I love interacting with my community. I love hearing your stories. I pray for you. I thought maybe all of you who missed my insta live and fb live might want to see the videos I recorded. Here they are! Hope you enjoy! Share with friends as you wish. :)
I'm So Sorry For Your Disappointment: Tell Me Your Story
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Last month, as I swayed back and forth from an early morning train ride away from my Joel and Joy, I got tears in my eyes and had a lump in my throat. There was something about the leaving, the hole in my heart that comes when I leave all of my loved ones or when they fly away from me.
The above photo was what I saw out my window. The mood of the rainy day matched my emotions.
I am happy that their lives are full, but sometimes I just want someone to share in the moment, sympathize with my sorrows, tell me. “I understand.”
And then it dawned on me as. I was thinking about this. I would love to share in your disappointments. Tell me (in a comment, on Facebook, on Instagram messages) about what disappointment you have had this month. What was cancelled, how are your children disappointed, how have you born the loneliness.
Tomorrow afternoon, I will be have my cup of tea, light my candle and let’s share in the struggles of one another. At that time, I will do a Facebook live tomorrow, (Wednesday afternoon, Mountain time) and an Instagram live to share your stories and to pray for you. I think it might help everyone if they know how others have born loss and to know that we can all pray for one another.
Join me: 3:00 Mountain, for a cup of tea (or your preferred drink) a little bit of music and a time to share hearts. But help me if you will, share your stories with me and I will share them with one another. Let’s sympathize, bear one another’s burdens and be friends.
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Love Is Expressed in the Tangible Ways We Serve & Sarah Clarkson Podcast
Just look at those little adorable socks! Wish I could just squish her in my arms right now.
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Every morning at the crack of dawn, Lily would pad into my room, Binky and blanket in hand, ready to pull me out of bed to join me downstairs for our expected morning cup of tea. At times, I would beat her by a few minutes and get up a bit earlier and have the tea waiting for her. Often, I would dress her for the day, but always, we would have music, candles lit above her. By the time I left, she even wanted a flower on her table just like mine.
I didn’t know I would, just days later, be sequestered away in America in my home, without any ability to visit, to bring her here. What I would give to hold her, to sing a song in her ear as we dance around the room. But I do hope that the few ways I was able to create life and memories with her while I was there, will be memories deep in her heart of a grandmother who cherished her very friendship and companionship.
All of the little and big ways you are giving of yourself during this time are gifts of worship of loving God, by being His hands, His words, His time, His love to those around you. Sarah wrote a poem about love given in her own life to her sweet ones, as a sacrifice of her love to them. I know it will touch you as it did me. And of course, we recorded a podcast together I hope you will enjoy.
Remember, your love has a life of its own and is permeating to the deepest heart of all who receive it every day.
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Love is… to listen. To waken to the baby’s restless hunger and hear, not just the dull thud of my weary heart, but the sharp pierce of birdsong in the blue light, notes of quickened life piercing the shadow.⠀
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Love is… to touch with willed gentleness. The fussy baby who will not calm, the toddler who will not leave my side.⠀
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Love is… to order. Our rooms by beauty and our time by cadence. It is to take the unbounded days of this strange, isolated season and tether them to mealtimes and read-aloud hours, to liturgies of prayer and feasting evenings. ⠀
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Love is… to make. A cake for an afternoon tea. A bit of music. A haphazard painting besmirched by toddler brushstrokes. ⠀
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Love is… to bide with faith and patience. To suffer small people who move more slowly than I do. To endure the days whose isolation and monotony threaten to make me wild. To bear with courage the rumours of death and fear whispering round the edges of my thought.⠀
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Love is… to rejoice. Truly. In the burgeoning spring in its swelling loveliness. In the gift of people to love. In the hours we spend together, in the coming home of my brave and weary husband whose work as a priest has only increased since these days of isolation began.⠀
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Love is… to revel. In the fact that we know how to enjoy being home, in the books and music, the crafts and conversation we have gathered over the years. ⠀
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Love is… to pray. To ache and offer it up as blessing for those who suffer far more than we do. To plead grace for those giving their lives for the saving of others. To grieve and offer it up as fellowship for the sick and dying. To yearn and fear, and offer it up as hope for the beloved ones dwelling so far away. ⠀
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Love is… to hope. With grit in the face of the news. With defiance in the face of despair. With an aching joy that knows death has already been defeated and we will one day see the coming of unending life…
Sarah Clarkson
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Harvesting Character by Planting Seeds of Integrity & Podcast
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Vienna, Austria is one of my most cherished and beloved places in all the world. Living there for years during my twenties taught me to love tea and coffee times, to engage in history even more, to become international in my heart and to understand how hungry people are to know the love of God and His purposes for their lives.
