The 7 Sacrifices to Joy-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

The Seven Sacrifices to Joy-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Oh, happy day to you! Thanks for joining me for more of this series within a series, The Seven Sacrifices to Joy! Grab your coffee and come on in. Let’s get back to Paul and his gift of communication, koinonia!
Let’s move on to someone who valued communication, was actually an amazing communicator and spoke not only from his knowledge, which he was rich in, but his heart! He could have “coined” koinonia and koinonio for as much as he spoke about it and lived it. Can you guess who I’m talking about? Give up?
Paul! Koinonia was his favorite subject and one of the things he talked about the most in the letters he penned in some of his most difficult times, where all he had was the gift of communication via his letters and I’m sure that’s why he could write so passionately about it because we all know that saying: you don’t know what you’re missing until it’s gone!
In 1^st Corinthians 1:9 Paul reminds us that God is the one who has called us into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you see that word koinonio? I don’t know about you, but oftentimes, it is hard for me to allow that truth to sink in, that God desires koinonio with the likes of me, but He does! He chose to communicate with us before we ever chose Him, and He proves it by pursuing us relentlessly.
I can’t help but take a little detour here back to the Garden where we see this truth explicitly played out with Adam, and Eve, and God. Adam, and Eve, both have just eaten from the forbidden tree, the Tree of Knowledge (of good and evil) and immediately they recognize that they are naked. The crazy thing is in just a few verses before the first sin [Genesis 2:25], this “nakedness” translates to without shame; in other words they have a beautifully vulnerable relationship with each other and with God. But later, in Genesis 3:7, now their nakedness translates to “with shame” because their eyes (of their hearts) have been opened, so he begins to cover himself and Eve up with fig leaves. The vulnerability has disappeared and in its place is shame!
I can hear you asking, what in the world does this have to do with fellowship? Hold on, because I’m about to explain!
Have you ever busted someone in the act of doing something they shouldn’t be doing? Or do you remember being a child and getting caught doing something you just knew you weren’t supposed to do? Do you remember experiencing a bit of fear when the one who caught you caught you and called you on it? Well, imagine that emotion on steroids and then multiply that by a hundred!
In Genesis 3:8, we learn that despite them, God is looking for them but as soon as Adam and Eve heard God, they ran, as if to hide, among the trees in the Garden. Kind of crazy when we think about it; to take refuge in what got you in trouble in the first place! Why did they hide? Because of their shame; that’s why.
Then God calls out, “Where are you?” [Genesis 3:9] Now, personally, I know He knew where they were; that was an indication that the invitation for fellowship was still valid! In other words, we see the beautiful picture of God seeking fellowship/communication by communicating His unconditional love!
I don’t know about you, but every time I get that visual of them running for cover and God pursuing them, it just gives me the chills while warming my heart at the same time. See, haven’t we run from God after doing something stupid, or missing the mark? If He pursued Adam/Eve, then know that He pursues you and me! He longs for fellowship/communication with us. He doesn’t need it; He wants it! He proved it by paying the ultimate sacrifice! God was the first example of the sacrifice of communication!
Now, that’s initiation for some beautiful communication! Join us tomorrow for Jeff’s Java Hour!
Grateful for fellowship,

Evinda

The Highway to Destination? Joyful!(tm)

