Let Your Soul Feel Its Worth

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I posted this thought last year, and it came back to me repeatedly throughout the year as people would write and tell me how it had changed the trajectory of their lives. Through it, they recognized how unworthy they felt in their own failures and how distant from the very love that could transform them. As they began to talk to Jesus about this, he led them to a place where he could make himself known to them. Then they could begin to learn to relax into his reality. Sin, failure, or brokenness doesn’t make you less worthy of love, only more in need of it.

And, no, this is not the arrogant God-is-lucky-to-have-me sense of worth. It’s the humbling, contrite, joyful recognition that despite all that I’ve done and all that’s twisted in me, he delights in me as his child and loves me more deeply than any human ever has or ever will.

And the only way to know that is when he appears to you. I know a song lyric is not Scripture, but this one sums up so much of what Scripture seeks to say.  So, as my Christmas gift to so many of our friends around the world, I post it again.  May it bear even more fruit in 2021.

O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song and my favorite line in it is this:  “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.”

Ever since Eden’s Fall, the hardest belief for many to sustain, especially in times of struggle and failure is that they are worthy of God’s love and affection. So often we are overwhelmed by failure and feel so alone in our struggles that it seems sometimes as if no one cares, and too often God most of all. But that’s the illusion that pushes our world into the darkness.

Till he appeared, and the soul felt its worth.

God is not ever inactive toward us—unrecognized perhaps, but never uninvolved and he is always working to beckon us out of the darkness and into the joy of his light. What Sara and I want those three precious children in the picture above to know more than anything else is that they are beloved children of a gracious Father. They are worthy of his love, no matter what struggle they go through, whatever mistake they make, and in spite of every whisper of darkness into their ears.

It’s what we want everyone to know. He appeared in our world because we were worthy of love and to prove it he would spend his own life to rescue us from all that darkness twists or destroys in us. He came to redeem us because we were worth it to him.

You!  You are worth everything to him. What I love about the lyric above is that we come to know that worth when he appears. That’s when it all makes sense, and that’s not just about his coming 2000 years ago, but how he wants to make himself known to you today. When you behold him then your soul knows its worth. We are deeply loved and deeply cherished simply for who we are.

If you need a reminder of that, steal away for some alone-time over the next couple of days. Find a quiet place and ask him to reveal himself to you. Wait in the quiet until his reality begins to bubble up in your soul. We used to sing an old chorus, “There is none like you. No one else can touch my heart like you do. I could search for all eternity long and find, there is none like you.” It is such a rich chorus to sing to God.

But if you could for just a moment, imagine God singing those words to you. Read (or sing) them again and this time put those words onto God’s lips toward you. That’s just as true. And when you come to know that, your soul too will feel its worth.

Then every night can be a holy night!

We are so blessed to have so many connections with so many people around the world. During this season, we are grateful for every life that God has given us to know, every person whose path we have crossed, and those who have let us walk beside them in their own spiritual journey.

Merry Christmas to all of you, and may the New Year bring you an abundance of him and a spirit of selflessness to serve the world in this time of extremity,

Wayne and Sara

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Wayne’s New Book Delayed

2 Comments / Behind the Scenes /

I was just notified late Friday that my new book. Live Loved Free Full will not be available by the end of the year as we were originally promised. We knew we were on a tight timeline to get this out by January, and unfortunately, it didn’t all come together as we had hoped.

Our printer is blaming the delay on health restrictions due to the coronavirus, an influx of books late in the year, and now their holiday schedule. I am very sorry to tell you that our release date has now been pushed from December 22, 202o to January 15, 2021.  I know that’s particularly disappointing to those looking forward to starting it on January 1 and those who were giving it as a Christmas gift this year.  I’m a bit bummed for you, too, but we will do what we can to make up for the delay.