One of my favorite places to walk was the Volksgarten, (the people’s garden). Created and opened for the public in 1821 for the common people to have a lovely place to walk, it has become known for the proliferation of some of the most beautiful gardens in the world. Once when walking there, I happened upon a gardener. He proudly spoke to my friend and me about what it cost to cultivate such roses. One of the overall lessons I learned from him was that the garden had to be cultivated over many years, always cut back to the nub when growing season was over, protected and fertilized and watered the right amount each season. The cultivation of this treasure of plants has not come about by accident but by careful planning and care over many years, through many differing gardeners who cared that the legacy keep producing gorgeous flowers.
The Legacy of a Godly character: Integrity, Righteousness, Truth, Faithfulness
So it is with godly character and integrity. Reaping a harvest of character comes from planting seeds of integrity over a lifetime. What you sow you will reap. But the amazing result is that you will have fruit for your labor and be satisfied and gratified to see how God has worked with you as you walk in obedience.
Recently, I read this quote from Billy Graham, who has been in my mind since his memorial.
The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith. BILLY GRAHAM
C.S. Lewis is famous for his essay “Men Without Chests” (from The Abolition of Man). In it, he describes a generation of people without virtue or character because of the rise of relativism and loss of objective truth. In the style of the ancients, he describes the head as the place of knowledge, the heart as the place of passion, and the chest as the place of virtue and character.
Only when a person has a well-developed character can they properly put to use knowledge and passion. Without the strength of character developed in the chest, knowledge can become cruel and passion destructive. With character, knowledge becomes wisdom and passion becomes love.
It seems that there are many people without chests in our world. With the constant influx of information provided by the internet, and no effective ways to determine the objectivity or truthfulness of that information, people can develop keen opinions, but not be required either to validate those opinions or to act on them. In the same way, it is easy for us to voice emotional and idealistic claims without doing the hard work of validating our opinions objectively and putting them into actual practice in our lives. Opinion becomes a substitute for character.
If we are truly to be full-bodied people who act on the biblical ideals that we hold to be objectively true, then we must practice integrity and grow the muscle of character; we must become men and women with chests.
The essence of character is found in the habitual heart choices of an individual over a long period of time. Character is the constant work of a lifetime and the product of a heart engaged in wisdom, choosing the right thing over and over again. It is like practicing a sport. If you’ve ever taught a child to catch or throw a ball, you know the moment in which it “clicks.”
Suddenly, the catcher goes from awkward fumbles to being able to catch the ball almost every time; snagging the ball out of the air becomes an automatic response. Character is the product of good choices made over and over again, so that when the curveballs of life come your way, you can automatically respond in wisdom because that is what you have practiced.
What we practice shapes who we become, and the voices we listen to shape what we will practice. If we are to live lives of character, we must invest in wisdom. One of my mentors once gave me a great quote: “God forgives, but wisdom does not.” The heart of wisdom is properly understanding the impact and meaning of our personal choices. The book of Proverbs very clearly delineates good and bad decisions, a practice which is not popular in our day.
The purpose of Proverbs is not to create strict rules to live by, but to help the reader live a life of wisdom which brings peace. I do not tell my children “don’t go over the speed limit” because I like to impose difficult rules upon them, but because if they do go over the speed limit they will more likely have to pay a ticket or get in a wreck. Wisdom creates healthy hedges around our behavior of what we will and won’t do.
We obey God's commands in order to build our lives on foundations that will stand and not fail us in the storms of life. We live with virtue so that others can look to us as beacons that will show them the love and redemption of God. Our virtue should help in our outreach and draw others to us, not send them away.
When God called us to be lights in a lost generation, His desire was that, through the virtue of our purity of life and behavior, we would become guides to those who long to move from darkness into light.
Becoming the best you can be requires that you own your integrity and live the most virtuous life possible.
Because we reflect the character of God, Christians should be the most trustworthy, hardworking, truth-telling, dependable, moral, patient, and grace-filled people. This is our heritage from God.
Our integrity comes before our influence.
Integrity comes from years of practicing living with godly character. Integrity is a lifelong fruit of determining to live faithfully. Christ is the model for what it looks like to have perfect integrity. But integrity brings the reward of living well into your life and watching God faithfully produce eternal fruit through the pages of your story.
Character is the constant work of a lifetime. and a product of a heart engaged in wisdom, and choosing the righteous option of obedience over and over again.
I have received many messages, well wishes, encouragement and prayers over the last few weeks. I am having plenty of opportunities to practice this principle of character training in my own life right now, as are you.
As many of you know, a couple of years ago, just about this time, I had an accident where I fell against the sharp corner edge of an old table and had 12 weeks of traveling to London to meet with an eye specialist. I endured much pain, eyedrops sometimes every hour of the day and night. Clay did all the housework, traveled with me by train to London, helped me to endure.
