Lisa Colón DeLay

This weekend I’m the spiritual director at the Renew & Refine Writer’s Retreat.

So many times as writers or creatives we fail to integrate Soul Care into ordinary life. This has a burnout or burn up effect. Eventually, we end up hurting not only ourselves but those close to us. Even worse we often end up damaging our ongoing work–our vocation (what we are called and gifted  to do). Vocation is the very thing that makes life so meaningful and rewarding. God’s wishes for us to be uniquely us and working and being in a way that is life-giving to ourselves and others.

This is why a “Rule of Life” or regular rhythm of self care and God-awareness is vital. It’s not complicated but it’s so very necessary.

Jesus, in discipling his followers, said it this way:

Matthew 11:29

Becoming a disciple refers to training–to process. The process of this life-giving training leads us to more abundant life. It’s not binary: all good or all bad. Dead end or open vista. It’s a bit of both and really a pilgrimage. Getting on with it is helped when we take up better habits that give us more breathing room and vitality, just like learning to pack a suitable backpack makes hiking and camping better.

Some habits may involve integrating certain spiritual practices like morning prayer, meditating on Scripture, fellowing, unplugging from technology, observing a sabbath rest, to name a few. Many refreshing options exist. Only by being habitual can we truly reap the benefits. This is actually the real meaning of the word “religion”. Religion simply means “bind”…it’s the fiber or tether that helps us hold on to a sweeter and richer life. (Of course, the word has been spoiled and perverted in every which way, and some reject using outright because of all the baggage that comes along with it. Yet, in its simplest form “religion” refers to how we stay grounded and become our most fully human selves, if we don’t make our tether a noose or shackle instead!)

To be sure, this stuff of routines and habits is hard for me because I tend to do a whole bunch of things and once and push soul care to the side as “least urgent”. Too often I forget that just like I need food every day, I also need to care for my Soul (my whole integrated self).

The following are some great tools I’ve found quite helpful as spiritually enriching resources for devotional practices and learning how to have a deeper walk with God: Creator, Jesus, and Spirit.

Pick one that looks good to you, and get started.

Handbooks

Refreshing Devotionals (quick reads)

On soul Care

Regaining yourself – Prayer of the Heart

Name Your Link

Before I follow up (click here for part I), I want to say that I’ve learned that talking too much about a splendid spiritual experience is problematic:

1. There’s really no way language can encompass something mystical (an experience with the divine). It just won’t translate.

2. Sometimes the more you sort it out the more the sweet memory lifts in a puff and vaporizes. I just hate doing that to it. It’s like squeezing a kitten until you hear a pop. Bad idea.

(And the details work more like forensics too, like writing a research paper on your first kiss. By paragraph three you just regret starting to tackle the project at all. Not that I tried to do that, because that would be weird.)

I don’t pray the whole time when I go away for a prayer retreat. I have a Brother Lawrence life of faith, mostly. Integrated. That means Life is Prayer. Prayer is lived. Each breath is an exchange of that gift of life up into the atmosphere. That hope and petition… and God is everywhere, receiving it with a smile.

Sometimes when I tell people I go for a whole day to pray, I get weird looks. They think it must be work or simply beyond boring. Or worst of all…that it’s super spiritual and religious. It’s not whatsoever. It’s carnival of inner joy. I wish it for everyone.

A typical day away
So when I’m there, I turn off my phone, I walk the halls or the grounds, enjoy the paintings, sculptures, the plants, gardens, wildlife and scenery. I pray, worship, and intercede for others in the onsite chapel or in the little alcoves, prayer rooms, the library, or benches outdoors. When I get stiff I stretch and walk a bit more. I journal, write prayers, take notes and a few photos, and I read scripture or devotional books… just short bits. They have an art room, so sometimes I draw or paint. I enjoy snacks I brought and a good hearty lunch on the grounds. I make sure that nothing is done out of obligation or becomes drudgery. Sometimes I just sit there and be. Many times. I allow myself to truly relax and be myself. How life-giving it is. My heart fills up. It is truly sacred space. Somehow more fully the permission is given, the place is consecrated for pilgrims to come alive and enjoy it all, and feel loved ever deeply by our good Maker. Do you like picnics? It’s like that.

Sometimes I feel the shine of God and sometimes it seems God is thinking and being quiet next to me. We’re friends and friends can do that.

So, instead of going into everything I enjoyed and relished in the details, I’ll share a few field notes and let the rest be hidden to ponder in my heart.

• The Sacred will hush you and bring you home.

• As jars of clay filled with treasure (God within) we need rest and reconnection to be cleaned out and readied for God’s use in holy work.

• Life is short, bitter-sweet, and suffused with exquisite joy and ravaging sorrow–all that makes us more human but it takes divine healing through it to become whole. We are simply too fragile to do “being human” apart. Beside God, we need people who love God. People have God inside, and that helps.

• The birds aren’t frantic as I assumed for too long; they are alive with work. Excited to be themselves.

• Deep calls to Deep. In God’s whispers the deepest parts of ourselves are stirred yet we often mistake it for others things.

# # #

When was the last time you got away?

 If you’d like to go and you live near Reading/Lebanon, Pa, let me know. I’m always happy to go with a companion. I travel there with a friend or two, then we go off, each own our way to enjoy God or pray and then meet back up for lunch and sometimes discuss it a bit.

I also offer a guided experience there, and more info for that is here if you are interested.

I’m getting Psst.

I feel verily drawn to the whispers and the come-away… into the abiding.

When you feel battle-weary and you put your head down, you can hear thunder in the ground.

The divine rumbles and trembles you…way deep.

into your soul.

Your own beats loosen and go syncopated.

&

And whatever happens, all I know is… that I need to show up.

The wild abandon is not my own.

It’s the shine of the joy and glory.

&

Strangely, I sense the breathlessness is from… outside.

Yes.

God at my gate among the blooms.

&

Pay attention. Learn. Sit soon, at the feet of the One who is Other…

I hear it.

So,

Tomorrow I’ll make a trek to a sacred place because it’s time. It’s overdue.

I’ll tell you about it, some, on the other side.

And that’s how you get psst.

P.S.

Please stop for about 15 seconds, if you have them, and ask God to help me. I’d be so very grateful.

(don’t miss the next post. Sign up to direct delivery in the sidebar.)

Christianity just lost a wonderful teacher. Today, Dallas Willard has died of cancer at the age of 77.

As a person who has spent countless hours learning about spiritual formation and endeavoring to be formed well, I am saddened that we’ve lost such an insightful man. A number of his books were part of my required texts and his keen wisdom helped to shape me.

In homage to him today, I will refer you to this article that is very helpful for understanding the difference between discipleship and spiritual formation and why the formation of our characters into Christ-likeness gets sidelined in churches and Christian institutions. It’s quite good.

