Monthly Archives: February 2022

Finding Peace in Non-peaceful Times

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pray for peace of Ukraine symbol

The Lack of Peace

The lack of peace in our world right now can be terrifying. My kids saw my husband and I watching the news on Ukraine last night and had hundreds of questions before bed. My little girls wanted to know if Colorado was close to Russia, because that’s where their grandparents live. I reassured them that it wasn’t. Matt and I told our kids when we finished talking that our goal was not to scare them but to help them to have a heart to pray for the people in Ukraine.

Our Response

It’s hard to know what to do in times like these when peace feels so far out of reach. It feels wrong to continue with normal life—to go see a movie or to go to bed when the other side of the world is in turmoil. It feels wrong to go about our lives when so much destruction is happening. Yet, we have to get up tomorrow and go to work and deal with all the things that we have to deal with. We sort of want to put a pause on life, yet life keeps moving forward.

Then, there’s the fear. We lie in bed at night and wonder what’s going to happen next. We fear for our safety, for the safety of our country. Thoughts of war run through our heads, and we can’t shut it down and sleep.

How do we respond? How do we find peace in the midst of turmoil? Here’s a few things that I thought of in response to what’s happening in Ukraine.

1. Pray

Pray for peace and for the people of Ukraine. I believe God gives us a heart of empathy that doesn’t let us turn away and just go about our normal day-to-day affairs after hearing and seeing what is going on in another part of the world. I think he does that, so those images will impress upon our hearts the burden to pray. There is evil in this world. Satan is still alive and well and wreaking havoc in this world, and he took a third of heaven’s angels with him when he fell. It would be foolish to think that they are not at work. The Bible tells us there are principalities and powers of darkness in this world. We have the power in our hands to be able to overcome the dark, and that power is through prayer.

We can teach our kids the same thing. The best response is to spend time together as a family and pray.

2. Give

If you want to actively get involved, Saddleback Church in California has a Ukraine Relief Fund and is actively working with pastors in Ukraine to get them the help they need. If God has blessed you with the means to be able to give, this is a great way to help.

3. Love

During times like these, we are reminded of what really matters. For the dear people in Ukraine, it doesn’t matter what kind of house they have, what kind of car they drive, what possessions they have accumulated. What matters to them now is the safety of their loved ones. These times remind us to love on our family. Make right relationships that need to be made right. Spend time loving on your kids; check in with extended family members and neighbors. These are times that people are more open, so capitalize on it and spread love.

4. Hope

Find hope in the only One who can bring hope. Pick a verse or two below to dwell on. When you can’t sleep at night because of the fear in your heart, repeat the verse to God in prayer.

5. Encourage

When we feel helpless, scared, fearful, uncertain, one of the best things we can do is choose to bring hope to someone else. Instead of focusing on me and my fears, find somebody that I can focus on instead.

Take cookies to your neighbor, invite a family over for dinner, send flowers to somebody, check in with your loved ones, call a friend, wave at the crossing guard, smile. Do what you can to encourage somebody else today.

We all can play a small part in making our world a better place today, tomorrow, and the next day. Choose to do something today to work towards that goal and let God’s peace fill you when you do.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post When God Finds Us. Here’s a song to bring peace to your heart today, as well. Weary Traveler by Jordan St. Cyr.

How Knowing the Names of God Can Help Me Today

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Names of God

The Power of a Name

Names are so incredibly powerful. I didn’t really understand that concept until I began writing fiction books. It’s amazing the difference a name can make. I spend a lot of time thinking of names for my characters, because I have in mind everything about the character and I have to find the perfect name to suite them.

For instance, if I want a strong, male protector sort of a character in a fantasy world with swords and castles and horses, the name Bob is just not going to work in this context. There’s nothing wrong with the name Bob; it just isn’t going to work. The name Braenin works so much better in this instance. (I may or may not be working on my next fiction book; which is where I got this name.)

There is incredible power behind a name, especially the names of God. One of the goals Matt and I have is to create a devotional of the names of God. There is something about studying the names of God, especially in their original Hebrew language, that helps us to better understand God and his relationship with us.

The Names of God

I was reading in II Samuel a few weeks ago and read a few of God’s names with descriptions. I love it when God’s word defines itself.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior ;my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.

II Samuel 22:2-4

When we get overwhelmed or feel alone, we need to remember that God is everything we need. His names represent that. In these verses, he is our protection, place of safety, and our promise of good to come.

A great practice to do as a part of your morning time routine is to do a study on the names of God and focus on one for each day. Here’s a list of the names of God to start with.

For More Encouragement

If this resonates with you and you would like to dig deeper, My father-in-law told us about 52 Hebrew Words Every Christian Ought to Know. He’s really enjoying it, and I think it would be great for further study. If you are weary today and need encouragement, read my post Encouragement for the Weary Soul.

