A Lesson from Frozen

In honor of Frozen being released on DVD, I thought I’d devote a blog post to some things I took away from it (besides the song, “Let it Go” getting stuck in my head).

It has been a long time since I loved a Disney movie as much as I did Frozen. Besides the incredible music and powerful story, I related to the characters in deep ways. If my sister had frozen our kingdom before running away to hide from the world, I would have blamed myself just like Anna did, arriving at her door shouting, “It’s just me; your sister, who made you freeze summer.” When someone that Anna loved turned out to be a creep and justified his behavior with, “You were so desperate for love that I knew I could get what I wanted” I literally got chills. 

My heart ached most for Elsa and her legitimate refusal to let anyone in, isolated by the thing that made her different, born with a power she never asked for and didn’t seem to have any control over. I think I would have stormed off to build a castle of ice too.

But what hit me first was the scene where Elsa and her family must come to grips with her power and one of the dwarves tells Elsa, “Fear will be your greatest enemy.”

Is that true or what? At least I know it has been in my life. Elsa’s story reminded me that:

Fear isolates us. Think about how much time she missed out on with her sweet, fun-loving little sister.

Fear robs us of fun. She couldn’t even enjoy her own coronation.

Fear brings out our worst. As we see every time she is confronted or exposed.

Fear hurts those who love us. Did it not rip your heart out every time Anna knocked on her sister’s bedroom door asking to build a snowman?

Fear causes people to misunderstand us. When she pushes her sister away, it’s easy to forget that Elsa really is a nice girl; she’s just afraid.

Fear holds us back from our potential. Elsa's fear of exposure and the bad things that her power could do prevented her from discovering the good she had to offer.

Fear must be faced eventually. And Elsa spends most of the movie facing hers just as I have had to face many of mine in recent years.

When has fear been your greatest enemy? What fears is God helping you overcome? How has He helped you grow in courage?

Not Afraid

Have you ever noticed when you're struggling with something, if you pray, wait, and listen, God will send you help in unlikely ways? My biggie in life is fear. Usually, it starts as a tiny thought. But if I allow a smidgen of fear to stick around, it grows like kudzu. One fear connects with other random thoughts and starts new fears. Pretty soon, I'm covered up. Smothered. Consumed.

But, with God's help, I'm changing. Change takes a lot of hard work.

Daily, I'm putting a guard around my mind. I get to decide what kind of thoughts come in. And I get to tell fear to scram, in the name of Jesus.

This is a new friend, David Dalton, and his new single. I couldn't listen to it without dancing in my chair.



"Don't be afraid for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will hold you with My righteous right hand." Is. 41:10

So much love,
Julie

Messy Closet, Messy Heart

Some things I'm not too picky about. My closet, as you can see. My drawers. My pantry. So, I got to thinking. I'm so used to these areas of clutter, I don't even notice them anymore. I scrounge through my stuff until I find what I need and go on about my business.

Just for fun, I had a friend who's good at organizing take a peek into my pantry. "What do you think? How bad is it?" She's a good friend, so I wasn't too embarrassed.

"Hmmm."

"Tell the truth."

"Well, you could start by putting like things together. You know, canned goods and whatnot."

Then I started thinking. Is my heart cluttered? Are there messy areas inside me that I've been ignoring for years? Things I've overlooked? Habits I should do away with? Thoughts that weigh me down? Have I gotten so used to being the way I am, that I've not noticed the junk?

I'd like to say nope, that I was spotless on the inside. But I wasn't.

I actually made a list. I've struggled with these same areas for years. I'm working hard at changing. Even if it means I have to clean up my thoughts daily.

1. Fear.
2. Perfectionism (you wouldn't think so with the looks of my closet).
3. Choosing to please people rather than God.
4. Not trusting God--thinking I know best.

I'm working on my cleaning my closet, drawers, and pantry--and my heart. Thank you for reading. Can anybody relate?

Love,
Julie

The Fear Factor

This week I caught myself getting caught in up rumors about things like swine flu, politics, and whether or not I should be even more careful what I say on Facebook. I ended the week in a funk. It didn’t take long to figure out where my downer mood came from. I had let fear take over. On top of that I was dwelling on things that I couldn’t do anything about and didn’t know were 100% accurate. So I decided to take a break from these topics for awhile. You know what? I feel better already!

