Redeeming Life in the Midst of Chaos: Cultivating Hope & a podcast

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A few years ago, I received a message that was truly shocking.

Please pray for Lenier and Phillip. Their home burned down and they are in the midst off assessing the situation and trying to figure out what to do.”

How could it be? What caused it? Is everyone safe? were questions running through my mind. Knowing that their home was a sacred place to them, cherished as a place of life, beauty and comfort to extend to all who entered its doors, meant this would be one of the cruelest strikes of darkness to all that they had built together in their lives.

Last fall, I was in Atlanta and had the wonderful privilege to be served in their home, and saw it fully restored. Bringing beauty to a devastating scenario came as soul work, as a work of faith. Yet, building home for the many who come into their pathway is a lifelong commitment. Today, Lanier and I talked about the process of living by faith in times of chaos. Moving to a place of restoring is a walk of perseverance and we have both learned this through many seasons of our lives.

Chaos often invades our lives when least expect it. The Covid Virus has turned all of our worlds upside down. Yet, having lived through many a heart-breaking disappointment or even just a cancellation to my plans, a loss of control of our lives, I know that waiting on God in faith will show me, in time, that He had never left me, that He was always walking with me through every trial, every season. His faithfulness never fails.

Some years ago, one of my children came and sat close to me and whispered. "Mama, I just need to be near you right now cause I am feeling so down. Sometimes when I just sit close to you, I find some hope and comfort. Can I please just sit with you a while?”

I have often felt that I was a struggler through the many challenges that threatened to overcome us in our lives. Yet, many years ago, I realized that children long to have a happy mother.

They do not need for me to be fake, but they longed for me to be stable, mature, steadfast in the midst of the storms of life. (I just did a podcast about that for my membership LifewithSally.com for next month, for those interested.)

Our children are growing up in a time when media spreads the gloom and doom of catastrophes, fears and threats. When a woman chooses spreads light and thankfulness as an act of worship to God--and hope in the darkness, then children feel secure and safe. But when a mama lives darkly, complains, is constantly angry and frustrated, the children harbor fear, insecurity and blame themselves for parent's being angry or sad. Hope is not natural--it is supernatural. Hope comes welling up from deep inside because of a belief that God is good. That He will win in the end. That there is always hope when God is present.

Women who choose hope and who choose to trust God are those who, instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle. But it is a choice of the will. Hope is not a feeling, it is a commitment to hold fast to what scripture reminds us is true about God.

Knowing scripture, pondering and taking it into your soul, is what gives each of us fuel to live the Christian life, as we listen to the Holy Spirit guide us through the wisdom we have learned. The only way to live well is to live in fellowship with God. Nothing else will satisfy.

We live in an imperfect world filled with disappointments, devastation, and difficulty. Without hope, our lives can feel absolutely purposeless sometimes. In my own life, I have struggled with hardships I never could have seen coming. My heart has been broken, my faith has been tested, and I have had to push myself in ways that I couldn't have imagined. Circumstances will come our way, and we will always have a choice to make. We can choose to give up, or we can choose hope.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -Romans 15:13

Oh to allow the Holy Spirit to fill me to overflowing with hope.

Hope it not just wishful thinking. Hope is an assurance that our king has ultimately won the raging battle. Hope teaches us that this is the broken place where we have the honor of believing Him who is fighting on our behalf.

Hope anchors the soul and keeps us grounded.

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil." (Hebrews 6:19).

When we have nothing else to rely on, our hope in God is what connects us to what is true. As Romans 15:13, above,  tells us, when we put our trust in God, we can overflow with hope. This hope from the Holy Spirit is such a powerful entity, it can make us truly unstoppable.

But faith is a choice that requires us to relinquish our fears, doubts and worries into the hands of God--like a child who says, "I will trust my mama and daddy because I know they are good and reliable." So we say, I will give this into His hands because I know He is good and loving and reliable.

