Showing posts with label calling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calling. Show all posts

Notes to Aspiring Writers {A Review... and a GIVEAWAY!}



***And the winner of a copy of Notes to Aspiring Writers is... Kandi Hampson! Thanks to all who entered... Don't forget that you can get Brooke's eBook right now for just $2.99 here: Notes to Aspiring Writers.***


As an “aspiring writer,” I was excited to see what new tidbits of information Brooke had to offer. I have admired her since I found her in blogland. Her heart… her sweet spirit… her pure joy of writing… and her desire to see moms on their knees in prayer for their sons. What I found in this eBook was more than I expected.

You see, this “how to” eBook is not what you would think. It’s not about how to technically improve your writing. It’s about how to ready your heart for what the Lord has in store for your life. It’s about finding HIS plan for your life, NOT chasing your dreams.

As I have been preparing to leave for She Speaks, this very easy and quick read has spoken to my heart in a very convicting way. As I go to the conference this weekend, I will be seeking what God wants to do with me next. Not what I think is the next step in my writing journey.

If you are an aspiring writer (or anyone who is trying to figure out God’s plan for your life), I encourage you to read this great eBook. It will convict you and it will change your perspective… in a good way.

Thanks, Brooke, for giving me the opportunity to receive a copy for free to review for you. I am honored to be able to recommend Notes to Aspiring Writers to those who read this blog.

And as a special gift, I am allowed to give away ONE copy to a reader. Here are some ways you can get in on the giveaway:

1.      “Like” Notes to Aspiring Writers on Facebook;
2.      Tweet about this review (making sure to include my handle - @paulaebert);
3.      Leave a comment about why you want to read the book.

You can do any or all of the above. Leave a comment below telling me each thing you did (obviously #3 will speak for itself)… and each will be a SEPARATE entry. :)

I will close the entries on Monday evening, July 25th, at 5:00pm EST and the winner will be announced on Tuesday morning.

If you want to go ahead and buy the book so you can start reading, you can do so by this link: Notes to Aspiring Writers by Brooke McGlothlin.

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Come Awake



Some days, Katherine goes to bed singing… then she wakes up singing. Definitely a music lover to the core. (I have NO idea where she gets that from!!) :o)

One day last week, in her cute little way, she couldn’t stop singing these lyrics… “Christ is risen from the dead. We are one with Him again. Come awake, come awake, come and rise up from the grave.” If you haven’t heard Christ Is Risen by Matt Maher… listen to it below. In fact, play it while you’re reading the rest of this post. Awesome!



So back to Katherine. After she sang the same lyrics several times, I decided to play the whole song for her on my iPhone. For the rest of the day, she would ask for it again and again with a big smile… “Play Come Awake, Mommy!” “I want to hear Come Awake!” You know what's funny? Come Awake is not the title of the song. Sometimes I think we should let the kids name the songs.

Think about what the lyrics are saying to us. So often, we remain in our guilt and shame. We take up residence. We dwell on the past. We dwell on the regrets. Yes, I do it, too. (By the way, if you missed my testimony as shared about a week ago, you can read it here on my friend Karen’s blog.)

This song has taught me that if I choose to stay in my guilt and shame, I am not doing what God has called me to do. Christ died and rose again so that we would “come awake” and live in the risen mindset. He doesn’t want us to stay dead in our sin… in our shame… in our regret. If we have truly repented, then He is calling us to wake up. To let go of the past and reach FORWARD! In the RISEN life! In Philippians 3:14, Paul calls us to “…press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

If we live defeated lives, we are useless for the kingdom.

How are you doing in the regret area? Have you realized that all of your past sin can now be turned around and used in others’ lives? Do you seek out opportunities for God to use you to help others move out of sinful patterns and lifestyles? Or are you still dwelling on the sin? If we try to forgive ourselves in our own strength, we will just stay in a defeated cycle. But with Christ in control, we can put the sin behind us so that we can come awake and live again. A new life! A new day! A new song!

Oh church! Come stand in the light!
The glory of God has defeated the night!
Our God is not dead! HE’S ALIVE! HE’S ALIVE! 

We can learn a lot from our kiddos. When I keep my eyes open, our little ones teach me something every day. They view life from an innocent perspective. A point-of-view that we grown-ups sometimes miss because of the doubt, regret, and fear in our lives. I'm thankful that God used our little girl to remind me to come awake!

