The Elijah Project Extra: Owning My Story

This weekend I took a big risk.  I co-taught an art class with my friend Destiny Jackson.  I do not feel confident in my art creating ability.  I have not drawn with acrylic paint since second grade.  I painted with a brush and a plastic plate of paint this weekend. 

This is me with my painting at Altered Ego Art Studio, Eau Claire WI.  Wow!  Look at the freedom and joy on my face.

This weekend we did two different projects:
First we created a collage of being.  We cut pictures and words to create a picture that refelcts who we are.  Notice my eyes are "circles of love."  I really want to look at people through love.  And my mouth says:  "A smile is the shortest distance between two people." 

My daughter asked: "why the sandy foot toward the bottom of the picture?"  I had to think and ask myself: "Why the foot?"  I think I liked the sandy foot picture because it was fresh, adventurous and messy.  I feel like my life is like the salt water drenched foot dipped in sand.  And no matter how hard I shake my foot, I can't get the sand off. 

"There is no remedy for love but to love more."  Henry David Thoreau.

Finally, let me share my painting.  I decided to attempt to paint a broom tree... since afterall we are walking through Elijah's story and he found himslef alseep under a broom tree.  My tree is divided down the middle and drawn together with a heart.  This is kinda like my life.  Elijah calls out the people on Mount Carmel for "limping between two opinions."  I limp all the time.  When I am wrapped in the roots on the left of my picture - I find myself tangled up in pleasing, perfectionism and disconnection.  When I find myslef in that tangle my leaves look like a cage, a mirror with a horrified expression and a heavy weight on my back and shoulders.
On the other side (the right side of my tree)... when my roots are in God's word, living in His protection and provision my tree looks healthy.  My branches bear flowers, sparkles, birds tweeting truth and strength and my posture is open, with my heart enlarged and tipped toward God.

Faith is Courage!

When I truly trust God as my protector and provider... He fills me with courage to continue my journey of faith!

The Elijah Project #6: What am I Feeling?

After youth group a few weeks ago one of our students asked to show me something.  Her instructions were to fashion fear from pipecleaners.  I sat at the table and she placed a black blob spidery looking creature in front of me.  She then slowly pulled each pipe cleaner apart and assembled the word FEAR, pictured above. 

I love the fact that the figure of fear was a blob like spidery creature.  I think our feelings often feel like a blob.  It is difficult to figure out how to unpack our feelings.  Which are the primary feelings versus the secondary feeligns.

Today feel?

Feeling is dangerous.  It is scarey and sometimes we don't respond the way we want to when we open ourselves to our emotions.  It is easier to stay numb... then to truly feel.

I have a formula for feeling as an adult that is allowing me to process my emotion with less regret.  I am trying to LIVE the Fruits of the Spirit.  When I allow myself to feel within the fruit of love, joy, peace, pateince, kindness, gentleness and self-control, I live more freely and with less regret and guilt.  When I respond to fear with self-control... I stop and breath.  I walk away.  I close my mouth.  I pray in my head.  And then... I get in my car ALONE and let it go.  I yell, scream, rant, rave, cry and moan... and then through that I find the root which is usually not the symptom or the leaf that I was reacting to.

Stop.  Pause.  Breath.  Pray.  And then FEEL!

Below is my fear picture.  I drew solid black lines over my head... covering over the blue and green (the calm).  Fear clouds my mind so that I feel disconnected and alone.  God says He is peace!

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you.  I give to you and not as the world gives.  Don't be troubled or afraid."  John 14:27

The Elijah Project #5: The Idol Limp

"What's in your wallet?" Capitol One hopes you have their credit card in your wallet.  What are you leaning on?  Our culture sends us messages all the time the encourage us to provide for ourselves, our family and our businesses.  We are encouraged to take out life insurance policies, credit card protection, Life Lock!  And although there is nothing wrong with being responsible, it is easy to confuse worldly protection with God's protection.