Hope gives us the strength to take on our future. Hope can cure despair. No circumstance, no problem, no issue, no devastation is too large or too difficult for God to take on. However, we have to choose this hope. We must receive it. Sometimes, life can beat us down and make us feel absolutely defeated. But when we choose to carry the hope God has given us, we are able to overcome anything.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,  (the conviction of things not seen.) Hebrews 11:1

My hope rests in God's character and ability to see me through. He who answers prayer. He who is always good. He who has overcome the world. He who has forgiven every sin. He who will never leave me or forsake me. I can leave my issues in the file drawer of heaven and know that He has the ability to work them out and to cause, "all things to work together for the good for them who love Him."

The God-given gift of hope is the best possible medicine for any hardship in life. My hope says that I am willing to wait on God's timing, God's way and God's will with a belief that I will look back and be amazed at the ways He showed his faithfulness. My hope is what carried me through health issues, struggles in my family, going five years without a salary, and so much more. Hope is the physician of each misery, and God has given us this gift to heal us from our pasts so that we may have a future that is full of joy and light.

Do your children watch you in your tests of faith and see you walking in hope and trust as an example to them of how they will need to live their adult lives?

Printables:

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• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Giving the Gift of Faithful, Flourishing Friendship & Podcast

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Lily, my little 2 year old granddaughter, wants the gift of my friendship and companionship!

As I was packing my bags, getting ready to go back to America, my precious little granddaughter, Lily, came to my bag and pulled out two of my scarves. She then pointed to my little black hat on the book shelf. I took it down and gave it to her when she gingerly placed it on top of my head. She ran to her room and brought a bright pink sun hat that I had given to her. Next, she gave one scarf to me and took one and tried to pull it around her neck.

In every way, she was saying, “Let’s be friends. Let’s dress alike. I want to be with you. I want to be like you.”

My heart melted. Eventually she took my hand and gently pulled me outside for a walk, which we had been taking most days I was with her. She already had memory pathways of how we spent our times in relationship to one another.

I was reminded that we are the first friends our children will learn love from—and even as a grandmother, I am communicating to Lilian that she is worth my time, attention, serving and love.

Babies come out of the womb hoping for our love, wanting to be close, moving toward deep and abiding friendship they hope and long for to have for the rest of their lives.

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

Now, I see the fruit of a life lived loving the best I knew how, because the experience I share with my own four adult children is deeply satisfying, supportive, encouraging and gives life to me every day. True excitement and happiness literally covers me over when I see the name of one of my children light up at the ring of my cell phone. I have a very busy life but I live for those stolen moments when we get to share time, conversation, friendship with one another. One of the hardest things about Corona virus for me is being hundreds, thousands of miles separated from my children, my best friends.

When I go shopping and buy something new or have a frustration, I want to be right with my girls and giggle, tell every story, every feeling, hear the details of their day, pray over the fears and challenges of life.

My girls and I wrote a book all about the vital importance of learning how to nurture intimacy, companionship, community, intimacy because we were made to be in relationship. It is called Girls’ Club.

But it is the very same with my boys. My boys are both tall, masculine, confident men. And yet, both have learned the value of cultivating honesty, vulnerability and deep emotions and thoughts, in spite of the way men have been taught to be stoic. Yet, in their adult years, I have seen both of them able to be vulnerable, sharing with me secrets of their hearts as well as some deep disappointments and heartbreaks. And I have also shared my own heart and struggles and victories with them. We are the best of companions and friends. Our relationship makes me feel honored and valued.

Cultivating a heart for friendship lays a foundation that will serve your children, (and you!) the rest of your life.

The process is long and constant, “No, not this, THIS.” One day at a time a great life is shaped. One of the deepest blessings of my life at this stage is the very close, intimate, inspiring, fun friendships I have with my now adult children.

But, of course, as with everything else, it took years of heart-work, not legalism. After all, we invested years and years in one another's lives. I hope this podcast and post will be of help to you as you invest in friendships with your own children, family and friends.

