Tag: encouragement

A Tangible Gift From The Lord

- dannalundstrom

This is one of those stories that must be told; a God story about His tender and personal faithfulness to me, His daughter, in the midst of great sorrow.

Yesterday morning, (last Saturday, 09/01), was the second worst morning of my life, and that same afternoon I had to get in a car and head to the airport to come home only hours after laying on my mom sobbing my eyes out. During the entire drive to Houston Hobby Airport I was praying, Lord, please let me sit next to someone kind on the airplane who will be empathetic and not bothered by my tears. I texted three friends and asked them to pray for that as well.

I made it to my gate and found a corner to sit in trying to go unnoticed as I was visibly grieving. After a few minutes I looked up and I could not believe my eyes. My precious friend, Monica, who is in my Wednesday morning Bible study was walking up to my gate. I got up and ran to her. She knew my situation, but she was equally shocked to see me as I was her. She thought I was in Dallas and I had no idea she would be in Houston. As it turned out she was in Houston for the night to see her daughter dance at the Ole Miss/Texas Tech football game that was being played in Houston. Our eyes met and I grabbed her, I am not sure who was more confused.

This was one of the most chilling, in a good way, God winks I have ever experienced.

A direct, personal and tangible gift from The Lord.

We were able to sit together on the plane and she kept me mostly distracted and calm. I will never forget how God not only honored my need but in such a sweet way by sending someone who was already praying for me and that I knew and loved. In the midst of my tears and heartache a gift I will never forget walking toward me and reminding me God is always going before me. He is working things out on my behalf and planting priceless pearls of peace to intersect my pain. And, I would also like to think my mama had a little something to do with it as well.

Send Me. Use Me.

- dannalundstrom

 

…meanwhile, Puerto Rico is devastated and may not have electricity for 6 plus months.  They along with residents of the Virgin Islands, Texas, Louisiana and Florida have lost everything.  Recovery and rebuilding could take decades in some areas.

Every two minutes somewhere in America someone is sexually assaulted.  Human trafficking is a thriving travesty.  Five to six children die each day as a result of abuse.  America’s numbers of homeless children and adults are in the millions.  Astounding!  Hundreds of school children in my city alone have no food on the weekends.  Every day scores of our people become widowed, terminally ill, addicted, lost, orphaned, homeless, unemployed, hungry and the list goes on.

Anxiety and depression is at an all time high even among our country’s children.  

Pornography is no longer a taboo topic, because it is a common place epidemic ravaging men, women and children.  Yes!  Children.

 Everywhere I turn I am tempted to grab a quick fix, whether it be food, fantasy or Facebook, to numb, deaden or make tolerable the pain all around me. We are a society of self-medicators, myself included.  

I have to look at myself and ask, where am I spending my energy, time and resources?  Am I busy complaining about the problems or contributing to the solutions?  

I reserve the right to protest peacefully, but I also acknowledge that I was ransomed the right to pray personally and that alone can accomplish more than any demonstration.  

I also regard the luxury (yes, it is a privilege afforded to me by many selfless men and women in uniform!) to respectfully disagree, but may I always remember that unless I am putting my concerns into productive action,  I am merely a purposeless reaction void of favorable fruit.

 Here I am Lord.  Send me.  Use me.

 

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People Builders, Not Breakers