Remember to say a prayer today for all those who grieve his loss.

article excerpt:

Interview:

What do you mean when you use the phrase spiritual formation?

Willard: In our country, on the theological right, discipleship came to mean training people to win souls. And on the left, it came to mean social action—protesting, serving soup lines, doing social deeds. Both of them left out character formation.

Isn’t character formation very much a part of many Christian schools and institutions?

Willard: What sometimes goes on in all sorts of Christian institutions is not formation of people in the character of Christ; it’s teaching of outward conformity. You don’t get in trouble for not having the character of Christ, but you do if you don’t obey the laws.

Read the rest here.

This is the video collection of the last conference Dallas Willard did in February on Knowing Christ, and the Dallas Willard Institute at Westmont College. (It’s excellent) 

To visit the Dallas Willard Center at Westmont click here.

Here are just a few of my favorites:

29 DAYS!

That’s all the time that’s left until a retreat I’m really excited to be a part of!

The Renew and Refine Retreat for Writers is a very special weekend that mixes fellowship, community, expert writing insights, and an enriching spiritual experience. Ed Cyzewski and Kristin Tennant have put their heads together to create something important and lovely that will give you perspective and space to find refreshment and inspiration unlike any typical writing conference can. Let’s face it, you need this!

Whether you’re a seasoned writer who’d like some sacred space to learn, grow, and rejuvenate, or you are a part-time or aspiring writer who’d like to pursue a deeper calling, meet other writers, and hear from seasoned pros, this retreat will be a boon!

I’m personally extra excited that the beauty of nature, time for laughter, relationship building, super yummy, specially-cooked family style meals, and time for personal reflection or solitude is built-in from the onset. Some have even called this the retreat keeps the introvert in mind! (But I assure you extroverts, like me, will love it too.)

Breathe a sigh of relief! Instead, of just getting bombarded with great info or squeezing in networking between workshop breaks, this time (May 24-26) will have space built-in for you to connect, learn, and enjoy relaxation and times of quiet too. Heaven? Maybe.

We’ll be at the Trinity Lodge. An interior picture is shown here…Looks cozy, huh?

If you’d like to save $25, see if you can spot the secret promo code word in this blog. I left some clues.

(Psst. If you figure it out, you can share it.) See you soon!

Sign up or learn more about the weekend here!

(Oh, one more thing! Did you already sign up to go? Or do want some extra awesome?

If you spot promo code and you are the first share it on Twitter with the hashtag #RRforwriters I’ll have a special care package for you when I see you there, May 24th.)

One aspect of the pre-Easter season (Lent) is confession…

Well, not really. The majority of Evangelicals avoid or ignore the command to confess and even the concept of confession. One great excuse is that we don’t have to be like Catholics who have to answer to a priest for our sins and then do penance. We don’t need a mediator between us and God. How empowering!

But, ignoring or avoiding confession also gives us a chance to hide in our sin and deceive ourselves and others…hum…not so empowering! That’s like putting our soul in jail.

True and thorough Healing and transformation come in and from the context of community.

Jame 5:16
International Standard Version (©2012)
Therefore, make it your habit to confess your sins to one another and to pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

But –Why would confessing heal us?

There is a kind of cleansing that happens in confession. That’s why it’s not optional. It’s not just a purge from our end either.

Revealing ourselves to others has transformative power. Thousands of 12 Step followers will tell you countless tales of life-altering transformation that came through this route.

Simply put–God purposefully makes healing real and possible when authenticity happens with others. It will not happen on our own. This is by design because it makes us healthier to be connected in such a way.

There are no AA groups with 1 member because that would ensure failure. Healing works the same way for all us in that regard. Isolation keeps us stuck and unwell. Blind.

The Holy Spirit uses our honesty and uses our transparency and does his good work. Transformation! A confession is not just an apology (“Hey, sorry I made you feel that way.”) but rather it’s a careful decision to be authentic, to expose one’s self to the light of truth, to change, and to take a new course. So it is blessed.

This is the power and efficacy of prayer and repentance.

 

In the next post I’ll cover who we should or could confess to…

Do you think it matters who we confess to? (leave me a comment or voicemail)

Do you confess your sins and shortcomings regularly? (leave me a comment or voicemail. Yes or no and why or why not.)

 It’s easy to forget to visit this blog, because you’re busy. I know how that is. I update with new content about 3 times per week. You can get the new stuff sent to you AND you can use my content as well. So, click in the side bar for new content delivery and please check out the Permission Policy page for the rules for fair usage. Thanks for spending some time here today. :)

 

LASTLY- Is there anything you should confess? You are invited to do that here, or simply admit to confessing to some other human here (if you want to confess in another venue).

photo image found here:

UPDATE! the promo code word “breathe” will save you an EXTRA $25!

I’ve been sitting on some very exciting news, and it’s finally time to announce it. THIS MAY 24-26…

If you’ve ever gone to a conference or retreat and had a awesome time but left feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or hit that infamous post-conference slump, something new has been designed with you in mind.

Powerhouse writers (and bloggers) Kristin Tennant and Ed Cyzewski wanted to create a weekend full of rejuvenation, time and space for reflection in a beautiful setting, practical help for writers with professional, emotional, and spiritual support. All this within a small community context (limited to a small number of guests for optimal awesomeness). It will be fun, relaxing and helpful–a time for laughter, honesty, and mutual care. A holistic retreat! Honestly, you’d be crazy to miss it.

All this for less than a typical hotel stay! So cheap. Such a gorgeous setting. So awesome, I can hardly contain myself.

The Renew and Refine Retreat for Writers is just that thing that you need.

Click to get the full details and photos of the accommodations and grounds! It promises to be an amazing time! You’ll want to dig around on the Renew and Refine website and find out more.

PLUS

Early birds get a super discount.  AND for two days Ed is giving away 3 helpful books!-here.

You’ll find me there too as the Spiritual Director. I’m looking forward to meeting you, spending time together, and listening to your heart. There will be opportunities for engaging in guided Christian spiritual practices like prayer (various forms) meditation, worship, reflection, and silence, as well as a few spots for one-to-one spiritual direction/soul care, if you’re interested. (More on that in later posts)

Stay connected to the info and happenings leading up to this time by using or searching for #RRforwriters tag on Twitter.

A time away, you probably need it.

When the frontline of life starts to weaken your reserves you need a retreat to revive yourself so you’re ready for anything you need to face.
- Starting June, 2013

Throughout my life God has provide spiritual guides to journey with me and encourage me when I needed it most.

