Lent, every year, is a time to re-evaluate. We examine our lives and our souls, we repent and refocus.

This year, though. This is a whole new level. Is anyone not impacted by the pandemic? Is anyone’s life carrying on as usual?

When is the last time we had an event that affected us- aaallllll of us- at this magnitude?

But some things haven’t changed, and we are all finding out what is really important to us. Reading through Jeremiah, we see suffering and destruction, defeat and exile. Our situation is not nearly as dire, but our need is the same.

We need God. We need to turn to him, we need to repent of any rebellion or sin, and we need restoration. Not because of our current circumstances- just because we are human.

It’s the path of Lent. It’s no different in times of social distancing, business shut-downs, and school closures than it was a week ago when life was normal. But it feels different, because we have new challenges, new problems, and old temptations. New decisions, new uncertainties, and old insecurities.

Let’s keep walking the path of self-examination and repentance, and while we do, let’s remember this beautiful old promise from Jeremiah. I chose it as an anchor at a very young age, so this promise is especially precious to me. It has seen me through all the seasons of my life; may it be an anchor now to us all.

#prayersformychildren #Lent2020 #JeremiahforLent #prayersinpandemic

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, ” declares the Lord. 
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. 
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. 
I will be their God, and they will be my people. 
No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another,
 ‘Know the Lord,’ 
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” 
declares the Lord. 
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭31:31-34‬ ‭

Lent, day 19. Also, prayers for my children, pandemic edition. The only words I can use to describe this time are discombobulating and surreal. But I’m a turtle, and when things get weird I pull my head in for a bit. So when my discombobulation started a couple of weeks ago I went silent. Not because I quit praying. But first came an oddly timed vacation with my daughters, then the world erupted and now there is just too much noise.

But we all need a new normal, and for me, that means I write. And God, in his familiar gentle way, has placed the timing perfectly at one of my tip-top favorite passages in my Lent reading of Jeremiah.

For a little background, the Israelites are in captivity because they turned to other powers besides God, worshipping other gods and refusing God’s loving protection (“I thought you would call me Father, and would not turn from following me.”)

Today, we read that God plans to leave them in captivity for seventy years. So, he says, you need to settle in and pursue well being where you are. Hmmm.

Now here it comes. The promise that we can cling to in captivity or in freedom. This is a promise with conditions, but the conditions are entirely within our choosing.

“You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 
You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.
I will be found by you.” Jeremiah 29:12-14a

A lifelong prayer, never more needed than today.
#prayersformychildren #JeremiahforLent # Lent2020 #prayersinpandemic

Repentance- the big thing missing in so many of the Old Testament scriptures. Those whom God loved and protected, rescued and established turned away and looked for security from other sources. Worshiped other gods. Followed other priorities, not God’s priorities of justice and righteousness.

God called and called, but the people did not repent.

Lent is the time when we agree we will not be like that. We will do the hard work of looking inward to our own dark corners of our hearts, and we will invite God in to heal and forgive.

Let’s join our voices with the saints throughout the centuries across the globe in confession and repentance.

#prayersformychildren #Lent2020 #JeremiahforLent

Thankfully, all those whom I personally know and love in Nashville are safe. But we all have seen the devastation and the grief of those for whom that is not true.

Lent is a time of sobering contemplation, and nothing is more sobering than the suffering and questions that follow such a storm. So today, we join our voices to pray as “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (Romans 12:5).

#prayersformychildren #lent2020

It’s ok to boast, the Lord says. It’s just that there is only one thing worth boasting about.
Not because we are humble or self effacing, but only because nothing else is worthy.

Would you boast in your ability to chew gum? Or your aptitude for brushing your teeth?

We need a lot of skills in life, and each of us have a few talents; that really is a good thing.

But the only thing worth boasting about is knowing God. And I pray that each of us make that our life’s work. #prayersformychildren #lent2020 #JeremiahforLent

This prayer stands alone, really. We know the power of gratitude, and we know we take too much for granted. But evidently God feels strongly about this, because he accuses-

But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me. They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭5:23-24‬ ‭

It strikes me that He is saying that the stubbornness and rebellion begin with a failure to acknowledge the source of our provision, the Lord our God.
May that never be.
#prayersformychildren #lent2020 #JeremiahforLent

There is a God whose power is unspeakable. Whose word holds the creative might of all the galaxies and beings ever created. Who knows no beginning and no end.

This God has spoken, and this is what he said:

I thought, “How I long to make you my sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations.” I thought, “You will call me ‘My Father’ and never turn away from me.” Jeremiah 3:19

We are taking a long road of contemplation that will lead us through the suffering of Christ all the way up to the cross. But long before Christ suffered the humiliation of his last days, God suffered, over and over again, the rejection of the people he loved.
As we examine our hearts and lives, we do so as those whom God has longed to make his children. We come in repentance to the one who longs to hear us call him “Father.” Our hearts are heavy with awareness of our sin and guilt, but our burden is lifted the moment we confess, and call our Lord “My Father.”

There is nothing more real than what we see and touch and hear each day, we are tempted to believe. We wake up to the urgencies of family demands, and if we’re not careful, our entire energy and time are consumed by this tyranny.

Lent is a time when I intentionally choose to fight back. I love Jesus with all my heart, but if I’m not careful that love becomes another item on my list of things to do. I am distracted by the urgent, and I am gradually convinced that our cultural norms are what is real and true.

During Lent, we are faced with the truth that this is a broken world, and our path is hard and demanding if we truly want to follow Jesus. We are invited to examine ourselves and face the brokenness within ourselves, the twistedness of our perspectives as we buy into the upside-down values of our culture.