We tend to think of idols as those small wooden statues that people bow down to in other cultures.  Americans have plenty of idols.  We have the worst idol of all The American Dream.  Now, before you get concerned that I am not a true American, rest at ease.  I love the philosophy of freedom we have in the United States.  What I am challenging is that the American Dream is God's Dream.  For a long time my dream was to get married, have children and secure a white picket fence.  I believe that God can be within those dreams.  The danger is... and I am guilty of it... is to take the credit for making the dream happen.  God's econoly is like this:  1) Trust Me; 2) Obey Me; 3) I will protect and provide; and 4) Give Me the credit (Glory).  That is what is missing in the American Dream.  We confuse our own industriousness with success and forget to give God the glory.

After Elijah's offering was incinerated on Mount Carmel the people responded:  "God, He is the God!"  God promises to protect and provide for us.  It often does not look the way I might hope, but His provision bring a prosperity of peace that rivals any temporary accomplishment the American Way.

What are you leaning on?  How are you providing for yourself?  Where can you invite God to protect and provide for you and your family... TODAY!

"I am a Wrecker"

This past weekend my kids and I went to see Disney's, Wreck-It Ralph.  We had seen the movie before but this time my ears heard it all differently.  Maybe it was all the time I spent thinking about shame and the power of shaming messages over the past two weeks.

During the introduction, Ralph describes himself as a "Wrecker."  He actaully says - "I am a Wrecker."  He identifies himself as someone who destroys everything around him.  He describes the hero of his game, Fix it Felix, as the good guy.  He says:  "If I had a magic hammer from my Father it would be easy."

I actually pulled out my phone and typed that last line into my notepad.  I was astounded.  Ralph muses that if only he had a "magic hammer from his father" his life would be better.  Later in the movie Ralph recites the Bad Guy Affirmation:  "I am bad and that is good."

  I sat back in my theater seat overwhelmed by the animated truth.

How often have I heard someone say or thought it myself:  If only I had this... then I could be that!

In this case Ralph identifies with the bad guy affirmation - which states that is OK to be bad and good to accept his fate.  This is a LIE.  God created us in His image.  We all have access to our Father's "magic hammer."  Our Father's "magic hammer" is the truth that we are new creations in Christ.  The old has passed away and the new has come.  We do not need to accept the bad.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made.  God's promises are the "magic hammer".  There are 3000 promises in the Bible.  The promises give us hope when we feel hopeless, peace when we feel anxious and love when we feel unloved.  Surely one of those promises can give you hope and a future.

May we share the good guy truths of God.  May we share our "magic hammer."  The gold hammer that magically fixes everything Felix touches.  That "magic hammer" is the truth in Love.  We have the ability to fix or destroy.  I want to use my "hammer" to fix, to heal, and to bring HOPE.

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life."  John 3:16 

May we add the "magic hammer" to our toolkit and be people of peace, hope and love!  For God says the greatest of these is LOVE!

The Elijah Project #4: Safe People

Who has my ear? I have been asking myself this question lately. Who do I listen to and who's words do I most value? Unfortunately I don't really like the answer. Many times I desire the approval of people so much that I use very little discernment when I listen. I put certain people's voices higher on the value meter than others. I guess this would be good if I discerned to check the words of those voices with the WORD OF GOD. But many times I don't. Many times the words of others are valued more than the word of God. Ughh. I hear the voice of the critic louder, stronger and allow those words to go on repeat before the gentle words of God. This is the way that Satan deceives me. The perfectionist pleaser in me hears the words that press me to work harder, serve longer and idolize approval. God is inviting me to stand up and stand firm grounded in His word. The more I am nurturing the Christ-follower in me by enveloping myself in His word, the more grounded I become. And the easier it is to discern when the words I hear are from the "pit of Hell." Today we have a choice. We can walk in the promises of God and we can encourage others to do the same. Or we can give our ear to the whim of the critic which allows Satan to set up residence in our soul. God is waving to us. God is cheering for us. He is inviting me to climb under His wing of protection and listen to His promise of provision. "Like an eagle protecting its nest, hovering over its young, God spread out his wings, took hold of Israel, carried him on his back." Deuteronomy 32:11

The Elijah Project #3: What's Wrong with Me?