In gratitude I hoped to offer this to others as well. It took a number of years, but I got the needed experience in mentoring, leading, and companioning plus my Masters Degree in Spiritual Formation, and now I enjoy guiding spiritual pilgrims, like you, (and from various faith traditions) in transforming, personalized getaways.

This experience helps you explore the ways of God and your own inner world in a very potent, personal, and rejuvenating way, for a few hours at a time or a few days at a time, which ever suits your circumstances.

It’s what you might call a “Boutique Retreat” experience because each time is an original, from the ground up. Each is specially designed with you in mind to breathe freshness and insights into your life in a way you have rarely or ever encountered. Great care is taken to nourish your soul and aid you in transformation, healing, and growth. You can even bring a friend.

Like readying a garden plot, I create a safe and sacred space for you to better encounter God through the Holy Spirit. Your needs like food and devotional material are provided for you, so you needn’t worry about the details. All you have to do is show up and be ready for the seeds of renewal.

You have complete permission to relax, breathe deeply, and encounter God in a way that most helps you, with as much structure or free time as you enjoy.

Following a preliminary conversation about your current spiritual needs or life circumstances, I tailor the experience to you and with gentle shepherding I include elements such as spiritual companioning, prayer, time for private reflection, and enjoying God’s creation as we journey onward.

Deep calls to Deep
Have you been feeling soul-weary, spiritually thirsty, or you sense God calling you to something deeper? It’s time to listen. Getaway and rediscover yourself as God’s Beloved. As you recover yourself you will sense God’s love more deeply become a greater blessing to others.

This sort of Soul Care doesn’t happen at a conference, in personal devotional time, or at a church service. While those things are usually helpful and needed, the occasion of a personalize spiritual experience like this one is truly unique.

• Some find added value in bringing a friend or two along to journey together, and that is encouraged if it’s a good fit for you.

The cost is minimal. The experience is priceless.

Within a gorgeous setting you will enjoy feeling deeply welcomed, revived, cared for, and blessed… and you will not go away unchanged.

LIST OF GUIDANCE OPTIONS:

Personalized, Specialized, and Focused on your unique needs = Boutique

These special experiences are drenched in prayer for you and are specifically designed to be potent by being limited to an intimate number of 1-4 participants only. (Prices below reflect per person costs. Groups of 3 or 4 may deduction %10. New referrals have the same discount.)

Retreat on a budget:
• Personal Guided Prayer and Refreshment Retreat 1/2 Day (4 hours) $45 per person.
(a.m. or p.m. options available)

To raise money for your retreat go here.

MOST popular:
• Personal Guided Prayer and Renewal Retreat Overnight option (at retreat center) 1/2 day  (4 hours) + full day (6 structured hours + free time) $140.
Includes 2 meals (breakfast and lunch 2nd day. Departure in afternoon), a snack (1st evening), modest room accommodations, and a personalized schedule with prayer, time for reflection, and guided devotional time.

Most Restful:
• Custom-crafted Guided Prayer and Rejuvenating Retreat Weekend (at retreat center)
Schedule: 2 half days (Friday and Sunday) and a special engaging schedule on Saturday. (includes snack Friday evening, 3 meals Saturday and snacks, 2 meals Sunday. 2pm departure.) $250 [limited spots]

• Leadership Development Retreat Weekend. For emerging and developing leaders, this personalize retreat experience focuses on vocation, self-discovery, interpersonal skills, spiritual growth, and leadership development to ensure success in leadership or correct problems in current aspects of leading. $275 (includes snack Friday evening, 3 meals Saturday, snacks, 2 meals Sunday. 2pm departure.)

A Must for anyone in ministry:
• Personal Guided Prayer and Resting Retreat–for Pastors or care-givers. This option caters to the special needs of those who minister and regularly offer care to others (such as lay leaders, helps professionals, parents, and those caring for elderly parents)

Often pastors and care givers empty themselves but don’t make the time to be adequately refilled. This is a gift a pastor or care givers should give to him or herself, but a healthy congregation will offer these opportunities for pastors. Ask your group to sponsor you for a needed getaway.

This particular personalize retreat experience focuses on refreshment, healing, spiritual growth, and development to strengthen the minster, lay leader or care giver for further service. A discount is provided to those in full-time ministry or care. Weekend option: $235. 1 Day Overnight option: $130. (Weekend option includes snack Friday evening, 3 meals Saturday, snacks, 2 meals Sunday. 2pm departure. 1 Day Overnight option: 1/2 day  (4 hours) + full day (6 hours). Includes 2 meals (breakfast and lunch 2nd day. Departure in afternoon.)

For the artistic soul
• Artist and Writer Guided Retreat Weekend. This retreat is designed with the artistic or creative temperament in mind. Focusing on Soul Care, encouragement, healing, and purpose/vocation this retreat will most refresh and invigorate those in creative fields like the arts and writing with guidance and exercises tailored specifically and personally for discovery and development. $275 (includes snack Friday evening, 3 meals Saturday + snacks, 2 meals Sunday. 2pm departure.)

Something different:
• Personalized Guided Dream Work Retreat Weekend. For those who want to discover or understand the rich world of dreaming for growth, discernment, and added personal and spiritual insights. Dreamers of all levels will benefit and see the rich history of God using dreams to connect with his people.

Reasons to Go…
•You rarely dream but want to dream more

•You want to gain a better understanding of your dreams and how God is using them to teach you

•You have trouble with nightmares and reoccurring dreams.

Learn how to generally decipher dreams, sleep better, have lucid dreams, and better understand how God really uses 1/3 of your life (the percentage of hours you sleep) to guide, heal, encourage, and transform you in a special way. Lots of fun, relaxing, and insights aplenty. $285 (includes snack Friday evening, 3 meals Saturday + snacks, 2 meals Sunday. 2pm departure.)

Spiritual Formation
Personalized (Boutique) Retreats usually include introductions and guidance to simple but effective spiritual exercises and disciplines in collaboration with several modest reading assignments, journaling and discovery opportunities, scheduled time for one-to-one guidance, free time/reflection time, prayer, enjoying God’s creation, and spiritual practices that are customized to your particular needs, tradition, learning style, and temperament. It’s time to go deeper!

(These experiences also make a very thoughtful gift for someone who needs a getaway!)

Some of the Spiritual Exercises and Practices we may explore together, as you wish:

• Exploring Christian Prayer Forms (praying the hours, breath prayer, centering prayer, Jesus Prayer, praying with a visual aid, imaginative prayer, lectio divina, contemplative prayer {prayer of the heart/apophatic}, prayer walk, labyrinth prayer, and others.)

• Spiritual Disciplines (silence, meditation, self-care, study, examen, rest, spiritual-companioning, communion, journaling, confession, prayer forms, and others.)