Happy Thursday to you! It’s a great day for a sacrifice of righteousness on our way to Destination? Joyful! ™ Grab your coffee and let’s go explore what this particular sacrifice costs!
So when we began this particular sacrifice, I had an opportunity to offer Him up a sacrifice of righteousness by being silent after feeling attacked and ridiculed by someone I love in front of someone I love. I failed in that test and the very thing I was teaching someone not to do, I DID!
This next opportunity to offer a sacrifice of righteousness involved the same principle but with a bit more depth, and while I wasn’t prepared for the circumstance to happen, I was prepared to step back before moving forward in deed and in words.
It’s kind of funny, because the very thing I had drawn my line about in this second circumstance, I was being tested in! God’s refining fire is so painfully brilliant at times it throws me to my face in humility and causes me to beg for the water of His Word. Yes, humility is a necessary pool to bathe in, especially as I prepare to go into the trenches with others who are struggling with hurts, habits and hang-ups. I must not forget where I came from and how I came to Who I came!
There are so many one-liner lessons in the two situations that have happened back to back in my journey, but the loudest one echoing in the nooks of my heart and gushing out into my whole being is found in 1^st Peter 5:6: “Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time”: in other words, when I feel others have wronged me, I don’t need to be the teacher of the lesson I think they need to learn. The cost is too great! Think about it like this: When a fire starts, do I add a match, or walk away and thus let it go out?
I love what He promises in 1^st Peter 5:7 when we do just that: “casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.” After all, if I am a Christian who does not love the unlovable, then I am without the greatest gift, love which grows joy!
Oh, friends, He is so good to hold us accountable and I am not quite giggling as I realize He’s done just that: held me accountable to the very thing I had shared with this person on so many occasions in our friendship: Just because someone verbally slaps us with their perceptions, doesn’t give us permission to slap them back with ours. There is no unity in that. In fact, love is the framework for unity and truly listening adds shades of beauty to beautiful to describe but seldom seen. If all I am able to do is concentrate on defending what’s being said, then I am not focused with a heavenly perspective of unity. Rather, I have missed what’s not being said and forgotten about the One who will defend me when it’s all said and done.
Having a heavenly perspective in an earthly battle will keep us from stepping out of the bigger picture, which is unity in and for the Bride of Christ, the ultimate Kingdom of which we are headed. Oh, to be a kingdom builder and not a building destroyer.
Ask yourself: Can I agree to disagree, in love, for the greater good of Him?
I thought I would get into the cost of this sacrifice, but at the risk of staying on His platform longer than I am welcome, I will let you go. Thank you so much for joining me for our coffee hour and I truly pray that the lessons I am striving to learn will become preventative medicine to your soul and in your journey with Him!
We WILL wrap up this second sacrifice next week and then get to our October’s WOW!
In His grip,

Evinda

When Hurting People Hurt you, What do you do?

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power…

Welcome back to our continued journey toward Destination? Joyful! God is good; all the time, God is good, even when I fall short! Can I get an Amen? Grab your coffee and let’s try and wrap up the second sacrifice, the sacrifice of righteousness which is a huge contribution to our Cup of Joy!
The price tag for a sacrifice of righteousness may be the loss of a promotion, a job, and even a friendship or friendships and the price tag may even include some ridicule and/or mockery for good measure. STOP! Let’s talk about this price tag as it relates to these things that become such big desires that we can sometimes lose focus of their correct priority.
First, there is a verse that keeps rising to the door of my heart bursting to get out: Blessed are those who are persecuted for thy name’s sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 5:10] The NIV say it like this and this translation really spells it out in a relevant way: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”
Friends, these words are from Abba Himself! He’s giving us a heads-up that these things will happen! He knows that people that we come to care about will talk about us negatively, say false things about us and cause great emotional wounds, but here’s the deal: most of the time they don’t realize it’s because of Him in you! That’s when it’s really difficult to offer up a sacrifice of righteousness.
Just two days after missing the mark on turning the other cheek, I was presented with yet another opportunity to offer up a sacrifice of righteousness! Ugh, I guess He wants to make sure I get this one, and you know what they say about writers and teachers: they learn the most, probably because we need it the most, at least I do!
Have you ever come across someone who comes across incredibly harsh, opinionated and always has a critical thing to say about someone but after you get past that, you see someone with a soft heart, and other good qualities? Oh, I know a few and God has helped me to look past and try and know them beyond all of that unresolved stuff. After, all, isn’t that what He does with us?
Well, just a couple of days after the last incident wherein I failed to offer a sacrifice of righteousness by turning the other cheek, someone just like I described stepped on my emotional foot and in such a way that I couldn’t ignore it. I waited four days before I said ouch, but this time, the way I said ouch was in love in a card with a letter. I bathed it in prayer and sent it off.
I knew my heart was in the right place; my motive was to speak into her life and not out for the sake of our “friendship,” for the sake of Christ-desired unity! [Ephesians 4:3]
For the next couple of days, I put it in the back of my mind, though it stayed at the forefront of my prayers, and so when a response came at the end of our CPM Board meeting via Facebook messenger, I couldn’t wait to open it because I wanted our friendship to resume – neither of us initiating anything — and I just knew she would understand what I had tried to say. So, I did open it right as our board meeting ended, and got pulled into her message and away from my board members for as long as it took me to read it.
MISTAKE!
The color drained from my face as my heart fell to the ground and while it was down there, I continued to read and what I read not only verbally slapped me across my left cheek, but stomped all over my heart as if to be doing some angry dance.
Join me for my sacrifice of righteousness for this circumstance tomorrow!
Gripped in His arms,