The Elijah Projects goal is to facilitate a process of soul searching so that we might rest. I have had many times in my life when I felt exhausted but I could not sleep. I felt worn out but I couldn't get my mind to stop racing. Elijah's story is thousands of years old and yet it still rings true. This week we are talking about shame. I Kings 17:18 breaks into the widow's story. After losing her precious son she asks: "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" This is a shame reaction. The widow falls prey to the universal question: "Am I being punished today for the wrong in my past?" It is nearly impossible to find rest when the tapes in our heads play on repeat... cataloging our wrong. This is Satan's trap. He takes our sin, mistakes, wrong and then deceives us to believe that that wrong is us, rather than a mistake. The truth of the gospel is that in Christ, we are FREE. We are responsible to deal with the consequences of our mistakes but when we ask for forgiveness Jesus throws our wrong as far as the east is from the west. Try something with me. Turn your neck to the left or right, whichever side has more mobility. Strain your neck to look between your shoulder blades. TRY REALLY HARD! Can you see that spot right between your shoulder blades about 1/2 way down your back. NO, unless you are a Cirque du Soleil gymnast you shouldn't be able to see that spot on your body! That is where God moves our wrong. He moves it so no matter how hard He might strain He can not see it. God didn't have to do that, He chose to give us a way to freedom. Satan uses shame to keep us trapped. He uses shame to attempt to name us, to identify us as being something wrong. For instance someone who tells a lie is a liar. God does not name us by our wrong. He sees us as "fearfully and wonderfully made in His image. Today... take a step toward the truth. Identify where you are feeling shamed. Invite God to reveal your true identity and your name. This is not easy. It takes a great deal of vulnerability. It requires us to be honest with what we have done wrong and take a courageous step to ask God to forgive us. God is our Protector and our Provider. In Him we find our strength. I encourage you to identify one of the many names for God to cling to today: Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Fisher of Men, Potter, Restorer, Alpha and Omega, King of Kings. For more work on this subject take a look at pages 15-18 of The Elijah Project Workbook.

The Elijah Project #2: The Brook Dries Up!

"There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: A right time for birth and another for death." Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 MSG We meet Elijah in the Kerwith Valley being fed by ravens and drinking from the brook. Next the brook dries up and God gives Elijah direction where to go next. He promises to protect and provide for Elijah. I have a very difficult time letting go of things. I think I would have struggled with the brook dried up. I probably would have moved up stream to make sure the water was "really gone." My husband calls me a "finisher". I think I'm a fighter that won't let things die. I've just recently got better at letting things end. My desire to "please people" gets in the way of God's best sometimes. I find myself fighting so much to be liked, that I lose myself in the process. I am more aware of my tendency toward "people pleasing" than ever. My synapse gap between feeling like pleasing and doing what is right has narrowed. But I still find endings difficult. I particularly watch my self-awareness and boundaries evaporate when I am under increased stress. In section 2 of the Elijah Project we recommend completing the Holmes/Rahe stress test. This simple test can be accessed at: http://www.stress.org/holmes-rahe-stress-inventory It is important to recognize your stress level as it is a predictor of your emotional resilience. This session we are focusing on identifying what we need to "end". Webster defines endings as: "The part of an area that lies at the boundary. Or a point that marks the extent of something." People can become exhausted. God is the only all-powerful, eternal, in-exhaustible resource. Trusting in God as our Protector and Provider signals an end to our self-reliance. This is the first step as we evaluate where we are protecting and providing for ourselves and where we need to invite God to take over. Take a few minutes to evaluate what you are hanging on to. Identify what you need to end in your life today!