Tag: gracious living

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Treasure

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During a recent trip to see my daughter, we visited with a young woman I mentored years ago who is now a spiritual big sis to my daughter. The three of us enjoyed a fun dinner night out in LA together. Our lively conversation reminded me of the joy that overflows from a mentoring relationship. 

In my book, Gracious Living, a chapter is dedicated to the importance of mentoring. I’d like to share a story from it: “I was reading 2 Kings 7 recently and came across the story of four lepers suffering in the time of famine. They concluded they would die where they were, so they might as well risk going to the enemy camp of the Arameans who might spare them.

“As the lepers entered the enemy camp, they discovered empty tents and abandoned horses.  Scripture tells us, ‘When these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and carried from there silver and gold and clothes, and went and hid them; and they returned and entered another tent and carried from there also, and went and hid them’ (2 Kings 7:8). Reading this, I quickly sensed a summons in my spirit: This is what the women in your generation have done, Margaret! They have eaten and drunk of My goodness and gathered treasures of Mine but have hidden them.

“Talk about a head thump! Whether through insecurity or selfishness, my generation of women has journeyed intimately with Christ but hidden those treasures. What a loss! The four lepers in 2 Kings finally came to their senses. ‘We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent…let us go and tell.’ (2 Kings 7:9)

“It’s time for us to come to our senses too. I believe a movement is rising for mature women to invest in younger generations and to mentor these women into spiritual maturity. It’s time for us to go and tell! We possess a treasure map leading to riches in Christ, and we must share it.” (Gracious Living, pp. 164-165)

In these crazy Covid days, many people hunger for community and discipleship. I have never regretted investing in someone’s walk with God. And sometimes, that person then grows up to mentor and inspire our own children—oh my goodness!  Such joy. Who is investing in your spiritual life, dear friend? And how are you coming alongside other believers? Your life is a treasure to share.

Join the many groups of women going through my book Gracious Living together. You can find it at www.MargaretAllen.org or anywhere that books are sold.

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Shifting the Atmosphere

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Wisdom writings in the Bible said: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away.” (Ecclesiastes 3) I’ve been reflecting on what brings joy in life and what doesn’t. It’s easy to get stuck in patterns that aren’t helpful or healthy. Us moms often have a finger on the pulse of our homes: are people tired, frustrated, bored? Are we in a slump of watching TV every night or retreating to our own rooms? Maybe we are already anticipating what Thanksgiving will be like with family this year. Now is the time to evaluate how we are doing and make mid-course adjustments. We can introduce change in thoughtful and fun ways. Does our family need nurturing or change right now? Here are five easy and inexpensive hacks to shift our home atmosphere this week:

  1.  Get outside. Even if it’s just going for a walk in your neighborhood or playing games in the front yard, it feels good to get outside and move around. If you have more time available, hike the nearby mountains, enjoy the sunset, or play at a park or beach. We all need a change of scenery. Simply discover the space that speaks to you. Ahh, fresh air!
  2. Serve somebody. Our lives are meant for higher purpose and nothing feels better than to serve others. Bake cookies for a neighbor, volunteer at a family shelter, babysit for a single mom. We all are seeking connection in this difficult time. Volunteer opportunities abound and, as much as you can make service decisions a group effort, you will witness your family’s heart light up with meaning.
  3. Set boundaries on your time. Now that we are working from home and living at work, we need structure. Note your work schedule, technology use, time sitting vs. active and so on. Design a weekly schedule that creates the life you long for. Does your time allow for relationships, creativity, exercise, great food, music, and gratitude? Setting mindful boundaries gives us space to savor the good things in life! 
  4. Create a Spiritual Climate. How can we withstand the negativity in our culture right now if our families have no shared spiritual experiences? Let your kids hear you pray, worship, read scripture. Discuss what God is doing in your lives. Read a few scriptures together after dinner each night. It is never too late or too early to establish a godly culture within your home.
  5. Learn together. If this entire year is just one big time-out, we might as well learn something! Kids love learning alongside their parents. Watch YouTube videos to master juggling, or how to paint a landscape like Bob Ross, cook Thai cuisine, design 2020 T-shirts for your family, and so on.  We all have something we wish we could improve if we only had the time. 