Evinda

Nana Holds from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for returning for more of Nana Holds. Thanks to a couple of you, I had a major breakthrough regarding yesterday’s post and I need to share it with you. I had no idea until then how a certain issue in this series was coming across and since He’s the giver of the gift of my writing, I will continue to be transparent with you in this transformation process! I so understand the propensity to keep the junk in the trunk but breaking free is a process and my hope and prayer is that what He gives me to write will encourage others in their process of breaking free, not discourage them! Grab your coffee and come on in. 

So I received some more accountability from some dear friends and I’m thankful beyond words to have them kicking my butt with a heart on their toes! My breakthrough has to do with the “bio mom” references, and someone said, I know you don’t mean to be hurtful and maybe you call her that because that’s what you called your mom for all those years, but it’s hurtful. And, no matter what, she’s Bryden’s mom.

OMG, what a revelation! That’s exactly it and I’ve been comparing her or equating her to my own biological mom who up to the last weeks of her life wasn’t a mom to me, and maybe that’s why I came across so strong! Maybe that’s why I sound more harsh than I meant to!  Yikes! Please forgive me and know, each and every one of you who read this, that I NEVER, EVER, stop praying for her and I am continually hanging out with hope, hope for her to have a brighter future and to become the mom that God created her to be and for her and Bryden to have an amazing relationship. That truly has been and continues to be my heart’s desire.

This accountability check is really beating in my heart and I need to be careful about the “ugly” picture I am painting of her with my words. That’s not my intent and I of all people understand that we do have to see the ugly to appreciate the beauty redemption brings and I will continue to share the truths of this story more sensitively. The blessed hope that we can all bask in is God is not done with her story, Bryden’s MOM’s story, and He’s not done with my story within her story! In fact, as I’ve said before, I am not the same person I was in the beginning of this story but I am being transformed because of her story! So, that being said, let’s continue with where we left off!

We left off with the beginning of new beginnings for Bryce, Jene’ and Bryden.

Sundays have become full days, and the depth that Bryce’s new girlfriend brings to the picture is unmistakable divinely added. Watching her interact with Bryden the first couple of times was like rewinding my own beginning with him. She was definitely a bit fearful and uncertain, but a lot more eager than I was. Her trepidation began to lessen with each passing Sunday.

Now looking at it from Bryden’s perspective, I want to say he sort of took to her right away, and yet, children are so

oh, to b inside that little mind!

intuitive! He was somewhat cautious in his beginning interactions as well. In addition to not being sure about her in the beginning was his struggle to vie for daddy’s attention. From the outside looking in, I recognized that right away and was able to share that with both Bryce and Jene’.

There really wasn’t a competition, though, especially considering Jene’ was very respectful of their relationship from the beginning. The first few weeks, she quietly observed and stood in the background.

I giggle as I remember their beginning. She’s such a girl. She hates to get dirty and here we all were running in the muddy grass, chasing Bryden and/or the ball or Frisbee or hiding up in the bushes playing hide-n-seek, and there was Jene’, either standing not too far off, or sitting on the picnic bench, a smile spilling onto her face as she watched us become like little children with Bryden.

By the third or fourth week, she was joining in with our fun and had even worn tennis shoes that she could get dirty! I

Father & Son

swear, they looked brand-new but she swore they were old! If I had to put words to what those first six to eight weeks were, I’d have to say that they were a time of building their friendship, getting reacquainted on more solid ground with the people that they each were becoming, new creatures in Christ. And although we all were thinking about their potential, and the gift of second chances, what we weren’t openly expressing, nor were they, was the direction that friendship was going, on to something deeper, long-lasting and life-changing.

Join me Thursday for more.

Evinda