1.   Time and Availability Whatever the age, children develop better when they know we will make our time together a priority. People grow close not through monitoring one another’s behavior but by working together, playing together, talking together, celebrating together, weeping together. Relationships develop when people are there for each other—and that’s as true for parents and children as it is for anyone else.

2. Acceptance and Unconditional Love In building meaningful relationships with my children, I must learn to accept unconditionally the person God made each of them to be—even with personality traits that differ from mine or that make me uncomfortable. I need to accept the “warts” and irritating characteristics that may never change. I have to love my children with a mature commitment that reaches past my feelings for them, which can change from circumstance to circumstance.

3. Affirmation and Encouragement I believe most children, (and adults) are acutely aware of their limitations and their failures. While they might need correction for their mistakes and or even confrontation for their sinful selfishness, they also need recognition for their real efforts and accomplishments and positive reminders of who they can be with God’s help. And sometimes we need to remember, "It is to a man's honor to overlook a sin."

4. Grace Our children need us to give them the grace to grow. If we make them think that we expect perfection, then eventually they may give up trying to please us, because they know they will always fail, or they may spend their whole lives feeling guilty for their failures. And sometimes when life has too many rules, as teens, our children will quit telling us the truth of what they are doing for fear we won't understand or will condemn them. (We cannot live by fear.)

5. Relationship Training We need to consciously train our children in the skills and attitudes that will enable them to sustain positive relationships. A person can only experience true intimacy when his heart has been deepened and exercised in real love and commitment. Practice in manners and speech and gracious behavior comes over a lifetime of cultivating this day in and day out).

"GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE THAN THIS, THAT ONE LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS." -JOHN 15:13

" TRUE HUMILITY IS NOT THINKING LESS OF YOURSELF, IT IS THINKING OF YOURSELF LESS." C.S. LEWIS

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

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• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

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• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Raising a Good Man With Nathan Clarkson, podcast

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Nathan and I have always been bff’s!

If you’ve been following me for any time at all you know my son Nathan. He is my actor, writer, story lover son and together we wrote the book Different: The Story of an Outside the Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him.

Nathan has always been larger than life and had on his heart the desire to be a hero. We saw Nathan‘s spirit early on and even while struggling with learning disabilities and an out-of-the-box personality we encouraged Nathan into the story God had for him to tell. We wanted to instill in each of our children the the values of a loving and good God and the belief that they had a work on the world We believed forward into their lives.

Which is why I am so excited that Nathan is releasing his first solo book called Good Man, it’s a collection of Nathan‘s stories, thoughts, and insights from his journey of discovering who it was God created him to be.
This book is so important and timely— in a generation where men are so very lost and going through an identity crisis, men need to find a vision for who they were created to be. 

If you have a man in your life, a son, a husband, a brother, who is seeking to become a good man, please get them this book.
Watch this beautiful trailer for Nathan’s book.

More Resources:

Good Man is available for pre-order now where ever books are sold.

To learn more, visit: http://nathanclarkson.squarespace.com/mybook

Follow Nathan:Instagram: @nathanjclarkson, on facebook @nathanclarksoncreations

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

FOR MORE

• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Running to God for a Bucket of Grace

“Lord I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup uncertain in asking any small drop of refreshment. If only I had known you better I'd have come running with a bucket.” -Nancy Spiegelberg

We carry such a burden of performance and Jesus wants us to come for an endless lake of His mercy, joy, fun, love, forgiveness, power, beauty, adventure and freedom.

To celebrate each day in the infinite possibilities of what it might hold if we were willing to follow the fingerprints of God, instead of choosing to live in the limitations of Man's confines, voices and laws, is a goal worth pursuing. He is wild, out of the box, way beyond our control and more interesting than we can imagine, but often we live in the mundane and don't see the miracle of the moment because the eyes of our hearts are blind to His reality.

