The Risk involved in Risk

Risk has to do with exposure to loss or danger; something that most of us are not too keen to encounter.

I am okay with the idea of being a risk taker as long as the risk is to some degree controlled and the inevitable outcome will bring a reward. I read about risk takers and I admire them, often giving them the title of hero or champion. Their stories thrill and inspire me. But still, the thrill and the inspiration do not propel me towards taking a risk myself unless I can control the outcome.

Just yesterday, I shared a video on Facebook and I did not calculate the risk and indeed, the opinions shared in that video post were not met with approval by some of my FB friends.  The backlash of comments left me feeling exposed to a loss of respect and the danger of being misunderstood.

It reminded me of the old saying:  “if you don’t stand for something you will most likely fall for anything.”

Living wholeheartedly requires us to take risks and something miraculous happens to risk when it is coupled with faith.

The dictionary defines Faith as complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

The union of risk and faith changes everything. If I know that I am not alone and that my confidence extends beyond myself, my ability to take a risk is expanded to include things that would have otherwise looked impossible.

This is the message that Mary Beth Chapman shares with us in her book “Choosing to See”.

She captures the tension in our struggle for control and wholehearted living. She and her husband took a risk firmly grounded in faith and they live with the unimaginable loss the risk created and they thrive in the midst of it.

This is the story of daring to open their hearts to love only to have that love rip a gaping hole in the fabric of their family.

Mary Beth is a passionate and vulnerable woman who opens the door to her life and lets us take a journey with her through insecurity, depression, control issues, and the ultimate consequence of choosing to see God through all the circumstances that have shaped her narrative.

I am thankful for her willingness to take the risk of writing her story…for allowing me to cry with her and rejoice with her. The wonder of this life is that although in this world I may never know her, her story intersects with mine at the foot of the cross where Jesus suffered the consequence of the greatest risk (exposure to danger and loss) of all time. Her story is a reflection of that loss. It is the story of unfathomable loss that leads us to really SEE.

As the Apostle Paul tells us:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Philippians 3:8

Book Review:

Fully Alive - A Biblical View of Gender that frees men and women to live beyond steroestypes

by: Dr. Larry Crabb

Female Front and Centre

Being female has always felt like a gift to me. I am really okay to put on high heels, fiddle around with complicated layers of clothing and carry a few shades of lipstick in my purse. If you asked me a few weeks ago if I was fully female I would have replied quickly and decisively that indeed I am truly feminine from my blonde high lights to my manicured red toenails!

Discovering that my identity as a fully female human has nothing to do with my external persona and everything to do with my internal reflection of God’s image blew my mind and I have not stopped talking about it to anyone who will listen.

Dr. Larry Crabb nails my issues with precision and clarity! I am only fully present in my femininity to the extent that I receive and give in the relationships God places in my path.

As I read through the compelling case that Larry makes for my gender identity, I thought about all the times that I have wanted to shut others out, turn away in retreat and wallow in insult and hurt. The challenge to live fully female is the challenge to take relationship risks.

The bottom line of this challenge is to give without expecting to get and then give some more.

I am determined to allow this truth to challenge how I engage with people.  I want to be fully female in my relationships BECAUSE I do want others to see God when they see me. The depth of my existence as a reflection of the triune God flattens me and simultaneously frees me.

I have permission from my Creator to just be me. I don’t need to pose or pretend or hold back or try to fit in. I am free to open up and let others see me. This truth makes me weep. When I get criticized or rejected in my vulnerability I need to hang onto the truth that I am being fully female in that moment and somehow and in someway somebody will see Jesus in me.

I want to truly know and be known in the lives of others because my womanhood is complete in this truth.

I just wish I knew then what I know now.

This is a book everyone should read.  As our culture dances around the gender identity issue and blurs the lines, it is refreshing to grapple with the biblical view of who I am. This book presents a compelling case for the “Who What When and How” of my femininity.

Worth Living - Absolutely!

Worth Living 

A book by Mary DeMuth

Just the title makes me smile!