Limited Space 
I cannot accommodate all requests for personalized retreats, so only a limited number of spots are available. Please contact through the voice mail feature, the contact-me tab, or leave a comment below to get started or inquire further.

New to Guided Retreats?
A first session to determine if co-discernment, retreat, or spiritual direction is a good fit for you at this time is completely free. (Payment plans are available if needed, and no seeker will be turned away solely on the basis of inability to pay.)

Location:
Most Retreats are held in Wernersville, PA at the Spiritual Center (as seen in the photos). Click to view campus.

Need a Retreat closer to home?
Contact me and we can discuss the location options that will fit your needs.

To learn the reasons people seek guidance in this way click here.

I look forward to hearing from you. Contact me right away to reserve a time slot.

Upcoming Blessings!

-Lisa

(Please note that costs are set to increase in September. Reserve a Spring or Summer retreat experience soon.)

Non Retreat Setting Option
• Spiritual Guidance Session/Holy Listening/Co-Discernment 
Cost per spiritual session: 1 Hour, $30-45. (in-person or through Skype)

This is the second-to-last post in this two month (Jan-Feb) Series on Discernment. (Read all of them by clicking the discernment tag above)

I was going over my notes from my last meeting with my spiritual director and I came across this quote from Francis de Sales that she shared with me:

“Seek not the consolations of God. Seek the God of all consolation.”

That seeking is the kind of theology we do kneeling. That is to say, in prayer. But in prayer we don’t have to strive and be active. We can just show up.

This is God’s work.

What are your thoughts?

Here is the next installment in the January and February Discernment Series. (Click the discernment tags for the other articles.)

We are a few days into Lent, a season widely observed by Christians worldwide for the forty days leading up to Resurrection Sunday (Easter). So, today, I’m tailoring the discernment series to reflect this season specifically.

Characteristically, this a time of renewed devotion and spiritual regeneration. A time of refinement and becoming better aware of our sins that the joy and glory of the risen God-man, Jesus, from the dead and that victory over sin and death is full blown and made manifest within us. It’s potentially a most transformative time.

The period that works it’s way up to the “Superbowl of Christianity” (…Easter that is…) which has been lost among many Christians during modern times and not the least in North America. We live in abundance and forget our poverty….of soul.

Sadly, sometimes this season is reduced to the question, “What are you giving up for lent?” For some it’s a lunchtime meal, or other it’s sweets, for others it’s a cherished activity or luxury, and so on. This sort of reduction can guts the richness fasting can bring. The spiritual gains and insights. Fasting is not about doing without. It’s merely a method to help look within.

You can pray without fasting, but fasting without prayer forgets the whole point of the fast. Fasting is not simply refraining from eating something. It’s not some act of anorexia. It’s a purifying spiritual exercise because it questions are most powerful desires and purifies our intentions and attachments by removing or reducing something we need for life…food…in order to see things differently. We bring these things that surface during our fast before God in prayer. We repent. We start over, refreshed.

A FEW CAUTIONS:

1. Be careful to not ever view fasting, or do fasting, as a way to force God’s hand or suffer in order to get something you need or want. This is manipulation, plain and simple, and rather immature spiritual endeavor.

2. Fasting doesn’t serve the point of getting spiritual brownie points. So, if you enter into a period of fasting, please bear that in mind. We are saved by God’s grace, not the things we do. We please him out of love not to get him to love us more. (His love for us in unchanging.)

3. If you haven’t given up food in a fast before, be very moderate with regards to food. Some people go overboard and this serves as a big distraction. Only skip one meal, for instance. And do the research and preparation needed to insure do don’t run into trouble with your health, or otherwise.

4. During the time you fast, when you feel physical discomfort (hunger) pray, read scripture, or worship. Guard against the seduction to self-righteousness that can happen when you do something challenging, or a have spiritual victory. Jesus warns his followers to not parade around and make a big deal while fasting. This is between you and God.

If you haven’t ever fasted, I encourage you to encounter it this year, at least to a degree. If you haven’t started yet, go ahead and refrain from something, for the next forty days, even if it’s not food. See if it opens your eyes anew.

If you’d like, please use the voicemail button on the right to leave your questions, concerns, or comments about lent or fasting. I’d love to hear what you’re doing this season, or the challenges you’re facing.

On Friday, I’ll post PART II for Lent, Fasting, and Discernment…

I’ll try to answer your questions and reveal a bit more how discernment may be enhanced by fasting.

The first point of wisdom is to discern that which is false; the second, to know that which is true.
- Lucius Caelius Lactantius

Maybe it’s just me, but knowing what is false and true is a chief concern of life. I wonder, “Is this the best decision?” or “I’m a being self-decieved?” or “Am I being told the truth?”

We navigate life as a continual search and quest and discerning of this. On many levels, in many venues, this is a main part of being human.

We don’t arrive at this place like a time-traveler. Boom! We move there through the bumpy journey of discovery, limping. A pilgrimage of mistakes and joys. Sorrow and enlightenment. We get a bit mangled along the way too. But, the whole process is important.

God does not exist to answer our prayers, but by our prayers we come to discern the mind of God. - Oswald Chambers

In the action of praying we become. Slowly the striving turns to listening and abiding. The foolishness of our petulance and pleading matures into familiarity, knowing, and synergism.

You will feel broken as you walk this path. Don’t let that discourage you. God knows who you are. He doesn’t think of you of as a problem. He doesn’t ruminate on what is wrong with you, like you may do to yourself. God only sees what is missing that will come to bring you deep joy and shalom. Never forget that God is always at work. Often in so many ways we do not and cannot understand. He never slumbers. He never sleeps. His eyes are loving upon you. Watches over you and sings your name.

This is how we learn to know what is true.

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One more thing! Do you have a question about prayer or finding God’s will? Use the Voicemail Feature in the blue bar on the right. I’d love to explore your questions or comments! :)

Have a super day, everyone!

“If you truly love God and his will, then doing what you will, will, in fact, be doing what God wills.” – Peter Kreeft

Many of us strive to learn or discover God’s will. But, it can be confusing.

Dr Peter Kreeft offers 5 insights:

• Always begin with data

with what we know for sure. Judge the unknown by the known, the uncertain by the certain. Adam and Eve neglected that principle in Eden and ignored God’s clear command and warning for the devil’s promised pig in a poke.

• Let your heart educate your mind

Let your love of God educate your reason in discerning his will. Jesus teaches this principle in John 7:17 to the Pharisees. (Would that certain Scripture scholars today would heed it!) They were asking how they could interpret his words, and he gave them the first principle of hermeneutics (the science of interpretation): “If your will were to do the will of my Father, you would understand my teaching.” The saints understand the Bible better than the theologians, because they understand its primary author, God, by loving him with their whole heart and their whole mind.