I loved the C.S. Lewis quote,

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desire not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us,

We are like ignorant children who want to continue making mud pies in a slum because we cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of  a vacation at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Today, I am looking for Him and taking time to notice in the midst of deadlines, duties and messes. I will never have a day just like this again to notice and celebrate with a grateful heart.

Giving Children A Life of Faith & Podcast

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord,

Maker of Heaven and Earth.

Psalm 121: 1-2

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My morning ushered in much longed for sunshine into my windows as I opened my eyes Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago. I had just enough time to go out for an early morning walk before attending church. As I got out of my car, I was faced by this clear and stunning view of Pike’s peak. Without a second’s passing, my mind played, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains, …., my help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”

One of the few verses I memorized in my home when I was a child was still speaking to me in my mid-sixties. I am quite sure my mama wanted me to know that God would always help me. And I am pretty sure her mama taught her that verse.

How blessed are those of us who have the foundation of God’s faithfulness stored in our hearts. How different we face circumstances that are difficult because we have the peace of God ruling in our hearts because we know, by His word, and by faith, that He is our rock, that He is trustworthy.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

One of the most profoundly important gifts we can give to our children is a life of faith, a life of believing God in the small moments of life, the large challenges, a life given to believing in His reality. Without faith, we cannot please God. No works, performance, giving will cover over a lack of faith and faith living.

What might God accomplish in your lifetime if you were to trust Him fully to live through you to bring His light to the world?

Who are the people He has placed in your life to love? Teach? Serve? Inspire? Encourage?

You have a part in God's grand story to live and to tell.

Today, and every day, if you know and love Jesus, He has given you the opportunity to bring His Kingdom to bear on your world. Today is a day in which you can serve Him with your whole heart by giving your all to each moment of the day.

My life has been a grand journey of watching Him work supernaturally through a very normal, average woman. I am the little boy who was given my own portion of fish and loaves, but in His hands, my portion became enough to be used by Him.

Today in 10 Gifts of Heart, I have written about what it means to give your children this gift of faith that will protect them when tempted, lead them to have strength when challenged by trials, give them compassion and love to share with others who long for His love and light. We are the message are children are hearing by the ways we live and act and love through all the moments of our lives. I pray the podcast today, when I speak of why giving faith is so important, will encourage you.

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

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

By Clarkson, Sally

FOR MORE

• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

Harbingers of Happiness: The Ways of Lifegiving Practices & Podcast With Joy Clarkson

Joy and I had fun searching out the far corners of Downton Abby (Highclare Castle) last year.

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We have had so much fun FaceTiming the past week and giving one another a friend break every day. We did a podcast together because we have so much fun.

“One of the of the marks of a godly woman is that she takes responsibility for her soul's need for joy and delight.”

Sally

Sally & Joy had fun talking bout what they have been doing to create a haven of beauty & delight.

In 66 years and through many seasons, I have traveled through countless seasons of challenges and difficulties. But long ago, I realized that I needed to be responsible to create my own “place” of comfort, beauty, pleasure and enjoyment so that I could make it through longer and with my heart and soul still strong.

Joy is one of my favorite people in the world. Today, we took time to record many of the rhythms, food, practices that we have both been practicing in our home to make it through these challenging days. I hope you will love it as much as Joy and I enjoyed being together across the miles in a FaceTime recording.

You can find all things Joy @Joyclarkson.com and you would be so entertained and inspired to connect with her on Instagram @joynessthebrave

Happy Tuesday! We are thinking about you all and praying for you!

10 Gifts-What Your Child Needs To Know Before Leaving Home

Our own precious children whose hearts we sought to train. We are so very grateful for them and the relationship we share as adults. (Sarah, Thomas, Lily and Samuel were in the UK, away from us when this phot was taken.)

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You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men;

2 Corinthians 3:2

In the busyness of our activity-oriented world, it is tempting for us to measure the value of lives by accomplishment or position. Yet, in this time of the covid virus, we are all re-evaluating our priorities. As I look back on the years with my precious children, I found myself seeking to understand how important it was to lay heart foundations, an imagination for living for God, an understanding of truth before I worried about the academic accomplishment of my children.

