Reflecting The Love Of Christ To Your Children

It is not in getting the rules right or in defining all of the rules and theology that will make our children want to serve God. It is in laying down our life for them, serving them, listening to them, loving who God made them within the context of a call to holiness, that will secure in them a desire to love God with all of their hearts. By seeing our love, they will more easily understand and receive God's love, as it will already be familiar to their hearts and brains.

How might you show your children the love of Christ today?

Well Lived Book

Reaching The Hearts Of Those Around You

While I was living in Oxford, Parliament decided to make a Minister for Loneliness to meet the needs of people who felt isolated, without community. I realized I needed to have in mind and prioritize reaching out to those in my normal walk of life.

Over the years, I cultivated friendships with baristas, women who came to my Bible study, a favorite waiter, and many more.

All of these friendships began with me pondering something I could say to open them up. "How old is your dog?" "You are the best coffee maker I know." "It was a comfort to come to your restaurant. Your food is the best in town."

Reaching people with the heart of Christ is simple — it just takes eyes to see the needs of those around you. How might you reach someone in your normal walk of life this week?

Order your copy of my new book, Well Lived, today.

The Mantle Of Motherhood Brought Me Peace & Capacity

By being accountable to God for the human beings entrusted into my arms, I had to grow in the direction of the ideals I wanted them to understand and emulate. And this personal character development influenced so many other realms of my life: my work habits, my writing and speaking, my willingness to accept the difficulties and bring light into the dark chaos.

What you practice in small areas of life impacts what you become in other areas. My own interests were stretched by the many inquiries and studies of my children, my education was broadened, my writing was enhanced by the countless books we read together, and my mind became stronger in and through ideas shared, discussed, and even challenged by my family.

Read more about this in my new book, Well Lived.

Tea Time Tuesday: Made for Adventure, Designed for Beauty

Click here to play today’s new podcast episode.

Walking in the beauty of a moment captured in sharing deep friendship was my delight this week in Oxford. I asked my son, Joel, to think of a fun adventure we could take on a beautiful fall day. He told me of a favorite pub that was at the end of a beautiful 2.5 mile walk. Each step was filled with an array of fall leaves of gold, red, yellow and multi-color. We tramped through some muddy fields, up hill and down, crisp air, sharing secrets, dreams, funny stories, ideals, theology, and all the things that deep friends do share.

Our reward was an old pub, delightfully hidden in a quiet corner amongst old cottages built in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The food was delectable, totally delicious, artfully presented, reasonably priced. Sitting out on the back porch with ceiling heaters keeping us toasty, we looked out upon huge aged trees, flowers swaying in the light breeze.

This week, I chose to carve out the time. I made my choice, because I know choices have consequences. This is the best choice, at times — focusing all of my heart, eyes, attention, love on my precious people that God entrusted into my hands. Not allowing the moment to slip away to the dark abyss of busyness, pretending to listen while having my eyes on the computer, to know and to be known, to trust someone with our heart and know it will be held with grace and tenderness. Getting away to a secret place, the sharing hearts requires a commitment of time — putting away all other distractions. Saying, "At this moment, you are the most important person in the world to me. I love being in your company."

It starts with the rocking chair when you sing lovely lullabies to infants, playing childish games with toddlers, whispering secrets, songs, silly stories, reading sweet books, the playful touch of back rubs, hearing secrets at bedtime, staying up late beyond midnight, listening and allowing teens to question, to pour out, to vent, to share insecurities with out criticism or lectures.

The sharing of life, the pointing them to His truth, His ways, His love, in the warp and woof of life moments — this is the secret of a blessed motherhood.

Tea Times Have Saved My Life

Taking the time to have a steaming hot cup of tea and a little sweet treat has saved my life many times — from frustration with a busy morning, from discouragement from life storms that seemed insurmountable. Tea times have given me a breath to pause in the midst of demanding days. I like to think that it was taking time for tea that inspired Lewis to write the sweeping, inspiring, heartening tales of Narnia.

Of course, tea was central to my daily life in Oxford, as I would take a few civilized moments to bring peace to my day. One of my favorite places for tea was at the Vaults and Garden, inside an old church that looks out on the Bodleian Library. Another favorite spot was a charming cafe that served delectable eggs benedict. If it wasn't for the regular walks in the park I could have easily gained a thousand pounds while living there!