• Have a soft heart but a hard head

  We should be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves,” sharp as a fox in thought but loyal as a dog in will and deed. Soft-heartedness does not excuse soft-headedness, and hard-headedness does not excuse hard-heartedness.

• All God’s signs should line up

  by a kind of trigonometry. There are at least seven such signs: (1) Scripture, (2) church teaching, (3) human reason (which God created), (4) the appropriate situation, or circumstances (which he controls by his providence), (5) conscience, our innate sense of right and wrong, (6) our individual personal bent or desire or instincts, and (7) prayer. Test your choice by holding it up before God’s face. If one of these seven voices says no, don’t do it. If none say no, do it.

• Look for the fruits of the spirit

  especially the first three: love, joy, and peace. If we are angry and anxious and worried, loveless and joyless and peaceless, we have no right to say we are sure of being securely in God’s will. Discernment itself should not be a stiff, brittle, anxious thing, but—since it too is part of God’s will for our lives—loving and joyful and peace-filled, more like a game than a war, more like writing love letters than taking final exams.

Do you agree… disagree… or have any thoughts on Dr Kreeft’s insights?

Click to read the rest of the (lengthy) article.

Installments in this Discernment Series have often been on Fridays, but this week, I have a special announcement Friday. Come back for that.

Or, never miss new content…click the update link in the right sidebar (top)

In January and February I’m speaking on Discernment at least once per week.

A most common trap often gets us as we endeavor to discern God’s will in our lives: We get hung up on technique.

In addition, Technique itself appears to be personally thwarted by God.

For example, have you ever tried to pray in a new way (say, “centering prayer” or “praying in a labyrinth” or “lectio divina”) and found that after a wonderful first experience it just fell flat the next time? Inexplicably.

It’s a hard lesson to absorb but techniques do not produce a fulfulling expeiernce with God. It is a grace of God that may give us profound experiences, but God mixes it up.

We’ll deceive ourselves sometimes and try to reproduce something when other things need to be learned. When they don’t go as expected we feel the gap. Sometimes it makes us frustrated or confused.

Just like we wouldn’t want to be treated like a vending machine…God doesn’t appreciate it either. If a good friend knew she could borrow your car by bringing you coffeecake because the two activities were tied together last week, it would be really rude for her to expect that a simple donation of coffeecake equalled having car keys in-hand. Treating the relationship as a mechanized transaction undermines the intimacy of the relationship, and can even damage it. No bueno.

Just waiting for God without his felt presence is a gift. (maybe read that again)
It’s just a dry gift when God doesn’t “show up” in a way we expect…But the dryness or silence doesn’t make our other experience untrue, or the present one less important.

On the contrary, many claim that they have more blessing and insight once they’ve been through some sort of waiting. (Though it can be no fun at the time.)

So if your prayers feel like they bounce off the ceiling …remember nothing is wrong (necessarily)…. The dark / obscure time, or the time when experience isn’t there are an invitation from God to encounter him differently. I’m in this season right now.

Our theology can pick up where it seems our experience has left off. The two should be nicely tied together anyway. Knowing who God is important. He is always working. Just let him do that. Breathe a little easier!

Is your prayer life dry or full experientially these days? Let me know.

To read other articles on Discernment in this Series, click the tag near the title of this post that reads “DISCERNMENT”.

(Check out The Cadre in the tab above. There’s just about 1 week left to get in on that!)

Here we are again talking about discernment! (weekly January and February)

Getting better at discernment helps us understand God, his ways, and his plans with greater proficiency. A lot of time (most of us) are trying to find our way. Learning some time-tested exercises that foster better discernment can bring more than just peace of mind, but a richer walk of faith.

The presence and movements of God are certainly a grace…pure gift. But, we can also prepare ourselves to do much better with what he graces us with. Initial recognition for starters! We start to awaken.

When practicing the ways of discernment we learn to “read God’s face” as it were. Just like you might know precisely what your friend or spouse is feeling in the 2 seconds time he or she enters your presence, we can learn to distinguish the nuances of God’s presence through familiarity and good listening.

So what of these attacks that happen to us from time to time? The things that discourage us whether from within or without…what do we make of them, and how can they derail us?

Desolations, as we spoke of before, are interior stirrings that are not sourced in God. They may derail us because they are intended to draw us away from God. Yet, they can be used to help us because God will use what he wants to for his aims…even if the original aims from our opposition may have been intended otherwise. We might call these things Weeds that grow among the good things…the Wheat. Weeds may start out looking like nutritious wheat, but as they develop we can note the differences.

We may lose heart that we can’t rid the Weeds all from our lives…and maybe, strange as it seems, some weeds are supposed to stay in place until the harvest. In truth, the Weeds teach us things we could not know otherwise. Here are some:

• Weeds may test our mettle.
• Weeds may awaken us to negligence or unnoticed and crucial interior things that need our attention.
• Weeds may draw a contrast between what is of God and what is not by clarifying the distinction.
• Weeds may aid in our dependence on God, like Paul speaks about in 2 Corinthians 12…the thorn and strength in weakness passage.

Have any weeds of life ever helped you?

(My sources for many of these ideas comes in part from a book my spiritual director lent to me (see below). “Weeds in the Wheat: Discernment: Where Prayer & Action Meet” by Thomas H Green S.J. To be sure this book has a decidedly Catholic perspective (if you can handle that), and sheds light on this view of discerning God’s ways through the Ignatian vantage point.)

Click to get new content by Email…the Series continues!

Want to read the other Discernment installments?

• Discernment Series: Defining “Consolation” and “Desolation” 

• Discernment Series (first post)

Once a week for the next 2 months I will be covering the topic of discernment. We’ll learn how to discern much better!

I can hardly think of a theme that comes up more often than “trying to find our way”.

Especially for those of us who create or try to be intentional and grow.

Some think of discernment as “finding God’s will”, some as “knowing with path to take at a fork in the road”, some as “discovering or actualizing one’s calling”, and some think of it as learning to be better and more consistently attuned to God’s voice.

Many don’t realize that about 500 years ago a very keen and practical guide to discernment was created to teach Christians and Christian leaders how to discern the voice of God. Through the practice of these Spiritual Exercises (Ignatius of Loyola), we can be guided with far less angst and far greater freedom and peace as we choose our way and listen for God’s voice.

Millions of believers have undertaken learning and applying these sage writings on the topic, and consequently have better allowed the Holy Spirit to guide their life. Others find great solace in participating in Ignatian retreats. The spirituality influenced by Ignatian involves “find God in all things” and “laboring with God in the divine project of healing the world”. Prayer and action are combined as the spiritual muscles of experiencing God’s abundant love and hearing his voice develop.

