If you follow my writing journey, you may remember my daughter, Ashley Nicole. She was born on May first, 1984 and passed away nine days later. So, on this anniversary of the day she left, I honor her little life.

I grab grief and flip it.

It’s amazing what we see when we look at it from another angle. It doesn’t mean we hide our pain or stuff away the memories. We simply see grief in a new light. Not something to get rid of, but something to teach us.

We own it.

We let it increase our capacity for pain. We let it grow our ability to live and love with purpose. In so doing, the people we lost live on.

Because of our losses, there comes a day when we can look in the face of profound grief and smile. A few weeks ago, by God’s grace, I did just that. I greeted guests who came to our church for a funeral.

I never met fourteen-year-old, Ellie Cuiching, but soon learned she didn’t lose her nine-year fight with cancer. She kicked its butt and inspired whole communities. It didn’t take long for Ellie’s message to spread nationwide and beyond.

Pain, sickness, and death can be flipped and used for good.

Because of grief, I can empathize with Ellie’s family. I saw their strong spirit as they allowed joy and grief to coexist. There were smiles and tears and hope and raw sorrow. They let it all intermingle.

Empowered by Ellie’s legacy, they are determined to live on and love well.  

My pastor attributed Ellie’s courage to this: “She knew she was loved. She found purpose in her pain.” And her parents found strength in knowing, “God’s grace is truly amazing.”

Can you see that power? God uses a heart that is gouged by sorrow.

Will you believe it’s possible? God fills our emptiness with peace so we can know deeper joy, deeper compassion, and a higher purpose. We honor God and the ones we miss by embracing those still here.

Dear friend, there are days we feel the full weight of our sorrow. I bet Ellie did too. Yet, she tells us, “Live on and follow your dreams.”

Child of God, we are loved. We find purpose in our pain because God’s grace truly is amazing. He took the cross and flipped  it into something beautiful. So, we can too.

“What a wonderful God we have—he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

God, take all these messy-beautiful broken pieces and show us how to use them for good.

To see more of Ellie’s story visit: https://www.loveforellie.com

“I always get where I’m going when I walk away from where I’ve been.” ~ Winnie the Pooh

Aaahhh … Spring. We see new life and fresh starts popping up all around us. Seeds sprout and reach through cold ground to push away the old dead stuff.

And we are invited to do the same. To get rid of our old dead stuff.

Salvation is just the amazing beginning, my friend. God loves you where you are but he doesn’t want you to stay there. “Since we have died to sin, how can we still live in it?”

The old is gone, the new has come.

“Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” With that same resurrection power.

 Sweet Jesus, that’s Good News.

“Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also consider yourselves dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.”

Oh, my heart. Be still.

Our old self was crucified with Christ. With a softer heart and a new spirit, we are dead to sin. It has lost its power over us. It’s not our evil dictator anymore.

Unless we let it control us. Remember, we are our own worst enemy.

As we walk with Jesus, we reclaim our power and grow into who God created us to be ~ whole and free. As we press on and up to change the parts of us that don’t look like Jesus, we get a God-fashioned life, renewed from the inside out. He reproduces his character in us.

Makes sense. We are created in his image. So, we’re actually getting back to our original design.

How do we do that?

The night Jesus was betrayed, arrested and beaten, he promised to send a Helper to take his place. He said it’s better this way, because he doesn’t just walk beside us ~ he lives in us. He’s our guide, our comfort, our teacher, our transformer.

So, we stay connnected to our power source. We talk to him and study Scripture. We let him take spiritual inventory and watch ancient-yet-relevant widsom change us.

We hang out with like-minded people and sometimes not-so-like-minded people. We do whatever it takes to keep our minds on what is good and true and right. We stop listening to old thought patterns, their lies and unhealthy habits. We get rid of snarky self-talk that holds us back from our divine design. We let him define who he is and who we are.

We baby-step. We toddle. We fall. We get up. We walk. We run. And we are patient. It’s a lifelong journey because there’s so much we get to learn and become.

And we are tough, my friend. Old stuff creeps up and we say, “Nope. Not today. That’s not who I am anymore.”

Jesus’ Spirit ~ alive in us ~ empowers us to not give in, give up, or go back.

This Holy Spirit produces fruit in our lives: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Wow. Now, that’s a life-giving list. And we get to cultivate these our whole lives. Pretty cool, eh?

“So, let’s not get tired of doing what is good [and true and right.] At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”

Remember, my friend. Jesus’ life didn’t end on the cross. His help didn’t stop at the resurrection. When invited in—he not only saves us, he changes us.

We died with him, we rise with him.

“I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. It is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him … far, far above any other king or ruler or dictator or leader.”

When we know that we know that we know we are free from sin’s power, we grow up and push away old dead stuff. We reap a harvest of abundant life. And so will those around us.

Child of God, when we let in the Light, we bloom into something beautiful.

“

Romans 6:4-9; Galatians 5:22-23; Galatians 6:9; Ephesians 1:19-20

Photo from Pixabay.com

I love watching life come back. Trees bud, birds sing. Fat squirrels bounce around with tails twitching. Like us, they’re excited to get out in the sunshine and fresh air.