God will not ask us what grades our children received in school or how they scored on tests, but he will look for hearts that love Him, seek Him, obey Him. Leaving a legacy of love, righteousness and faith requires a plan to focus on what really matters for eternity. Perhaps we can take this pause on our normal lives to reflect once again on what really matters for the long term.

Our children become our letter to the world and reflect what they breathed in through the moments and years lived in our homes. This sort of vision that we hope to pass on happens naturally and organically within the context of our own stories as we shape their values, love, lives. Yet, this is a work of heart that requires years of training, correcting, serving, instructing, praying, living daily by faith. Yet, God, through His spirit partners with us to create this “life” inside the hearts of us and our children that shapes them, and us in the process, to become whole hearted.

The next weeks, I will be writing and speaking about the 10 Gifts of Wisdom Book that Clay and I authored together as our children emerged from our home.

The following are 3 simple training goals we had for our own children.

1.Giving our children and ourselves a foundation of a self-image of one who wants to be godly, holy, set apart for God's purposes is the beginning. Such a grid for life says, "I am ready to pursue holiness every day, all the time, to please you, God, and to do what is right.," is the heart attitude we hope our children will adopt. It is a vision for life. I want my life to count for eternity and so today I will seek to serve God in my heart, my attitudes, my work, my relationships--in every way.

2.Learning and instructing what Godly wisdom is, is essential to being able to follow the vision--teaching the true principles of character help us to pursue integrity. (24 Family ways is good for this.) Learning the meaning of virtue and virtues of moral excellence: diligence, faithfulness, generosity, loyalty, righteousness, etc. When the meaning of a virtue is digested in cognitive understanding,  and in cultivating an education for values, then instruction can follow on how to live out virtue through our actions.

3. Practicing "doing" and "being" godly character traits, making godly habits a familiar part of every day, and correcting each action to move in the direction of faithfulness is the practical place of training and building godly character. We discuss all three in the podcast. Hope you enjoy it.

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

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

By Clarkson, Sally

Feet In The Present, Eyes Toward Eternity & podcast

“When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy …

Job 38:7

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Perspective is something I have had to learn about the last many years of my life. In the workaday world, busyness can take over and often I have the illusion that I can control my life. The Corona Virus has taken all of us by surprise and has shaken up our expectations of life. Finances are at stake for many of us, illness, disappointment, confusion.

But, I have learned that my God is stable, secure, and loving and He is always in control—even when we do not understand or feel secure.

Some years ago, our family was sharing delectable hamburgers and sizzling steaks outside on the mountain deck of close friends. They had borrowed a high-powered telescope from a relative to give all of our children an opportunity to celebrate the night sky on a clear summer's night. Having never had this experience, I had no idea how deeply beguiled my own soul would become from viewing the intricate artistry of God amongst the constellations, cast out infinitely amongst the heavens above.

After every child had taken his turn at the amazing telescope and gasped and danced in delight, my children all said, "Mom, you have to see this--this is your star! It is bright blue!" Blue is my favorite color.

As I peered into the scope, it took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the picture inside the scope, and then, suddenly, I was confronted by an astonishingly bright blue dancing star, seeming to sparkle and turning in beauty and celebration of life. I was mesmerized, as I had heard all of my life of "twinkling" stars, but had never seen something so clearly beautiful with my own eyes. The telescope had revealed to me what had always been there but which I had never been able to perceive with my own limited powers.

I was deeply changed that night, unexpectedly. Confronted once again with the transcendence, the "bigness" of God, the divine beauty and power beyond my understanding, a realization dawned on me: I can only see circumstances and the steps of my journey from a very limited perspective. Yet, God, my heavenly Father, who is vastly more infinite and wise than my small mind can comprehend, is above all moments and all days. He holds the stars in the heavens, He keeps the world spinning, He is our transcendent, almighty, everlasting, loving God. And when we learn to open the eyes of our hearts to see Him as King over all, we find peace, rest and we can be quiet as we reflect on His ways.