Since basic theology tells us that God is everywhere present.  (Of course, whether we actually live this out as we believe it is antoher matter.)

Like King David tells us of God in his poetry, there is no place God is not. Psalm 139.

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I go down to the grave,^a you are there.

The study and exercise of Ignatian principles to improve the abilities of discernment involve the intellect, emotion, memory, and will.

I’ll be sharing those ways and methods here regularly to help you become categorically better at discernment.
Starting now:

What is the first exercise in learning discernment?
Preparing the “soil of one’s heart”.

Imagine that you’ve never run more than a few blocks in your entire lifetime. And maybe when you did it was just to avoid getting bitten by a dog or to catch the ice cream truck. How easy would it be to get up out of bed one early Saturday morning and complete a marathon without ever training your body?  (What is it 26 point something miles? UGH.)

OUCH. . .would be the key word. Oh, and failure.

Beneficial and godly discernment requires that your heart and mind do some prep work too. Some inventory and reflection is needed. Some opening of our will to God. Some asking God to make you ready to hear his voice, change and work on your heart and mind, and improve your hearing (mainly, but not just the spiritual kind).

Start with these few questions:

Focus in on the area that requires discernment then ask,
1. What have I done in the past?

2. What am I doing now?

3. What ought I to do in the future OR What do I hope for the future?

Try to be as specific as possible with your answers. Write them down, pray about them, and revisit them later.
This is no easy sledding and it helps to have a companion along the way.

More on discernment next week!

For more information about help with discernment in your life click here.

If you don’t want to miss a post click here to to get the next ones sent by Email.

Do you know anyone who’s struggling right now or at a crossroads? Would you please tell them about this Series?

Will you pray for me? I’m learning discernment too.
And please don’t leave without sharing something that I can pray about for you.

Some quick Housekeeping:
This year I won’t be posting 3-4 times per week, most of the time.

Since February 2009 I written 815 posts. I’ve put in the time. (Before that I had a Blogger blog (several actually), and a before that I had a Xanga blog (remember them?), and before that in 2004 or so, I sent weekly email articles to about 200 people, when word “blog” hadn’t made it to the vernacular. It adds up to thousands of articles.)

Plus, I’m at a season where my posts should be fewer. All this makes email delivery or a RSS feed situation optimal, because when I do post, I’ll have landed on some cool things I simply must write about. So, fill out the Feedburner button fields in the right column, and never miss a beat.

3 Rough Patches on the Way to Success (courtesy of Henri Nouwen)

As promised back in November, I’m sharing some of the gleanings from my required course work reading. The first book is a short, sweet work chock-a-blocked with wisdom by the beloved Henri Nouwen.

In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (Click title for book info. Bonus: It costs just a few bucks. ) In this book Nouwen makes short work tackling common 3 pitfalls we routinely encounter.

The title is a misappropriation because his advice is so helpful for anyone “on a quest” or trying to make their way. Be it an artist, blogger, writer, or just about anyone following a dream will encounter the very same issues Nouwen covers as he targets “leaders”.

He uses his own life and success in academics and leadership as the impetus and a background of practical knowledge and captures crucial insights on the things that most often beset us.

Nouwen was a revered scholar and professor at Yale, Harvard and other impressive-sounding places. Though everyone was telling Nouwen he was doing well, he noticed something deep down. Something just wasn’t right. Then, he realized his success was actually putting his own soul in danger.

“I was living in a very dark place and the term “burnout” was a convenient psychological translation for a spiritual death.”

I’ve been there! Have you?

He came to a point of spiritual dryness and removed himself from the life he knew as a talented academic and choose instead to live with, care for, and minister to the severely mentally disabled. He covers this quite briefly in the book. (In other books he mentions just how nuts people thought he was for the decision.)

What came from that choice is arguably his most memorable and lasting work. A host of profound and transformative pieces. To many some are bona fide Christian Devotional Classics.
To handle the topic of Christian Leadership (which I’ve mentioned may be cast more widely for many of us as success), Nouwen describes the particulars of Jesus as he was tempted in the desert. The lures and trappings of leadership (read: success) typical in this world are cast in sharp relief with the divine call of Christlikeness in one’s life.

It is a striking model for Christians to follow. Jesus was tempted to abandon his Kingdom mission in favor of acquiescing to the temptations offered up by Satan who promised success in the course and manner of this world.

Nouwen also riffs off intimate conversations Jesus has with Peter. They involve calling, leadership, vocation, and Jesus-style success. The heart of these exchanges give us insights to our own path to success and finding our purpose or way in the world.

The three temptations are labeled by Nouwen as the lures to be relevant (necessary, a cure for the world), spectacular (popular, skilled, apt), and powerful (influential or in charge).

Have you ever wanted those things as you reach for your dreams?  (Who hasn’t, right?)
Jesus’ response and subsequent choices are worth noting. Not only that, they bring solace for the journey.

The temptations experienced by Christ are shown as the archetype for the human experience in the realm of success (and any sort of leadership). The three kernels of wisdom include–

1. being prayerful instead of craving relevance

2. serving rather than desiring popularity found through skills and competencies

3. being led rather than focusing on power (leading/influencing)

It’s all very counter-cultural.

Nouwen lays out concise and clear arguments for these three and also includes which spiritual disciplines make the Kingdom way plausible (think of discipline here as “training” or “taking your vitamins”).

In a time were celebrity and influence (and even infamy) is the jackpot, just as much in Christian spheres as in secular ones, Nouwen speaks with a fresh and prophetic voice of wisdom that brings us to a path of peace.

In our strivings it’s easy to miss the presence of God, and even the mission of the Kingdom. It’s a quick trip to succumbing to temptations common to humans and not being people of Christlikeness. This book soothes the soul.

# # #

If you’re interested in delving further into spiritual formation, creativity, and learning for a full year, the private online community/learning group called The Cadre is forming right now. (100% free, and I’m not selling anything.) It starts February (2013), and there are about 8 spots open. Click “The Cadre” at the top of the page to learn more, or contact me.

 Get email or RSS delivery of the next installment!

Remember, click here to Subscribe by Email

(photo source: http://evolvenetwork.com.au/wordpress/index.php/5-steps-to-bring-success-into-your-life/)

(above photo is an example of “The Classic-I got a re-gift face” which I found here.)

So, my Sabbatical from blogging is still in effect.
If you are able to read this tomorrow, Friday December 21st, the Mayan Apocalypse didn’t happen or is just about to. Tomorrow is also the shortest day of daylight of the year, which is like a tiny apocalypse of darkness with much better weather. 

I’ve given myself the gift of removing the obligation to post here for the rest of the year, with the exception of a year-end post that is to come.

