Sacred Mundane: The Blog – Page 213

Tomorrow, June 28th, 1pm: Let's Pray.

June 27, 2012 KariSacred Mundane28 Comments0

Every Wednesday morning for more than 2 1/2 years a dear band of women have gathered together at 6am to pray. I am so honored to call these women friends. We are all ages, personalities, bents. We pray for everything from global concerns to flooded basements. There are lots of different ways to pray, but every week our prayer meeting goes like this:

1. We pray: God, show us what you are doing.

2. We pray: Show us exactly what you want us to pray this morning so that we can be part of what you’re doing.

3. Then we pray those things.

Steps one and two are so important! So often I have jumped into praying, without first asking Him to lead and guide and direct my prayers. When I take the time to wait on Him and ask Him, What do you want me to pray? I feel like He enables me to pray more effectively.

So strangely enough, Him telling me to pray for meat is connected to another mom praying for a heart.

A heart for her son, that is.

Sweet 10-year-old Elijah (pictured above) is in need a new heart. He is the son of my dear friend–an unnamed person I talk about often on this blog. Dear Elijah has cardiomyopathy, a life-threatening deterioration of his heart, and is in need of healing. Complete healing.

Elijah’s mom is the one who gave me the MEAT. When I told her the story, her eyes brimmed with tears. The same way that God completely provided meat (not just a little!) spoke of the way she is praying God will completely heal her son. Not just a little healing, not just a little better. The boy’s life is at stake, and we are asking God for complete provision and complete healing. We believe that is what God is leading us to pray. My question for you:

Will you join us?

First, What is weighing on your heart? What is your need? Where are you in need of God’s provision?
Secondly, How is He leading you to pray? Have you asked Him? Do! Ask Him how He wants you to pray.
Third, if you are able: Share with us so we can join together in prayer.
Fourth, Thursday, June 28th at 1pm, we’ll be praying together for Elijah and the other needs that are listed by you here. There is no magic in the date or time, no special formula to follow, nothing special about doing it all at the same time. But this is the time of Elijah’s next cardiogram, and we’d like to join together and pray in this way. I’d love to pray for your needs as well.

Where do you need to see God move? How is He leading you to pray? Again, there is nothing magical about us all praying at the same time, but let’s band together and encourage one another and hold each other’s hands in prayer. I know there are real needs out there, and I’d be so honored if you’d trust us with your request.

God provided eternal salvation, He has conquered sin, death, and the grave. He has provided meat for the Pattersons (!). He can give a new heart to Elijah. Our God can do above and beyond what we can even ask or imagine. Whether or not He chooses to is up to Him, not us. But we must pray.

Thanks for joining me tomorrow at 1pm for this special time of prayer. Please do take a moment to share your prayer request below. Other urgent needs include the Assam region of India flooding (Click for details), and my dear friend Shawna, who many of you have followed in prayer for over a year. Let’s continue to pray for Elijah, your prayer needs, and all these who God loves.

{Thanks for reading … and praying.}

MEAT.

June 26, 2012 KariSacred Mundane15 Comments0

I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that there is no such thing as “normal life” in the Patterson home. When we walk with Jesus there is no time to coast, and no vacation from faith. He’s always doing something, and so there is always some grand adventure to be had. Even when we feel like we live on a treadmill … chances are we’re just training for some unknown marathon of faith that’s just around the corner. Do you feel like that too?

So in our recent adventure I’m being extra frugal and God is teaching us to depend on Him for everything. We had already paid for our food CSA, but the first delivery wasn’t until July 26th, and we had no meat in the house. None. Now we avoid grain and dairy, so meat is pretty important around here. We had none. I knew the cost of getting good grass-fed/organic meat at a regular store and knew I didn’t want to pay it. So as I considered my options, I prayed. And I got this nudge:

Pray for meat.

Pray for meat? Ok, sacred mundane. We pray for everything right? We need meat, pray for meat! So I do.

I pray for meat.

That was Friday. That night we go to a friend’s house for a BBQ. They serve us massive amounts of meat and even send us some leftovers to take home. I smile to myself. Ok, God, we got some meat. And this leftover is enough to make some soup for the weekend.