Fortunately, the reflections in this book don’t have to be read in order starting January 1. You can really start any time during the year and follow the cycle around since the book doesn’t build from a beginning point to an endpoint. I hope this could be a treasure to comb through year after year as it helps center your heart daily in the realities that matter most. However, for those who wanted to start on January 1, I will post the devotionals on the blog until the book comes out.  I’m not sure how we’ll do that yet. We may post one each day or post a few at a time, but you will have access to them.

And, if you bought it for someone as a Christmas gift, here is a coupon you can print out and wrap for them, so they will know it will soon be on its way.

Finally, I want to thank those of you on my Launch Team who will help us get the word out when the book is available.  I’m also deeply touched by the comments some of our advance readers have made about the book. This is what I had hoped these reflections would do. We can still use more people if you would be willing to help us get the word out.

 

 

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You Won’t Want to Miss This

2 Comments / Living Loved /

I don’t expect my closest friends to listen to all 781 of the podcasts I’ve recorded, or even most of them. I don’t expect them to listen week after week, and I find it awkward when someone apologizes to me for not keeping up with the podcasts. Most people over our fifteen-year run listen for a few months or years to find the trailhead of their own God Journey and then move on to other things. I’m fine with that. I do this podcast because I enjoy the conversations I stumble into, not as an obligation for people to keep up with but bless people in whatever season they find themselves.

That said, however, I don’t want anyone to miss the most recent one. It’s called Becoming One with Love and shares the journey of a good friend of mine from South Africa, Stephan Vosloo. If you’ve been on a journey of living loved for a while, you especially will want to hear from a brother who has discovered some really remarkable things about the joy of others-centered living and learning to love himself in his own brokenness and others in theirs. No, he hasn’t arrived and he will be the first to say he has a long way to go but this is a breath-taking view from his vantage point on the trail.

We couldn’t if it all into one podcast, so this Friday morning another piece of that conversation will air on The God Journey.  You won’t want to miss that either.

Though the podcasts are always listed in the upper left of the Lifestream.org page, I rarely refer to a podcast in the blog here. To do so says I think something significant is going on here. I came away from my conversation with Stephan refreshed, encouraged, and challenged in some specific areas of my own journey. It’s like God opened a door to a new field of his love I’d yet discovered.  Judging by the email I’ve received and the conversations I’ve had since airing the first part of our conversation, I know I’m not alone.

I’m not going to say much else, other than you will most likely thank me if you can take the time to listen to it.

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Don’t Let Fear Determine Your Path

6 Comments / Encouragement /

I got a text recently from someone about an exchange we had six years before.

You may never know what these words you said to me in 2014 have meant to me. There is so much pressure living in the “Bible belt” but I think I finally realize through this pandemic and having time to be away from it all that my relationship with Jesus can grow without that pressure. Fellowship can be sitting with a friend having coffee and challenging each other. I don’t have to sit in a group or be forced to be part of a small group I’m not comfortable around. Thank you so much for your books, podcasts, Breath of Fresh Air. You have provided a window of light to me and helped reveal truth.

Looking back, I found our original exchange to help me sort out exactly what she was talking about.

I am not even sure I know how to put into words the things going through my heart and mind right now. The Jake book has been a glimmer of light to me as well as soaking up all the podcasts from the God Journey and Lifestream. I don’t know what to say about my “church”. I still go but I’m tired of the pressure to serve, the pressure to join a life group, the pressure that if you don’t go on a foreign mission trip every year you aren’t doing what you should.

I chose this group originally because I felt there was authenticity, now it seems like it is all about entertainment, they had Jack Sparrow and Elsa and Anna wandering around there last week. Yet, when my life was tough and things were scary for a few months, no one cared. Our motto is ” changing the way you think about church” I used to think we were so different. Now, I feel that if Jesus were here sitting in our midst he would be sad. I don’t think this Is what He wanted or intended.

We don’t know where the money we give goes. We don’t know the church’s budget. A select group of elders makes all the decisions. They are the only ones who know what is in the bank. I don’t know anymore. My relationship with God is suffering. I’m disillusioned. Saddened. Disheartened. And really don’t know where to go from here anymore.

