A real-life look at faith, fear, and freedom in Christ. What God’s teaching me this week about love, time, and trusting Him with the next step.
Let’s get a little personal, shall we? Coffee Talk is like sitting across from each other while sipping coffee and having a conversation between friends. Here’s a little insight into what’s happening and what God’s been teaching me this week.
What’s Been Brewing in My Heart This Week?
This week, God has been impressing upon me how to see His love for me beyond what I feel. Something I’d been pondering is how we allow ourselves to be influenced and stirred by people even when they are not in the same room. It could be through a text or a phone call, or even a note in the mail.
Something they said could either greatly encourage me and make me feel loved or it could have pierced my heart, leaving me feeling heavy the rest of the day. If people can impact me from a distance, so can God — and even moreso because He’s so much more powerful! He’s also not far off, like it seems.
God speaks to me through His Word and I get to choose whether what He says shapes and influences me or not. His presence is real to me, even if I can’t see Him with my eyes. I simply need to believe in the Words He says to me. If I can allow people not even in the room with me to persuade me—positively or negatively–I can certainly let God speak love, wisdom, and direction into my life.
What’s the Sweetest Moment I Savored?
On Saturday, we hosted a Bonfire & BBQ in our backyard and it was such great fun! I’m not gifted in hospitality but let me tell you, that didn’t stop the evening from being delightful!
I am so grateful for my church family. Relationships take work and not everything is sunshine & rainbows. And sometimes, we need to learn to dance in the rain, otherwise we can get bogged down by the hardness of life. Life is hard for everyone. We need each other. It makes carrying that load so much more manageable.
What’s Stirring Up a Challenge?
Discipline and time management have been a real challenge for me lately. I find myself getting stuck in a cycle of overwhelm: I have much to do, don’t know where to start, so I don’t. The overwhelm piles and the cycle starts again. It’s a terrible loop to be stuck in.
Ironically, I am moving into a season with more time. My 5th child just graduated last week. My kids are quite independent now. So, I have some amazing projects I’ve mapped out to create, and then I froze. I’m sure there’s a bit of fear behind this paralysis. A lot of questions:
What if no one likes it? What if it doesn’t help anyone? What if I’m being redundant? It’s all silly nonsense that I need to get over and just create.
One Thing I’m Working On
I’m working on getting back into the habit of walking most days. Life has me so heavy lately that moving at all has become a real challenge. But not moving just makes it harder. Since I’m someone who feels things deeply and also the emotions of others, I’m always exhausted. Moving my body shouldn’t be optional if I want to live an optimal life.
I actually created this crazy goal just to keep me moving: Walk the circumference of the earth which is 24, 901 miles. I’m documenting my very, very slow journey on my personal Instagram if you’re looking for some motivation and inspiration. It’s not about finishing so much as it is about showing up and enjoying the journey!
What’s God Showing Me Lately?
God is showing me my sole purpose is to love, honor, and serve Him while loving, honoring, and serving others. I need to be sure I’m keeping myself grounded in His Word, communicating in prayer, and walking out the things He has called me to. While also avoiding the temptation to change hearts, take on blame when I can’t, and resting in letting God do what only He can do.
Learning this has become so freeing for me. It has released so much burden from me that I was never meant to carry. I almost feel guilty for not carrying it! But carrying it was only weighing me down and changing nothing and no one. It’s simply not my job or responsibility.
A verse I’m holding onto:
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
-Ephesians 2:10
That’s what God’s been teaching me this week. What about you?
Something to Encourage Your Heart
Since I have been struggling with time management and focus, I got myself a 90-Day Powersheets Goal Planner from Cultivate What Matters. It helped me detail my “why”, map out a few goals I really need to focus on. Then I created a habit wheel to focus on a handful of habits I want to build or continue building.
Download your own free and customizable Habit Tracker for July here
In His Grace
Christin
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