Tag: friendship

He Already Knew

- dannalundstrom
Last week I was apologizing to a friend, and she kindly said to me, “I had my mind made up about you a long time ago.” Those words gently landed on my heart leaving an imprint that I don’t think I will soon forget. They have clothed my mind like a warm hug every day since.This morning when I walked out onto my porch, I was marveling at the beautiful sky, and those words softly sang to me again, I had my mind made up about you a long time ago. I think God must want us, His children, to know that. No matter how far we fall, where we stray, how dark the depression or crushing the anxiety; God already knew, and He loves us anyway. ‪Abba‬ Father knew every word of our story because His hands authored each plot, twist, turn, comma, period and question mark. Through the highs and the lows, our sins and sufferings, redemption and renewal God was there; He saw us and had His mind made up.For a long time I was a passively, complacent child, but sometimes great loss pushes us out of our places of unexamined comfort to positions of challenging questions. Questions force me to dig deeper, searching for answers, understanding, and acceptance. But God’s ways are not predicated on my approval, rather His assurance.

Some questions, especially spiritual ones, have no clear answers and the Bible tells me that in Deuteronomy 29:29~ “The secret things belong to the LORD our God…God does not want or expect me to understand everything. He asks that I trust His faithfulness not my feelings. Still, God knows that like the persistent child I am, I will circle back to wrestling and striving to comprehend that which is not for me to realize. Because He made up His mind about me a long time ago, despite it all, He still calls me His beloved.

Sometimes in the midst of life’s chaos, one of my biggest challenges is as one writer put it, “living loved.” I think one key to “loved living” is to remember that God made His mind up a long time ago, and I have little power to make myself unloveable to Him. The same is true for you, friend. May we live loved today-God’s Day.

Just Come

- dannalundstrom 1 Comment

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The Lord allows nothing to be wasted in His economy, especially suffering.  What if everyone’s mission was to use every ounce of pain that has ever touched their life to bring hope to the life of someone walking a similar road.  From our grief, The Lord gives us gifts to be shared to help others.  It is the most beautiful thing when our greatest hurts intersect another person’s greatest needs.  Someone once said, we are all just walking each other Home.  What a wonderful gift, and the greatest pleasure of life, to walk alongside a fellow traveler and say, I know.  I am here.  I see you, but more importantly, Jesus sees you, and He loves you just as you are at this very moment.  There is no need to clean up, change clothes or comb your hair.  He welcomes you as you are.  Just come.

Scandalous Vulnerability

- dannalundstrom

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It is out of our bleeding that we are equipped to become blessings. God’s word says that it is in our suffering that we become qualified to be comforters of those who follow the beaten paths we have traveled~2 Corinthians 1:4.  No one precisely understands like someone who has worn our shoes. No one relates as one who has followed our journey. We acquire so much healing power along the broken roads we travel.

Trails of brokenness where expectations are shattered, wholeness is lost, and life intersects the realities of a fallen world are the very places we are made into the image of Christ. They are the moments HE becomes real to us. They are the hollow spaces that Jesus becomes a necessity and not a duty, a Savior and not a story book character.

Why do we try to conceal our wounds?  In our shame, we dress them up and disguise them, only holding our souls hostage.  In reality, they are beautiful stories that are filled with so many opportunities to help others, and in turn, heal us.  Our trials are signs that something threatened us, but we overcame.  They are painful, but in all their pain lies a power that only we possess to set free.  A power to heal and share that healing with a friend.  As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.~ Proverbs 27:17.

May we all use our wounds to bless not depress; encourage not discourage; connect not conceal; heal and not hide.  We all share a common brokenness in this life.  We can let that brokenness be ruled and concealed by toxic shame, or we can choose a different course. Many things can be taken from us in this life, but the power to choose our thoughts belongs to us alone, it just takes intentional discipline and sometimes an outright fight between the enemy that pursues us, and the Spirit that dwells within us.

The choice to choose to use our wounds to heal, free and connect takes courage and a great act of faith, not to mention vulnerability.  Scandalous vulnerability is a beautiful thing!  It says I am HIS, He has paid my debt, and I am free to be broken because Jesus made me whole.  It is in this place of sharing and connecting that we discover we are all more alike than different.  We find that we are not an anomaly, we are normal.  I pray for the grace to choose faith over fear and scandalous vulnerability over safety.  I am not saying it will be easy; it won’t but it will be eternal.  What is right is often painful, and what is painless is often not right.

Once I savored the freedom of Christ imparted righteousness, and consequential vulnerability, it was the setting free of a hidden soul.  The freedom is yours too friends.  You just have to choose it.

