MUMS!

What a blessing to speak at MUMS today!

Topic: How to get your man to lead

A: You don’t. Instead: Rest Easy. Be encouraged & empowered that the Lord can, will and wants to have your man lead. Rest Easy in Him.

I would suggest to you that the key to getting your man to lead has a lot less to do with him, and a lot to do with you and even more to do with the Spirit of God – working through your spouse and through you.

No matter the situation – Rest Easy. God is really in control.

Tips from my heart

Be humble

Consider: “I THINK this is how my husband should lead, but I RECOGNIZE God knows EXACTLY how my husband should lead.”

Jer. 9:24

Ps. 25:9
Ps. 18:27

Prov. 11:2

Be clear

Be clear, get to the root of the issue, do not nag. Communicate.

Prov. 14:12

Prov. 26:24

Prov. 25:24

Be gentle

Prov. 15:1

James 3:17

Be strong in the Lord

In the Lord, not in yourself. Let the Spirit be the Spirit. Be empowered in Him alone.

Joshua 1:9

Is. 41:10

Prov. 14:1

Be in fellowship

Don't be in bad fellowship. Be in fruitful fellowship.

Gal. 5:13

Phil. 4:8

Be obedient.

Gal. 5:6b

For in Christ Jesus…The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.



facts - TRUTH - feelings

     Life comes at 'ya pretty fast. When life is really flying, I sometimes wonder is something true or do I simply feel it's true? It's good for me to pause every now and then, look around, and take inventory on what's going on. One of the more helpful tools in my life lately has been the Myers-Briggs/Jung Typology Indicator (complete an assessment here: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp).

The Myers-Briggs has been very helpful in my navigating what's going on in life. It's helped me personally from "going crazy" at times, and it has helped me help walk others "back off the ledge" in processing their own situations lately.

I am no expert in the Myers-Briggs assessment, so if you have detailed questions, you'll need to ask someone more qualified. However, I do know that my personality "type" is ENFJ. When I read about the portrait of my type, I am impressed that so much of the description is true. I do become a little uncomfortable, however, reading things about my make-up that are true but not...nice? One of those things with which I'm currently trying to deal with is the "Facts vs. Feelings" issue.

It seems, most of my life, people operate almost fully as "Just the Facts" or "...but I Feel..." kind of folks. I've certainly done this. Both ways - JUST facts or "...well I feel!" As I allow wise people to invest in my life I've learned that either side, taken to its extreme, is probably not a good thing. I've sat through seminars and conferences where the "Fact" people have bashed the "Feelings" people and vice versa. I'm sure I've been a basher myself. It seems all of us may be greatly influenced by our biases. I'd like to suggest to you that the "truth," the better way to deal with oneself and those around us, may be somewhere in the middle. This may be uncomfortable to "I see every issue as black and white..." personalities. It is uncomfortable to me! I thought I'd share the discomfort today, or, at least, give something to ponder as we try to go through life and deal with self and others better.

What is your Myers-Briggs personality type?
Are you a "Facts" or "Feelings" person?
What are your initial thoughts about those who are your personality opposites? Is this healthy?
How can you improve?

#TameTheTongue... 5 Thoughts

As my wife and I are speaking to our children about taming the tongue, and as I Tweeted/Facebook Statused several Scriptures regarding the topic, here are a few thoughts on the topic. Please "Comment" if you have thoughts:

- I believe the chances of children taming their tongues increase with the efforts of parents to tame their tongue. See book suggestion on my blog page that I've purchased to try to help me tame the tongue.
- Though our parenting efforts are most always aimed at shepherding our children's hearts, I believe taming the tongue is a pretty important behavioral issue & attempt to nip bad practices swiftly and fully.
- I've observed, there are many poor models of adults who have never tamed their tongues. Our children are watching. Therefore, I believe it's fairly important to choose your friendships wisely.
- I've also found it very effective, upon encountering other children speaking in a manner we don't find acceptable in our home, to pull our children off to the side immediately to debrief what occurred and to help them understand that imitating their peers will not yield good results.
- Writing counts as a voice, and we monitor notes our children write to us and to one another. I try not to allow the kids to "bottle up" their feelings to long. If the kids are having bad thoughts or attitudes, I want to teach them to process those, pray them through and to produce words - even "hard words" in as creative and positive a tone as possible. I want the kids to know they can speak hard words - the truth in love - and still tame their tongues at the same time.