- dannalundstrom

Yesterday was the first time Carter had snow skied post TBI. It has been almost three years. He was a little unsettled at the start of the day, and told me several times he didn’t want to do a black run. I agreed, and told him I would make sure the instructor understood that. We got both kids set with their lesson and left them to get caught up. Around mid day, I spotted Carter and an instructor on a moderately, hard blue run. We stopped and talked and his very kind instructor invited who invited us to ski with them. The man was so good with Carter; encouraging, patient, kind, reassuring, but most of all affirming him for what he did well and making no big deal of the little struggles that would arise. Trevor and I got to talk to the instructor briefly during lunch and we were not sure how, but it was as if he had read the book of Carter. He knew his history, his strengths and weaknesses. After lunch we left them to work until the end of the day. When we picked him up at 2:45 he was beaming. “Mom, I did a black!” What a change from the morning. Later at dinner, my sister in-law told me what really happened yesterday morning and it brought tears to my eyes. Carter’s initial instructor moved him out of the teen group to an adult group because the teen group would mostly be doing black runs. Once he got to the top with the adult group, my SIL said he froze. Complete fear struck him and he would not move. Then, somehow he lost a ski and could not get it back on. The instructor asked my SIL, what is wrong with him, and she said, well you do know he has had a traumatic brain injury. He said, “no!” Why wasn’t I told that? The initial teacher was told but she didn’t pass the information on to him. So the instructor called in the man who ended up teaching Carter. He is a certified adaptive skiing trainer. More than all his qualifications, though, he made Carter believe in himself, feel comfortable, capable and at total ease. He brought him from the point of stuck in a state of fear to skiing a black run in just a matter of a few hours. My point in telling you all this is that our words, actions and how we treat people ascends all barriers, blocks and struggles. We have the ability to help people stay stuck or soar. It does not matter what the struggle is, the right teacher, coach, friend or caring person has the ability to change the landscape of a person’s day, even their life. I pray I remember to use my words of encouragement, affirmation, belief and comfort to always build people up because there are too many that have been broken down. This mama’s heart went to bed a little teary last night, but definitely with a smile.❤

I Am Me and You Are You

- dannalundstrom


I am me, and you are you, and we are both good. I can leave so many things undone, never tried or accomplished because I fail to remember I am me and there is no one made just like me. I devalue myself by looking around and comparing what I do to what others do, and I never measure up in my eyes.

The Lord has been convicting my heart of the tragedy of the sin of comparison. It is an insult to Him, the knitter of every fiber of my soul. Comparison breeds fear and inadequacy, causing me to lead a small, supposedly “safe” life instead of the fulfilling one God intends for me. Friends, we are all made unique, and our gifts are not less than anyone else’s because they are not like anyone else’s.

What gift or calling are you letting fear suppress? Will you join me and cease listening to the lies and believe the Lord?

Ephesians 2:10 ~For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.’ ~ Erma Bombeck

Soar like an eagle, friend.

A Rare and Magnificent Rose

- dannalundstrom 1 Comment

 

Recently I completed a life mapping activity as a part of an incredible, purpose driven study, pathFinder, offered by Beacon People. (beaconpeople.org). I knew when I began that the life mapping process would be difficult, and it was because the nature of life is messy. However, I found myself looking at my life map and the prominent emotion I felt when I finished was gratitude.

My map reminded me of something so powerful. I am always thankful for the “rosy” moments in life, but I miss out on so much when I limit my focus there. God’s glory is magnified the most through gifts grown in the fertile soil of suffering.

Abraham Lincoln once said: ~ We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.

It is easy to be thankful for the roses in our lives, but what about the thorns?

Our lives are like long stemmed roses filled with thorns. Some are bigger than others, some sharper and some cut deeper when they pierce us. No two look alike, and they cannot be compared.

What thorns are you bearing today? I encourage you to remember each one was designed for your protection, preparation, and purpose. You have already seen God’s faithfulness worked through some, and others you are still waiting. Me, too.

Father, sometimes I fail to appreciate the benefit of the thorns in my life. I often see them as a burden instead of a blessing. Give me the grace to remember it is the thorns, not the triumphs that yield the most fruit. Thank you God for my thorns, every single one! Help us all remember today that when we follow you; the state of our hearts is not dependent on the situations of our lives. Amen.

Be encouraged by the power of your thorns, friends. God is the great gardener, and He is pruning YOU into a rare and magnificent rose!

The Cross Guides Us Home

- dannalundstrom
The cross- symbol of God's love to people
The cross- symbol of God’s love to people

If we are not keeping our eyes on the cross, we are merely a blind man driving home.