Do you occasionally find yourself consumed by fear over all that is going on in the world? Try these tips for reducing the fear factor:
1) Limit your time watching the news and following stories on the Internet. While it’s wise to be informed, dwelling on all that is going wrong isn’t healthy.
2) Make sure you are getting news from credible sources. Remember that some of what we see, hear and read is slanted by media bias or personal opinion, or is purely rumor. Stick to trusted sites, blogs, and news shows.
3) Focus on today. No matter what the news stories tell us we are clueless about tomorrow. Today is all have so we don’t want to waste it. Enjoy the moment and the people you are sharing it with.
4) Remember who is really in control. Take comfort in the promise that God is above all the events, laws, and speculation. Spend extra time with Him when fear tightens its grip.

Ask God to give you peace about the future and to help you trust Him with it.

Nervous

I am about to leave for the hosptical to have surgery. Several weeks ago I discovered that the obdominal pain that I’d been experiencing off and on was not due to stress; it was due to gall stones. So I’m off to have my gall bladder removed. I’m so nervous! Aside from having my wisdom teeth removed many years ago, I’ve never had surgery before. Since I had to wait awhile for an opening, I had just enough time to hear other people’s horror stories, read websites that pushed alternatives to gall bladder surgery (some of which I later learned were dangerous), and let my imagination run wild. I’ve heard everything from “You’ll breeze right through this” to “There are certain things that I can’t eat anymore so be prepared. It’s a total trial and error thing” to “Gall bladder surgery feels like getting hit by a truck!”

One thing that helps me get past all the scary comments and websites that leave me wondering if I should just live with the pain for awhile longer is the idea that many people are praying for me. More friends have reassured me than frightened me half to death. I know I have a great doctor who made the right decision.

So why am I still so nervous? It would probably be weird to NOT be nervous in a situation like this. After all, they are taking one of my organs out. But I keep going back to all the prayers that have been are going up, and the reality that I have a great God looking after me.
Maybe you can pray for me too. I’ll let you know how it all goes.

Quote Challenges

I love quotes. Last night at a friend’s graduation I was inspired by a few I’ve heard before, but the context of the ceremony and the students’ speeches revived their challenges for me. Here are some:

“I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

—Thomas Edison (who tried 10,000 alloys before discovering the filament that would work for his electric bulb)

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

—Seneca, Roman Philospher, 1st Century AD

"The greater danger for most of us lies in not setting our aim high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark."

—Michelangelo

All of these quotes challenge me to push forward, dig deeper, and aim higher; to enjoy the process of determined attempts even when I have to start over; to see the hope in changes even when good things seem to have come to an end; to strive for goals that are, no doubt, out of reach even when I could fall short.

Just wondering. In the above quotes, do you happen to see some scriptural parallels in stories or verses you’ve read recently? Up for sharing them here? And please also feel free to share some of your favorite quotes and what they inspire for you.

Jan

New release:

Eyes Online, Eyes On Life—A Journey Out of Online Addictions

(A story of a Colin’s journey of courage and others like him—guys and girls—who've discovered a way out their traps of compulsive Internet use.)

www.jankern.com

Fire, Fear, and Fullness

A couple weeks ago I was traveling through a beautiful canyon toward the northern California coast. The colored sky was filled with dramatic clouds only God could paint. Then the sky darkened over the mountains to the south and lightning shot toward the treetops. We didn’t realize these initial electrical cracks were the beginning of storms that would push California into a fire season that may become the state’s worst ever. It’s not over. Typical fire season for California doesn’t end until the rains of late fall.

Many Californians are in survival mode, fleeing their homes. Others are doing what they can to prevent a fire from taking everything they have—a fire not yet threatening, dreaded just the same.

Living in the country, surrounded by dry brush, I at times find myself in the latter group, consumed in fear of what to me sometimes feels inevitable but may not be.

Not a good way to live.

I have a dear, older friend who somehow works into every conversation the challenge to live fully. It’s what God designed us to do, she’d say.

I think she’s right. This week I’m challenged to look at ways I might be consumed by a fear or anything else that keeps my time or thoughts trapped in survival mode. I don’t want to just make it through a day or just survive my life. Instead, I want to be as available and open as possible to God’s work of fullness in each moment, no matter what the circumstances.

Psalm 16:11 talks about eternity that will one day bring complete fullness, but I believe the verse also hints of what I can experience now:

You have made known to me the path of life, you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (NIV)

Twenty-six words calling me to passionate fullness. Far beyond simply surviving. Definitely better than living in fear.

How about you? Have you ever found that you’re just getting through? Or that a task, fear, or difficulty has become so consuming that you’re in survival mode? What has helped you? What verses have you found stirring you to live more fully and passionately?