My response to her had been brief, so it was so good to hear how such simple words had changed the trajectory of her faith—

Follow your heart.  I suspect you already know how God is leading you but you are afraid to follow.  I appreciate the things that you’re seeing.  Pressure is not godly nor is fear.  I pray you’ll have the courage to follow what he has put in your heart and find yourself in more spacious places of his working.

That’s true of most people I meet. They seem to be confused, but when you listen behind their words, it’s evident that they already know how Jesus is leading them. They have just talked themselves out of it because of what other, perhaps even well-meaning Christians are pressuring them to do. They worry about how others will judge them than simply following the gentle nudge the Spirit has put in their heart.

God’s leading is not that difficult to know; it’s just challenging to trust that it’s him, especially when he’s leading you away from those things you were taught to rely on. Fear will never lead you to what’s best, and it will distort your perception of God and his whispers into your heart.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid of making a mistake, of facing the disapproval of people you love, or that God wouldn’t be there to help you beyond your own efforts?  That is often the path that will lead you to more light and freedom.

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A Special Gift a Long Time Ago

1 Comment / Uncategorized /

I just read his obituary in Christianity Today. “Walter Hooper, a North Carolina man who dedicated his life to preserving and promoting the writings of C. S. Lewis, died Monday at the age of 89. He was sick with COVID-19.”

What an amazing life this man led and he was an important piece of a gift God gave me 19 years ago that has remained a treasured day in my memories. News of his death rekindled those today.

I was in Wales visiting friends and a fellowship there that had been powerfully impacted by some of my earlier books. One night, before bedtime, I was told to be ready to leave early in the morning on a day trip. They wouldn’t tell me where they were taking me, but they were obviously excited.

We got in the car the next morning and off we went back to England. I assumed they had some other folks they wanted me to meet. Soon, however, I noted we were on the road to Oxford. I’d never been there. It was where C.S. Lewis lived, taught, and wrote. My shelves are filled with C.S. Lewis books and others by the Inklings, a group of Christian writers that lived in Oxford. I had hoped that some day I would get to visit the city, the university, and the Kilns, the home where Lewis lived.  That’s where they were taking me and we had a 10:00 am appointment to tour the home, which are only done by prior arrangement.

As we were welcomed into the home, the American student giving us the tour said she could start now, but if we were willing to wait forty-five minutes she said we could join another group that would be extra-special. She didn’t say why but did say she had already gained their permission to let us join in. Since we would be waiting in C.S. Lewis’ library, we opted to join the later tour.

Right on time, two more people arrived. One a college student, and the other an older, soft spoken gentleman (seated above) that was going to lead the tour. He was introduced as “Walter” and though I’d read some of his books about Lewis and some he had edited for him, I don’t know if I’d ever seen his picture. However, as he began to show us around the library, it become clear that he had been in this home with Lewis and knew him quite well. His anecdotes of Lewis’ humor and his insight into his writings were such a delight. Fifteen minutes into the tour it dawned on me who he was and that I was being given a personal tour of C.S. Lewis’ home by someone who had known Lewis and dedicated his life to putting his writings into the world. We spent a couple of hours together and he took us throughout the house and grounds with his stories.

It was one of the most memorable days of my life. And, it seemed like a gift straight from the Father’s hand—that on the far side of the world two friends from Wales would take me to Oxford to surprise me and that we would just happen to be there when Walter Hooper was showing a young friend Lewis’ home and recounting his life and work with Lewis.

I’m grateful at every memory of it, as I was today when I read of Walter Hooper’s passing. At some point in eternity I hope I cross paths with C.S. Lewis and Walter Hooper on the bank of a tranquil stream and talk of the wonders of our God, and all the ways we got him wrong living in this age.

Rest in peace, Walter Hooper.  You’ve enriched the world with your careful work on Lewis’ thoughts and writings.

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Relationships Make Us Rich

2 Comments / Encouragement /

After spending a few days with a group of people in Florida, a newfound friend observed, “You’re a repository for thousands and thousands of conversations you’ve had all over the globe with all kinds of people who are discovering what it means to live the life of Jesus.”

