Blog : Give Me Grace - Page 91 of 101

Five Minute Friday : Fall

Posted on June 7, 2013June 16, 2013 by lisha epperson

Thin-skinned and green to the blogging world I am sometimes afraid to reach out. As freeing as anonymity in the cyber world can be – with screens , hashtags and chat rooms I still want to do things right. I don’t want to mess up. I want to follow the rules, obey the protocol and find new friends. When to reply or jump into a twitter conversation requires savvy skills that us newbies just don’t have. How do you connect with others when you’re afraid of falling?

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made fantastic friends online and imagine someday, a virtual tea party where I could break bread with kindred spirits…but other times. Other times its so hard. I can’t figure out what to do or when and I’ve yet to come across a manual for blogging etiquette. Accepted behaviors are learned in the trenches. The rules, having been made up along the way, were shaped through years of conversations that took place without you. If you weren’t at the party…you missed it. You’ll probably find out by making a mistake. By falling. If you dare.

she's falling...will you catch her? — she’s falling…will you catch her?
photo: Hannah at UnspokenRomance

If you’re bold enough to make any kind of move you’re left wondering... Could I have unknowingly stepped on the toes of the rock star blogger? Should I be hurt when realizing someone has unsubscribed to my blog? or, confused when a comment goes unanswered? The tone of my words misunderstood, because try as we may, this virtual world will never take the place of a real one. It’s easy to be misunderstood when a misplaced comma or ill-used pronoun can make the difference between sounding humble or haughty. I don’t want to be the new girl in the lunch room …tray in hand, walking confidently when all of a sudden she trips. One wrong move and she has taken a very public and humiliating fall.

I don’t want to be that girl. But I am…. it’s a rite of passage we all go through. Do you remember your first tweet? Do you remember the first time you hit the publish button on your probably not ready for prime time post…sending your words,thoughts and heart into the universe…to be seen, heard, judged? It’s a place we should recall from time to time..lest we forget what it feels like.

The skinned knees and scrapes from our newbie adventures in the blogosphere should never be forgotten. Because we’ve all been that girl. We’ve all fallen. We shouldn’t forget what it feels like to fall …or how it feels to be picked up when we do. Lets all extend grace, be that hand that reaches back to pull up, and take the time to lovingly lead the fallen.

Do you remember your blogger/twitter beginnings? What was it like? Have you found time to teach, guide or even correct a newbie? Believe me she’d appreciate you.

It’s that time again friends! I’ve linked up with Lisa Jo and friends for Five Minute Friday. Read more inspiring words, thoughts and ideas at www.lisajobaker.com.

Dear Weary Mama, Your Motherhood Needs a Father

Posted on June 6, 2013July 31, 2013 by lisha epperson

Dear Weary Mama,

father4motherhood2 — even before becoming a mother – I could relate to this
photo: Annie Lee

You’re on the verge of tears. They collect in the spaces where your heart and mind meet REALITY. Motherhood is real and you feel it. You’re overwhelmed by the task before you…it spans years into the future and right now…in this moment you feel the infinite responsibility of child-rearing. It weighs on you like the loads of laundry, unswept floors and unfinished tasks. Motherhood is never finished. You are always on call and you my friend, need a break.

The meals and dishes, the play dates and appointments…the decisions. The million and one daily decisions of motherhood have you on pause. You stand motionless at this precipice..ready to let yourself be led by a powerful wind gust. You’re ready for another ride.. another chance…maybe you’ll get it right. If you’re brave enough, maybe you’ll try again. Next time.

There is another way. The better way, and because you’re “Mama”, you know this.

He calls you to include Him, but you don’t. He is last on that list of a million things to do. A better brew of coffee prioritized above the word that would sustain your day. You know all this is available to you and like the woman who died at the well longing for a drink you…forego the chance to learn, grow and refresh yourself in His word.

Your blog can wait, the laundry can wait, but you my friend can no longer put Him on hold. Your motherhood needs a Father. Make Him your first priority. You’ve said it yourself …it’s your motto isn’t it? One of them anyway? …God, family, ministry. Sister they’re only words on paper or floating in cyberspace if they aren’t lived. You are the apple of your Daddy’s eye and He wants to do you good and make you happy. He wants to grow you into that woman of God, that prosperous mother, whose children rise up and call her blessed.

dearwearymama3 (1) — photo: D. Sharon Pruitt

You can do this. These mommy moments are holy opportunities and we need to be wholly committed to this motherhood thing. No holes, no fillers or substitutions. Only Him covering you when you stumble and, you, getting back up – to try again. You were designed for and called to this. There really is a better way and your entire family is depending on you to make it work. Rise up Mama, beautiful maiden, lovely warrior…you are favored. Dive into, recall and live His word. Surrender to the beautiful mess of motherhood, confident in the love of your Father.

Always in Love,

Lisha

Dear sisters and friends – I wrote this for you but only because He first ministered it to me. I’m linking up with the beauties at Hope for the Weary Mom and Transformed Tuesdays at More to Be. Swing through for a bit of refreshment.

