Body and soul convergence zone

Do you ever get the feeling of settling into your true self? That body, mind, and spirit are coming together? As though a puzzle is complete? As though you've slipped into your groove?

You might be one of those who love to serve by caring for people. Do you feel fulfilled when setting up a computer program or administrating an office? Do you thrive when baking, crunching numbers, cleaning, or driving? Artists and runners talk about a "high" when their skills, training, and focus converge.

This morning I was astonished. Surprised by joy. I connected a piece to my life-puzzle while leading a workshop. When I speak in front of a group (large or small), my whole body relaxes. I like it. It feels peaceful. Fulfilling. (The last time I did this, I couldn't have been more content if shot up with "happy drugs." Really! Strange, I know.)

Let me acknowledge those who hate getting up in front of crowds. You may assume every speaker pushes forward for attention. That insiders hog the limelight with prideful ambition. Or that those up front want to show off their talents.

Sometimes that's true. People on stage may look like they have their act together. Some wear flashy clothes and bling. Some come across as downright obnoxious.

But most of us are just showing up. Saying "yes" to our calling, like God's servants do in other arenas.

"How shall I decide what to do?" a ministry colleague asked me. "How will I know God wants me in a particular ministry?"

My advice was to say yes whenever the time, place, and your gifts match. Sure, I was nervous last week, thinking about the session. My speaking skills feel rusty. As I age, I depend on God's help more than ever before. "Yes" is not always easy. It often requires extensive preparation beforehand.

When I was done this morning, I called Mom to thank her for prayers. I depend on her wise counsel and her gift of intercession."Always remember," she said, "this is the Lord's gift, not something you can drum up."

Her caution rings true. Some of you would rather die than speak in public. Yet how soothing standing up with material to share is to those like my husband and me. W and I have discussed this talent: we've never sought after the speaker's chair. But somehow God wired us for this. (W comes home from teaching exhilarated - when others would be crawling on the ground, exhausted. Teaching fills him up rather than draining him.)

Those gifted to speak understand: our service has little to do with being up front, nothing to do with pushing forward. We rarely tell others about the pleasure of speaking because it makes us seem like show-offs.

Instead, this confluence of gift and calling makes us happy! We get to tell the Story or explain what we're learning ... out loud. How cool is that!

I don't look for ways to stand up and talk. More often than not, it's more fun to push others forward. (Another part of my wiring wants to see those in the shadows step into the spotlight. Smile on my face thinking about that pleasure!)

But when I stand with my notes, open my mouth, and hear God fill it, oh ... how grateful I am for this lovely gift and the ease it brings to my whole being.

What does your natural "groove" look like? How do you know when you're serving the way God designed you to be?

Read more:
*The Lord gives grace to the humble. Proverbs 3:34 (NIV)

*Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant. Matthew 20:26

*Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. Ephesians 4:1-6 NLT

Moravian Prayer: Son of God, we humbly come before you this day thanking you for bringing us through another week. May whatever we do this day be a reflection of you. May we experience your holy presence guiding us to serve our brothers, sisters, and strangers in your name. Amen.

Accepting honor where it's due

Someone says something nice abut you. Something true. Something wonderful that you've worked hard on ... or that comes naturally and easily because it's a cultivated talent or gifting.

Should you feel honored or uncomfortable?

Do you feel you have to slough off compliments and achievements? Or can you celebrate what God has allowed you to do?

This past weekend, we noted milestones in lives of our choir peers. 35 years later, some have pastored churches. Others have raised good children. Many have influenced their communities through non-profits and community service. A few attained graduate degrees. I felt like I was in the middle of spiritual giants, listening to the tales of God at work in good times and bad. The gals dressed beautifully. Everyone seemed comfortable and at ease, having learned to speak in public and interact with others. These are not social skills to be taken lightly!

Many of us - including I - continue to struggle against our childhood church culture, which emphasized that pride comes before a fall ... so we had to deny any nice remarks about ourselves.

I listened to the interchanges at our reunion. We were surprised and thrilled to reconnect with each other after 35 years apart, because we have become adults with stories of God's abundance and faithfulness.