I had never thought of it that way, but it does express what my life has been like. I’ve talked to some of the most amazing people on the planet caught up in their own Jesus journey. I have gleaned much from them as we have processed our journeys together to look into the mysteries of God.

So, for everyone I’ve ever had a conversation with, I’m grateful that you took the time to engage my life and add to my story. I hope I’ve added to yours as well.

These are the first paragraphs on the Acknowledgment page of my newest book, Live Loved Free Full, which is set to release in a couple of weeks.  As I worked through that book I could remember specific people with whom I was talking when the truths of that book became cemented in my heart. At its end, I wanted to express my gratitude for people all over the world who have enriched me with their insights, experiences, and even questions we wrestled with together.  My heart is a marvelous tapestry the Spirit has stitched together over thousands of conversations with people in all stages of the spiritual journey—from seasoned ones who have explored the realities of living loved for decades and from people just starting out from the trailhead.

Relationships make us rich. The reason I’m sharing that now is that I’ve never been more grateful for the people God has put in my life than I have over the last few weeks. Leading up to my writing A Fresh Wind Is Blowing, and for the week after, I’ve been in a constant stream of conversations with people all over the world, which have thrilled my heart, opened my eyes to things God had been preparing me to see, and put a fresh sense of his leading and his hope in my heart. All of that has been mining a deep vein of precious thoughts from the heart of God. Most of those conversations are still going on and I have no idea where they may lead yet, but I am grateful for the manifold wisdom of God he makes known through his Church.

His church really is the network of friends and friends of friends that he knits into our lives over the course of our journey. Some of those I talk to frequently, others come in and out of my life after great gaps of time, but the conversations are rich with the wisdom and life of his Spirit. This is a fluid way of seeing his Church because it isn’t a programmed reality we can identify, but the result of following those nudges to connect with people and then allowing them into our lives as our mutual affection grows. These are people who love you where you are on the journey. They don’t manipulate you to fulfill their expectations or try to convince you of anything they think is true. They share freely out of love and wait for the Spirit to make sense of things.

As these conversations persist, the insights added by others continue to snowball until the reality Jesus is inviting me into becomes clear. It’s a marvelous process, one Paul describes in Ephesians 1 when he says the Church is “the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” Each of us alone only gets to see a facet of who God is, but in our growing connection with his family, we get a wider grasp of his nature and purpose in our hearts and in circumstances around us. 

A few of those conversations I’ve been able to share over the 781 episodes of The God Journey.  Most, however, went unrecorded except in the recesses of my brain. Like a giant jig-saw puzzle, each of those interactions has blessed my life and spilled out in things I’ve said or written.  Tomorrow on The God Journey, I’m sharing a conversation that I had with an old friend from South Africa who has explored some elements of living in Father’s love that delights my heart. It is probably one of the most important podcasts I’ve ever released and I hope you can find time to listen to it even if you no longer regularly check in there.

You’ll hear how the maturing of his love in us will set you free from the suffering that resulted from our self-centered thinking and allow us to be a better reflection of him to people around us. I’ll warn you now, the road to that reality is not an easy nor a popular one. As we taste more deeply of his love it will challenge our affection for the world’s way of doing things and put us on a path less traveled. However, no one who has gone down that path, however, has ever lived to regret it. Whatever he changes in us he only replaces with something far better.

I hope I’ve spurred you on to celebrate the relationships Jesus has given you. Who has touched your life with words that encourage and enlighten you? Who has provided you a living example of what it means to live in growing trust in Father’s faithfulness?  If it’s been a while since you’ve talked to them, consider connecting with them again, even if it is just to express your gratitude for what they’ve added to your life.  Healthy relationships are some of the real treasures of this kingdom.

Give place to them. Enjoy them. Let love be at the heart of all you do.

One final note, we are still recruiting members for the Living Loved Free Full Launch Team. If you can help us, check it out and get an advance copy of the book.