I still feel I'm learning a lot about the topic of taming the tongue. I enjoy learning, and believe it's an important part of my journey as a disciple.

What comes to mind when you think of the topic, #TameTheTongue?

Keep Skating. A Disciple's Story.

I'd like to believe my wife and I and many of our friends are completely sold-out to the idea of being and making disciples of Jesus Christ. Disciple-making, then, would begin in our own home and by the power of the Holy Spirit continually pouring out of us in every way, in every waking moment of every day. Disciple-making is an intentional process, one in which we might find ourselves seeing continuous opportunities to teach, learn and lead the things of a life in Christ Jesus. I believe we had an opportunity like this just a couple of days ago.

My church's children's ministry hosted a family skating night. My children were so very excited (and, if you know them, imagine their normal excitement multiplied about ten times. They were amped!). During the last couple of minutes of the drive on the way to the rink...it happened...one of those moments when something is said that makes this disciple-maker say "Ooooohhh, That's like the life of a Christ-Follower!"

My wife turned off the radio (which in our car usually demands silence...musical family) and the three of us sat quietly...for a second. :-) She began speaking and said words like these: "Kids, you need to know, you are going to put on your skates. You are going to fall. It is going to hurt when you fall. You are going to get up, and you are going to keep skating."

My wife's description of the events to come was not optional. It was more of a command & promise kind of deal. Have you ever noticed that oftentimes, when people talk about the promises of Scripture, they sometimes fail to mention that some promises, at least in parts, are not ones that might make you happy? [Like, "In this world you WILL have trouble..." or all of Proverbs' promises for wicked or foolish behavior.] My dear wife, knowing our children and their skating ability called out promises and commands. The greatest commandment in her statement, in my opinion, was the one to Keep Skating!

"The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked."
Proverbs 24:16 (NLT)

All human beings, at least some time(s) in their lives, fall. The fall - just like in skating - may or may not be (your) fault! Life can sometimes feel like you were "minding your own business" when someone or something just plows right into you!
Falling Hurts! The Godly can and must, through the power of the Holy Spirit that is in them, get up again. Falling, I hate to say, is a great judge of one's faith. It is difficult to fake people out or put on a show regarding our faith when we fall. Falling hurts. Badly. When we fall, will we rise again, or will we be completely overthrown into calamity? Are we really Godly or are we not?

I believe life is hard. Sometimes, because of what I get to experience in my own life and in those with and to whom I minister, it seems there are more bad moments & days than good ones. How then is it possible to still enjoy life?

Answer: God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) within the Christ-follower allows us to get up...and keep skating.

I believe God (and my wife) would advise us today, "Keep Skating."

How are you today? Where are you with faith in Jesus Christ? Have you fallen (even if the fall was of no fault of your own)? Does/did it hurt? How do you plan to "Keep Skating?"

God & Noodling?!

I'm a "city boy" to the core, but I have a great appreciation for all-things-outdoors. Earlier this week, while watching Hillbilly Handfishin' - a reality TV show about "noodling," (that is, fishing for catfish using only one's bare hands) I heard something that reminded me of the Christian walk.

The men on the show used two terms that caught my attention. The first term was "Feel the Thunder," which seems to refer to the moment when the catfish rams into you as you are blocking its hole as it tries to escape. The second term is "get bit," because the catfish will bite your hand and this allows you to catch it.

What is interesting to me is that these terms, which don't initially sound positive, are! Feeling the thunder, to me, would seem to mean "a strong storm is coming." Living in places (TX, New Orleans, Indiana, KY) where weather can be severe and dangerous, I'll pass on "feeling the thunder" in its normal context. Getting bit would not seem, in any way to me, to really be a good thing. I think of mosquitoes, babies with sharp teeth, angry dogs, bats and Dracula. No dice on feeling good about getting bit. On Hillbilly Handfishin' these terms are both good things, because feeling the thunder and getting bit means you might be near a place of receiving your prize...the catfish.