"Congratulations on a job well done." Response: "Could have done better."
"You're beautiful!" Response: "Wish it was true."
"You reached your goal!" Response: "Took more time than I thought."
"Wow, that's cool!" Response: "Anyone could do it."

I wondered if God felt disappointed at hearing us fend off others'  kind acknowledgements. He gifted us, gave us unique personalities, and allowed our experiences with the intent of forming and shaping us into useful and amazing persons. Would you be hurt if your kids rejected your parenting, claiming that they were nobodies and refusing to see themselves as worthwhile?

How do we admit who we are and celebrate our accomplishments without becoming self-promoting or prideful?

1. Did you solicit the compliment? Are you trying to overcome a sense of inadequacy with reverse pride (you are no one unless you're noticed by others)? If so, behave yourself and stop fishing! Your value comes because God likes you, not because of what others say.
2. Know yourself. How are you unique and special? Every person is needed on the planet or we'd be redundant and God would not have made us. Admit God's creativity: you are fearfully and wonderfully made!
3. Admit your giftings. What comes naturally and easily that others might struggle with? Celebrate how God has blessed you with talents and personality.
4. What have you worked hard to achieve? Be happy with how you've developed spiritually and trained a skill-set that is out of the ordinary.
5. What is the person trying to say? Are they genuinely pleased with you or with what you've done? Or are they buttering you up (flattering you) so you compliment them back or give them what they want? Accept the former with a smile, "Thank you, I appreciate that." Ignore the latter with a polite thanks or "Hmmm" and move on.
6. Would God agree with the compliment? When God says you are special and finds you extraordinary as his child - especially when he is glorified by your attention to his blessings - receive the compliment with grace and humility. We understand that it's God's work in you that makes you amazing. Your partnership with him is what we find so special about you, whether it's your sense of style, your gracious speech, or your great accomplishments. Agree with us, already :-)

I'm sending a warm "I celebrate you!" and "So glad you're in my life!" to my wonderful friends and family this morning. You know who you are! (All of you!)

Read more:
*In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37

*For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36

*Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.1 Corinthians 8:6

*But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11 NIV

Need inspiration? Start something!

I rarely tear up. However, births and growth (spiritual and otherwise) make my eyes well up. An unexpected sources of inspiration - and happy tears - showed up at Apartment Therapy this morning.

If you're a regular reader, you know my view of humanity: each person is unique, wonderful, and gifted. God made us as we are. He likes us! and sets us loose to use our talents, training, and experiences in our location.

WE get to choose, each day, to: 

• develop self and enjoy life to the max, OR
• stay small and hidden to live an unfulfilled, fulfilling life.

Need inspiration on being true to yourself while helping others? Click here for the story of an amazing Before & After by an ordinary couple. She works with refugees and he works in construction.

The abandoned house falling into ruins across the street? She sees the opportunity. He has the skills. She has the network. He has friends who can help.

Before and After - Ruin to Refuge

Together they roll up their sleeves and get to work. The result? Pure joy. Win. Win. Win. Check out the full story here.

What's your gift to the world? Here are a few ideas to help you find a place and passion that can change the world (on a small or big scale):

1. Start with who you are. God made you. He likes you. He put you where you are. Tests like Strengthsfinder 2.0 and Myers-Briggs can help you examine your strengths and passions. Ask your friends and coworkers for their view on what's important to you, too.
2. Look around you. What needs doing? More particularly, what needs doing that excites you or gets your mind churning with possibilities?
3. Ask God's advice. He's strong enough, smart enough, and willing to steer you in the right direction.
4. Find people to help. Ideas, skills, and willing hands are all around you. Don't drop an idea or go it alone if a project seems beyond your ability. Look for partners who will boost what you do into reality - or something bigger still!
5. Take small steps toward making a difference. This might mean talking things over with others, planning a project, getting out your hammer and toolbox, preheating the oven, walking to the neighbor's home or office, or assembling cleaning supplies.
6. Get to work. Jump in and DO IT. God made you to create and contribute to the world. (If you were unimportant or irrelevant, he would have made someone else like you and put him or her where you are.) Yikes, it's really YOU through whom God wants to show up this time, in this place. Get moving!
7. Admire the results. Be happy when God uses you. Savor the satisfaction - even God admired his work every day of creation. (While he comments that sun, moon, starts, plants, and animals are "good," he rocked it out of the park with "VERY GOOD" when he made us. Cool!)