 

 

 

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A Fresh Wind is Blowing 

10 Comments / Encouragement /

Do you know how in advance of a storm, the wind can pick up suddenly, change direction, and bring in a scent of rain? I have a growing sense that the same thing is happening with God’s Spirit. The wind of his Spirit has shifted. Have you felt it?

In the last couple of weeks, something has changed, and I feel the same sense of wonder and excitement the children did when the Beaver in Narnia told them, “Aslan is on the move.”  I don’t know what it means, but I know a fresh purpose of God is unfolding. And please, don’t think this has anything to do with the recent election; I’m speaking of a different realm.

Everything has shifted in my own heart over the past two weeks, a fresh unfolding of Father’s insights and a rising hope that something new is taking shape. I am also discovering that I’m not alone. I’ve talked to many others who have been seeded with a fresh stirring of the Spirit in their hearts as well. For some, that has come with fresh insight, for others, a growing hopefulness in their hearts even if they can’t quite put a finger on it. For all, it seems to be a fresh invitation to draw closer to God and listen with expectancy.

What you hear may be out of the norm for you. Some of the people I’ve talked to tell me that they wouldn’t dare share what God seems to be showing them with many of their Christian friends. “They would look at me like I’m crazy,” one told me.  I know. Believe me, I know. Yet, the things she was hearing were coming fresh from God’s heart.

Those who need the affirmation of their friends will have a tough time on this road. Truth rarely travels in crowds. That’s one of the reasons Jesus told us about the broad and the narrow road. He wanted his disciples to know that they dare not seek affirmation of what’s true in the popular beliefs of the day. They would miss him if they did. More people will respond to fear than faith and, in the process, become more rigid and less loving.

If you are sensing something different in your heart, pay attention. Give space to what God is stirring in your heart. Don’t cling to your old comforts or fear what change might come. This is his doing, and he is inviting you to tack on a fresh wind. If you’re not sensing that yet, please don’t let that shake you. He is doing something else in you at the moment. Just don’t be surprised when you do begin to see it.

I want to encourage those who are hearing something new but afraid to believe it because it isn’t conventional. While other Christians seemed to be preoccupied with matters political or demanding their “rights” during a time of upheaval just know that the flow of the Spirit is running deeper than you’ll find in such temporal things.  Don’t let fear guide you, and don’t cling to his past work as a comfort. He is no longer there.

One lady described it as an undercurrent, spreading throughout the world, like a crystal-clear, underground river flowing beneath the surface. Many will walk right over it and miss it, but those with roots deep enough to touch it will find their heart drawn more deeply toward Father’s heart and purpose. Don’t look with your physical eyes; for what’s really important is currently unseen.

Perhaps that’s what Father is doing in this pandemic. I am not convinced God caused it; a world out of synch with its Creator would do that quite easily. Nonetheless, as with all things, he is in it working together for his purpose and our good. The disruption of our lives could put us off balance enough to be open to this fresh wind of his Spirit. The physical distancing we have been asked to do from each other for the good of the whole may have also been an invitation to give more place to him.  (I talk a bit more about this with Gil Michel on today’s podcast at The God Journey, An Opportunity to Grow.)

Is your heart more alive to some insights you find yourself resisting, just because it’s different or because your friends might disagree? Be careful where others manipulate your fears or feed your anger. Find that space where hope, humility, and love warm your heart, even when circumstances are dire. That’s where you’ll sense his moving.

It’s not for me to tell you what it is, even if I could. I’m still sorting out what all of this means, to be honest. I see him stitching threads together that have hovered around my life for the past couple of years that all seemed disjointed until now.  I can’t say more now lest I disrupt what Father is doing and shape something in your heart before Father does. Don’t run to anyone else to tell you what it is either. Jesus is summoning his people to follow him alone.

Things are happening now that will change the course of events in this world, but that time is not yet. It is time for all of us to quiet our hearts and catch the wind of his spirit.

It won’t come by our works, but by learning to rest in his.

 

Note: We are still looking for members for the Living Loved Free Full Launch Team. If you can help us, check it out.

