Tag Archive - confession

On the Porch

On the porch I sat.

It was a beautiful spring day, but I had a wazoo of weeds, a long unwanted list, and a dry, empty longing. Whether it was the paralyzing pace, or the brilliant sun’s warmth, I had to simply sit.

waterglass

I didn’t want to do anything. I’d lost my excitement and anxiety reigned in its place. I wanted to shut down and turn off the to-do file.

Way too much happening. My oldest child was about to get married, the next in line graduating and headed off to school. At home, the remaining last child was uneasy, teasing about running off. Anything seemed more appealing than being left with the “crazy old parents.” Add wedding showers, graduation parties and the search for the right dress to the less-than-simple schedule and . . .

I quit.

I was done.

Done for, anyway. The clock was ticking. I’d fought Father Time like he was a bad weed. I’m ashamed to say that when my kids were in grade school, I even stopped giving them birthday parties.

I prepared the babies to be grown-ups, but when the exchange took place, I noticed I missed the class preparing me. Surely after I’d invested my life into these kids, they couldn’t leave.

But try as we may, life changes faster than clock hands during spring forward.

Kids change. They age. And our denial is forced to a halt.

So on that bright spring day, I sat on the porch.

And I discovered, again, my desperate need. The need to fertilize my faith, plant inner growth and gulp the Living Water. The life giving, thirst quenching water of trust in God, good for all seasons.

I remembered life’s summers may come and go, but Jesus remains the same.

Today. Tomorrow. Yesterday.

The same.

I trust him.

You can too. Won’t you join me for some Living Water refreshment on the porch?

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One Way to Beat the Busyness

Getting nowhere, but doing it fast?

It’s like I’m on an endless treadmill, battling the bottomless clothes-basket and scrubbing the forever dirty-dish. After that comes the endless next thing—errand, meeting, project, appointment, and, as always, the bills. So much stuff needs attention, must be done. I’m over scheduled, under focused and beside myself. It’s like I’m a hamster running on a mini Ferris wheel, with no way to get off, and no end to this race.

All the striving and running left me empty. Even with some measure of success, like cleaning all the dishes or completing a presentation with applause, I got bombarded by the next task and the sense of a fruitless chase.

Chasing Vapors.

Much of our life is spent “chasing the wind” (Eccl 4:4-6). King David’s son (Eccl 1:1), said, “Nothing under the sun is truly new” (Eccl 1:9, NLT), but we break our necks to make things new. We work hard to make a mark, leave a legacy, or influence others. We act like everything is up to us. We think if we don’t do it, it won’t get done and then, well . . . we’re convinced the sky will fall, our kids won’t turn out right, and we will be the ultimate, epic failure. So we stay busy attempting to catch what can’t be caught.

One Way.

The empty exercise caused me to seek God for his view, his take on what I should do. The scripture writer experienced the same pointless pursuits, and his search for answers ended in a summation of life, the reason for existence, the ONE THING that fulfills our longing. “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty” (Eccl 12:13, NLT) was found to be the underlying meaning of life. And it echoes in other scriptures like “be still and know…God” (Ps 46:10), and the greatest commandment to love God and love people (Matt 22:37-40).

Do you, like me, struggle with this one life-simplifying thing? Does life’s summation to love and obey God seem too spiritual to be relevant? Are you running life’s treadmill, chasing vapors hoping for an end? Have you ever wondered why we work so hard but have no progress?

When we focus on loving God and loving others, we purify our running around. God helps us sift through what we do. He forgives our mistakes and failures while giving us daily direction. Our track becomes focused and the distractions pale in comparison to this satisfying life-purpose.

We beat the busyness.

My renewed focus gives me a clarity, ability and the enlightened truth—it isn’t all up to me. Although I still run, I feel light in my shoes, unburdened, and sort of like a super hero.

I’m going somewhere.

5 Year Old Girl Shows what it Means to be Woman

5 year old girl calms dad during a heart attack while taking control and talking to 911 dispatcher.

Pure feminine mind at work doing what must be done and doing it with style and class. What do you wear for such occasions?

Watch this short clip for a glimpse into the feminine way of thinking and acting.

What do you think? Don’t most women handle adversity with some level of decorum  and control? They do what they have to do, but do it with style.
If you’re female, will you admit to thinking and responding like this little girl?
How many of you mothers primped during labor before heading to the hospital?
Leave your response in the comments.

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A New Monday

It’s Monday again, but not like all the others. This one is full of hope for life change, a wanting something different, and resolutions. Decisions that resemble those we make on New Years.

After bloating on Christmas goodies that so quickly followed Thanksgiving feasts, I decided to reset my heart, mind and body.

Heart: I will enjoy the presence of my God, walk with him, laugh with him and learn to work under his direction. Not that I haven’t been doing such, but I will intentionally spend more time focusing on him and remaining in his presence. Please join me in this adventure or pray for me as I go.

Mind: Along with reading the Bible, I will read more ministry related books and add some good fiction to spur creativity and enjoy the fact that I can read. Are their any books you suggest? Any recommendations of good fiction?

