Knowing Your Role

I had a conversation not long ago with my older brother regarding our younger sibling, our brother Jacob. Jacob had been having a difficult time finding his place in the world, as we all do at one point or another in our adolescent years, and Joshua, 10 years Jacob's senior was eager to lend a hand in any way that he could.

We had a telephone conversation one afternoon that changed my life. My brothers had run into turmoil and I remember clearly the words spoken that day.

"I just don't get it, Kate! I helped him enroll in school, I've given him a place to sleep, and I even pay for his meals!"

He was trying to understand how things had turned out so wrong, when he was trying to do something so right! Because he loved his brother!

On my end of the line I heard myself saying, "Josh, the best thing that you can do for Jacob is set an example for him. Be the best you that you can be, and do not try to fix his life for him. Set an example of what it looks like to be the best you that you can be."

Or something along those lines... all I know is when I spoke those words, the Lord spoke clearly to me about my own life, revealing the essence of my role as wife and mother, and how to fill it.

It became clear to me that I thought that the people in my life needed me desperately. Now with a newborn baby, there is truth to that.

But this was more than that.

It translated to my husband, my mother, my father, my friends, my brothers, and definitely my children. Unknowingly, I thought that I was their salvation. That there was something I owed each of them in order for them to be fulfilled.

And I felt desperate. Of course I'm not enough to fill all of the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs that I see in my family and friends! Of course I couldn't provide ALL that I wanted to on a physical or spiritual level. And of COURSE, I felt exhausted, frustrated, and inadequate from trying!

And when I spoke those words to my brother, the weight that I had been carrying for years, was suddenly lifted. The Lord spoke to my heart directly, and began a beautiful work in my life based on knowing my role.

I knew at that moment, that what I had been missing in order to make the impact that I desired on my family and friends, a positive impact in their life and not negative!, the work would have to begin in my own heart. The Lord had a lot of work to do and still does, but it is in our weaknesses, that we come to depend on the Lord.

2 Corinthians 12:9

New International Version (NIV)

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

I am learning that being a loving, submissive wife that honored and respected my husband is the first part of my role, and takes conscious daily effort. I had to learn to respect his pocket book. Honor his laundry. Honor and respect our home and his family along with mine! I had to learn how to seek God first. How to hold my tongue, control my emotions, and fill up on His love in order to be able to share it.

1 Corinthians 11:3

New International Version (NIV)

3 But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man,[a] and the head of Christ is God.

As I began to fill up on His word and His goodness and share that with my husband, my husband gained strength, courage, peace, joy and his own desire for more of God's presence in our home.

And as our home changed, so have our children, our friends, and our family. Perhaps in small ways, but I am so thankful for the Spirit of the Lord in our lives.

Give up on fear and replace it with trust.

Give up on shame and accept grace.

Accept imperfections and love despite them.

Give up scrutiny for mercy.

Condemnation for edification.

Death for life.

Looking back over my life, I am able to see God's handiwork. I see His faithfulness and love, and that he wasn't kidding when he said He will never leave us or forsake us. I know that where I have been is not where I am, and that where I am is not where I'm going, but I have the peace of the Lord that He will be with me, wherever that may be. I pray we bring Him glory.

Living Effectively.

Living Effectively.

1ef·fec·tive adjective \i-ˈfek-tiv, e-, ē-, ə-\ : producing a result that is wanted : having an intended effect

Living a life that produces a result that is wanted.

What do you want out of life?

It takes no time at all to begin to look at people and things as a ruler to measure our success. It takes no time at all to look at what you are doing right in life, and what everyone else is doing wrong. No matter how much truth there is or isn't in your conjecture.

It takes no time at all to forget that joy is a choice, and that serving others is a privilege, and not a chore.

It takes no time at all to forget that giving is greater than receiving.

That listening to someone, and giving them your ear, brings far more healing to their soul than showing our own brilliance by identifying the cause and "cure" of their ailments.

It takes no time at all to forget that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that God the Father will not leave us or forsake us. Even if it feels like everyone, including ourselves, will.