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Would You Like to Help Me Launch My New Book?

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I love surprises, and this one is a surprise even to me. My new book, Live Loved Free Full, releases December 22, 2020. It had been sitting on my computer for more than a decade, and I had no idea what a gem it was until I opened it recently. Someone else had put this together from blog posts and articles—a daily devotional inviting people into a grace-filled relational space to start each day. I have added to it and updated it and am excited to share the unexpected treat with you.

Right now, I am looking for a lot of volunteers who want to be part of a launch team that can spread the word about this book on social media! If you’d like to help us, we’ll give you $6.00 off the purchase of a copy.  You can read more about the book on my blog here.

If you…

  • love to read.
  • enjoy using Facebook, Instagram, or other social media
  • like to tell others about the books they are reading.
  • are willing to share about new books on social media.
  • are willing to write a review of the book on Goodreads and Amazon.
  • want to help me make this book available to the world.

Would you be interested?  I’d love to have you on the team! All launch team members will receive an advance digital copy of Live Loved Free Full.

If you want to join my team, please follow these two easy steps:

We’ll ask you to do three simple things.  (1) Read as much of the digital copy that we’ll send to you so that you’ll feel free to recommend it to others. (2) Write a review of it—even one to two sentences—and post it at Goodreads when you have it done and then on Amazon when it releases there on January 1, 2021. Amazon doesn’t accept reader reviews until the book is available to everyone. (3) Post pictures of the book with your recommendation about it on your social media feeds in late December and early January.

If you’re not interested in being on the Launch Team but want to pre-order your copy of Live Loved Free Full, click on the link.  I’m really excited about this book and can’t wait to share it with you.

If you’re willing to help us in this way, I’ll give you a coupon good for $6.00 off the purchase of your own printed copy. This one is a special edition in hardback with dustcover and a ribbon to keep your place.

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Happy Birthday to Our Little Book

4 Comments / Language of Healing /

A year ago today, I released my latest book, A Language of Healing for a Polarized Nation, along with my coauthors Arnita Taylor and Bob Prater. In the year since, our culture has only grown more polarized, regretfully.  We’re not blaming the book for that. We always knew a book about peacemaking would be a tough sell in a culture that covets fear and conflict to drive market share and political engagement. We just hope for so much better.

The three of us believe that the issues that divide us wouldn’t seem so insurmountable if we could actually listen to each other, care as much about what others need as much as we do what we need, and create environments to discuss our differences with mutual respect and compassionate hearts. Wherever this book has been read and its encouragements applied, some amazing things have happened in churches, schools, and Zoom conversations. I’m delighted to see so many of my friends finding new ways to care about people who may not think the way they do or look like they do. For the last six weeks, the three of us authors have been helping a college in Texas have a conversation about how to create a new anti-racist institution a team is exploring. We have been amazed at the insightful and reasoned conversation those people are having even though they see the issue very differently. It can be done.

“When you combine courage with compassion, the world can change.” That’s what it says on the back of the book, and we are finding just how true that is. It takes some work. It is easier for many to join the voices of animosity and suspicion in our polarized nation, but the rewards of changing the conversation are worth the risk. We’re excited about those we know personally who are learning to take a different approach to the issues that divide us.

So, if you’ve read and been touched by our little book, and its companion Conversation Guide, would you please help us expand this book’s reach in the world? Consider it a birthday gift for the message in this book.  It is not backed by a major publisher or an advertising budget. No one at NY Times or Christianity Today has reviewed. Bob, Arnita, and I have simply been putting it into the world wherever God gives us voice and opportunity and seeing where word-of-mouth will take it.

What can you do?  Post one of the pictures below on your social feed, and either write a brief paragraph about how this book has changed your thinking, or quote one of your favorite passages from it.  I’ll start.  Here’s one of mine. This is from Arnita on page 193 describing the process of writing this book:

It’s not that we just had eighteen months of holding hands; we have had passionate disagreements! We just have not had conflict that couldn’t be talked through. We were able to be gentle, ask questions, and stay factual, and we didn’t attach excessive emotions to our own point of view. We’ve been honest because whatever concern does not rise to the surface cannot be addressed or healed. Additionally, we’ve been committed to the common goal of finishing this conversation with respect and honor.”