However, today I did want to share some news which is a kind of Christmas present to all of you, seeing that this is my final post before Christmas day, that day when Jesus got rags and a hay bed for his birthday.

3 Books are FREE for download, Friday, Mayan Apocalypse Day only. Go and get ‘em! (If you’ve already downloaded them, consider re-gifting them, by passing along the news. I won’t tell anyone.)

I know something about re-gifting. My mom used to have a re-gifting sickness of sorts. It got to the point where my stepdad would have to guard his closet because some of his clothes that my mom didn’t like would make it under the tree as “presents” for my husband. AWKWARD! One year, Tim (husband) opens his gift. It’s a gigantic shirt, twice his size. Stepdad blurts out, “Hey, that’s mine. I liked that shirt!” What do you do then, hand it back and make mother-in-law the villain, or keep the shirt and get stepdad-in-law on your bad side? Yep. Fun times!

Other Points of Note, before the Christmasy part.

1. To ensure you don’t miss the next post (seeing that they are quite rare now), just subscribe to the blog using the button/field to the right. (RSS or email delivery options are there for your viewing pleasure.)

 

2. In the right column…the part that says “You’re invited to my email list” is not for post updates. It’s for the inner circle. I let this list of people…that you’re dying to be a part of—I can tell by your eyes…know things in advance (projects, newsy bits, books, freebies, what-have-you) with an occasional update email, only once or twice a month.

 

3. The Cadre. (Click the heading at the top of the page for that info). Consider praying about your potential involvement in this cohort of camaraderie and support. It’s a 100% free, 1 year commitment to community. Although it’s not officially launching until FEB 1, everyone involved is already starting to bond and know each other better. Such a beautiful thing. These people are probably some of the sweetest folks you’ll ever meet. Their friendship is like GOLD. I. kid. you. not.

Final bidding of holiday goodwill:

May your Christmas meet you where you are.
Whether that means clinging on to family and faith, getting some needed solace, soaking in with gratitude all the blessings at hand, or sitting with your pain and allowing the grace and mercy of God to wash over you, I pray and hope that you are somehow specially blessed in the next 11 days. I’m anointing this post in prayers of petition on your behalf, and I’m trusting in the Great unseen God who made heaven and earth as his abode to shine his face toward you. In this Spirit I bid you a most blessed Christmas.

Yes, this is the start of a Blog Moratorium in Tribute to the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary Massacre , but for personal refletion too.

It doesn’t get past me that just as I gear up to spend 13 weeks teaching about the Problem of Evil a horrifying massacre of 6-7 year olds and their teachers and staff occurs.

I have a lot of information about how Evil works right on tap. But, I just can’t go there.

I know that we all react in shock about events such as these. We ask, “How could Evil be so close and innocence shattered so senselessly?” There is rage, anger, hatred. Emotions aplenty. And I know too that Evil runs right down each one of us too. It’s never merely “out there” or far off. If so labeled it shifts, it seeps, amorphous and eludes being so easily understood or classified.

The pain is so raw. The horror so near. The terror so frightening.

A nightmare.

Too soon people have started barking about gun control, and mentioning mental illness, and our crumbling society …all looking for reasons to make it all go down easier. But, right now, I’m just heartbroken. The weight of the brokenness of the world is here and present. Christmas is coming, and yet we lie ruined. Truly ruined. Hope feels like a faint whisper barely intelligible. A wisp.

I’m taking off for a few days. No blog posts. I’m going to reflect. Quietly. By myself. Away from it all and on the interior. Before the year is out, I’ll make another appearance. Thank you for your prayer for me at this time too for things I won’t mention at this time.

In the meantime, join me in prayer for the community and families of those affected by this violence.

Dear God,

Soothe our broken hearts.

How much pain, O’ God!

We cry out in agony…undone.

Have mercy on us

Bring us peace.

Bind up our wounds

Wash us with your Grace.

Grant us the strength to carry on 

And the resolve to not give up

Renew our hope in you and grant that we may forgive

So we ourselves are spared more pain.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen

“It’s Christmas, lighten up! You’re such a ‘Debbie Downer‘!” someone said.

(Not to me, but I was in the throes of lament and just stared in shock wondering what would happen next. Would someone throw a punch, or would the named just wither in shame?)

The Joy and Rescue we are given in the Incarnation, celebrated at Christmas, should banish all pains and sorrow…..er….not so fast!

Lament and Joy always seem to pair off together. Strangely so.

Or Maybe not.

Perhaps because one doesn’t make sense without the other. Joy is chased by sorrow, and sorrow by Joy. Anyone with a choke hold on gladness is probably on drugs, uppers, of course. Can the words “choke hold” be paired with gladness?

Well, that’s my point.

I see a lot of pushiness to “bring Christmas back” and be glad because it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but that feels like a choke hold to me.

I need what I need. God will comfort me when I need it, and be in my Joy when that’s where I am. I’m not sure how I’ll feel today or when family pours in and presents go flying.

That’s what time of year it is!

My Debbie Downer Prayer:

Oh, Lord,

Thank you for the gift of your Son in a manger.

Be with me when I don’t feel this joy in my salvation, 

Give me the comfort of your steadfast love.

For those who are tormented, for those who have sorrow or grief,

For those whose burdens and hope deferred are strong enough

To keep under wraps amidst the cheer, be their hope in trail.

Hear their cries and laments

Salve them with your good Spirit 

Be their Shepherd and Deliverer

Show them you love them, whether they feel happy or not.

Amen.
Here’s some Debbie Downer for you.

2 More Things of Note:

THE CADRE. For those of you who’d like a friendship upgrade or a small group of people to help you through your next project, please check out the section above that reads “The Cadre” to find out what’s coming February 2013. It’s already in the works and promises to be 12 months of blessing. Spots are limited, and just a few remain.

To get the heads up about free download days of all my books and other nifty news, once in a while, sign up to my newsletter in the right column.

I just loved this video (from Christine Sine) and I hope it can serve you too as a tool for a renewed and refreshed awareness of God’s holy presence. Give yourself 5 full minutes to listen, enjoy, and worship.

Have a Blessed Advent Season.

YEP. Good news about free stuff!

Right after we feast like mad and express our gratitude and thankfulness we charge out to buy and shop! I’ve always thought this was the strangest thing…But, the sales do seem unbeatable, right?

Confession: I can’t handle the bustle. I grow weary so fast from shopping, let alone doing it amid crowds and while fighting chock-a-block traffic. What about you?

Perhaps Cyber Monday is a different kind of bustle?…nevertheless….

I have some things for you. It won’t cost anything. And you don’t have to get “malled” or drive anywhere.