As I look back, I never questioned God or His goodness or even entertained the idea that He had designed this. We read in Scripture that God cannot be tempted by evil. I know vaguely it could have been part of spiritual warfare, but because God had stretched me over many years of calamity, car accidents, illnesses of children, church splits, you name it, I had learned to be a warrior in this battle of life.
Being obedient to God and stretching our character towards holiness prepares us for the story God wants ut so live. There may be other areas in my life where I should surely doubt God or question life—that is a part of our limited human make up. My vision is still very impaired. The end result is that my eye is permanently damaged, and I am quite visually impaired now, even when I write. Yet, I am just grateful for the one good eye and I have learned more and more to relinquish my rights to God and to seek to follow Him through whatever my life brings. A part of character is to be able to say to God, “Not my will, but yours be done. Use me for your purposes and your glory. I know that the One who is walking with me through this is faithful.
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The Unstoppable Power & Hope of Returning Spring & Podcast
Earth, teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.
William Alexander
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Just when all appears dead and there are no signs of life in the world, daffodils pop up, as if out of nowhere, to proclaim there just may be surprise and life ahead.
The Unstoppable Power of Returning Spring
God masterfully transcribed lessons and insights of life into the very warp and woof of His creation. Spring, summer, winter and fall cast the pulse of life as we experience it.
A time to bloom, to grow full blown, to harvest … and then all dies, for a season. Until the cycle of life starts over again. But winter will not have the last word.
And so there are winters in our lives--times when it appears that everything is dead or dying. Cold, stormy weather beats at the windows of our hearts as well as the windowpanes of our rooms. As Jesus said, there will be times when the storms will burst against our house.
During this darkness and cold, there is a deepening of roots that will allow new and better growth, a putting off old leaves and wilted fruit to make way for the new. It is in the darkest of nights that wisdom is learned, perspective is given, humility clothes our soul.
Though in the middle of the night, as in the middle of winter, gloom flows over and the fog of despair rains hard on our hearts, this is not the end of our story.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn, and He will come to us like the spring rain watering the earth.
Hosea 6:8
Even as the sun rises every day after the dark of night, so spring comes every year after the gloom of winter, when even though all appears to be dead, all the powers of the world, all the strength of darkness, cannot hold spring back.
The power of returning spring is unstoppable,
as though God's song refuses to be quieted.
It is a force so strong that it defies all other forces and life will indeed show its glory, its beauty and strength, again.
Every year, when the darkness seems the longest, daffodils spring up first, even in what appears to be the dead of winter, as though ringing out the bells of the glory of Life. Blooming with all their hearts, they proclaim, “Hope is coming! Light is on its way!”
A picture of resurrection life. Though all hope had been lost, and Jesus was brutally killed, wounded beyond recognition. Those who had appeared to be teachers and leaders were instead false prophets, seeking in their love of power to grab for themselves ultimate authority, and consequently killed the very One who created them.
Tears, sadness, and soul-black despondency filled those who had attached their very spirits to His being. Hope disappeared as the sun behind a cloud.
But, like the power of returning spring, the grave could not hold Him. Death was gloriously defeated.
And so the morning dawned, bright and sure, and our Lord defied all that was broken, all that was unjust, all that crushed each heart in this fallen place. Our Jesus brought back the life that in our wildest dreams, we could only hope against hope would prove true.
Spring reminds us that our hope is sure. His life conquers all death. His love heals every wound. And in heaven as on earth, our hope is sure--darkness will not have the last word.
"I am the way, the truth and the life."
Nothing can stop the power of His redemption and love.
Let your heart be encouraged today,
He is risen, He is risen indeed.
And like spring, no power or force of man, or designs of the dark one, can hold back His resurrection life,
or His will, where He will indeed make all things new.
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The Lifegiving Home: Inspiration and a Giveaway & Podcast
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As we give ourselves through out this time of sequestering, I wanted to give away a couple of my books that I thought might be helpful to you to give some inspiration. And here are some thoughts about home.
There is no one right way to live life in a home. No one size of routine or rules or order fits all. Homes with young children will be quite different from a single-adult home. Elderly adults will order their lives by different life rituals than will single adults, young marrieds, or university students. But the more carefully we plan our days, the better our homes will provide us with freedom and enjoyment as well as purpose and accomplishment.
Familiar rhythms and routines give structure that provides leadership and personal care to all who live there. When children and guests know what to expect, they also know how to ask for their personal needs to be met and understand what part they play in the life of the home. -Sally Clarkson
Tag a friend on facebook or instagram and follow me if you are not already following me in those places. I will be giving away 3 books in the next few days. Hope you win.
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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!
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?
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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.
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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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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:
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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.