Body: The most common decision and the one where I struggle the most. Resetting my body will mean my heart and mind must be engaged. Eating healthy and exercising takes determination. I’ll need all the help I can get.

I found help in a cool online tool, thanks to a Twitter post by @mdemuth (Mary DeMuth). The Daily Plate is a free tracker of food intake. No writing down what I eat, or counting calories, or figuring out how many calories I burned washing dishes. The Daily Plate does it all. (iPhone App too.)

How I started:Apple

  • I went to www.livestrong.com, The Daily Plate is compliments of Lance Armstrong. Go, Lance. Go!
  • I typed in how many pounds I wanted to lose per week, my height, weight and age. The Daily Plate showed me how many calories I should eat daily to reach my goal. (Note: I skipped paying for the upgraded version and clicked on the bottom for the free version.)
  • I signed up for a profile and got My Plate.
  • Once the profile was done, I typed in an orange and coffee for breakfast. The Daily Plate tracker calculated the calories and showed how many more I needed for the day. I typed in lunch, snacks, and dinner and My Plate kept a cool personal record (menu) of what I had eaten. The challenge was to keep the calorie counter from topping its limit.
  • I explored the exercise calorie counter. I typed in “folding clothes” and the amount of time it took then it counted the calories I used. I can’t wait to type in my gym workout.
  • It tracks glasses of water I drink as well.

The Daily Plate is way cool and gives a visual of my efforts to obtain body health. Every day the tracker brings up a new page to fill in and provides an export of my data. And it’s free. Thank you, Lance.

Go, Robin. Go!

Go, reader. Go!

See you at the gym.

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Search for Peace in a World of Disturbance

Peace.      Still.      Rest.

Peace in a World of Disturbance
Peace in a world of disturbance

The Burden.
Ever push to make things happen? When I do, I become anxious, worried, and stressed. All actions feel like my responsibility. Like it’s my fault when it doesn’t go well. Or when it does, the credit is mine. During these times, everything seems to key off of me, what I do, or don’t do, if I’m good enough, or not. I don’t like the stress of that kind of responsibility.

The Freedom.
When I place myself in the presence of sovereignty, I have peace. Overriding the swirl of troubles, struggles, and circumstances, a peace prevails. My actions become obedience to the sovereign God instead of an ambition to control. I realize the results don’t hinge upon my behavior or ability. God’s responsible for the results. I’m responsible for obeying. By sitting down in submission to him, I find a peaceful freedom.

The Counsel.
“Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act” (Ps 37:7). I should work physically while sitting still in God spiritually. But I forget that God’s in charge, and get busy, working, feeling responsible for the outcome. When things don’t go right, the responsibility turns into temptations to take control, get frustrated, and become angry. Psalms 37:8 states, “Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm.” “Be still,” or “Stop being angry!”

The Choice.
I must choose. “Be still,” or push-through-with-all-I’ve-got. The choice leading to peace is simple, but the “Be still” follow through isn’t easy. The option keeps coming back and needs a fresh resolve. Sometimes I make the right choice, and others…

Anyhow. Do any of you, like me, search for peace in a world of disturbance?

*picture by MJ Photography

Where is your brother?

Yesterday’s entry in Streams in the Desert had a stirring poem by Archbishop William Alexander. The poem moved me as it spoke to my heart’s passion. Listen to this…

“If I have eaten my morsel alone,”
The patriarch spoke with scorn;
What would he think of the Church were he shown
Heathendom—huge, forlorn,
Godless, Christless, with soul unfed,
While the Church’s ailment is fullness of bread,
Eating her morsel alone?

“Freely you have received, so give,”
He says, who has given us all.
How will the soul in us longer live
Deaf to their starving call,
For whom the blood of the Lord was shed,
And His body broken to give them bread,
If we eat our morsel alone!

Bread Image

Oh Church, I confess to being a glutton, but I can no longer fully enjoy our feasts, the meetings of shared faith. My heart longs to take the abundance of life to those who hunger, those who cry out, those who have no hope.

To those who wait, “I don’t know how to get to you, but I’m coming. Hold on a little longer while I find my way and learn. I want to bring you a bite of hope, a bit of love and acceptance. I’m a coming. Don’t give up.”

To God, “Help me bring the answer to their cries. Show me how to do this. What is your way? Fill me with your amazing love and let it pour over them. Here am I.”

“Where is your brother Abel?” (Genesis 4:9)

Let Not the Music Die

Great Master, touch us with Your skillful hands;
Let not the music that is in us die! ~Streams, p. 335

Play MusicThat line of poetry pierces into the struggle for my passion and alludes to the difficulties of life. Job said:
Is not all human life a struggle? Our lives are like that of a hired hand…who longs for the shade…waiting to be paid. I, too, have been assigned months of futility, long and weary nights of misery (Job 7:1-3).
If you’re like me working toward some beautiful melody or outcome, but find only discord and difficult notes, take heart. God will touch us at the right time and make beautiful music from all our pain and struggles. Your life and work matters to God. Let’s not allow the music in us to die.
 
