This Old House

If you've ever lived through a remodeling project, you probably have a serious appreciation of the hard work involved in taking an old, dilapidated house and transforming it into better-than-new.

The way I see it, anyone can move into a brand new house. But remodeling takes a willing investor with a keen eye for potential...someone prepared to put a lot of hard work into a house nobody else wants. Done right, the results are a gorgeous old house with character, yet filled with all the new stuff you wouldn't want to live without. The before and after photos are amazing, and no one who visits your house can believe that it ever looked like that before.

It's truly a labor of love.

My husband and I were crazy enough to take on such an endeavor back when we were young and willing to invest some serious elbow grease. We had purchased a tiny 2 bedroom, 1 bath, stinky, old, sorry-excuse-for-a-house--because it only cost us $55,000.

It needed a new roof, new windows, a garage, new carpet, lots of paint, and oh--we had to move the hot water heater out of the kitchen. Did I mention I was pregnant when we began?

We ended up knocking down walls and adding some extra rooms, almost a total do-over. For seven months, we stressed, sweated, painted, worked far too hard and slept far too little. We watched in amazement as our old shack finally began to turn into the house of our dreams. Yes, it took longer than we thought, and cost more than we planned. But in the end, it was worth it.

It occurred to me a few weeks ago as I stood before the congregation at my church giving my testimony for the first time, that God does this very thing. He sees our inherent value, even though we are broken, stinky people in serious need of restoration. He deems us worthy of His time and investment, even when others aren't willing to make the effort.

Though it's a long, arduous process, Jesus, with His keen eye, restores us to better to better than new. We wind up beautiful, yet functional and filled with His character. When we share our amazing before and after stories, no one can believe that we ever lived like that before, because our hearts are all sparkly and fresh and new.

It's truly a labor of love.

I'm so glad for all the improvements God has made in me, and that He continues to lovingly restore this work in progress.

I Know I Should Pray More, But...

Let’s face it: life is sometimes a vortex of chaos. Attempting to schedule regular prayer time into an already overloaded day can be a recipe for frustration. Instead of feeling guilty about not praying enough, (can we ever pray enough?) or trying in vain to remember who or what I’m supposed to pray for, I've learned how to make prayer a priority by incorporating it into my crazy, never-quite-normal, everyday life in creative ways.

I think of prayer as an ongoing dialogue between God and me, not a one-time event relegated to a particular time of day. Though I maintain a morning prayer time, my prayers don't cease for the day when I say Amen and head out the door.

A lifestyle of prayer isn’t as difficult as it might sound. The following sure-fire strategies are guaranteed to help you experience more prayer power.

Fill mindless activities with prayer. For instance, I always pray while I vacuum and when I’m in the shower. It’s simply become habit for me. There are always opportunities for prayer sprinkled within our day. Other possible times to fit prayer into the day include:

· Any time you’re in the car
· While folding the laundry
· In line at the grocery store, the bank, etc.
· In the doctor’s waiting room
· Waiting for your dog to do their business (ahem)
· Waiting for your kids in the car pool line
· While scrubbing the bathroom
· While mopping or dusting
· When you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep


Consider using your daily walks, bike-riding, jogging or other exercise time as a prayer boost. It's a powerfully effective stress-busting combination.

Ask God to show you who to pray for. You might be surprised who He puts on your mind. I have two friends with late-stage breast cancer. The least I can do is pray for them, and God never fails to remind me.

Pray immediately when you become aware of a need. Don't tell yourself you'll pray later, because if you’re like me, chances are you won't remember. Tell yourself to stop, drop and pray right away when you hear of an urgent matter.

Don't just moan about all the horrible stuff on Headline News. Take a minute to pray about it. Yes, it's perfectly acceptable to pray in your recliner. However, when the ironing pile stacks up, I haul out the ironing board, turn on either local or national news, and pray while I iron.

Be willing to pray for someone on the spot. When a friend or neighbor tells you the awful situation they're in, don't just tell them you'll be praying for them and walk away. Ask if you can pray for them right there, and watch God move.

If you're forgetful, use a notepad to jot down the things you want covered in prayer. When things heat up at my house, I always start a prayer list. Keep the list in your Bible, on your nightstand, or taped to your bathroom mirror. Also, keep a small notepad in your car.

Remember, when we pray, we’re not only talking to God, we’re inviting Him to speak to us as well. We can expect God to respond and help us fit more prayer into our sometimes crazy lives.

Happy praying!

Getting My Fight Back

It feels like I've been holding up my battle shield a long time, deflecting incessant attacks on our family's health.

We're definitely in a season of intense war. I've always taken this as a sort of back-handed compliment from the devil. We must be doing something right if he's coming after us so hard. But recently the exhaustion I've experienced is enough to make even the strongest warrior retreat.

That's when I sensed God telling me He was giving me my fight back. And people, that's a mighty good thing. Jesus is enabling me to continue standing. He is supernaturally strengthening me.

Since I know I'm not the only one going through it, and I strongly believe in the power of prayer, I'd like to pray for other battle-weary people. Like you.

Because God wants you to get your fight back, too.

You may be fighting physical issues, like our family. You might be facing serious financial trouble, difficult relationships, an addiction, depression, or marriage problems. Whatever the situation, I believe that God wants to supernaturally strengthen and equip you to fight the good fight.

Father God,

I lift up the person reading this prayer. You know their situation, you know their heart, and you know the level of fatigue wearing them down.

I'm asking You to strengthen them by the power of Your Holy Spirit. God, when the journey was too much for Elijah, you provided supernatural sustenance. Equip Your people with this same divine provision as well, Lord. Apart from you, we are feeble, helpless and tired. But strengthened by Your might, we can do all things.

If they need a job, please order their steps and open the door for a good job. Bring healing to those suffering physically. Heal emotions, hearts and minds. Bring miracles in marriages and relationships. Give wisdom, clarity, direction, strength, freedom, joy, protection and peace to the person reading these words. Surround them with Your presence. Assure them. And most of all, give them back their fight.

In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Overwhelmed

It's been an overwhelming week on many levels.

Our daughter continues to recover from serum sickness, no small task given that my husband had to create an Excel spreadsheet to help me to deal with all the meds she's still taking. Because she started high school at a parent-partnered community school (we've home schooled since kindergarten), we're not only adjusting to a new school situation, but the stress of catching up on lots of work. (She attends 1/2 time and home schools 1/2 time.)

Next, doctors just informed us that our son, who turned 20 last week (and still lives at home), needs surgery within the next 2 weeks on a large, deep (chronic, infected) cyst beneath his tailbone. We're dealing with many medical appointments, and my all-time favorite thing ever--insurance phone calls.

Finally, my pastor invited me to speak, right after I got back from She Speaks. So, this past Sunday, for the first time ever, I gave my testimony. At our church. Full of people. Who stared at me while I spoke.

And I lived to tell about it.

In honor of this momentous event, my tear ducts have been working overtime. I've teared up in my car, in the bathroom, right before bed, and as soon as I wake up. I've cried in the kitchen, in my closet, and in front of my befuddled husband.

I'm not quite sure why it's happening, but I can't help but think that a new part of me is surrendered. The part that didn't want anyone to know all the bad stuff she endured. Somehow it feels like after all these years, I've finally found my voice.

I've come face to face with the awful truth that the truth is sometimes awful, but God uses it to help other hurting people.

And in my heart of hearts, that's what I long to do.

Though I'm feeling overwhelmed, I'm clinging to and trusting Jesus in the midst of everything. He's faithful and utterly trustworthy. If you're feeling overwhelmed, I promise that you can trust Him, too.

“What, what would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living!” Psalm 27:13

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28