Hold Fast to Love, Laughter & Beauty! It is Your Grace & Podcast

In April, several years ago, I took an evening walk with Sarah in Oxford and God painted the sky for us.The sky literally looked like it was on fire. Magnificent! Amazing! Wonderful—a moment we would never forget. Taking a photo of it gave a sense of worship in my heart for that moment I shared with Sarah. It was a breathless moment, a quiet one, in which we just stood together and watched the sky change from fire to pink to purple to dark.  An amazing moment, the church across the street from her home.

There is darkness in our world, discouragement, confusion. Yes, this is a really crazy time and we are not living as healthy as God intended us to—without regular contact with community, family, friends, church, restaurants, trying to meet all of our own needs alone without the normal interaction of those who used to be our support system. But there is still beauty, people we can love and be loved by, things to laugh at, and places where we still see goodness and God’s lifegiving creativity in our daily lives.

Things I am doing to try to keep my soul alive and filled.

Every morning lately, when I go walking in the national park areas near my home, I am almost overcome by the breathtaking beauty. I cannot ever seem to get a photo as beautiful as it is. It does take time and commitment to do it, but it really fills my soul.

This early morning I am listening to Ralph Von Williams on my Spotify, and sometimes switching to Alexander Desplaut, (two of my favorite film composers) or to a new channel—Wind Machine, or to a beautiful film score channel, or Celtic Fantasy or to my son, Joel Clarkson channel..

I poured myself a cup of Yorkshire Gold tea and chose my favorite tea cup and lit all the candles around me, like I do every day. I purchased 3 bunches of flowers at Walmart and they are around my house. Indulging myself by looking at velvety red roses that I found on sale is bringing me much pleasure.  After all, I am an adult and I can buy myself flowers once in a while when I think I need them! I am looking out my windows on tall, lean pines amidst the bluish-purplish gray sky, and noticing that the aspen trees are beginning to shimmer in the wind—a favorite late spring, summer pastime. To listen to them is a joy.

I have taken literally thousands of pictures of beautiful flowers, sunrises, scenes in nature this spring because it is a sort of worship in the moment a recognizing His fingerprints as I go through my days.

I am working on a new book about the foundational love of Jesus and how it transforms the way we live and I have almost been overcome by the amazing passages about his compassion and kindness. Oh how He is every good thing I would ever want my Heavenly Father to be. His word has humbled me and touched my heart. Now is a time I need compassion, mercy and kindess—so I am grateful.

I am taking time to love Jesus and tell Him how very happy I am that He is real and with me--that He has painted the sky and made music to stir my soul and that He is with me loving me. I am seeking to cultivate love notes to heaven as I appreciate the lover who is invisible but here in my life today. I have to take time to remember to keep our love fresh, just like I have to do with Clay. I have to work so that I don't lose my first love.

Taking time daily to talk to my kids, my besties, has given me a new gratefulness for our family. I text Joy and Sarah and tell them I am the most blessed mama in the world because they are such treasures to me. "I love you more every day." I tell them. Nathan calls me before I get a chance to call him and we chat at "besties" and I tell him that God is with him and that God and I love him. Joel comes up for a first cup of tea. "Hi, wonderful Joel. So thankful for you today." Words of love invested every day form a heart that feels full of HIs love because we have modeled Him to them in the oxygen of our moments.

Darcy Dog comes ambling in with a tennis ball in her mouth and throws it at my feet. I look at her, really notice how darling and ridiculous she is all at the same time. She makes me giggle a lot no matter what kind of day I am having. And I thank God for my silly dog and how much she makes me smile.

I see there are many beautiful, precious women who have deep burdens to bear--a prodigal son or daughter; a heavy and dark marriage partner who refuses to love or give grace; many with chronic illness-- 3 friends with cancer, pain, many living quietly with years of heart-break they bear in silence. Different, outside the box kids, illnesses of every sort. A truly lovely single mom was abandoned by her husband for a woman he met on facebook.

I could go on. I am familiar with deep sadness in my own life, some things I will never be able to share publicly because I believe in loyalty and protection of my family and friends from the public eye. It is my sacred trust to bear up through dark passages and to trust it just to Him, as He has promised to be with me.