Sounds fun, huh? Well, just like we have to poke around a little to get at the thorn deep in our child’s foot, the process can involve some painful poking.

But if we don’t, the thorn doesn’t go away on its own.

Unlike the thorn analogy, we are not just repenting and rejecting our twisted, broken, dangerous attitudes and actions. We are on this path with Jesus, our friend, our companion. We have the Spirit of God providing comfort, direction, and healing. We have the absolute assurance that healing is ours and eternal joy is guaranteed by our Heavenly Father.

And let me tell you, when you have spent a few weeks confronting your need for a Savior the celebration of the Resurrection is more deeply meaningful and joy-filled by far.

So, if you would like to join me on this path I will be posting daily prayers taken from Jeremiah. You can read along on the She Reads Truth website or app, or just pray along with me here on my blog.

#prayersformychildren #Lent2020 #shereadstruth #JeremiahforLent

Today is the 21st anniversary of the day Stephen and I became parents.  It’s been a wild ride, my friends. Those of you who are parents know exactly what I mean. Unpredictable, uncontrollable, terrifying, and exhilarating.  The intensity of all the emotions can just be too much; it almost was too much for me. But my sanity was saved the moment I had the “AHA! Moment”. Maybe you had yours- do you remember as clearly as I do? For me, it changed my entire perspective. Here it is-

God’s work in my child’s life does not depend on me.  

It’s kind of a “no duh” more than an “aha”, but let me tell you- it was liberating for me to realize that God will use my foolishness and wisdom, successes and failures, good decisions and bad.  And he will use other people, circumstances, his word and His Spirit to call my children to him just as he has called his children throughout time. He is neither limited by nor dependent upon me.

When this truth penetrated my stubborn and foolish head all the way to my heart, it did two things for me.  First, it helped me relax. It was not all up to Stephen and me. I didn’t quit caring, but I did quit carrying a burden that was too much for me.  

Second, I poured myself into prayer with a new purpose. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by fear, doubt, and endless trying, I became free to pray with hope and confidence- in God, not myself.

I absolutely do not know how parents make it without the certainty of God’s love for their children, and the assurance that he hears our prayers. I have seen my mistakes redeemed, my foolishness covered over, my harmful behavior forgiven.  I have seen my kids grow in ways that should not have been possible, and were certainly no thanks to anything Stephen or I did. 

And so today I reflect on 21 of the most impacting prayers that I have offered on behalf of my kids, in no particular order.  Some have not fully been answered, but many have been.   

I prayed that my son (and his siblings as they came along)…

1. would love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. 
2. would learn to love others as himself
3. would grow in wisdom….
4. faith…
5. health….
6. and in his ability to relate to people

I prayed that…

7. his spouse would grow up in the love of God
8. his spouse would be strong enough to handle his nonsense
9. any plans that lead him away from God would fail
10. when he does something that does not honor God it would come to the attention of the person who can most effectively lead him back to Christ
11. I would be the mom he needs me to be
12. I would parent him as a fellow sinner walking the path with him
13. his dad and I would be wise in the decisions we make that affect him
14. he would learn to choose wisely 
15. he would choose a career that allows him to use his talents and passions to glorify God and advance God’s kingdom
16. he would see himself as uniquely created to serve God in a way only he can do 
17. he would be surrounded by others who point him to God
18. he would be a good friend and mentor to others
19. he would grow in his love for and understanding of God’s word
20. he would love his church family and find his place to serve in the context of a local body of Christ-followers
21. our family would be a haven of welcome and acceptance for him and for his friends

What are some prayers ways you have prayed for your children? I would love to hear them.

#prayersformychildren #theycallmemomIcallmeblessed

I have a love/hate relationship with the whole New Year/ new beginning concept.  I absolutely believe that “the unexamined life is not worth living”* and so pausing to take stock, pray, and make adjustments is 100% me.  But I am usually exhausted from the holidays, unhappy with myself for a variety of reasons, and busy. Add that to a natural tendency for constant self-criticism and it’s just not a healthy or productive way to end one year and begin another.  

Honestly, this time of year will always be a struggle for me.  But for the past few years I have been joining friends in the “one word” practice- have you heard of this? We take a few days or weeks to reflect on and pray about what God is doing in and through us, where he is already working and where he might be trying to lead our growth.  Then we each choose a word to focus on for the year. Each of us chooses our word for different reasons and for different purposes, but I love doing this with friends. 

If this sounds like something you would like to do but you have not thought about it before today- DO NOT HURRY! Who says you have to start Jan 1?  Rather than rushing your word choice, take January to pray and reflect, then start on Feb 1. Linked below you can find a few helpful guidelines as well as a list of words others have chosen. Not rules, not the only words you can use- just a place to start.

A word from my experienced friends-every year, the same thing happens.  We all start thinking about our words a lot at the beginning of the year, but less and less as the weeks roll past.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing- nor is adjusting the word as the year goes by. But having a one word focus that lasts all year can be a powerful way to grow with God, and so this year I am planning a monthly word check that I will share on this blog. Also, I am creating phone lock screens (see below). Add your word and set your lock screen for a constant reminder. 

If you already have a word I’d love to hear it, and pray for you throughout the year.  If you don’t have one yet, come back and comment when you choose yours! 

#oneword2020

Guidelines for choosing your word 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CdTu-mGtT9UEocf3GTGWr-Gh3pFLqs8c 

Lock screen photos

*I’ve seen this dictum attributed to both Plato and Socrates