WORTH LIVING…. It is a way of thinking and moving that changes what we think of as worthy. I think it should be a new verb.

“Worthliving”: (v) the act of engaging life with the truth that God created me because He thinks I’m worth it.

The struggle with worthiness is endless. Just last week a dear young girl that I am mentoring plopped down on my couch and shared her feelings of loneliness, disconnection from those who love her and her general sense of not feeling like she deserves much more.

Seems like all our technological connections, self-esteem awareness and behavioral science advancements have not improved our aptitude for feeling okay about ourselves.

Mary DeMuth shares timeless truth in a refreshing and candid way that actually causes me to pursue the quality of life that Jesus created me to have.

Worthliving is not about my circumstances for sure. Sometimes those suck wind! 

This is about how I choose to view myself, my God, my choices and the people in my life. This is about who Jesus destined me to be. It is rich, it is deep, it is sustainable, and it is full of “Other-focused” stories.

Mary, thank you for inspiring us to worthliving!

You are Already AMAZING!

A Great Study Guide by Holly Gerth

Right now I am on the Scarsdale Diet. Definitely a throwback for the 1980’s! It worked then and I am hoping it will work now!  I am turning 50 next week and all of a sudden I am feeling a bit old and creaky. Skin looks a little tired, sleep does not restore like it used to, and even after I apply make up I look like I need a make over!

When I picked up Holly Gerth’s study guide and looked at the title I was reminded of the truth that my culture wants me to forget.

I am amazing BEFORE the diet, the make up, the botox, the gym, the new shoes and the lash extensions. (not that I have Botoxed….yet!)

I live in the tension of self-care and self-critique.

God’s purpose for me comes into clear focus when my self-awareness level includes the truth that my worth is more than the sum of my contributions and attributions.

This study guide encouraged me to take a look at why I do what I do and what it is that I really need to focus on that will propel me toward the amazing truth that indeed I am already amazing.

Thank you Holly for your candid encouragement to embrace who God created me to be!

This is a great study guide for anyone struggling with insecurity issues, unrealistic demands, and over-whelming feelings of inadequacy….I think that would include all of us!

Verse 4 Your Purse: AudaciousBy Beth MooreI’ve always wondered about...

Verse 4 Your Purse: AudaciousBy Beth Moore

I’ve always wondered about...: Audacious By Beth Moore I’ve always wondered about the fire. The first time that it welled up I was 15, it was a hot and humid even...

Audacious

By Beth Moore

I’ve always wondered about the fire. The first time that it welled up I was 15, it was a hot and humid evening and the preacher at that summer camp was challenging me to step out of my row and walk down an aisle and throw a stick in the fire. It was a symbol of full surrender to Christ.

I threw the stick in the fire that evening but was as if a spark from the fire landed on me. I went home forever changed and over the years the fire has flickered and glowed and blazed and smouldered but it has never gone out.

Sometimes the fire hurts and sometimes it makes my heart beat fast and my palms get sweaty and sometimes I just get indignant and a tad belligerent and I wish I was like everyone else. Content to enjoy the pursuit of travel, lunch with friends and new shoes.  I have struggled to understand how you can participate in weekly bible study and not get charged up about what you see in the pages of scripture. I have not understood apathy, maybe because of how I am wired, but truth be told, the drive to pursue Jesus has just never gone out, its just there.

I visited the Brooklyn Tabernacle last week while in New York,  and I cried through the whole service because the Holy Spirit was there and I just did not know what to do with myself, and when I read Audacious I am reminded that I am not alone.

There are lots of us who desire more. Many who believe that the Holy Sprit still speaks to us and leads us to do the improbable.  

I am in awe of Beth’s courage to write a book about what we hardly dare to think about. I am grateful to know that with all our sophisticated technology, retinol creams and ever-changing home décor it is still

“bang on” 

“in style” 

to be

“on fire” for Jesus.

This book is a must read for every person who wants to be challenged to feel more, dream bigger and live life with the commitment of a fully engaged disciple.

It challenged me to live like Jesus is coming back a week from Tuesday at 1pm!