We are subject all round us to the consequences of a fallen world--so beautifully made, so scarred and marred by the illness of our own souls, the sin that has created havoc, abounding in so many corners of life. And there it is for our children to figure out. Innocence and hope are my heart's desire--to be like a child fully delighting in life. But God has trusted me with adulthood and so I bow to His will.

Much of the sadness or at least sad circumstances will be with these precious women, who are in my heart, for many, many years--if not their whole lives.

But the circumstances of their lives do not need to define who they are or how they live.

This day is a place to light a candle in the darkness, to bring hope to sadness, to celebrate that He has overcome the world. Yet, doing this requires a grid that says, "I am the one called to bring light."

I often hum the old Steve Green song from scripture, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

I have added my own verses, "Do not be overcome by darkness, but overcome darkness with light."

"Do not be overcome by hatefulness, but overcome hatefulness with love."

"Overcome death with life."

"Overcome sadness with joy and celebration in the midst of the mundane."

The invisible, the Lover, the maker of beauty, the servant King is in our midst as a devoted Father. He is a bridegroom preparing a wedding feast. He is a wonderful counselor who has compassion on us when we feel lost. He is a shepherd who lays down His life for his sheep and leads them beside still waters.

As long as I keep my soul alive by dwelling in His presence, remembering the roles he plays in my own life, as long as I cultivate and practice a heart of love and give it and live in it, I can overcome the darkness--all darknesses of my soul here on earth.

But love and beauty and faith must be cultivated daily, in His presence, looking for His reality, so that my heart will be filled with the reality of Him and His overcoming goodness and redeeming light. I must cultivate this inner life if I am to find rest and peace in my daily life. 

The False Myth of a Perfect Life, a Perfect Woman

This message sits next to my quiet time chair and I ponder it many mornings—Great is HIs faithfulness.

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Do you ever feel like just when you are going to have a good day, someone spills something, argues, gets a fever when you were looking forward to going outside? Part of the challenge of life is learning to celebrate the joyful times and learning to live in grace through the times when life is just hard to tame.

Today, I had the funniest story from a mama who was waxing eloquent on a sweet comment to me. After she was through, she found her little 2 year old who had messed in his sisters’ pillow and hidden it in a dresser drawer! Never a dull moment. I hope you will love the podcast today.

Here is something joy shared with me from Julian of Norwich, a Middle Ages mystic devoted to the Lord. Be sure to read to the end.

Our Lord revealed to me a supreme spiritual delight in my soul. In this delight I was silled full of everlasting certainty, powerfully sustained, without any fear. This feeling was so welcome to me and so excellent that I was at peace, at east, and at rest, so that there was nothing on earth that could have distressed me.

This only last a while, and my mood turned right round and I was left to myself, feeling depressed, weary of myself and disgusted with my life, so that I could hardly have the patience to go on living. There was no ease or comfort, as I felt, except faith, hope, and charity, and these I had indeed, but could feel them very little

... This vision was shown to me to teach me— as I understand it— that it is necessary for everyone to feel in this way: sometimes to be comforted and sometimes to feel failure and be left to oneself. God wants us to know that he keeps us equally safe in joy and in sorrow, and loves as much in sorrow as in joy. And for the benefit of his soul, a man is sometimes left to himself, although sin is not always the cause; for this time I committed no sin.

Seems like in all areas of life, maturity, productivity, effectiveness is a process--often takes practice to begin getting it right--just like these pictures--finally we got an acceptable one.

No one is perfect--our lives take many days, months, years of practice and hard work to come out fruitful in time.

One of my friends said, "Sally, it seems with all of your candle lighting and tea cups and flowers and focus on joy, that your life was just easier than mine and that you had  more perfect  children.

We are surrounded by myths or women who seem to "have it more together" than we do. But the reality is, we are living in a fallen world and there will always be challenges, obstacles, temptations and weariness. But the glory of a woman is to learn how to overcome and civilize--and the key to lasting well is living in grace, rest, peace and love.

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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!

Comfort Food and Movies Come to the Rescue

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How are you? Most of “my people” are getting restless and cranky and drained to their toes.

In no world is this normal life. The seclusion from church, friends, family and normal activity is truly unhealthy at the heart of it. We were made for relationship, work, fun, faith inspiration and ways to have a break once in a while—whatever that means to you.