Please consider sharing. Someone might find encouragement in your experience.

Jan

http://www.choose2livefree.com/
http://www.jankern.com/

There’s a Monster Under My Desk

Remember the monster that lived under your bed? You know, the one that you leapt bedroom-door-to-mattress to avoid having grab you around the ankles? I had one under my bed, in the gap between my bed and the wall, in the closet, in the bathtub, in the . . . well, maybe I better stop before you start to worry about 12-year-old Jeanette. Oops, did I say 12-year-old? I meant 6-year-old.

Thou shall not lie.

Okay, so I was a scardy cat into my teen years. I confess. But that’s a blog post for another time.

Yesterday I discovered a monster under my desk. When I sat down with my Bible, my journal, and my loved-to-death copy of My Utmost for His Highest I heard a strange sound coming from the floor. My body stiffened. Had another mouse slipped through the cat door? I peek under the desk, instinctively tucking my feet up. Nothing. The sound got louder. Heart racing, I peeked again, just in time to see a black paw stretch out from the under the low shelf that houses my Internet router. Before I had a chance to gasp in horror, a familiar black-and-I-think-orange face poked out.

“Meow.”

Lucia, one of our two cats, had found a new hiding place. I laughed, feeling my heart slow to a more human pace, and stroked her as she stretched and yawned her way out. I found her in the same spot this morning. This time I smiled at the first rumbly purr/meow/yawn.

“Good morning, Lucia,” I whispered, marveling at how she managed to fit her body into such a tight space. I guess my office is her new bedroom and that cozy corner under my desk her bed.

That moment of fear turned to laughter made me think of a quote by Victor Hugo.

“The peculiarity of sunrise is to make us laugh at all our terrors of the night, and our laugh is always proportioned to the fear we have had.”

How often have I withered in fright, only to discover that the “monster” was one of our cats, my husband returning late from work, or my teenager rummaging through the fridge for a midnight snack? Afterward I always feel silly. Then I laugh at myself.

Am I the only one with a monster under the desk story? I’d love to hear yours.

Have a blessed, fear-free day.

Jeanette

If You Knew You Wouldn't Fail...

Pastor Robert Schuller is credited with one of my favorite quotes: “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”

I had this quote plastered on a wall of my classroom for years. And every day I would look at it, recite it, and then forget it. I hoped my students would get the message and take it to heart, but it sure wouldn’t be by my example.

Then a few years ago, I was asked to come back and speak at the high school baccalaureate at this same school. I spoke of dreams, of courage, and of fearlessness. And I walked off that stage and was overwhelmingly convicted that I was a total hypocrite.

All my life I had wanted to be a writer. Yet I had done nothing about it. Why?

Fear. (Okay, and a small amount of laziness.) I feared rejection. I feared ridicule (You want to be a what??). I feared not being good enough. I feared the dream being way bigger than I was.

And then I gave it all up to God and decided to just go for it. Through an amazing chain of events, God led me to a writer’s conference in September 2005. Armed with nothing more than twenty pages of a story, the prayer of Jabez in my heart, and one huge, totally- unlike-me-conviction that God was gonna move some mountains, I made a contact within twenty-four hours that would lead to my book contract.

Last week that book hit the shelves. In Between, a young adult novel, is the story of foster child Katie Parker, but it’s also the story of a turning point in my willingness to let fear control me. Because if fear is controlling you, God sure doesn’t have much to work with. 2 Timothy says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” Fear is not of God. I can look back and see a whole list of things I’ve missed in this life because I was afraid or lacked confidence. Granted, I’m still not touching a roller coaster, but I’m working on the rest of it—day by day.

It’s probably not a surprise at this point that I am terrified of heights. On spring break, I MADE myself go parasailing. And though I didn’t open my eyes for the first two minutes (longest twelve minutes of my LIFE), eventually I did. And I saw God’s expansive ocean beneath me. A LONNNG way beneath me. ; ) But I also saw dolphins swimming and jumping below, and clouds rolling by, and a view of the horizon that I couldn’t have witnessed from the safety of land.

I challenge you to tackle some fears. What’s holding you back? Pray and ask God to reveal your strongholds. Fear is crippling, power stealing, life robbing, and frankly, it just stinks. Fearlessness is so much more fun.

Speaking of fun, check out the picture below. Hmmmm…which one could I be? HA! I may have been a total baby on the way up, but oh, the victory was mine when the task was done! One fear conquered….a few thousand more to go…