What awesome worship the sacrifice of playing our music becomes.
Play on!

 

 

Called Away

 

 

Solitude. Even the word sounds lonely. I admit that sometimes I want to be alone, but never do I want to be lonely. A restricted solitude, like solitary confinement, would be extra brutal. No touch, no interaction, no…nothing from anybody. How can the will to survive remain? Could severe solitude be good?
 
Some examples in Christian history bear witness that solitude is very fruitful, and possibly more effective than the busyness of Christian ministry or doing good.
Called away
 
For instance, when Paul was imprisoned from his missionary travels and confined from the masses he desired to speak to, he wrote letters of teaching and exhortation to those he’d met along life’s journey. Much of the New Testament’s writing comes from Paul’s solitude and has delivered the hope of God to people for two thousand years.
 
Another example was a preacher named John Bunyon. While he was in confinement in a dark dungeon, he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. It’s a story about coming to Christ and learning to live as a Christian, and is still read generations later making a difference in the lives of many.
 
Even Jesus withdrew to solitary places (Mark 1:35).
 
These examples show that when forced into solitude and limited interaction with people, many turned to God to fill the void. The resulting closeness to God made them more effective than if they’d remained in freedom and busyness. God used them to create works of great influence that lasts.
 
If God in human form needs solitude, I can’t imagine how much more I need it. But It’s against my nature to seek it intentionally. And I don’t like being alone. I pace the floor and become listless, feeling un…usable? It’s a feeling like I’m wasted or unworthy or something. Then doubt becomes a close friend.
 
I understand that in order to be effective I need solitude more than I need an audience. If my purpose is to make a difference, I must be different. I need to make peace with being alone. I’m called away.
 
Taken aside by Jesus,
To feel the touch of His hand;
To rest for a while in the shadow
Of the Rock in a wary land.
 
Taken aside by Jesus,
In the loneliness dark and drear,
Where no other comfort may reach me,
Than His voice to my heart so dear.
 
Taken aside by Jesus,
To be quite alone with Him,
To hear His wonderful tones of love
‘Mid the silence and shadows dim.
 
Taken aside by Jesus,
Shall I resist to desert place,
When I hear as I never heard before,
And see Him “face to face”?   ~Streams, p. 329.
 
There’s a delicate balance between solitude and interaction. Sorry Facebookers, twitterers, and bloggers. Friends of all kinds. I’m not unsociable, but at times, I need to be called away.

 

 

Less than Rosy and Cheery

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Field of Food

Things aren’t always rosy and cheery, BUT things can always be good in God. It’s a perspective. A matter of where you place your hope, of what to surrender and to whom. If everything fails, God will not.

Partnership with Pastors: iGETitLIFE Reaches Out

The “little ole me” attitude keeps me from partnering with others to do big things, or try feats that could never be done on my own. Feelings like, “What can I do? Not much, I’m not trained.”  But partnering with pastors and other leaders with vision will build God’s kingdom and strengthen our families.

Faith and togetherness. Our weaknesses are made strong with God and others. I feel inadequate (no big secret), but with faith to trust and obey God along with joining others, amazing acts are completed. When I consider what faith and togetherness does in my life, it’s nothing short of a miracle.

When Lynn Snider, the Executive Director of South Baptist Texas Association, heard about my desire to partner with churches to reach women, he invited me to share at several pastor’s luncheons of the SBTA. I offered my assistance to make a difference in the lives of women in their community. Being a pastor’s wife, I understand the burden and workload of pastors and the benefit of women ministering to women.

iGETitLIFE Speaker Robin Bryce with Pastor Elmo Johnson and Anita Wood
Robin with Pastor Elmo Johnson and Anita Wood

At one luncheon I joined Anita Wood, SBTC Women’s Ministry Regional Representative and speaker at Capture Me! iGETitLIFE Women’s Event. We traveled to the 4th Ward in Houston and met Rev. Elmo Johnson, pastor of Rose of Sharon Missionary Baptist Church and president of UpLift 4th Ward Community Development. Anita and I offered our assistance to the pastors followed by an awesome prayer time and lunch at This is It Soul Food. We met some of Rev. Johnson’s members working and dining at the restaurant. His ministry is evident all over the 4th Ward. If you want to make a difference in the lives of people, seek out and learn from Rev. Elmo Johnson.

During each pastor gathering I offered:

•    Inspirational events for the community and churches
•    Women’s ministry training for leaders of women
•    Vision casting for the women of the church (to assist the pastor in counseling and ministering to women)

The pastors appreciated the counseling women vision and were eager to find that kind of assistance. My pastor-husband brought a godly woman, or most often myself, into every counseling situation with females. He found extra support for the lady in crisis, a “girlfriend” with which to pray and talk. This partnership lightens the pastor’s workload and frees him to focus elsewhere.

Look for future post Tips for Women Ministering to Women, Unloading the Pastor’s Workload

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