Saturday it was a friend’s birthday so I go to her house to wish her a happy birthday. As I get up to leave she says, “OH! I almost forgot. Can I send you a bunch of meat? We have way too much from the farm and it’s just coming out our ears so can you take a bunch?”

I just start laughing out loud.

When she says “a bunch” she means “a ton”! She halfway filled my trunk, and subsequently my freezer full of meat.

MEAT!

I laughed the whole way home. MEAT! God cares about meat!

Then yesterday afternoon I check my email and an email from our CSA farm pops up: They just decided to start the CSA one month early. They’re delivering our first month’s worth of meat this Thursday …

MEAT! Up to our eyeballs in meat!

That is how our God provides–abundantly. I wonder how often I miss His miracles because I just don’t ask? Because I don’t throw myself at his feet in dependence and ask Him to dump out His grace on my life?

We have to know this about Him: He cares for us. He loves it when we depend on Him for our daily needs. He LOVES the opportunity to flex His muscles on our behalf, to show His power, to remind us and the entire world that HE is God and we are not. He is the Master of the universe and the one who orchestrates all things.

We must know this today. The next morning I read:

“In the world, dependency is seen as immaturity. But in My Kingdom, dependence on Me is a prime measure of maturity.” Jesus Calling, 183

Oh, to grow in this beautiful grace of dependence. I’m learning with you.

{How can you choose to depend on Him today? What is your need? Lay it before Him. Dependence is beautiful in God’s eyes. Let’s embrace it today. Thanks for reading… I’m off to eat some meat!}

Influence vs. Love

June 25, 2012 KariSacred Mundane5 Comments0

For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ through the gospel.

1 Corinthians 4:15

I’ve never been able to put my finger on it until this morning’s quiet time, as I read this verse.

Why is it that some people can so powerfully influence me, more than others?

What I mean is this: The world is teeming with advice. Under every rock and in every nook and cranny is another person offering advice. Do this, don’t do that. Try this method, don’t try this method. And some of it’s great. But often I find that even the best advice doesn’t “stick” very well. I hear it, I know (sometimes) that it’s true, but I don’t feel compelled to follow. Or, worse, I actually want to go the other way. Sometimes, depending upon the method or the way something’s presented, it actually makes me want to run.

“Quit trying to just fix me! I’m not a broken down car!” That’s the secret inside-feeling I get sometimes. Have you ever felt that way?

But a few weeks ago I realized why.

A few weeks ago a dear friend took me out for a treat. She is a trusted, treasure older-sister type friend who I admire beyond words. She’s raised tremendous kids, has stood by her man in beautiful ways, and is an example to many of a godly woman.

And you know the best part?

She isn’t trying to fix me.

You know what she’s trying to do?

Love me.

With beautiful self-forgetfulness she just wanted to bless me, spend time with me, be with me … love me. And as the hours went by I found myself pouring out questions for her–things I’d stored up in my heart but had never had the courage to ask people. And here I was, sitting beside her in our pedicure chairs, spilling out question after question. Basically saying,

“Influence me, please!”

Her answers were simple. Not shoulds or oughts but simple biblical truths ad tried and tested wisdom. Best of all, I could feel that every word came from a place, not of trying to fix me or make me like her, but out of love.

Love trumps influence every single time.

Please understand: I’m not saying influence is bad. It’s awesome! We’re called to influence others for Christ! But I’m saying that if we skip straight to influence as our goal, we’ve got the wrong goal. In fact, if we aim only for influence, we won’t reach either one. If we aim straight for love, we’ll get both. Why? Because influence is always the fruit of relationship. The reason my dear parents have influenced my life more than any other human beings is because they loved me with a crazy-amazing love. The reason my discipler/mentor/friend has dramatically affected my life is not because she had all the right answers, but because she loves me.

The world will know we are Christ’s disciples, not by our influence, but by our love for one another.

I recently received Platform by Michael Hyatt, a book on how to increase your influence. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but its goal is incomplete.

All the influence in the world will not change people.

Love changes people.

{Who can you love today? Just for today, suspend your urge to advise, fix, counsel. Just love, just for today. Thanks for reading.}