Did you know that Lent means spring? Makes sense. As we look forward to Easter, we focus on the way to new life. It’s not fun to think about the cross. But it’s good to remember.

Jesus’ place of torture and humiliation is where we find salvation, life, and victory. What seemed to end in death, didn’t. What seemed to be a loss, wasn’t.

Anything and anyone can be redeemed.

Salvation means deliverance, rescue, recovery, or escape. If we need to escape or be rescued from something ~ it must be pretty awful. And it is. It’s our sin nature.

We were born with this tendency toward rebellion. We’re also born with the desire to find purpose and connect with our Creator. We want to be good people and live good lives. Hence our inner struggle. 

When we try to change wrong thoughts and behavior,  sin is right there waiting to mess with us. We really are our own worst enemy.

So, we follow rules to keep us on track. They set healthy boundaries but they can’t change our hearts. Without heart change, we go right back doing or saying or thinking what we don’t want. We stay stuck in a vicious, self-defeating cycle.

That’s life in our power, on our terms. Feels like freedom. But, we’re human, so it’s really bondage. Sin is sneaky like that.

Pastor and author, Tony Evans says, “Rules without relationship equals
rebellion.” 

Again, it feels free. But, it’s a slow kill from the inside-out. Our spirits starve. Something is still missing and we hang our heads.

How did I get here … again?

And shame slithers into that hollow, hurting place.

But, look up, my friend.

What seems a loss, isn’t. What seems to end in death, doesn’t. The cross, Jesus’ darkest hour, invites us into our brightest days. 

New life ~ true life ~ starts right now. In our heads and in our hearts. When we truly believe there’s a truer, freer way to live, we stop trying to clean up on our own. We decide we want an all-in relationship with Jesus. It’s that profound, yet this simple:

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ~ Romans 10:9-11

These aren’t magic words. But they do create a miracle in us. This wholehearted decision rescues us. Boom. Just like that. By faith alone, we trade death for life. We invite Jesus in to set things right between us and God and we stand before our Father as if we never sinned.

Forgiven. Now that’s freedom, baby.

Sin is no longer the boss of us. Jesus is. The one who beat sin and shame and the grave.

So, all hunky-dory-happy ever after, right? Nope. While we have a new nature in Christ, the old one tries to hang on with its unhealthy habits and mindsets. Temptation comes ~ stinking like roadkill ~ but we see it for what it is: the road back to pain and humiliation and death. But, thank you Jesus,  that’s not who we are anymore.

We resist, we pray, we rest in the finished work of Jesus.  

Sweet child of God, salvation is just the beginning. As we move forward in our faith, we find our divine design. Rising to new life ~ our true life ~ we understand Easter, our greatest celebration ever. 

Thanks for hanging with me. Please listen & soak in your freedom.

 

Image by Bess Hamiti from Pixabay

My three-year-old grandson, Alex, likes to help me open window shades. I’ll spare you the cheesy song we sing as we ask the morning sun to “please shine down.”

Like most toddlers, Alex is full of questions. “Where’s the moon, Meema? Where’s the sun, Meema?” I assure him the sun and moon are there even when clouds hide them.

I love how they just believe us. By faith, they trust.

For us , it’s harder, isn’t it? To believe there’s light beyond clouds. And it gets heavy.

We feel it. We fight it. And we’re not alone. We see strain and struggle on faces in grocery stores and gas stations. In our neighborhoods and our churches.

We are bombarded with local, national, and world news that stirs up all kinds of anxious emotions. My pulse quickens just writing this. And I breathe deep.

We are wise to limit our exposure to news stories. There’s way more hope for humanity than they report. And social media? Yes, I limit that too. No person, no family, no dog, no life is that perfect. 

But, this morning my thoughts want to stay in a rut and I want to hide. It seems safe but if I linger, it becomes a dark place. When my brain spirals, I tell it, “Nope. We aren’t doing this.”

Yep. Out loud. And I don’t care who hears. I breathe a prayer and focus on what the cloud is hiding ~ the good things.

These four little sentences printed on my favorite coffee mug help me focus. “It’s a new day. I am alive. I am loved. I am thankful.”

I simply start by thanking God for the mug of coffee warming my hands. Gratitude sets my mind on the right track. This isn’t just positive thinking. It’s not denying difficulty or stuffing emotions. It’s simply choosing to see what is true. To look past the irrational and see what’s real.

The good.

When we allow our blessings to get bigger than our burdens, something beautiful happens. We rise above them where God is. Where there’s courage and clarity. Where there’s peace in a new perspective. He speaks to the chaos in our minds and creates calm.

Year after year, winter rolls into spring, spring into summer, summer into fall. This silent, powerful rhythm reminds us he’s in control and there’s something bigger happening.

God is always doing something new in us, around us, and for us. And that something is good. Even when we can’t see it. Even when it feels awful. Even when we don’t understand, we know we will be okay. No matter what. 

There’s mystery in this depth of faith. It takes a soul-deep trust that’s hard to explain. So, when I reassure my grandson that the sun and moon are there,  God whispers the same to you and me.

I’m still here.

It’s a new day. We are alive. We are loved. Be thankful.