God Uses Broken People

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Kintsugi Art

kintsugi: broken art

Kintsugi is a popular way of fixing cracked or broken pottery. Kintsugi finds its root in Japanese culture. When a piece of pottery cracks or even breaks, they use gold lacquer to fill in the cracks. The piece becomes usable once again, and the piece ends up being more beautiful than it was in its original form. Not only that, but it creates a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of art.

This type of art reflects how the Japanese feel about life and humanity. The Japanese use Kintsugi as a metaphor for life. They see people as beautiful even if flawed.

kintsugi: broken art

A Metaphor for Life

Kintsugi is such a great metaphor for the Christian life. We often feel like we can’t be used by God because we are too broken, yet broken is exactly the kinds of people God uses. God not only can use broken people, he actually chooses broken people to use.

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

I Corinthians 1:26-29 NLT

God Uses Broken People

God doesn’t choose to use those who have it all together. He doesn’t choose the wealthy, the successful, the strong, the smart…No, he chooses broken people who simply know that they need him more than anything.

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

Psalm 51:16,17 MSG

If you feel broken today, I have good news for you. God can use you. If you feel shattered, God can put you back together. God is looking for people who want to be used even with imperfections to be a source of light and beauty to the world around them.

For More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out my post When Broken Leads to Blessed or check out Matthew West’s song, Broken Things and let the words encourage your heart.

Waiting on God to Write Your Story

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choose to wait for the story that's still being written

Copying Someone Else’s Story

Sometimes it seems like life would be easier if we could just write our own story, or copy somebody else’s story for our life. Instead of waiting, if we could just force God’s hand to make things happen, surely that would be better than what we’re stuck with right now.

We know that God writes our story. We know the verses, we know the sayings…but when push comes to shove, life doesn’t always work out the way we want it to. It’s really hard to see how it’s all going to work together for good.

Hard Conversations

I’ve had a few conversations with friends lately that were painful…conversations nobody wants to have. Hard conversations. Things like—what do you do when your spouse withholds his love from you? What do you do when your spouse cheats on you? How do you keep going forward when nothing seems to be working out? How do you trust God when it seems like he keeps failing you?

I used to think I had all the answers; that was before I learned what real life looked like. Real life is dirty and messy and full of questions. It’s not all neat and wrapped up with a bow that has a neatly transcribed verse on the side of the box and a pithy saying like “let go and let God” written on the top. No, life is full of mistakes, regrets, failures, and messes. It doesn’t always work out the way we think it should.

Things Don’t Always Work Out

No matter how much we pray, sometimes we still lose the job, we can’t pay the bill, we don’t have enough money for that present, the breakup still happens, our spouse still hurts us, a friend breaks our heart, the loved one still dies, and on and on the list goes.

I’m sure you could add your own heartbreak. Often, it feels like life would be easier if we could just force our own breakthrough. If we could superimpose God’s will for our will and get things moving, it would really help.

People Who Didn’t Wait

I can’t help but think about the people in the Bible who simply gave up too early. If only they could have waited just a little bit longer.

I think of Saul. He waited and waited for Samuel to show up to offer the sacrifice, but Samuel was late. Saul got impatient and decided to do it himself. The Bible says that as he was offering the sacrifice, Samuel showed up. If Saul would have waited just a few minutes longer, he wouldn’t have missed God’s best. What did it cost him? The kingdom. God was so displeased with Saul’s disobedience that he took the kingship from him and gave it to David.

Another example is Abraham. God told him he would have a son, but he wasn’t content to wait on God. He decided to write his own breakthrough into the story and royally messed up all of history. Because he didn’t wait for God to bless him and Sara with a baby but instead slept with Sara’s servant, Ishmael was born. A few years later, Abraham and Sara had Isaac. Ishmael’s descendants and Isaac’s descendants are still at war today.

Those Who Waited

Conversely, we see God’s hand of blessing on Joseph who waited through years of bad treatment and harsh consequences before God broke through. In the end, God wrote a beautiful story for him.

David waited for nearly fifteen years from the time he was anointed king to when he actually became king of Israel. He stayed faithful to God and didn’t waver from God’s path. In the end, his story played out beautifully.

Wait for God to Write Your Story

We get impatient and want to write our own story, but we can’t. Our story won’t look nearly as beautiful as the one God is writing; it will simply be a copy and pasted version of somebody else’s story.

We have to choose to wait for God to write our story. Wait for him to give us our own. I promise it will be more beautiful than anything we could have written for ourselves.

For More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out my husband’s book, Breakthrough: Transforming the Death of a Dream to the Birth of a Breakthrough or read my post Choosing Hope: The Best is Yet to Come.

A song that’s really been encouraging my heart lately is Weary Traveler by Jordan St. Cyr. Give it a listen and let it encourage your heart.