, our eyes must be attuned to the beauty instead of focusing on the life-clutter--looking with faith and not with doubt, fear or despair.

Today, my prayer for you--and for me-- is that He bring the reality of His joy to you today in the midst of your order … and your messes, because He is with us to give us hope and comfort, always.

The Power of Words (A Life with Sally Sneak Peek!)

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We’re getting a little excited around here about … SUMMER! Hurrah for afternoons by the water and blowing bubbles and baby pools and fireworks and grilling and all that goes with it. One of the things I’m most excited about is that summer means its time for our national leadership group to gather at my home here in Colorado, just for one long weekend, to plan out the next year’s events and outreaches and just have a lot of fun girlfriend time together.

It was at one such weekend three years ago where two of the girls pitched their great idea: a Life with Sally membership site! And so here we are, with a thousand precious ladies taking part of our wonderful treasure of a site where you can receive encouragement, teaching, lessons, and even access one of the greatest gifts—one another, through our forum! Find all the information and join us here: Life with Sally Membership We especially adore our members because they help us reach even more moms around the world with Biblical encouragement, and we pray it will feel like a mini-conference you can access from your computer anytime!

Today we have a treat for you; a sneak peek of some of our exclusive Life with Sally membership content! Summer is upon us, and so we’re shaking up our usual schedule a bit to let you into our various Girls’ Clubs—the membership, our leadership team, etc. Misty and I are talking about our summer plans today, and I hope you’ll listen to the podcast to learn more about what we have up our sleeves, and of course to contemplate this message about the power of words.

The cosmos was formed by the words of God.

It’s an amazing thought, isn’t it? And we mamas, we form our own atmosphere, the air our families breathe day in and day out, one word at a time. It’s a fantastic, frightening proposition! We hope you’ll enjoy listening to our chat today, and look into joining our membership at Life with Sally!

We’re also passing along this study guide which goes along with the study in Proverbs. See you in membership! Just click below to download the guide. Enjoy!

Proverbs Bible Study - Words, part one!

Longing to Find a Way Forward in the Dark Places: Dancing With Him (DWF 1) & Podcast


With so much sadness and so many daily burdens to shoulder, how do Christian women maneuver steadily through this journey of life with joy and peace of heart intact? What does it look like to be a woman filled with joy, every day, all the time, no matter what? In the deluge of all the stresses and disappointments in a fallen world, how does a mature Christian woman really walk in the power of the Holy Spirit? How does she face each situation with gladness, despite the relentless and demanding day-after-day, month-after-month, year-after-year things that would rob her of emotional and creative energy such as chores, bills, arguments, messes? Or how does she maintain joy in the center of more devastating troubles: a divorce, the tragic death of a loved one, a child who has a chronic illness or disability, rejection by family members, alcoholism and drug-related scars, a job layoff?

He gave me a personal, visual image of what He wanted me to understand about His joy: that it is wrapped up in Him as my heavenly Father; that He is the Initiator, the Provider, the Lover, the Strong One. In short, He is to be my leading Man in the dance of life.

But even more, dancing seemed to be a visual picture of what God wants me to do in my soul: He wants me to dance inside my heart, no matter what is going on outside in my circumstances. To dance is to celebrate life, to make merry, to physically live out the reality of internal joy. Those who walk closely with the Lord have a secret inner joy, a dancing energy just from knowing Him. It is in having Him as my partner, in letting Him take the lead, that I will be directed around the “dance floor” of my life. He is the One who will show me the steps, how to listen to the music, how to engage my heart with Him and to stay in sync with Him, the real Source of the music, the dance, and the everlasting joy." ~ from Dancing With My Father

The pathway of turning our mourning into dancing is a secret pathway, one away from the world of voices, where God waits for us to be with Him, learn of His ways. His ways are not our ways, Isaiah tells us. They are higher than the heavens are above the earth.

We are merely toddlers, beginning to understand the ways our lives take, the ways of wisdom and love.  Even as a toddler must quit having his little fit and be still in order to receive the comfort and message of their parent's heart, so we must leave our burdens and stresses into His hands, climb up in His lap and allow Him to be God--allow Him to direct our lives and show us how to let go of all that is not essential.