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The Table



There is a special set of furniture in our kitchen. One that is found in most kitchens. A simple table and four chairs. I call it “special” because it has not always been as important as it has become in the last few months.

The table used to be the spot where everything was thrown down when we walked into the house. It became piled with “stuff” and never was the place it was meant to be. We ate out too much, and I never took the time or energy to cook for my family. Because the house just felt like the place we left our stuff while we were living our lives, I didn’t want to be here much. It felt cold. Even after leaving the stress at work, more stress hit me as soon as I walked through the door. But the problem was not my job, not anyone else. It was me. Mommy needed to make the house a home.

Since I came home from work a few months ago, I have slowly started to peel away the years of evidence of a heart misplaced. It was not an easy transition, as I can be incredibly selfish and stubborn. My pride controlled me for the longest time.

But now, part of every day is spent cleaning so that it is a home when my family comes in. Part of every day is spent cooking dinner. Meals are planned. 


Nothing is allowed to be left on the table.

We sit down almost every evening to dinner together. This is our special family time, all of us sitting in the same room. Making memories together around a table that has gone from being a cold, hard storage place to a warm, inviting, loving family table.

This is the evidence of a heart changed.

How is your table?



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Radical by David Platt - A Review



There are very few books that I can say have truly changed my life. Radical by David Platt is one of them. As I read through the pages, my toes were continuously stepped on, as Platt encouraged me to chase God instead of chasing “the American Dream.” I’m not saying this is true for all churches, but in our culture in general, church has become more about OUR preferences and OUR comforts rather than what God is calling us to do… which is actually to get OUT of our comfort zones and share the gospel. Platt challenges us by saying that we have “missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable.” OUCH! Instead of being about comfort, our Christianity should be about abandoning ourselves.

To sum up the book, one statement that Platt makes is the following: “While the goal of the American Dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God.” If we are really sold out to Christ, this should be our main goal in life… to make much of Him and to bring glory to Him. We should not be “selling out” to what the world wants us to do or what makes us “happy.” 

Radical becomes more intense and convicting with each chapter. Platt concludes with a challenge called “The Radical Experiment,” where he encourages us to dedicate one year to doing the following:
  1. Pray for the entire world;
  2. Read through the entire Word;
  3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose;
  4. Spend your time in another context;
  5. Commit your life to a multiplying community.

    To find out more about these challenges, read the book! This is truly a must-read for every person who claims Christ as Savior. It WILL change your life… and be prepared, because a lot of Platt’s statements and challenges will not be “easy” or “comfortable.”

      I am thankful that I was able to receive a free copy of David Platt’s book, Radical, from Waterbrook Multnomah’s Blogging for Books program. 

      Reading this on Facebook? Visit my blog: www.growwhereyoureplanted.com.

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      surrender



      This morning, I have been sitting here watching the Center Grove live stream, worshiping to The Stand (one of my favorites)… “But what can I say? What can I do? But offer this heart, o God, completely to You.” I feel free to worship this morning, letting go, sensing total need for surrender. Baby Joshua was born 4 days ago. I’m just amazed at God. The past few months have been a struggle. Some physical pain, emotional pain, selfishness, anger, frustration, stress, high blood pressure… all of the necessary things to put me in the place I needed to be. Home. It was time for me to let go but I refused to do it on my own. Life was all about me, and had been for a long time. I refused to let go of my pride… so God took care of it for me. Let me go back a little...

      After going through some counseling about 2 years ago, God began to show me that He was truly calling me to Himself. Unsure of what that meant, I continued with life as it was. I felt closer to Him, but still I was unable to let go of Paula. For these 2 years, I have at times felt up and at times felt down. The down times became absolute misery, but then some circumstance would throw me on a whirlwind again to make me feel like life was okay. Those of you who read this blog have probably noticed it. Over the past 2 years, I have left writing for a while and come back for a while, with all good intentions to be consistent in writing what God has placed on my heart at any given time.

