Time to be accountable

Today I took coffee to my friend Michelle's house but I had another motive than just getting some caffeine and chatting. She's a new friend because recently I moved from Montana to Little Rock, Arkansas. Michelle works at my husband's office and we hit it off.

Recently, Michelle asked me to be an accountability partner, and I immediately said yes. In the past I've connected with friends in this way and it's really helped me on my Christian walk. Even though the word 'accountability' sounds overwhelming, I've found it's good just to have someone to talk to about: 1) things that are going well, 2) things that aren't going so well, and 3) how I'm dealing with them. As we chat, Michelle asks me questions about these things, and I ask her too.

Yet perhaps the most important part of meeting together is prayer and sharing God's Word. Today when we met Michelle and I spent five minutes praying for each other. Also during out talk, we brought in God's point-of-view on things. When Michelle was sharing her struggles, I talked about a Bible verse I had recently read that applied. Then, she did the same with me. Michelle not only shared her thoughts, she also reminded me of God's thoughts.

Have you ever considered having an accountability partner? Maybe you should think about it. Look around and think of someone who you enjoy being with—someone who is encouraging to you. This person doesn't have to have a perfect relationship with God, neither do you. In fact, hopefully through your time together you'll not only grow closer to each other, but closer to Him, too.

Perhaps you already have someone you share all the details of your life with. If so, consider taking that relationship to a new level. Pray, read Scripture, or read a devotional book together. Even best friends can become closer if they open up their whole lives to each other.

Encounter God

Recently I read about a ministry and church that works toward creating a place where those who come will be prompted to do more than simply watch what happens there. They hope people will encounter God. In the description of their goals, the word encounter stood out to me.

It could have caught my attention because I work at a ministry for at-risk youth that has used encounter as part of its name for almost forty years.

Mostly I stopped on that word because it prodded me, in a gentle, inviting sort of way, to begin to intentionally watch for opportunities where an encounter with God can happen. How often do I sit and watch a service or listen to someone teach a Bible lesson and passively take it in? God is nudging me to be not merely an observer as if he is far away and something to be casually considered or dabbled with. Rather he is Someone to be personally encountered and known.

It's not that this is entirely new to me (and it's in the Bible!), but I saw it a little clearer this time around.

God shows up wherever I go. Will I notice more? Will I participate? Will I dare to go deeper and encounter him?

So I considered ways to intentionally go beyond observation toward that encounter:

Pray and ask God for openness to him, for discernment and wisdom, for a willingness to be transformed.

In church, small group, or mid-week gatherings, while listening to a sermon or study, ask questions of myself and of God.

When in a discussion type of atmosphere or conversation, share my thoughts and questions. Humbly watch for ways to know God more deeply and to grow.

Practice thinking about God more throughout my typical day, naturally conversing with him even while doing the ordinary tasks.

Care about others. Prayerfully watch for ways to move out of my comfort zone to reach out to fill a need. Smile at someone who is frowning. Offer a word of kindness.

Look for natural ways to move beyond the usual comfort-zone conversations—about music, TV shows, movies, for instance—toward what’s happening personally with those I'm talking with, what matters at the core of who they are and what God might be hoping for them.

That's a start anyway.

Enjoy your day. Expect an encounter.

Jan
author of the Live Free series, Standard Publishing

true stories, true hope

for teens, young adults,
and those who care about them.

Inspired

I love laughing, and one person I really enjoying laughing with is my daughter.

Last weekend, I was taking pictures of her for her college graduation announcement. We started by an old oak by our deck and ended up at a small walking bridge at a pond below our house. She was standing and sitting in different positions on the bridge. I thought I'd try to get what I thought would be a really cool picture by focusing the shot through some of the tall grasses at the edge of the pond.

Okay, go ahead and guess what happened next.

Yep, I ended up in the pond. I was on my side, left leg submerged in the muddy sludge, and holding my camera high to save it from water damage. I couldn't get up, and Sarah could barely help because we were both laughing so hard.

As I write this post today, I'm realizing how inspired I am by many young women. Some of those include those of you who shared your stories and perspectives for my last post. Another is my daughter.

She came to Christ at a young age, but I knew by her many questions that she was totally serious. Over the next years, I continued to be challenged by her questions and thoughts about the world and God. Now that she is about to graduate from college later this month, I can tell you it hasn’t let up.

No, she isn’t perfect. I know that and she knows that. But what I see is that she tackles life with a full realization that at the end of herself she finds God’s great intervention. She’s not afraid to be challenged by the hard stuff and to be confronted by the frailties of her human nature in the face of God’s presence in each circumstance. She longs to hear God’s voice as a whisper or a roar—however he wants to speak—but most often she is listening while she is serving. Like many of her generation, she is passionate about people and causes beyond the borders of her own culture and experience, but she operates out of a determination not to make any cause a god.

She wouldn't claim that her faith is unshakeable, but it is real—very real. So her relationship with God is amazingly deep. And that inspires me. Every day I'm thankful for the many like her who are rooted deeply and doing whatever it takes to grow in their faith and be open and available to make a difference in this broken world.

By the time I was the age she is now, or perhaps the age you are, I had not been a Christian long. I don't wish for a second any different beginning to my walk in Christ. For where I was in my young faith, God was working in me and using me too.

As you commit to his transforming work in you, God will work in you and use you probably more powerfully than anything I've known. Keep asking questions, growing deep, and sharing what he's doing in you.

And don't forget to laugh along the way! Join me at the pond.

Jan

http://www.jankern.com/
http://www.choose2livefree.com/ (launching soon!)

Immanuel 2008

I have known some who barely notice the turning of one year into the next. Just another twenty-four hours sliding quietly into another.

It doesn't feel that way to me.

This year those seconds ticking down and then the welcome of the new year were quiet for me, but very noticed. I hadn't yet let go of Christmas. I mentioned in my blog post a month ago that I love Christmas. I wasn't kidding.

So as the New Year came, I wasn't quite ready to let the season go. For the most part, I didn't mind packing up the ornaments, even as much as I enjoy how those seem to make my house feel more warm and upbeat during December. But those items do tend to be reminders for me of God's gift in Jesus—Immanuel, God with us—my favorite Christmas theme. I realized it was that "theme" I wasn't ready to let go of.

But I don't have to.

As I spent time praying on New Years Day, I realized, God-Immanuel is a thought I can, with intentionality, take with me throughout the year.

God is with me. Not just at Christmas, and not just as a babe in the manger.

I thought about the year ahead and wondered what it would bring. Most of all I wondered, on December 31st of 2008, when I look back, where will I have so clearly seen God with me, God with us.

Will I have noticed him? Invited him?

Will I have lived more fully, breathing in and out his love, drawing from the deep well of his wisdom?

Even in the dark or painful moments, where without him I am crushed, will I have seen him as God-Immanuel and known he was with me?

Will I have sought a new depth of relationship with Jesus, God-Immanuel? I hope so.

That is my prayer. And it's my prayer for you.

Jan

http://www.choose2livefree.com/