God does not intend us to be filled with anger and frustration and disappointment. Sometimes when we want to blame God, we refuse to see that we have not walked His ways, or followed His paths, and so our lives and our souls are filled up with the world of man, which will always carry with it confusion and grief. How can we learn to instead dance with our Heavenly Father?

If You Can Keep Your Head ... A Poem for Strength When People Disappoint

Words have profound power in our lives. They heal, inspire, teach, convict, encourage or destroy, wound, discourage. deflate. But because I knew that words would speak to my children’s hearts even after I was not with them any more, I made it a habit to see that they memorized significant portions of scripture, poetry, quotations, so that their hearts would hear the words of truth their whole lives. And this is one of my favorite passages we all memorized together.

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

~ Rudyard Kipling

This poem, IF, by Rudyard Kipling, is one that I made all of my children memorize--and we reviewed it over and over and over again.

I think this poem is an elongated version of a saying I repeated often: Right is always right even if no one is doing it, wrong is always wrong even if everyone is doing it.

We are called to have a different character, a constant one, one that reflects the very image of Jesus, and yet,

In this crazy world, and especially in this crazy Christian world,

there are many irrational, unloving, critical,

exhausted, weary, discouraged,

immature, mean-spirited, untrained people wandering around. How I have been embarrassed by supposed Christians, even in the past couple of weeks.

I have seen lately, in the lives of my children and friends, them being overcome by some very difficult situations and people who unwillingly become a tool in the hand of Satan to discourage and destroy--faith, heart, and the well-being of others.

And yet, for those of us who have lived long enough, we know that this is the common "tribulation" and stress that Jesus was referring to when he said, "In this world, you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world."

Sometimes we are surprised when the conflict and criticism is most fierce from those who say they believe in Christ. I always thought Christians would have a heart for my imperfect but passionate commitment to Christ and His kingdom. Yet, Christians have been some of my biggest critics. Surprise—even Christians are sinful. And even I am sinful.

And so, if we can keep our heads, know that love covers a multitude of sin, live in grace and know that we and everyone else we will ever know make mistakes on a regular basis,

and live in the liberating grace of the freedom and blessing we find in the abiding love of Jesus,

then we will always, always have peace and always have the ability to keep giving life as He did.

Overcoming evil with good, loving beyond measure, forgiving and being a peacemaker, living with practiced faith, again and again and again,

this is where we become more like Him, our very dear Savior,

and it is where we become true warriors who redeem.

I highly commend this poem, the entire poem be put into the minds and hearts of you and also your children, so that you may have grace in your soul to go to, for facing this world and conquering the challenges that come your way.

When Life Doesn't Turn Out as You Thought & Podcast Sheridan Voysey

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When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan, Who Can You Become?

I think as a “Pollyanna” by personality, extremely idealistic and probably naive, as a young woman, I became so depressed and disheartened over the years when my little plan for life was interrupted in 1000 ways. And disappointment can lead to disillusionment and depression and sometimes doubt about what we thought we should expect from the Christian life.

As many of you know, I am doing a podcast series on my book:

Dancing With My Heavenly Father: Finding Joy in a Disappointing World.

I have invited a friend, Sheridan Voysey, to join me in my podcast today whose story goes along with all that we are discussing in my book. What to do, feel, where to go when life is turned upside down from what you expected. We met several years ago here in Oxford and his heart and story encouraged me very much.

This is what Sheridan says:

Life doesn’t always go to plan. Hopes and dreams shatter, wemake decisions that are less than perfect, and we begin to lose our sense of identity. Life can also take one too many unexpected turns that have you feeling lost and unsure of your future.

Having struggled with infertility that derailed his dreams of becoming a parent, an international move, and a career change, Sheridan Voysey lost his identity and came to the difficult realization: I don’t know who I am.

The Making of Us: Who We Can Become When Life Doesn’t

by Sheridan Voysey

“When identity is lost, we can discover who we really are. The adversity we despise can releaseour greatest gifts into the world. And all the details of our lives— from the first wiggle of our hands to the difficult events that brought us to this point— can prove to be more significant than we’ve realized,” Voysey says. “Beautiful things can emerge from life not going as planned. It can even be the making of us.”

The Making of Us is a wonderfully written memoir that reminds readers of the beauty of uncertainty, the freedom of letting go, and the value of following God into the unknown.

You can find all things Sheridan @SheridanVoysey.com, including his other inspiring books.