Add to that, people are taking sides on every issue and getting a little angry. So, I thought I needed to add a little leaven to the scene and give you who are interested some fun, some feasting, and a tiny distraction to all that is going on in our little worlds.

So, I made one of my family’s favorite dishes: Egg noodles, with sautéed mushrooms, parmesan cheese and just a little bit of cream and oil make my Creamy Chicken a hit with everyone. Yummy! And a salad with walnuts, mixed greens, blue berries, tomatoes, carrots, onions, avocados—the kitchen sink salad!

But I also thought maybe you would enjoy knowing about some epic movies and episodes our family has watched during times of exhaustion or snow storms or illness. I decided that it is ok for me to take a few more breaks and distractions because I could see myself going into a little bit of a dark vortex. I miss my people a lot and they are the ones who communicate love and affection and belonging in a way that keeps me filled up. So not having any of them and all the other things has made me a little bit low. So, I follow a plan I made many years ago when I determined that I would chase joy, hold it fast, cultivate it. I write down a plan of things that please me—more on that tomorrow. But today, I share a fun podcast I recorded last weekend with a dear friend just for fun.

Not often we give ourselves permission to just take a day off! Comfort for me will be something of a rhythm. Homemade cream of broccoli cheese soup from yesterday. (I add a couple of potatoes so it feel creamy with out so many calories and fat.)

Old fashioned chocolate chip cookies with pecans that we have made for years is always an easy hit.. (The secret to good cookies is always whip the butter, vanilla, sugar and eggs by themselves for 5-10 minutes on high and then don't bake the cookies too long--they will cook a little more after they are out and on  a stone and they will dry out a little, so you don't want them tough.)

Of course pots of strong tea. And some great English drama series that we can be romantic with and enjoy the countryside and dream.

Our favorite that we have watched over the years are: (and we almost have them memorized:

Pride and Prejudice (the new and the old 8 hour one!)

Sense and Sensibility

Persuasion

Emma

Larkrise to Candleford--so wonderful and new, but they are canceling it after its 4th season!

David Copperfield

Wives and Daughters

Victoria and Albert and Young Victoria

Mrs. Brown

Daniel Deronda

and more.

I will send pictures of the soup another time, if I get around to it, but think maybe I will just go climb into the pallet where the girls have used to pile pillows, blanket, candle lit, vase of flowers, water, sparkling water with juice and plenty of kleenex. And I’ll pretend they are with me.

Good health to all of you today!

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.

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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!

Vision: Finding the Righteous Path & Podcast

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Proverbs 29:18

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.”

Proverbs 4:18

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Pathways have always intrigued me. As Pollyanna in nature, I always become giddy inside when I see a pathway. What might be ahead? An adventure? A new friend? Something beautiful? I love the possibilities that life brings. (My husband is a little bit more of a realist. He likes to know where he is going, what is coming, if we have planed well for the journey, and are we prepared for what may lie ahead—rain, storms, etc.

Pathways insinuate that there are possibilities and places to go. Proverbs speaks of pathways and says that the path of one who is righteous, (growing in grace and truth and God’s character, one step at a time.), is like the light at the beginning of the day—shining brighter and brighter until the full day, (evidence of what the day will hold) and when all will be seen.

The path of life seems very confusing to most of right now—what is ahead? How will this turn out? What decisions should I make when I don’t know the outcome of almost anything.

Vision for the present is what will keep us going forward on the path God has carved out for us.

“The home is the fountain of civilization. The value and character and appetites of a people are greatly determined by the reading, training and cultivating of moral and spiritual appetites in the home. Mothers, you are the divinely-appointed teachers and guides of your children; and any attempt to free yourselves of this duty is in direct opposition to the will of God. If you neglect them, the consequences are swift and sure … Spend most of your time with your children. Sleep near them, attend and dress and wash them; let them eat with their mother and father; be their companion and friend in all things and at all times.”From Golden Thoughts on Mother, Home and Heaven

These words, written over a hundred years ago, are still very powerful today. Perhaps more powerful, in a culture where understanding of the importance of mothers to the overall well-being of soul of the next generation has been lost. How affirming it is to see that truth of past generations still applies to us today.

civ•i•lize 1. to create a high level of culture 2. to teach somebody to behave in a more socially, morally and culturally acceptable way 3. to enlighten, cultivate, improve, advance, subdue in terms of a people or nation.

