I have a deep passion and commitment to the ongoing development of spiritually strong and emotionally healthy individuals, marriages, families, leaders and cultures, helping you achieve your God-designed and appointed destiny.
All tagged Christian Growth
Weeks ago, while mustering as much vulnerability as possible, I admitted to my husband that every time I attempt to slow down, this loud, accusing voice rises up within me. “You’re lazy!” it shouts. Shame and second-guessing immediately ensue, preventing me from making changes or stepping into slow and restoration.
“Cammie, that voice is your dad.”
This idea of slowing…ruthlessly eliminating hurry from our lives…is nothing short of extraordinarily counter-cultural. Society deems faster is better, waiting is wasteful, and slow is lazy with every message it can muster.
With this in mind, over these next weeks, in true Coach and Spiritual Director fashion, I hope to share with you ideas, concepts, questions, and possibilities that could help you on your own journey, as you seek to become closer to the One who loves you most, the One who delights in you, the One who has so much to show you, as you chose to wake up to the beauty of slow.
The outcome of our willingly (and even knowingly) subjecting ourselves to everyone’s polished persona and comparing our lives with their pics (most of which have been altered or filtered), has resulted in nothing less than GRAND THEFT, stealing our confidence, self-respect, uniqueness, healthy body image, focus, and peace. For goodness sake, it’s even taken our money, as we’ve gone out and tried to purchase the life we’ve seen depicted on our phone screens!
I was struggling for air, feeling as if I’d been holding my breath for ages. My heart was literally racing. I had that sick feeling in my stomach, which for me is indicative of shock, trauma even.
God most often doesn’t immediately deliver us from that which we need deliverance, as most often His concern is not only deliverance, but character development, which takes time.
Please be assured that this vulnerable confession isn't some pathetic attempt to evoke sympathy. I don't feel sorry for myself in the least, and I would hope you don’t either. This really is a good thing.
This past week, I’ve had moments of temptation in which I’ve wanted to abandon our plan of “leaning into the pain” and discovering the lessons, growth and deeper relationship that Christ has for us. There has been a time or two when I’ve want to take a very, very long nap (maybe lasting a couple days?) in an effort to escape the challenges.
In addition to being a genius, Thomas Edison (most famously known as the inventor of the light bulb), was often described as an extreme optimist.
A few years back, my then 24 year old son, Adam, called to tell me about his day, which was a pretty common occurrence. His opening statement, however, was a bit uncommon. He said, “I have a story to tell you, then I need to apologize for something.”
My prayer is that God pours out His greatest, most outrageous, and biggest blessings upon you and your family during this Holiday Season. I pray He gives you great peace and joy. I pray that your house literally overflows with laughter. I pray He gives you great opportunities and even greater courage to do them. I pray your relationships with those you love are deepened and strengthened. Most of all, I pray you hear Him, experience Him, and also see Him more than you ever have before - more than you can even imagine.
