Dear Parents, Being Real Makes Overcoming Real to Your Kids

Dear parents,

 Your kids really need to see you struggle and overcome.

I know that sounds crazy, but a dear friend and I were just talking about this Monday, how my kids think I'm all that and then some (which is nice but...). Sometimes that creates an unrealistic standard for them to live up to. Today, they are watching this amazing mom of theirs relearn call signs and learn a new phonetic alphabet, 10 codes, and signal codes. My brain is not as malleable at 46 as it was when I was 20, and this is a challenge. We often fear that our kids seeing us struggle will diminish us in their eyes, but every new code or phonetic call I learn, my kids are seeing me overcome. They are also seeing themselves overcome that hard sentence in French, all those nerves they have to memorize in advanced A&P, the next obstacle they face. As parents it is not our job to make our kids believe we handle all of life perfectly. It is our job to equip them to handle life, and that starts with the belief they actually CAN handle life.

Don't just tell them they can. SHOW them they can.

Living Monday!

It's Monday.
Contrary to popular opinion, it is not the start of another week. That presumes we all will finish the week, and that  is not guaranteed.
It's Monday.
A day.
ONE day.
It's a day when I get to make a difference.
It's a day I get to choose to engage my world instead of be a victim of it.
It's a day I've been given to live in, not whine about.
I am going to use my Monday, as much of it as the Lord decides to give me, to live all the life out of it I possibly can and maybe in so doing, offer some hope and courage to those who are trying to figure out how to live it, too.

2014 Copyright Jerri Kelley Phillips
All rights reserved

Death...and Life...on the Cross

Dear Fallon,

I've been thinking about the cross. It isn't what I was taught it was.

I was taught the cross is the burdens I carry in life. My cross is what I give up to be "good" or the hard parts of living a Christian life. It's the hard stuff of being me. It's sort of the Christian's pity party.

Except that's not true.

The cross wasn't Jesus burden. The cross is where Jesus died.

Jesus' burden was humanity and our sins. Those are things He died for, not on.

The cross is where Jesus took those burdens and in essence said, "As a human being, I can't fix this. I can carry this burden, but I can't fix it," and He allowed God Almighty to put Him on a cross where the flesh and all it couldn't do died, so that in the spiritual those things no longer had power, and what the flesh could not fix, the Spirit made perfect.

That is the cross.

The cross is where we take all the things we cannot possibly do in the flesh and die to our fantasy that these human bodies have any ability to make a difference. The cross is where our arrogance of ability is put to death, and we take up the reality that the only power is the one God Almighty wields. And it is there, waiting for us, on the cross, in the sacrifice of Christ.

All things that are humanly impossible are made possible in Him because He is the door--do we get it, Fallon?!--HE IS THE DOOR! He is the place where the limitations of the flesh die and the possibilities of all of heaven explode into this earth.

How can we ever live the crazy amazing life Christ did? Only on the cross.

Because the cross is where the logic and reason of the world has to die. There is nothing reasonable about the cross, but there is something miraculous. The cross is where this world has to bow to the rule of another kingdom.

When we are told to take up our cross daily and follow Christ, it doesn't mean lug around the burdens that we can't possibly fix. It means stand in the place where the world's logic dies and the limitations of this world cease and take up the reality that there is power to change everything, that we are the place where that power resides.

To take up my cross is to say, "I'm alive in Christ. I choose to live Him and be the place a radical God can invade this earth with heavenly power, and I refuse to make excuses and live in the reasonable limitations of my flesh."

To take up my cross means I lay down all the reasons why I can't do what I'm called to do or why that miraculous thing can't happen or why that person's heart will never change.

You know what sin is? Sin is choosing anything besides God. It means that I've believed there are better ways to live and meet my needs than God. It means I chose to live a lie.

The cross is where those sins were forgiven. The cross is where God says, "Let's try this again. You have the option of choosing me."

It takes crazy deep courage to choose a crazy wild God.

As Joshua said, "Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we choose God."

Choosing to trust the crazy wild God...
Not even totally sure what that means or what that looks like, but He is what I choose
because I cannot imagine choosing anything else...
Me

Soul Whisperings--Life isn't an Accident

Dear Mind,
You choose what you believe.
What you believe is what decides how you act.
How you act builds the life you live.
The live you want won't just happen.
You have to choose it.
Choose wisely.

When You Hate Living, Maybe It is Time to Breathe

I share this because some folks I know have told me how much they hate their lives,

and I wonder if maybe it is because they've forgotten how to breathe....

We are moving, and in the course of sorting, packing, and tossing, I've filled a few boxes with school supplies that I thought might be useful for the schools in Moore, OK. Wanting to make sure I get the most for my money, I've opted to drive the few hours there instead of shipping them, and while we are there, we are pulling on our work gloves and seeing if we can help someone find their way into a solid hope for rebuilding. If nothing else, maybe we can hand out a few Kleenex, give a few hugs, and be a friendly face on a hard day.

I shared what we were doing with friends and said if anyone wanted to go, I have a few seats left in my pickup and if anyone wanted to send supplies, I have room in the back. Just figured if I was going already...

Folks responded, and more supplies and donations are headed that way, which I love.

Then...

I was told I'm amazing for taking supplies to Moore and spending a day working.

Nice thought. I appreciate it, but I know the truth.

I'm not amazing. In fact, this is one of the most selfish things I've done, actually.

In the process of my family's moving, I want to be still.

 I'm thankful for the new house. It is beautiful. Thankful to be moving. So in awe of how God has worked everything out, but I'm also tired.

The packing, organizing, calls, appointments...moving "stuff"...is so incredibly self-centered and time intensive that I feel toxic.

Yes, we want to help people in Moore, but really, I want to go, get back in touch with someone else, let my heart be broken, and detox. I *need* a day that wears me out emotionally and physically for someone else.

And that isn't amazing.

It's really pretty selfish, but it is a selfish that feels like being a human who is looking past the "stuff I need to do" list to the "person I want to be" list.

 In all the stuff that becomes so center stage that it can be suffocating, this feels like breathing.

In the Beginning...of a Great Week

It's Monday!

You have a whole week to...
     ...do wondrous things,
            ...invest in creating the life you want,
                 ...love people deep,
                      ...and make a difference in this world!

And if you think it won't give you a chance, make one!!!