Often, I find that in the absence of a clear enough vision for their children and homes, mothers replace conviction and vision with lots of activities and distractions for their children. This hyper-activity and rushing around to an endless list of lessons and experiences and the buying of the newest expensive curriculum and technological options make moms feel like they are accomplishing something. However, when the home-life of children is rich with excellent, classic literature, passionate Biblical devotions, rousing dinner-table discussions around sumptuous, tasty meals, lots of love and affection given and household chores attended to, then a child will become committed to all that is good and excellent and develop a moral and compassionate soul for all the divinely important values—even in the absence of all that flurry of activity.

A focus on home life is the key to civilizing our children, and thereby our nation. From the beginning of time, God created the home to be a place sufficient to nurture genius, excellence, graciousness and grand civility. But the key factor is nothing that can be purchased or owned. The accomplishment of this grand life is found only in the soul of a mother, through the power of the Holy Spirit, personally mentoring her children.

It is in a personal relationship with a real person whose soul is alive in which the deepest imprints of life are given. The secrets and deep emotions shared during the goodnight hours in which the soul of a child is tender and open; the comfort of warm, home-made food shared in the early evening as ideas are shared and discussed and prayers and devotions given; the laughter, stories, advice given in the midst of washing dishes together or sharing of a meal; the heroic and riveting stories read aloud and shared together that establish common patterns of morality, values and dreams in the comfort of the blazing hearth; mugs of steaming hot chocolate and squishing against each other on a den couch—these are the heavenly things which are food to the soul and nourishment to the mind and conscience of a child fully awake to all that is important in life.

There is no computer, television, software or text book that can pass on such passion, love and motivation.

Indeed, it is the personal touch of a mother’s heart that creates grand civility, deepaffection, care and commitment to the foundations of a family. When the invisible strings of a mother’s heart are tied to the heart of her children through loving sacrifice and nurture, the stability and foundations of a nation become secure and stable. A mother, living well in her God-ordained role, is of great beauty and inestimable value to the future history of any generation. Her impact is irreplaceable and necessary to the spiritual formation of children who will be the future adults of the next generation. Fun, comfort, humor, graciousness, spiritual passion, compassion for the lost, hospitality, chores, meals, training, life-giving words, hours and hours of listening and playing and praying and reading—all are parts of the mosaic which go into the process of soul development.

If you have the desire to go deeper today, set aside a few moments with a hot cup of tea and complete the reflection and application below:

• “Without a vision, the people perish.” -Proverbs 29:18 The New American Standard Bible translates this verse, “Without a vision, the people are unrestrained.” Do you have a vision for your family? Think about taking some time to write down your dreams and goals in order to have a true focus for all you do with them.

• “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” -Deuteronomy 6:6-7 Are the words of God on your heart? They must be there before they can be given to your children, so how will you make sure they are there?

• What are some ways you might share the beauty and love of God with your family, today?

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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!

Why the World Needs Brave Mamas Right Now!

“Mama, I just want to be home. I want to hear your answers, eat your food, live in stability for a few days, be friends and refuel a bit. This has been so hard.” from an unnamed Clarkson child.

It is how life is conducted in the day to day, the mundane, the home rituals where stability, peace of mind, comfort in a whirling world matters so much. To have such rhythms of life requires one who will direct and conduct the love, beauty, peace, truth and comfort—it doesn’t just happen by chance.

As I look upon the landscape of our culture, it seems that more than anything else, adults who love God with all of their hearts—who practice righteousness, who have a heart to reach others, who stand strong against the moral battles of this day— are what is most desperately needed in our world.

God intended for righteousness to be passed on from one generation to the next by mentoring the children who would become this kind of adult. It would be that they would effectively pass on God's Kingdom messages and values and loyal allegiance to Him to those in their own generation. The key to building healthy, godly souls comes from growing to maturity in a home where this life of Christ is lived, breathed and taught.

Mothers were God's finest idea of how such a legacy would be passed on each generation. Mothers were designed by Him to shape and influence the hearts of children who would become the next generation of godly leaders in the sanctuary of their own homes. Mothers have the capacity to inspire messages of truth and hope, to model love and servant leadership, to build mental and academic strength by overseeing the education of her children, to lead in faith and to build a haven of all that is good, true and beautiful.