My growing friendship with Bob and Arnita and the content of this book have transformed me in ways I had not imagined. It has changed the way I seek out and interact with people who are different than me, as well as helping my friends realize there is a different conversation to be had about politics, race, religion, and sexuality that the political parties, the media, and even religious leaders try to prevent us from having.

If you haven’t explored this little book, maybe in the aftermath of such a contentious election you, too, might be ready for a different conversation. This book isn’t about changing the culture in Washington or our media but changing our conversation with the people around us. A language of healing will only take hold in the world one person, one conversation, or one engagement at a time.

Feel free to download or copy a picture below and post it somewhere with your own personal story of how this book impacted you or posting a favorite quotation from it. You can link back to this page, our book page, or even Amazon’s listing. If you want to order discounted copies in bulk to start a discussion group or give away for Christmas, you can find them at Blue Sheep Media.

Let’s see if we can grow this conversation and put a different spirit in the wind. We are grateful for whatever you can do to help us.

A Language of Healing with Bob Prater, Arnita Taylor, and Wayne Jacobsen

 

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At Peace No Matter What

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Someone sent my own quote back to me a few days ago, telling me how much it had encouraged them.  This thought always draws my heart back to a better place, as well. Our world is a mess, no doubt about it. I wish there had been no virus, that our country wasn’t so polarized after the election, and that we could really treat all human beings equally regardless of their skin color. I’m sorry that people lose their jobs, get troubling diagnoses from their doctor, or have to deal with broken relationships with people they love.

I heard a quote this morning that is similar: “You can’t change how the story begins, but you can change how it ends.” It was mistakenly attributed to C. S. Lewis, though it isn’t in any of his writings. Still, it invites us to focus on the places where we can make a difference instead of leaving us in the despair of victimhood. We can’t do anything about what has happened to us in the past, but God is with us today and can teach us to trust his love in a way that will change the course of our lives.

When we stop fighting the reality of our circumstances, then we’re in a place to discover his peace in the midst of them and his grace to let him change us or the circumstances we face. That’s where I have hope, on what God might do today as I put my hand in his and follow him; however, he leads.

The person who sent this quote back to me also shared how that is living out in them.

Just wanted to thank you so very much for A Breath of Fresh Air. It has been refreshing to go back and listen to some of the older podcasts. I have enjoyed you and Brad being together and all the great laughing you two did together.

Also just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying and learning from the podcasts you and Kyle do together. They have been uplifting and such great teachable moments.

Of course, I love all the podcasts when you have guests and just when it is you. The insight God has given you and the way you share your life, perspectives, and teachings about the Bible has been very life-changing to me, i.e. Jesus Lens, Transitions, all the books and all the rest, have helped me be able to move on after so many years of negativity and control to a much more peaceful, love and grace-based faith and love for God and that He loves me so deeply. I can’t wait until your new devotional book comes out!

Hope you and your family have a blessed holiday season during this pandemic!

Others have told me that the quotes we’re sending out are drawing them back to discover the resources they come from. I like that they are not getting lost. If you want to hear the podcast that the quote above came from, you can listen here: Giving Up the Burden to Convince Others.

And I love the movement she describes from “negativity and control to a more peaceful, love and grace-based faith.” That’s my journey, too, which allows me to embrace whatever today is inside my confidence that God will get me through this too.  I no longer look back at my past, frustrated by what has been, nor look too far ahead and worry about what might be.

I find his grace sufficient to whatever I have to face today and know that living there will prepare me best for whatever is coming down the road.

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You can find out more about my newest book, Live Loved Free Full here.  And, if you don’t receive our periodic Breath of Fresh Air, you can sign up by clicking on the link and checking the appropriate box.

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