Sometimes, though, my first response has been, “How can you do this to me, God? Don’t you see we might go under financially? or This is such a difficult time. Where are you?”

Often, as a "toddler" I can shake my fist and say, "God, don't you care that I am going under? Or that you are making my life or marriage or children's lives more difficult than I can imagine?"

Yet, God is not threatened by my tantrums or my fears or my questioning Him, as He has lived through the fist-shaking and heartrending prayers of so many generations of children before me. And because He is a good Father, He does not give in to our demands, knowing His will is far better for us and that He truly is able to work all things together for the good, for those of us who are called to His purposes and who are willing to wait upon Him to work His ways through us.

Usually, serving God requires endless waiting on His timing and His ways. And yet, if we could remember the lesson of the star which later learned was named Capella, there are things going on that are truer than the present issues and circumstances that we perceive. God is suiting our soul, building our character, stretching our spiritual and mental and emotional muscles to become holy, to truly be able to reflect Christ back through us to a world so desperately in need of light. If we obediently trust Him and wait for Him and rest in the knowledge that He is good, even though we live in a fallen place, we will live to see His goodness and His blessing abundantly in His time. He redeems all, He restores all, He is the resurrection power.

Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." If we are living for satisfaction and glory in this world, we will not find ultimate satisfaction. I wish I had not fought against God so many times in the years of my family's journey. God allowed so much, but He was also there to walk with me through all the harsh realities of life and in the midst of it, He forged faith and depth and character in the lives of my children that they would otherwise not have had.

When we pray, "God, make my children holy," we must understand it means their road and ours will be challenging and stretching, as all of our faith muscles will have to be stretched in order for us to become strong. I see that in spite of the ways my mother-heart would have over-protected my children, God was having His way and building my children into strong adults. His ways trumped my ways because He heard my prayer to make them strong.

I love this quote by David Adam, from the Edge of Glory:

"He forever goes before us to prepare a place for us. He is on the road we tread. Wherever life is leading us, He has gone before. Perhaps we have no clue about what lies ahead; we know who is ahead of us, so the future is not quite unknown."

In this time of anxiety and the unknown, rest in the fact that God is still God, and you are still not. He holds eternity, and He will be with us no matter what. I pray you rest in His grace, today.

FOR MORE

• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!

A Million Ways to Bring Life, Fun, Beauty While You're Home & Podcast

“Any day spent with you is my favorite day, So today is my new favorite day.” Piglet to Pooh

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What a world we find ourselves in with foundations being shaken, expectations disappointed and insecurity creating chaos. As anchors of stability in our homes, we have this opportunity to create beauty, loving rhythms, personal moments, adventure, fun and life to the days so that our family will remember these days with fondness. Today can become the new favorite day for your children and you!

But all of us need ideas of how to make this happen. On my podcast today, my friends and I came up with countless ideas of the ways we have created and nurtured life-giving memories with our own. I hope our ideas will inspire you.

Joy, my daughter, wrote some thoughts about what it really looks like to be brave in a quiet way during these times. I hope it will encourage you.

Joy: When I was young, I always had a sort of guilty craving to live through something disastrous to prove my mettle, to show how brave I could be. Now I know bravery requires hardship, and only the foolish desire it. But here we are.

And this is an odd one, isn't it? Our "enemy" isn't a dictator or a malevolent regime, it's a virus. And it's not targeting our military, it's targeting our most vulnerable, our old and our ill... it doesn't fight fair. And it's not just a pandemic of illness, but of disappointment. Cancelled graduations, weddings, honeymoons.

All in all, when I used to imagine being brave, I didn't imagine it would be like this, did you? But here we are. We needn't celebrate this, or moralize it, but this we can say: this is a chance, to pull ourselves together, to act responsibly, to love our neighbors, and to not be afraid.