Satan would love to obscure such an important calling so that generations could not be so well built. He would diminish marriage, having children, family, our walk with God, and loyal love, the glue that holds all of these relationships together.

This is exactly why it is so important that mothers today receive instruction, encouragement, support, and wisdom so that they can continue this great calling in their lifetime, so that history will mark her investment by the lives her children are enabled to lead.

One of the most fulfilling works of life, more of a blessing than I would ever have imagined, is to have built with Clay these wonderful children into godly adults. What blessing and love God had in mind when He gifted me my children as the best work of faith I will probably ever do!

My prayer for you, at this time, is that you will embrace your eternally significant role, and that you will know just how much your children are hoping you will be faithful to God. Your faithfulness insures that they may be trained in spiritual strength, moral excellence, and the influence of righteousness. I pray that every day, you will have vision for understanding how very much each day of your faithful serving as a mom matters to God and to His wonderful plan to create us for this role.

I wish each of you a blessed day today. I pray my books will be of great encouragement and give you hope and confidence to become the mom He created you to be. May He bless and bless each of you with wisdom, strength, and great joy!

Could They Have Known? & I Love Podcasting

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And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 

Romans 5:3-5

I wonder if the disciples had any idea what they were in for.

While Nathanael gathered figs, Matthew sat at his table counting taxes, or Andrew wound nets tight on a rocking boat, did any of them dream of something more? Did they ponder the Scriptures promising the Messiah would come? Or were their minutes already as full as my own? Did His coming and calling take them by surprise?

I think the latter is probably more likely. He surprised them. They probably weren't watching. And they certainly didn't expect Him to show up and call them personally.

What about you, dear one? Do you remember that He has come, that He is coming, that He continues to call men and women to Himself? Do you live your life with an eye open to the eternal things God might want to do in your own life?

"Jesus' work in a person's life has always begun with a call to leave behind the goals, purposes, and distractions of this world and to say yes to a whole new life, a new way of thinking. "Follow me" is what He told the disciples as He recruited them. And they did, abandoning their fishing nets, their tax-collector's moneybags, their permanent homes, their everyday duties and pleasures. And they never went back. Sure, they still did a little fishing from time to time! But once they made the choice to follow Jesus, their lives were forever changed. They never returned to 'normal.'

I think this is vital for us to keep in mind as Christians and as parents. We know we are called to follow Christ, to take His message to the world, to raise our children to heed Jesus' call. But sometimes I think we fail to consider that following the Lord might mean leaving behind the ordinary and the familiar. It means exchanging a temporal view of life for an eternal goal. And this may mean leaving behind things we really care about--involvements and pursuits that seem important and worthwhile but may not be God's best for us.

Part of giving the gift of inspiration is helping our children understand this--and perhaps reminding ourselves. To fulfill God's design for their lives, our precious children must at some point determine to give Jesus allegiance in every aspect of their lives. There is a cost to discipleship, and that cost is everything!" ~ The Ministry of Motherhood

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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!

Living Whole, Living Healthy With Nicole Field & podcast

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Market Day in Oxford was a favorite pastime each week. There were stalls of fresh veggies, fruit, cheeses, eggs, bread, olives, hummus, everything one could want for filling up kitchen cupboards. Vibrancy of color, multi-textured goodies filled me with excitement. “I wonder what I will bring home to eat today.”

Walking kept me healthy, (5-7 miles a day) but also eating well, eating “fresh” and living an overall whole life.

Now, under times of great stress, keeping healthy will keep us better emotionally, spiritually and physically.I think we can all agree that these last several weeks have added a layer of stress to our body, mind and spirit that none of us have experienced before. Stress affects the brain and body and then we could go into ways of caring for ourselves in this time to help process and manage the stress we are feeling. 

A year ago, my wonderful friend, Nicole, NPT, created a program called "30 Days of Whole Living". I know that stress is slowing me down in my own ideals and practices. I thought it would be encouraging to all of us to talk about a healthy lifestyle today. Nicole has a plan, "7 Days of Whole Living", that helps women make a plan that fits into their lives for healthy rhythms and practices..