Ballerina Breakdown : thoughts (days 3-8)

Posted on June 3, 2013June 8, 2013 by lisha epperson

bodyimage5 — don’t you wish you could see your Dove beauty sketch?
wonder what mine would have looked like while going through infertility…and now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=litXW91UauE

I’ve been thinking – about exercise and my body…how it feels like I’m reconnecting with an old friend after a painful separation. Our distance the result of a tumultuous relationship of disappointment, doubt and insecurity during infertility. I wasn’t able to keep up a peaceful co-existence and shut down the part of me that loved and cared for my body.

In marriage I learned to cook and enjoy baking. Something about cooking for my husband was thrilling and I got busy in the kitchen. Major career transition brought about lifestyle changes that for me eliminated all exercise. Deciding to end my dance career was all or nothing. Although I still loved to dance, I spent a mere fraction of the time that I committed to it as a professional. My ballet body was a result of my ballet life. As a dancer, I never dieted or struggled with my weight. The schedule of classes and rehearsal was more than enough to keep me race horse lean and Pilates perfect.

So I’m happily married, enjoying great food and not exercising. When infertility became an issue these situations and transitions magnified. My relationship with my body was called into question and I think somewhere along the way we stopped speaking. Our lack of communication resulting in a major disconnect between body, soul and spirit.

Can you find me? I joke that I must have eaten the 115lb me!

At the doctor’s office recently I weighed 169 lbs. Over a 17 year period I’ve gained 54 lbs. Marriage, career transition and my battle with infertility – key factors this increase can be attributed to. Of the 3 I’d say infertility played the biggest part in my maintaining the extra weight. The emotional roller coaster was too much for me and resulted in breast and belly weight that I couldn’t/wouldn’t get rid of.

There’s definitely a bit of the psychological at play here.

I danced in ministry and even taught classes but my body’s inability to produce a living child broke something in me.

the heart... the heart sometimes we dance with a broken heart — the heart… the heart
sometimes we dance with a broken heart

I was going through the motions but I don’t think I could devote energy to care. The mother in me was trying desperately to create soft spaces where children could snuggle and perhaps one day be nourished. This was definitely on the subliminal….a psychosomatic manifestation of my mind’s eye of a “mother”.

Even becoming a mother plays a role in this story. I enjoyed cooking for my children even more than I did my husband. The sweet treats I baked, presented with love to satisfy and substitute for the mother in me that couldn’t nourish children born of another’s body.

I’ve asked the Lord to speak to me during this fitness covenant and this is where I am. Deep thoughts? Yes! But I can now see why and how this problem initiated. I am free to make the necessary changes to re-establish a healthy mind-body connection. I can work towards keeping my spirit uplifted so as not to fall prey to negative images or emotions about my fearfully and wonderfully made temple. I’ve got to know that my body is amazing – irrespective of its reproductive abilities or what it looks like now. *If you’re currently in the thick of it, I pray this revelation, that took me way too long “to get”, is a blessing.*

I have no dreams of sliding into size 6 skinny jeans. I know I’ll never work that hard again. My days are full of children and housework. I squeeze in time to teach at an after school program. I steal time to study for the program at the birthing center. The 30 minutes I am promising myself is a realistic goal.. a standard to help me develop a habit…a number that will help me bring the routine of fitness back into my life.

Quite frankly I’ve enjoyed the curves my ballerina body couldn’t handle. I like feeling voluptuous. I don’t like feeling out of shape and that is where we are now. At present, I am out of shape. Gotta get on that. And so the breakdown for this ballerina continues….

Where are you on your 30 day Fitness Covenant? How has God ministered to you about your health, your body image…your life?

Five Minute Friday : Imagine

Posted on May 31, 2013May 31, 2013 by lisha epperson

pinksherbertphotography4 — photo: D. Sharon Pruitt

I didn’t know.
In the middle of a heart-wrenching, faith-shattering trial. I didn’t know.
Watching from the sidelines…view obstructed…I could not be comforted and did not feel brave. God called me friend and I often turned away – choosing, in despair,to walk alone. This song…a solo.
I didn’t know.
The years it took to create this life. Details of people and places…divine collisions of destiny before manifestation. The lessons…learned. His vision and plan. More beautiful. Wonderfully layered with feeling and purpose. Multi-dimensional. Better than what I’d hoped for. My road…this journey – scratched, bruised, and scarred by wisdom’s consistent if not gentle guidance, I’ve emerged – WHOLE. I see clearly now what I could not see then. I could not see. I could not know how big my blessing would be. I could not imagine.

Ephesians 3:20 – 21
now unto Him who is able to do exceeding and abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20 (Message translation) God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

dear friends… He is able. dare to imagine.

IMG_20130531_053426 — I couldn’t imagine THIS…my wildest dream come true

I’ve joined Lisa Jo and friends for Five Minute Friday again. Find out more about this wonderful gathering of faithful women at lisajobaker.com