Do you have a rhythm that brings peace to your days? Tell me all about it in the comments.

Women Are Amazing Creatures

Women are amazing creatures and have the ability to civilize the world, to influence generations by generously pouring out love, training the very character and souls of the next generation and persevering through great trials and challenges while coming out resiliently.

My hope has always been to guide, inspire, support my own beloveds through the passages of their own lives. As I matured over time and moved more gracefully into my role, I grew in my desire to come alongside other women, in the realm of influence God had opened up (and men—especially my own boys!) to provide some leadership and encouragement about what I had learned.

Read more about this in Well Lived.

Be Kind to Yourself, Patient, Give Grace

Click here to play today’s new podcast episode.

Cappucino with extra whip!

What goes up must come down.

We are being depleted on a regular basis. We are human beings with limitations, but often, we ignore that fact, when we struggle or spew, we have nothing but condemnation for ourselves. Today, on my Tea Time Tuesday podcast, I read from one of my chapters in Well Lived!

Being “kind to yourself” is the only way to walk by God’s sweet, gentle, kind love and grace through our own marathons of life. That is what I wish for you today, that you would be kind to yourself.

What amazing meetings I have had in the past couple of weeks — 5 events in different cities, different venues, with hundreds and hundreds of sweet peeps of every age, lots of talking, giggling, estrogen, and great friendship, inspirational talks. Lots of adrenalin and energy expended!

I have indeed found over the years, that what goes up, must come down. Today is such a day. Weekends are off schedule, activities, sweets, church, friends, food — and then it is "getting back to the grind.” But today finds me flying over the ocean to my wonderful Oxford, the place where my stories and photos were recorded for my book, Well Lived.

Today is a day for grace — be kind to yourself day. Put beauty into your moments. Turn on music. Kiss a few people, hold their hands. Dance to music with a joy-filled heart.

Get a cup of coffee with an extra shot and whipped cream, as my friend insisted. Eat at least one square of dark sea salt chocolate. Forgive yourself today, put away anger and you won't be so grumpy, harsh. We all know that harshness creates tension — it doesn't create order.

"Mom, when you feel happy and sing and dance around the house, we all feel like we are on top of the world," said Joel.

Be happy, give your burdens to God. Everyone will be the better for your day. And so I am planning for a grace-filled days, a reprieve from so much work, so that I can be kind to my sweet people from a grace-filled heart.

I hope you will enjoy Well Lived.

Only God Can Lead Us To Fulfillment

I have rarely met people who found deep satisfaction by pursuing and obtaining worldly measures of success. In fact, they are often somewhat disappointed. When we do what God has designed us to do, we find what we were looking for: an intimate and loving relationship that satisfies our longing, consistent thoughts that guide us into wisdom and peace, and a healthy life that brings us strength through all of our days.

Read more about this in Well Lived.

What Life Givers Do

From the moment our children arrive in our homes, we are teaching them how to see the world, what to consider important, what to seek, what to love. Mothers have the opportunity to form home and family life in such a way that God’s reality comes alive to our children each day.

The meals, conversations, and prayers we foster become the training and our homes, our presence, and the world are the training ground. As these tiny human beings find themselves swimming in the love, affection, and tenderness of their mothers, they will flourish and grow.

When they are talked to, engaged with, invited to explore and ponder, they cultivate a lasting love for learning and grow intellectually and spiritually. The whole world becomes their laboratory where they learn and develop, all because there was a person conducting the order and pattern of their purposeful days.

Read more about this in Well Lived.

How Do You Deepen Your Heart, Mind, And Soul?

The grand historical stories pictured by the gorgeous architecture of Oxford was never lost on me. I would imagine CS Lewis strolling with Tolkien, talking about the books they were writing, or Henry VIII pondering re-establishing Christ Church. Every time I stepped outside my door, I would pass by idealistic students from all over the world who wanted to make their mark and had come to study at Oxford.

One of the realizations that struck me was that I had a much larger capacity to learn, to ponder great ideas, to be touched by the heroes who had lived their lives well.

How do you challenge yourself to grow intellectually? To deepen your heart, mind, and soul?

Read more about this in my new book, Well Lived — out now.