Today, we talked about her plan for whole living and what we both do to try to keep ourselves as healthy and strong as possible as a rhythm of life, all the time, every day. The purpose of her own program is to help women and moms, especially, learn different practices of self-care or what both of us call, “Whole. Living”

I think you will love this podcast and I hope our conversation gives you great ideas and just encourages you in your own goals and rhythms—as many as your life allows you to practice.

If you would like to know more about what Nicole has offered in her course for support for you at home, go to her website below. These are some of the areas we discussed and what are foundations to a healthy, whole life.

1. Acknowledging our emotions and how we feel

2. Moving our bodies to release stress

3. Being in nature 

4. Gratitude Journaling

5. Prayer/Meditation

6. Setting Boundaries

7. Digital Detox

More Resources:

Find Nicole Field, NPT, and more about her classes and plan @

nicole@wholelivingpilates.com

wholelivingpilates.com

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.

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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!

Chasing Wisdom: Looking All Around For the Fingerprints of God, Daniel Grothe & Podcast

This year, I made it my goal to look for the fingerprints of God by noticing light in my days and pondering His wisdom in my world. Wisdom has been a new focus for me this year after teaching a unit on Proverbs.

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“He who walks with the wise will be wise.”

We become what we pursue. I learned many years ago to copy wise people. Anyone who knows me well knows that I try to read books, find authors and speakers who grant me Biblical wisdom in my life. Those that cause me to grow, to stretch, that make me want to love and serve God more, that transform my heart to have hope and faith are my focus. Years ago, I had the opportunity to be in a private conference with one such hero authors, Eugene Peterson. I had actually met him and his wife in a dorm cafeteria in Santa Fe as a conference for writers, artists and musicians and hoped for another opportunity to be under his teaching..

A couple of years later, Clay and I had the opportunity to attend a very small, private conference where he spoke. We soaked up every word and scribbled notes to be sure we did not forget anything he said. It happened that my seat at a table was next to another man who was as attentive as we were, excited about what it looked like to be mentored by someone who had invested their lives in becoming wise. .

His name of Daniel Grothe, a pastor from a church we attended. Fast forward over ten years later, and you will find me taking notes and being inspired by what Daniel is now teaching and writing. His story is quite fascinating, filled with tales of mentoring from Eugene Peterson as well as convictions from his own life.

Daniel’s book, Chasing Wisdom, explains the Bible's blueprint for becoming the kind of person who can deal with all of life's challenges.

He explains:”Some people have learned how to live. They can handle all that life brings. They are composed. They radiate strength. They are whole, with lives worth emulating, and when they speak people listen. They are, in a word, wise. How did these people get wisdom? And perhaps more importantly, how can we?”

I recently taught a study in my membership, Life With Sally, about the book of Proverbs, which led me into a renewed appreciation of how important wisdom is to duding each step of our lives. In his book, Daniel shows us how to get wisdom for ourselves by examining what the Bible has to say about it and by providing practical steps for acquiring it, among them:

• learning to ask for help

•  loving Scripture

•  going to Church

•  living quietly

• and, above all, seeking those who are themselves wise.

Drawing upon Scripture and upon his own experience learning from his friend and mentor Eugene Peterson, Grothe shows how our lives can be secured by the resource that will keep us from collapsing under the onslaught of the difficulties of life. Wisdom is available to us. It takes work to pursue it. Chasing Wisdom reveals how.

We had a grand time in our interview and I was so very encouraged. I know you will be so inspired by his message.

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!

Coping With A Sense of Loss: Compassion. for This Time With Holly Pakiam & PodcastI

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“I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. I just feel sad inside,” I answered Clay.

I am well fed, have a warm bed, plenty to do, but deep dark feelings seems to emerge on this Saturday morning and I knew I needed to look at them to figure out where they were coming from.

Covid Virus has left all of us with disappointments, disturbances to our normal schedules, and left us with big question marks. When will this end? What will life be like when it is over? How long will we have to social distance? What is the economy going to be like.

As I was sharing some of these feelings, I realized that this was the first time in 36 years when I had lived without one or some of my adult children for more than 5 days. They are much of my community, my best friends, my confidants, my spiritual inspires. I realized I had been stuffing my lonesomeness for them and just for people and friends. So often, we do stuff our feelings and just carry on faithfully.