As Christians feel the thunder and get bit in life, I pray that the results are good..."Better than Catfish" good. May the result of adversity, challenge and struggle in our lives be a great reward, in heaven and on earth. It is not always easy to believe for a great reward when times are tough. God is on our side. His plan is good - even when we feel the thunder and get bit.

Blessings,
adaryll

Thank You, Christ-Follower.

I sense some Christians need to hear this: "Thank you for your generosity."

I'm working on an upcoming class. I paused in the middle of my preparation to thank God for Christ-followers who faithfully, obediently and cheerfully give.

A collection of people go to churches - both mine and yours - regularly and give. As a result of the generosity some time ago from Christians where I live and attend church, my church was able to buy a copier. This copier helps serve and resource THOUSANDS of people, every week, from age 0-(really old).

I truly believe the Lord loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9) and just want to encourage all of you who cheerfully give. It is no small thing to me that I am able to prepare for a class, am able to access a copier, and consequently am able to port a small stack of papers instead of lugging multiple books around.

Thank you, God's people, for giving. I know it's no small thing to give in today's economy. Your giving does have a large impact. Your giving does more than pay for a copier. Your generosity helps serve people around the world. Your giving provides clean drinking water, sends out and supports missionaries, helps provide housing and all other sorts of things. I just wasn't sure, today, if you - giver - hear the words "Thank You" enough. That's why I wrote... today. Thank you! For the copier, and for everything else your generosity does.

(In case someone's wondering, I will recycle the paper. God's people ought to take care of the earth. That's another conversation for another day). :-)

#disciple

"Our life is not a dress rehearsal. You have to live every day and get something out of it. Don't make any excuses.”
– Herman Edwards

It all starts today, every single day. As I approach my fortieth birthday at the end of this year, I’m feeling what everyone said one might feel around age 40 – physically, emotionally and spiritually. In a word, “Wow!” Everything changes. If I had not been prepared for this and for other monumental stages in my life, I’m fairly certain I might be freaking out a little bit right about now. Forty years? I mean, chances are I have fewer years left on the other side of 40 than the first. And it only feels like yesterday that I was very young. Time flies…fast!

Life is difficult, but through the investments that have been made into my life I can say “Life is so good.” Perhaps the best thing that has happened to me in my life is the men of the Christian faith who have poured into me, men like John Strappazon, Curt Hall, Jerry Abbott, and Ed Newell. These men have really helped me understand what it is like to live the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

What can I ever do to repay them? I finally get it. Just.Keep.Discipling. Or “#disciple” as I will start talking about more often on Twitter. Be a disciple, make a disciple. These are the aims of my life, and I will be one and make one with everything I’ve got for as long as I live (and who knows, I might even get more than 40 more years on the other side of 40!).

Disciple is both a noun and a verb. Check this out:
*dis•ci•ple
   [dih-sahy-puh l] verb, -pled, -pling.
–noun
1.
Religion .
a.
one of the 12 personal followers of Christ.
b.
one of the 70 followers sent forth by Christ. Luke 10:1.
c.
any other professed follower of Christ in His lifetime.
2.
any follower of Christ.
3.
( initial capital letter ) a member of the Disciples of Christ.
4.
a person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines ofanother; follower: a disciple of Freud.

–verb (used with object)
5.
Archaic . to convert into a disciple.
6.
Obsolete . to teach; train.

It’s true. Life really is not a dress rehearsal. I’ve tried to, by the Spirit of Holiness, give it everything I’ve had, but I can still improve on leading in His strength, His knowledge and His wisdom. After all, that’s what a “#disciple” does? Right? No excuses. I have dreams, I have plans, and somehow I believe God has even bigger plans and dreams for me in His story.

Simply put, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I’m going for it, and I’m going big! I expect great things, no excuses.

How about you? Everyone is a disciple. Everyone follows someone or something. Who are you following? What are you expecting? Any advice for me as I “go big” in my journey?

*Source: dictionary.com