GOSPEL NERVE Cafe » renew

Finding the Inspiration to Hold Up, Wait a Minute, Breath Deep & Dive Back In

MizJAI — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:46:13 +0000

You can’t be everything to everybody. “We” cannot be everything to everybody.

We can be mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons and friends BUT there must be moments in the day when we are simply a man or a woman in a quiet little place where we can hear ourselves think and respond to the voice of God. No matter what we are facing, some days and some seasons are more challenging than others, but regardless, there is a moment in the day for “you,” for “me.” Take it, slow down, breathe deep, renew–the day will be waiting for you. And a with clarity you will be ready for the challenge again.

I have noticed at work that there are seasons when the load is heavier: like
(1) tax season which covers the winter and bleeds into the spring; and
(2) graduation time which leads right into summer break and now the children (at our boys home) are “in the house” everyday; and
(3) then there’s the back to school rush and kicking off the tutoring program which covers the end of the summer; and finally
(4) we enter the fall and the holiday season which may the most hectic time for us as we coordinate Thanksgiving and Christmas for 20+ boys representing 19 different families.
And if you look up, it’s a new year again, a new winter and a new tax season.

I say all that to make one little point: time is going to happen whether you enjoy it or not, whether you make room for you or not, whether you pay attention or not. Life doesn’t stop moving (for the most part). And if you throw in any little unexpected drama, death or heartache in the middle of an already full and hectic situation what’s left of you, if you don’t make room to breath?

Do something that you truly enjoy today. Plan it right now.

MizJAI . . . renewing her stamina for a long and bright future

It’s Time to Recover 2 . . .

MizJAI — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:57:00 +0000

My dad told me a story a long time ago of a man who owned a diamond mine. He had owned and worked that mine for years and never dug up one jewel. On the day that he finally sold it. The new owner uncovered diamonds in his coal. The lesson was to never give up, your answer may just be right around the corner if you dig a little deeper.

Some say, “Stories are nice but what about reality? Life isn’t lived in a mine.” But what if it is? What if all we need to do is recover, regroup and reenter our lives with a fresh mind and new ideas about how to get the results we want. We just may find what we have been digging for all along.

Recovery is not about running away. It’s about getting your head together so that you can rethink and reshape the entire situation with a renewed mind. You may discover a better way to lead your team, a better way to use technology, a better way to organize your dream, a better way to sell, a better way to live. You just may discover how to get the best out of your old mine. That’s what’s going on with Susan from the previous post. She’s tired, drained and in that state she can’t see that every idea and every obstacle has prepared her to solve impossible problems in creative ways. And when the solutions come a new level of freedom and finances follow.

Recover, then discover a new way to mine, but never stop digging.

-MizJAI-

It’s Time to Recover . . .

MizJAI — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:25:00 +0000

It’s just one of those days were she was feeling trapped and didn’t think she had the energy to fight her way out. So, she didn’t. She went with the mood. Susan always had these big dreams and big energy to go with it. She always took on a-lot or it seemed to take her on. And even though her responsibilities seemed overwhelming often times, she always had ‘a plan’ about how to ‘get it done.’

In small ways she would ‘get there’ week after week but over time she came to believe that she wasn’t moving forward at all. She quit talking about her ‘plan,’ she quit reminding everybody that ‘we are going to get there.’ Susan had begun to feel that she didn’t know where there was anymore. And without clarity there are days that feel a little pointless and she was caught up in one of those days today. For these kinds of moments she kept a get away free card in the back of her mind.

“What if I just quit this whole thing?” she would whisper to herself. “I don’t have to do this. I could make my life real easy real quick by just moving on.” Susan worked in a non-profit trying to solve problems that seemed like they never had an end to it. There was always another child in the shelter. There was always another family falling apart. There was always another woman running and hiding to save her life. There was always more, more, more problems and she was getting tired of it.

“Why can’t my money be like that,” she thought, “more, more, more. I’m smart I can go do something else and make some real money and make donations instead. I could . . .” and she would run through her list of dream jobs and dream cities that she would move to and have that ‘dream’ life without all the problems. “What about Greece or simply New York,” but when she planned out her dreams the people she was trying to help always creeped back into to her consciousness.

Susan often had these grandiose ideas about how to reward people who have careers in community service. With her plan, instead of burnout her team would have some fun, experience new things, refresh their minds and come back to serve more and more and more. She often wondered if it had to be so hard.

Susan also had ideas about how to prepare the people she served for the information age with creative businesses and ways to make money. She felt that if these women knew how to get what they needed financially then they wouldn’t settle for their husbands’ violence for so long; they would head for safety sooner because they know how to survive. A computer, the internet, and training is all they would need. When Susan thought this way it was more exciting than rehearsing her runaway plan, but the ‘creative stuff’ goes against the status quo. So how was she ever going to find help. Every time she mentioned her ideas, they were regarded as beautiful daydreams and not executable realities. When her ‘real’ work stretched her too far, all she could think of was her escape plan.

But Susan was sitting on a gold mine, all she needed was a little help.

Do you ever feel like Susan? Are you sometimes (often) overwhelmed with your reality, overwhelmed with your ideas and left with so little energy to try to turn your life into a new reality?

It’s just a moment in time that requires rest from you. Take the day (or the days) and rest so that your mind can clear. With clarity solutions come, and when they come you will be able to see them and will know just what to do with them. Rest so that your creative dreams live, because inside you may be the ability to change a life or an entire industry, and the world cannot afford to have that die or burn out on the inside of you. We need new answers, we need you, and you need rest. It’s time to recover and prepare for a new day. So go ahead, spend some time on you. It’s more than OK. We will be here when you get back and you will be free and fresh and probably on fire. It’s time to take the time to recover, regroup and redirect.

-MizJAI-

What Are You Doing? Renewing . . .

MizJAI — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:24:00 +0000

RENEWAL. People take vacations for this. Every night’s rest is designed for this purpose. And quiet moments alone with God and His Word addresses this most basic need . . . renewal. We must take time and allow God to refresh us, our lives, our perspective and our spirit. It was established in the beginning when God rested on the seventh day after restructuring and repopulating the Earth. So why not model my Father with a little R&R (rest and relaxation) consistently.

So how do we begin? Go to sleep at night. Put on some music that is relaxing, melodic instrumental or ballad. Make yourself a cup of your favorite tea (I like peppermint and a chamomile at night), and let your thoughts slip away into the hands of God as you rest. Staying up doesn’t solve our problems, it simply drains our energy and tears down our immune system. Try taking a 30 minute nap in the middle of a random day. Set it up just like it’s nighttime but rest with the sunshine dancing your window if you like. Whatever, you choose, begin to practice calming down. And most importantly begin to collect scriptures about God’s nature, so that you can “know that you know” that He will answer your prayers.

I’m not saying become lazy in renewal, I’m saying after you have done the most effective work for the day and the week, then enter into renewal and rest and watch what God does with your life in the waking hours.

Does it still seem too hard, like you can’t quite feel it? Then there is one more tool that you need in order to cement your ability to effectively wait on God . . .

-MizJAI-