Click  ”Kindle Bookshelf”. (4 FREE books)

On Monday 11/26/2012 all four of my digital (Kindle) books are free for the taking. ONE Day only. (One of the four has not been offered for free until now, and it won’t happen again anytime soon.)

Here’s a secret! If you DON’T have a kindle or a kindle app, you can still click to buy, and Amazon houses them for you, for whenever you want them, on which ever device you choose. So, if you’re getting a kindle for Christmas, click to get them now, and enjoy them later.

I do hope you enjoy them.

If you would please leave an Amazon review, I would be most grateful! I have lots of people reading, but hardly anyone leaving reviews yet. So, I need your help!

Season’s Blessings!

-Lisa

P.S. Spread this good news with a Tweet or two, please?

(If you miss your chance, don’t fret. Each is only $3. Way less than a latte at Starbucks. Amazon lets you read sample pages. Try each one and see what you like!)

 I’m so excited to offer my digital book “Life As Prayer” for free AGAIN today.

My list of (4) books for kindle HERE

It’s our sufferings, the darkness, the doubt…that happens not apart from God. Slowly through it he makes us into a living prayer. That is what the book is about: Practicing the Presence of God in each moment. Transformation. I dearly hope you enjoy it.

Is not existence wild in such a way that we can be continually feel surprised. How foreign and out of sorts it can be, and yet why?…This world is all we’ve ever known. Life, to me, always feels like it doesn’t quite fit. Through the joy and sorrow the triumph and pain we continue becoming. It’s as if we are creatures within God’s lucid dream.

Belonging isn’t the absence of longing…it’s longing together

 In belonging our longings don’t ebb, rather we long together. We be and we long–ever still.

So I wrote some stuff about the wonderful, hobbling, bare-foot, monk Brother Lawrence and how his ways can be of great spiritual help to us.

In these times, as much as any, it’s such a comfort to have a felt awareness of God’s Presence.

It’s now on AMAZON for Kindle. (hey, it’s only $2.99) 

It’s called Life As Prayer: Revived Spirituality Inspired by Ancient Piety.

Oh, and I have 3 more digital books listed too. (Click on “Who’s Lisa” for more info on those.)

(Some long-time readers will remember that the title “Life As Prayer” was the title of my first WordPress blog about 4 years ago. I’ve been at this project for a while. It’s a slow simmer kind of thing. Only now have I decided it was time to make it more broadly available because the technology has reached a point of optimal ease-of-use! Now it’s a perfect time to set it free and see what God does with it.)

It would be really lovely if you could write a review or spread the news if you enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, write something awful and spread vicious lies! :)

Or , if you’re just zealous in general about Brother Lawrence or prayer, have at it. That’s good too.

So who out there doesn’t know about Brother Lawrence, anyway? Let me know!

Thank you. More soon, my friends.

-Lisa

(box photo source)

Today as a regular contributor at the Deeper Leader Blog, I’m linking in with them, and tackling the topic of Mentoring today.

I’ve always seen the value in having the aid of someone a bit further down the road from me.

As a kid, camp counselors provided this a bit. In undergraduate school, my academic advisor turned out to be a helpful voice in my life, and in my profession, but not someone who had a heart for God. At church, I had prayer partners, and in graduate school a few ladies had mentoring qualities I really appreciated. None of them though really nailed what I was looking for. It took over ten years to pair up with a trained spiritual guide that made sense for me.

It happened in a most unexpected way. I went outside of my Christian tradition (Evangelical) and attended a very enriching day of personal guided prayer at a Jesuit Spiritual Center during the season of Lent. There I heard Sister Maria and I thought, “This woman is like a female Gandalf. I need her!”

But she was booked in that area and could take me on. :(

I continued speaking with her and asking for her help. Maybe she had a clone I could work with, I suggested.

But she didn’t have a clone and thought that was a strange idea to be cloned in the first place.

She did send me to a lovely, wise, grandmotherly woman who became my formal spiritual director, and I continue to meet with her each month.

Like a thought it would be, the benefit of a mentor is invaluable.
A spiritual guide, companion, advocate and advisor with maturity has incalculable worth in our lives. It’s no wonder that so many leaders fail, or ministers fall off into affairs, pornography or other addictions so readily. They don’t make guidance a priority. The accountability and advocacy that a spiritual guide brings doesn’t remove the bumpy pathces, but it certainly makes them more bearable!

It took me over 10 years to find one, but it was worth it.

For those who seek a mentor I have some advice:

• KEEP LOOKING! (push discouragement aside!)
• Ask around. A lot.
• Find a spiritual center that trains spiritual companions
(Evangelicals do not seem to have this in ANY abundance, but Catholics are really into it.)
• Make the first move, (don’t wait to be asked by a mentor, approach him or her)
• A directory of spiritual companions may help find you someone, but if you don’t find a good fit on the first try, keep looking.

Don’t know where to start? Here’s a large directory (international, with various spiritual traditions included)
at Spiritual Directors International.

What about you? Have you ever had a mentor or spiritual guide? If not, what do you hope for in a mentor?
Share your story at the Deeper Leader Blog, or read what other have to say.

Although the act and habit aof worry may come from biological sources, retraining our habits can move us from worry (negative) toward meditation (positive). Make sure to check out the difference and similarities between the two that are shown in visual form in the last post.

Use these three words to start retraining yourself.

STOP.

VISUALIZE.

REMEMBER.

Stop.
This means the second you realize that you’re caught in a “Worry Spiral” put yourself on pause.  Try to back out of this cycle and see it for what it is. Imagine yourself 3 years from now. Ask yourself ” Is the situation really worthy of the heavy cost that worry will bring me?” How else could I respond? What lie might I be believing as I worry?

Visualize.
This has helped me quite a bit. When I feel stuck in my worry. I to imagine that I’m pulling out all my worry from me, like a bunch of crumpled, dirty paper chunks. Then I imagine handing over to Jesus to hold. He takes what I give and it changes into light. Give it a try for yourself. It’s form of prayer. Or think of something that would help you more than my example. What could you repeatedly visualize to hand over your worry? Go back to this each time you are caught in a Worry Spiral. Note how you feel before and after do this.

Remember.
Remember you are walking with God. There is no place God is not. Each time you practice handing over your worry to God it will be easier to remember to do it when needed in the future. What other ways can you remember to center your repeated thoughts to not spiral but instead revolve around our loving and all-powerful God?

In the Old Testament thousands of everyday and seasonal reminders where built into the Jewish culture to be ever mindful of God’s provision, care, presence, goodness, and love. From food, to ways of dress, to festivals, to rituals, and much more various reminders where infused into life. We don’t live the same way now, but we can bring in our new, personal remembrances.

What have you done lately to break your “worry spiral”?