It takes no time at all to forget that the life we want to live contains a lot more laughter than worry, a lot more hugging and dancing and clapping than furrows of the brow or wagging fingers. It takes no time at all to forget that the things we ourselves truly desire are peace, joy, love, grace for others, and grace for ourselves. When we can barely remember that those are the things that we value, it makes it even more difficult to believe that is the innermost desire of others, as well.

But I believe that our actual self and our ideal self are actually one in the same.

The old creation is gone, the new creation has come.

I believe that on a daily basis, our battle is not one against flesh and blood, but of principalities and darkness.

So guard your tongues. Speak life. Speak life. Speak peace. Speak love. Speak forgiveness. For ourselves and for others.

Remember what it is we are living for. Live effectively. Read His Word, and recall all of the beautiful, selfless, compassionate thoughts that you have ever had, and forget the doubt and fear that stole them.

You are not your old self! Live effectively! Guard your tongue, and be aware of each thought that you entertain. Live by His spirit, offering yourself the same grace and room for error that He does. Fight shame, guilt, fear, and doubt with the same fervency you fight injustice. They themselves are an injustice. Identify and admit that The Greatest of These Is Love! As important as accepting yourself as a lover of souls, is accepting others as lovers of souls. Believing in the best of and for one another, is as critical as accepting our own freedom from sin. In order to move the Gospel of peace and love, we must believe that Christ's love lives in the captives, despite their chains, and encourage them to allow His love to shine through, despite the darkness they have come to know and accept. A detailed description of how our love should look:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 New International Version (NIV) 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Free Indeed!

"I am told God loves me- and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Before the work started, there was so much union, love, faith, trust, prayer, and sacrifice. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?" - Mother Theresa

When I read this passage of a personal account written by Mother Theresa, a woman who was undeniably dedicated to Christ's work, I was at once... encouraged. This woman, who, inspired by the love of God, had devoted her own life to servanthood for Christ, and still, emptiness? Darkness? Coldness?

How could someone like Mother Theresa at times feel this way when, clearly, the woman was inspired by the Lord to an exponential degree!?! Because of sin. Sin in the sense of a power that works against us. Sin that Paul speaks of in Romans as a law that continues to work against us, but is not us. Sin, as in a force that crouches in the doorway of our thought lives, our hearts, waiting for it's opportunity to spring into action and convince us that it is us who will never attain righteousness.

But scripture let's us know this is not truth, but a lie.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

We know that our old self was crucified with [Christ] so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with [made powerless], that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Romans 6:6-7

Slaves to sin. You see. We were not once just sinners, engulfed in lust, greed, pride, envy, drunkedness, and debauchery, but we were slaves to sin.

slave - slāv/ - noun 1.a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.

Christ came to set us free from slavery to sin, that we might accept ourselves as loving, peaceful, joyful, beings like our Father. Not only to change our lives, but to share with our children, spouses, brothers, sisters, and even strangers... As followers of Christ, we are sometimes all to eager to accept our sins as who we are, condemning ourselves (we really don't need help from anyone else in this area!) and we forget that we are truly a new creation. Our old selves no longer exist

And while a battle is constantly at war between sin and our flesh, we thank God for his Word that brings us truth and renews our minds to know God's good and perfect will.

John 8:36 (NIV) 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

The difference between the lost and those who know Christ, is that we are no longer forced to obey sin, whose wage is death. Thank you Lord for using me to help set free the captives.

Book Rave! "The Naked Gospel"

The Naked Gospel is one that may challenge your belief system, in a much needed way! It brings FREEDOM!!! It brings truth. And it inspires. I am only halfway through the book and had to stop to tell you about it!

Carry Each Other's Burdens

For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see ANOTHER LAW at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. Romans 7:22-23

Paul calls it "another law" that is at work against us, within us.

Sometimes this law looks like fear. Sometimes sin. Sometimes doubt. Sometimes it looks like pride. You may see this law in the face of the downtrodden, the beggars, you know... you... me...

But Galatians 6:2 gives specific instructions as to how to live under a different law:

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

As followers of Christ we are to adhere to a different law than the one Paul wrote about.

While this "other law" is at work within us, as we daily make the decision to follow Christ, we fulfill his law in a very simple way. By carrying the burden's of others.