Last Sunday our Sunday School teacher took us on a short field trip on the church campus. We were lead to the cornerstone of our church, and he gave us a brief history lesson about the church and a touching exhortation to be the church. He also pointed out the three crosses that stand high above our church building. The one in the middle stands the highest, and the two on each side a little lower. The two lower crosses represent the crosses of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus. The higher one, representing the cross of Jesus.  The message was particularly special to me because those crosses, the highest one, in particular, holds special value in my life.

In September 2005, my parents were in town visiting. The second day they were here, my mom and I dropped my children at pre-school and headed to Sam’s. We had just parked when she got a phone call. It was my dad. “He said something has happened, and I cannot see.”  Our Sam’s trip was averted, and we rushed back to my house to check on him. We would later end up in the emergency room to find out he had a stroke in his eye. This would be my dad’s second stroke. The first had affected his opposite eye. Now both eyes were impaired.

As hours passed, and the story unfolded, we found out he was in the car driving down Columbiana Road when the stroke besieged him. Our church sits on Columbiana Road. Although my dad had very limited vision, He said he could see ONE thing. The high cross that stands guard at the top of Shades Mountain Baptist Church.    He went on to explain that he knew if he slowly proceeded toward the cross, he could find his way home because I lived just down the street. Miraculously he drove himself home, the cross guiding him the whole way.

After our field trip last Sunday, we were walking back into the church and I mentioned my dad’s experience to my husband. He said to me, “I still do not understand how he drove home blind.” It was at that moment that God spoke to my heart. The message direct and simple, “If we are not keeping our eyes on the cross we are no better than a blind man driving home.” Wow! I had chills, and I love how God used that little Sunday School field trip to go beyond our teachers lesson and deposit His own message into my heart.

We are all just driving home friends. Where are we fixing our eyes? On the world, on our problems, on our pain, on our possessions, or on the cross?

Sometimes my vision gets distorted. There are many things the world has to offer to distract my eyes. My flesh wages war against my sight. The goal is not perfect vision, but progressive vision. We must always be advancing, focusing and refocusing towards that one thing that now or later will make all things clear and guide us without fail, even in darkness-The Cross.

I know your “drives” sometimes become treacherous. I know your vision often feels blurry. Mine too, but Keep returning your eyes to the cross friends. It is the only way to get you home.

Encouragement

- dannalundstrom

 

At the heart of encouragement is the ability to communicate one’s value, potential and worth.  It is the shining of a light into the darkest recesses of a person’s soul where inadequacy and insecurity grow. Encouragement is about affirming all that is worthy in a person, so that from those places they can function from a point of success that is guided by their true north during the fruitful, as well as the frail times.

There is a little talked about person in the Gospel named Barnabas.  His name means, son of encouragement.  He was very instrumental in the making of the life and ministry of Paul.  Although Paul is VERY important, and one of my top three favorites of the Bible, it is the Barnabas types of the world who collectively are overlooked and substantially undervalued.

Behind every great Paul, there is a Barnabas that encourages, supports and fosters affirmation within them.  This is what being the body of Christ looks like.  We are not all famous, wealthy, sought after…but we each possess an ability within us to be someone’s Barnabas, and that is far more valuable than wealth, fame or any other perceived luxury this world has to offer.

You may not feel as you are a natural encourager, but it is an ability that can be perfected through practice. It is a gift that gives in return, and the dividends are priceless.   I encourage you to read about Barnabas.  He is very understated, but his gift is not overrated.

The gift of encouragement, it can redefine the course of a defeated day.  It can elevate someone from tribulation to triumph.  It is one of the most valuable gifts you can give away for free.  Encouragement is a one size fits all offering, and it is always exchangeable.  May we all give it away freely and abundantly.  In a world where what comes around goes around, let it be encouragement!  Thank you to all my friends who encourage me.  You are far more valuable than anything I could ever own.