I shared some of this with my dear friend,Holly Packiam, who is a ministry leader in her church and teaches women’s and parenting ministry groups. Holly is also a trained counselor and so we thought it might be helpful to talk about some of the ways to cope with the sense of loss that many of us are feeling.

I remember a how I felt in another time of deep isolation, Holly shares. Her 4 kids were 7 and under and it felt impossible to go anywhere, get anything done, or see anyone outside of her family.

She recalls: “It felt hard to take care of myself and at moments I truly thought I was going to lose my mind.

I remember thinking: I can’t do this...I can’t get anything done and I can’t be the mother to the kids they need. I needed to talk to a friend-- any adult!

I needed conversation to stimulate my mind. I wanted to hear from others and to be listened to.

I felt alone being the only adult in the house.

I felt anxiety growing in my stomach by the day.”

Maybe this season isn’t much different for some of you. These feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression, frustration, and anger have been residing in your heart for a long time and this season hasn’t changed that. Or perhaps the fact that you literally can’t leave your house or that there is actually nowhere to go has magnified those difficult feelings.

Jesus showed us that part of being truly and fully human is to bring our sadness and anguish, our heaviness and loneliness, to the Father in prayer. In fact, the people of God have a long tradition of bringing their laments to God. We see this in the Psalms.

Today, we look at what a lament is, and how Godly lament helps us in naming and coping with loss. We will talk through Psalm 13-- a classic lament psalm, with protest, petition, and praise found within in it. We also offer helpful ways to process what you’re feeling in this season.

Sweet friends, I think about you so often and pray for all of you. Holly and I prayed for you.

May God’s peace and comfort meet you today, sweet friend and may you know you are not alone. .

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The Very Long Walk of Motherhood ...

Hiking and climbing on the mountain trails near our home has brought many adventures to our family. One such picnic into the woods, years ago, turned into a 7 1/2 hour perilous calamity where the kids and I and our beloved golden retriever had to be rescued. I thought we would take a nice little walk, but it turned out to be wrought with paths that led us astray, coyotes barking at us, getting lost, darkness settling in and exhaustion amongst us all.

Sometimes motherhood is such a journey. I thought it would be easier and more friendly, but at times, it has also been fraught with unplanned hazards. (You will have to read this true story in the book to find out what happened!)

It's often said that motherhood is a marathon, not a sprint. Yet I wonder if it's not something else entirely, more of an endless hike alongside God, who teaches and encourages and sometimes carries us as we go along our way with eternal lessons hidden at each curve of the trail. Surely there are heights and valleys, easy stretches and those that are more challenging, times we sink in the sand and times we could run we feel so light and free. I wrote about it in The Mom Walk ... 

"As a young woman, I looked ahead to the adventure of having my own precious brood of children and idealized all the love, fun, and joy we would share as a family. I even pictured myself as the happy mother of joyful, well-adjusted children. My life as a mom has created countless moments of joy, love shared, deep fulfillment and wonderful memories.

Yet I also have had times of dark depression, loneliness, and feelings that I couldn't keep going. I have often felt inadequate to know just how to discipline and train my children. Choices about their lives have often been a mystery amid so much parenting advice. What movies are acceptable? What is the best way to educate my children? How do I help them handle peer pressure? How is it possible to build godly character into the very fabric of my children's souls? Why is my child resisting me so much? Does my child need more attention or more discipline? And on and on my questions go.

However, I also found I was unprepared for the road, unaware of the obstacles and dangers I would find strewn on my pathway, and I felt often alone in the midst of the difficulties, and more weary than I had ever dreamed I would be. I felt so many times that I needed a guide, a map, the right resources to make the journey, and help along the way. I needed a companion to walk the road with me and to strengthen and encourage me when I felt so alone and forlorn. Often, though, I didn't feel I knew anyone I could turn to for help ...

The more I have studied Scripture, the more I have realized the God designed the role of mother to be one of the most important relationships a child will ever have. How I walk my path as a mother will greatly determine the outcome of my children's souls, relationships, vision for life, and success in their own walk with God. He is the one with the map, the hidden treasures along the way, and the ultimate guide. But without His word and His wisdom, I was sure to become lost on this journey."

The Mom Walk: Keeping in Step with God's Heart for Motherhood

By Clarkson, Sally