If you have a heavy heart, we can be friends.
Dear Friends,
This is such a hard, strange season.
On one hand there are sweet new things we are seeing and experiencing, like having our kids and grandkids living with us for a few weeks.
I love seeing how creative people are in getting their message out, or how we are learning to Zoom for work and meetings and family gatherings.
I love that we are enjoying our homes and not feeling so much pressure of a set schedule. (Well, most of the time I love it)
But there is so much unrest as well.
In our world.
Evil seems highlighted and overpowering.
There are things my family and friends are dealing with that are just extra hard and stressful.
We are all lamenting over the horrible injustices toward our fellow man.
Maybe this is a time for all times.
It seems we’re on a collision course and you can feel the tension mounting up.
And yet, we are called to love fiercely and live without fear,
by the grace and power of the risen Jesus.
It’s not a sin to feel the fear.
Recognize it, say it out loud.
It diminishes the power of it when we say it out loud.
And then let the praises start!
These are the days we have to weild our weapon of worship.
Thanksgiving and praise to our mighty God who is sovereign and good and loving toward all He has made!!
It’s time to Sing.
Loudly.
Sing with a broken heart.
Sing with a heavy heart.
Sing to the King who is victorious!
I’m preaching to myself again.
I share in our One Thing Worship Retreats that “one thing leads to the next thing.”
What we hear from God in His Word, in His Presence, as we are taking time to listen to Him, leads us to action, the next thing.
Obedience.
Just do the next right thing as the Spirit leads you.
He will always lead you in truth.
Last week was the 2 year anniversary of our daughter Jordan’s death.
Grief is a pervasive teacher.
Make me a good student, Lord.
We cannot get our life from our circumstances.
Our life, our security, our wholeness, is only found and kept in Jesus.
There is always life from death.
Always a resurrection.
Always redemption.
So, we cry with those who are suffering.
We name the pain.
We rejoice with those who are on the mountain top.
We receive the blessing.
And we thank our glorious Jesus that He is with us through it all; that a new day is coming;
where He will wipe away every tear.
He will make a new heaven and a new earth.
And we get a front row seat to watch.
Recently, we recorded a Living Room Concert and put it on Youtube.
It’s our desire to worship the Lord with you; to call on Him for help and deliverance.
To be encouraged in the Lord together.
Click here if you’d like to watch it.
There are some very special guests and some funny bloopers at the end of it.
May the God of all peace be near.
Kim
Refrain
Return, Rest, Repeat!
Good morning Friends!
There are so many emotions we are feeling during this time, right?
It’s been kind of shocking to me to sense the surge from full on joy and gratitude to panic and frustration. And everything in between.
I don’t know why I’m surprised. Emotions are a God given release to pressure around us. I guess we would all explode, or implode, without them.
And of course we’ve all learned by experience that emotions in and of themselves are not to control us or be the ultimate decision making factor for our lives.
So, as we embrace all the “feels” that come during these unprecedented times, we also recognize the beautiful privilege and invitation we have to bring them to the feet of Jesus.
Again – His Presence is the one place I can safely “throw up” in without fear of rejection, or being told I’m sho’nuff crazy. He listens to my raving heart and then quiets my soul with his love.
“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15 ESV
Breathe Him in deeply, friends.
Run to the secret place and let him shelter you too.
We are all “prone to wonder” but praise God that His invitation to return and rest is not a one and done thing. It’s a lifelong practice, initiated by the Spirit, to be enjoyed continually.
Return, rest, repeat.
My family and I are hunkered down too and we are praying for you and thanking God for the mutual encouragement we are blessed with by our forever family. Please let us know how we can pray specifically for you.
May your days be full of his glory and grace.
***Stay tuned for an upcoming online concert with Joe and I along with online devotionals too. Details to follow here, on our Facebook page and Instagram account.***
In His shelter,
Kim
http://www.joeandkimstanley.com
Before
Before I was grown, a little girl full of broadway dreams, I acted out the part of Mary in our little ‘staging’ of the birth of Jesus. This was more of a tableau as we just put on costumes and froze in our manger positions.
Before the first Christmas, the redemption plan was known to Father and the rescue op was already in place.
Before the fall of man, I AM.
Before today, all of my days are known and hairs accounted for.
Before days of grief, I didn’t know how quickly tears could come or how long they could stay.
Before the tears, my heart didn’t know how joy and sorrow could live together.
Before the joy and sorrow, maybe I wasn’t as fully alive as I am now.
Before being fully alive, Jesus came to give me His Life.
~kim