Please share your contribution or projects in the Comments below. We'd love to know how you - yes, you! - fit into the world around you. Thanks!

Read more:

*Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house. Proverbs 24:27

*See, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27

*"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8

Moravian Prayer: Father in heaven, we recognize that you are the Alpha and Omega, you are the beginning and the end. We also know that you have no ending and will be with us forever. You who are, who were and are to come, be all power and glory in Christ our Almighty Savior. Amen.

Trust me, trust me not

I've been thinking about work this Labor Day. I've worked at very different businesses over the years. Some bosses are utterly trustworthy. No matter what the circumstances or the fallout for themselves, they protect and mentor their employees. They act in the best interests of others and pull in those unlike themselves to build beyond their own potential. They release people to think large, to dream widely, and give underlings permission to fail without penalty as part of the route to success and promotion.

I grew up trusting those in my immediate circle. As a child I believed that all adults acted wisely and "did the right thing." Everyone brought their experiences and talents to the mix. I read in scripture that the Church flourished because of each member's spiritual gifts.

It is delightful to watch how others see the world. Top architects design leaning and twisting towers. A mother plans her child's theme party with a twist. Innovative technology is snatched up with, "Why didn't someone think of this before?"

One of my favorite books is a French children's volume about the exotic gifts a lover would buy for his true love's birthday - a lock of hair from Rapunzel's head, exquisitely created artwork, and items found off the beaten path during travels. The imagination of the author/illustrator always makes me laugh aloud at the extraordinary possibilities, exquisitely presented. It stirs vague remembrances of childish ideas snuffed out when someone said they were stupid or couldn't grasp their promise.

Most people try to avoid those who act in their own interests, belittle colleagues, and squelch the ideas of associates to make themselves look good. Venturing out into the workplace over the years, I have met fellow employees who boldly proclaim themselves experts and say aloud that they are bored if they aren't controlling a meeting. I've been surprised when people shut down ideas that aren't their own. I've had coworkers who consistently refuse possibilities they have not dreamed up.

One of the saddest parts of growing up has been meeting people who would be outstanding team contributors with encouragement. Instead, they have stayed safe and very small after being told their ideas were uninteresting or irrelevant. They've heard they were acting too large for their position or stepping out of line. ("Get back in your box!") Their gifts are not welcome at the table with their "betters" so they buy the lie that God puts people in authority to control others and determine their size and value.

How many church members leave their energy and contributions at home, sitting in a pew while others serve? Employees punch a clock to work their routines, saving their best ideas for personal life. So the artist quietly shakes his head at poorly arranged public spaces, but carefully hangs his paintings in his home gallery. The mechanical genius mows lawns and cleans gutters on the job, but builds motorcycles and restores old cars in a well-equipped home garage. The gardener works in a barren office but lives in a home surrounded by lush flowerbeds. The writer produces dry reports on public time, but nurtures a secret audience with books and articles written under a pen name.

As we head back to work, let's remember that it is not our name or power base we are building or protecting. We can be trusted when we are working for God's interests. And his creative will may be waiting for life in the words or ideas of a fellow employee, waiting for permission to be heard.

Three questions as we head back to work after Labor Day:
1. Where can we be our true self this week? Whom can we trust with fresh ideas that could transform culture or enhance a work situation?

2. Does someone working for us hold back their best ideas and resources because it is not safe to share their full potential? Why has God placed them in our area? How can we provide the space and protection for what God wants to do through them?

3. Who blocks others in our area of authority? Do we have the power to break the bottleneck where ideas clog in our organization?

Col. 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.