Strangest of all, it seems the bravest thing is to make a nest and sit in it. It's underwhelming, really, but it's needful. So I fill my nest with small graces: a new candle, a few rosebuds, warm light streaming through the window... little things can bring so much pleasure. I keep watch on how I could help my neighbors (grocery runs for elderly friends), I pray for my family across the ocean, I cook more than usual, I try think of other things. It's a strange kind of bravery, but I hope it would make my younger self proud.

Follow Joy @joynessthebrave

And Joel shared some thoughts from Wendell Berry:

• “When despair for the world grows in me⁣
  and I wake in the night at the least sound⁣
  in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,⁣
  I go and lie down where the wood drake⁣
  rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.⁣
  I come into the peace of wild things⁣
  who do not tax their lives with forethought⁣
  of grief. I come into the presence of still water.⁣
  And I feel above me the day-blind stars⁣
  waiting with their light. For a time⁣
  I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”⁣
  - Wendell Berry, “The Peace of Wild Things”⁣

I love Berry’s directive to the world-weary pilgrim, to enter into the peace of wild things. I have always simply taken it as granted that no matter what the world might bring, I would always have nature at my beck and call, to comfort and succour me. Never did it occur to me that I might be faced with being cut off from that source of life, hidden away, shrouded for a time as-yet-untold.

And yet, I know from my experience with beauty in creation that its life is not merely in the encounter itself, but in the way we remember that beauty, and the way it recalls us and holds us when we return to it. As the world is retreating into itself and we may not have easy access to the world beyond for some time, I feel the urgency of that loss.

I want to use this space as a way to recall the beauty that continues to press onward just beyond my reach, and keep it fresh in my mind, so that I will know it and love it anew when I am able to experience it fully once more. I’ve grown a bit lax here, but I want to redouble my efforts to keep hope alive through the living memory of the promise hidden in the beautiful world that awaits our return on the other side of this. Follow Joel as he shares beautiful photography on instagram Stay, safe, well, and strong friends, and stay tuned... @joel.i.clarkson

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Good Food, Good Friends, Good Times to Change the World & Podcast

Taking time away with my executive ministry team in Asheville, (at the Biltmore).

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Intentionality in friendship create a foundation on which to build close, vibrant, life-giving friendships. My wonderful friends have served at conferences, in our membership community, leading Bible studies for many years, promoted book launches. These amazing women are “all in” and work harder and in more commitment than I could ever have asked for.

But what I found is that all of my sweet partners in ministry had their own integrity before I ever met them. All wanted to be a part of serving God, loving Him, and then extending His light and love to their community, to their family, to their friends. I call them steadfast.

When you have the opportunity to be a part of such a rare community, you find that you know you always have someone who will pray for you, love you, inspire you to your best self and who plays well.

This past weekend, after months of planning, we met in Asheville, and stayed in the beloved Wright Inn (the place I wrote about in The Lifegiving Home) and worked, played, ate, and then did it all over again.

We wanted to share with all of you what we filled our hearts and minds this weekend and to give some history and encouragement about how such deep friendships are developed over time. Actually, we talked about lots of important things on the podcast and I hope you will find life and encouragement from our time together that might be a light in the midst of a crazy week.

We pray that your family will stay well, have grace amidst this awful virus and find beauty in the moments you spend together during the time we are all sequestered away.

We dearly love and pray for all who are In the community of the influence of my ministry and hope that what we have planned together for the next year will deeply encourage all of you. Praying for you today.

Books Referenced in this Podcast:

More Resources:

FOR MORE

• Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.

• Leave an iTunes Review These are so important as they help our podcast reach more women with messages of encouragement.

• Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news and updates.

• Share with others. My prayer is that this podcast brings encouragement to women and families, and I would be honored for you to tell others about it.

• Join my friends and me in membership at Life with Sally, a place for me to share more teaching from the Bible and messages on education, motherhood, discipleship, and more!