      Satan has been hard on me, and this continued self-serving has brought me to a place where I realize just how weak I am in my own strength. Circumstances I will face in life are completely beyond my control (which is hard for someone who constantly struggles with the need to be in control). I guess this is where God has wanted me to get to, but it has been a journey full of self-inflicted pain. Spiritual warfare, yes, but a lot of the pain and misery has come from selfish choices. Sins of omission can be just as bad as sins of commission. My family has suffered tremendously, and I am thankful for a husband who has always patiently waited for me to become who he believes God has made me to be.

      Our little Joshua, this precious little bundle of joy that God gave us as a “surprise” gift, has worked miracles in my heart. There is no way to explain how this event in our lives has changed me and continues to change me. Let’s just say God knows what He’s doing with EVERY circumstance in our lives. He is so real! His blessings are real, his discipline is real, the temptations in life are real. The only way to fight is to stay close to God. In His word… listening to His voice… crying out in desperation that He will control you. And if He is calling you to do something, all of the things you fight normally in your spiritual walk will become at least 10 times stronger! He’s been calling me for 2 years and I’ve been fighting HIM instead of TRUSTING Him to fight the battles that come at me. However, during this time, He has taught me a lot of lessons and has shown me what He is calling me to do. For that, I am thankful.

      Most of our struggles come down to pride. If we admit it or not, we are our own worst enemies. A lot of the disagreements we have are over our individual preferences instead of what we claim as the “godly” way to do things. We would rather be right and preserve our security than to be humble and listen to what our brothers and sisters in Christ have to say. We would rather do it our own way than to really listen to how GOD wants us to do things. So, how are you doing with your pride? Are you trusting God to fight your battles or do you still believe (maybe even subconsciously) that you can live this life in your own strength? I’m finally where I know it is not possible to live the life that God has for me in my own strength. And I’m thankful that He has gotten me here… but I had to surrender. 

      So I’ll stand with arms high and heart abandoned… in awe of the One who gave it all.
      I’ll stand, my soul, Lord, to You surrendered. All I am is Yours... 

      If you are reading this on Facebook, visit my blog: www.growwhereyoureplanted.com.

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      Need to write more...



      So, this weekend I was convicted of something. I need to update my blog more often!!!! :o) Believe it or not, I have written more than I have actually published over the last 10 months or so (just haven't gotten any of it to "publish" stage). SO... for the next few days to weeks, you will see some of those writings posted. God has been working on me in a lot of areas of my life, and I am anxious to share it with all of you! FYI... upcoming is a post (or a series of posts) about "seasons" in our lives. Do any of you have any thoughts to share about how you have experienced seasons in your own lives? It will help me as I'm writing... More later...

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      Facing the Music



      I am a mess. It's time to get real.

      You know, it's easy to look fine on the outside, yet be in a bad place. When you realize (or admit to yourself) that you have been in a "slow fade" progression, you have to stop and face the music. Only God knows what is going on inside each one of us. There has been so much going on inside of me over the past few months that is far from what it should be… pretty much the opposite of the fruits of the spirit. It all comes down to an unsurrendered soul.

      So, now I’m taking stock. Humbling my prideful heart. Recognizing, yet again, that the perfectionist is not perfect. Repenting. Confessing all the junk. Finding my way back to my first Love, my Creator.

      For the past several months, I have been trying to fulfill something missing inside of myself instead of fulfilling what I believe God has called me to do. In a crazy mixed-up way, the very thing I thought was my “calling” turned out to be my own selfish desire… and the one I thought was my selfish desire has turned out to be where God wants me. Now here I am back where I belong...
             
                 worshiping with my husband and supporting him in his ministry…   
                                                      
                                            playing the guitar… singing… writing… praying.

      God is good. He knows we mess up. He knows we get off track. He knows everything we think, say, and do. He still loves us… not in spite of who we are, but BECAUSE of who we are. Every struggle is a test. It is an opportunity for God to get glory because of something that only HE can accomplish THROUGH us.

      So I am facing the music… literally and figuratively. Things I am called to do have been neglected because of trying to prove myself and coming up empty. The focus has been on the things and people, not on the GOD of those things and people. So I’m coming back around and surrendering this wandering soul. I’m going to give my all to Jesus. I’m going to correct the wrongs in my life. I’m going to sing. I’m going to play. I’m going to write. This is who I am… because of who He is.

      “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” - Jeremiah 29:13

      www.growwhereyoureplanted.org

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