You make me brave
You make me brave
You call me out beyond the shore into the waves
You make me brave
You make me brave
No fear can hinder now the promises you made
You make me brave ~Amanda Cook

 

Grace Givers

- dannalundstrom

Standing In the Gap

- dannalundstrom

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There is someone today who needs you to stand in the gap and hold their weary arms up. Maybe it is through prayer, a phone call or lending a helping hand. Lord focus our eyes to see the needs that are so prolific around us. Give us the grace to be in-touch, interruptible and intentional so we may walk each other home well. Amen.

Embracing Transparency

- dannalundstrom

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Embracing transparency frees us from a life of isolation, and the exhaustion of trying to appear like we have it all together. Transparency is contagious and liberating because it gives others permission to be “normal.” We need to walk this beautifully, broken life with each other well. I cannot do that if am not willing to give up my need to manage what people think of me, and to have an appearance of an “altogether” life. We are all only accountable to One. He accepts us just as we are-broken.

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.

Grace and Gratitude

- dannalundstrom

 

Last Thursday my son became ill with a severe intestinal bug. I have never seen him struggle with one so fierce. It has been days of cleaning up, changing sheets, throwing away sheets, scrubbing and sanitizing. Also in the adventure was a trip to the ER for IV hydration and medications. Poor guy has been through it. It was no fun for me either.

The first evening when he woke up, he and his bed covered with vomit, I kicked into mom mode. The cleanup was not fun. It encompassed a large span of space. Once I got that cleaned up, there was another bigger mess waiting for me to clean up, and so was the chorus of the next several days. One thing that keep surprisingly capturing my attention was the grace God was giving me in every moment of all the messes. Very briefly on several occasions I wanted to complain. Before the words could even take full root in my mind, much less form from my lips, I found myself praising God instead. I would say this is not the natural bend of my heart, but praising God has quickly become much more my default through no merit of my own, only His.

I was praising God for the opportunity to take care of my son. I was praising Him for the opportunity to clean up, wash and care for my son because just seven months earlier he nearly lost his life in a tragic accident.

When you stand in the shadow of death, you often discover the shelter of gratitude. The mundane in the midst of the messy become little fountains of joy that water your soul in parched places.

I felt the searing sting of near loss, and anything but gratitude naturally felt unnatural. Anything but gratitude felt dishonoring to the deep appreciation purposed from a place of such pain.

Suddenly I was grateful for:
Good mattress protectors, washing machines, latex gloves,
Lysol wipes, Lysol Neutra Air spray, adult pull ups, trash bags, beach towels, two sunny days, windows that open, laughter, lotion, candles, GRACE Oh precious GRACE
and last but not least all of my
sisters in Christ who were persistently sending me texts of prayer and encouragement.

I never before knew the wealth of gratitude ushered by grief. It sounds incongruent until it is your reality. I am very thankful for the beauty born for brokenness. I am very thankful for the surprising mercies of God’s grace. Thank you, Lord for allowing me to find the splendor wrapped in the struggle of the last six days.

A Woman of Grace

- dannalundstrom

As a woman, growing in grace means when someone gives us a compliment, we do not dismiss it.  We do not tell them why we do not look pretty, are not a good cook, do not have a kind heart, have not lost weight…Grace enables us to embrace the compliment with a humble, soft, “thank you.”  Then we allow those words to settle into our souls and realize, yes, I am those things because that is how God created me. Sure we have moments when we do not like ourselves; everyone does. Those moments, however, should be fleeting. We become who we think we are, so we must allow ourselves to be a friend’s compliment! This is one of the hardest things to do for all of us, but let’s change that today! May we all be humbly adorned in the unique gifts God placed within each of us today and all days ahead!

Walking Home Well

- dannalundstrom

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Father our vulnerability is the greatest gift we have to offer each other.  Embracing transparency frees us from a life of isolation, and the exhaustion of trying to appear like we have it all together.  Transparency is contagious and liberating because it gives us and others permission to be “normal.”  Father there are so many ways we try and dress up so we feel acceptable to the world, You and even ourselves.  Many are the masks of self-righteousness.  Accessorizing with them drains energy we should be using to rest in your perfect righteousness that is already ours.  Our lives are just a long walk Home Father.  Enable us to walk our beautifully, broken journeys with each other well.  Remind us we cannot do that if we are not willing to give up our need to manage what people think of us, and to have the appearance of an “altogether” life.  We are all only accountable to You.  Let us never forget you accept us just as we are, broken and inadequate, but unconditionally loved and approved.  Amen.