To everything there is a season. What’s working for you? Go to www.MargaretAllen.org for declarations to speak over your life and to get the book, Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love, and compassion.

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What is Essential?

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Our lives have been reduced in the last six months. Besides the closing of many small businesses, movie theaters, and salons, here in Silicon Valley, churches are online or extremely limited in-person capacity. Have you missed gathering?  I’ve been to three in-person church services over the past month. They were unique settings in different cities but they had one common denominator.

We looked up a church to attend while traveling in Idaho. “Let’s try something different,” I told my family. We chose a small Pentecostal church. Arriving, we realized it was PENTECOSTAL, as women wore dresses, no makeup, and some wore little doily head coverings. Instantly I regretted my bright red lipstick. Our family grinned at each other, rolled our eyes a bit, and expected little from this odd group of people. “Man looks on the outside, but God looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Guilty here! The worship was sincere and pure. The message was genuine, thoughtful, and Christ-centered. We were surprised and refreshed.

The next service we attended was a mountain chapel in Twain Harte, California. I had been invited to preach and to bring my book, Gracious Living. It felt so good to worship at church together. I was pretty certain about the message God had put on my heart and could see the chord it struck in people by their heart-felt responses. I felt fully alive!

The third service was a Wednesday night women’s meeting in South San Jose. A rockin’ worship band played and we sang our guts out (not easy to do as we all wore masks). The sermon was an interview of mother and daughter pairs discussing their relationship with each other. They shared with honesty and raw vulnerability. It was inspiring and also informative.

The differences within these meetings were profound: we were white, black, and brown. Democrat and Republican. Rich and dangerously poor. Solid Christian families alongside many from very broken backgrounds. Pentecostal to charismatic to evangelical. The common denominator? Jesus in the room! Being fully present with people and God. Tears. Many cried at these meetings, encountering the pure love of God through Christ. We experienced His speaking voice in our hearts. We shared our stories and discovered we all have hurts in this life, but Jesus brings restoration. My friend, worshipping together with Jesus is the real deal!

“The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I have hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.” (Lamentations 3:24-25) 

“and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together.” (Hebrews 10:25) 

Is church essential in your life? For me, these three services were some of the most genuine, transcendent moments of my month. What’s happening in your walk with God these days? Are you gathering in-person to worship? Are you feeling connected to God and people or are there adjustments to make? I would love to hear about your journey.

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Scan the Landscape

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Sometimes our evolutionary survival traits are no longer helpful. Our brains, for example, are constantly scanning the landscape for what’s wrong. Our brains search possible threats and potential harm. But, because most of us are not in physical danger these traits are not so helpful. Researchers in gratitude and positivity have discovered that we must actually train our brains to look for the positive and good in life.

I woke up thinking about a disappointment with a friend. I started recounting ways I felt she hadn’t been supportive or engaged. As I began cycling into this negative train of thought, the Lord just tapped me on the shoulder in a way and turned my attention outside saying, Isn’t this beautiful? I was seated at a window seat in an upstairs bedroom that overlooks a grove of trees. The leaves were turning into lovely fall colors. Yes, it is beautiful, I thought. And, maybe instead of ruminating on all the ways I’ve felt rejected, maybe I should dwell for a moment on all the ways I’ve been celebrated and loved. God quickly brought to mind a handful of precious, godly people who have poured honor, love, compassion, and celebration over my little life. Within moments I felt encouraged and energized, ready to creatively engage with my day. Is it just me, or does anyone else struggle with their thought patterns?

Acknowledging beauty adds value to our lives. Meditating in gratitude calibrates our mindset. Knowing the Word of God, along with hearing His voice, determines our path. This is the scripture that God brought to mind while I was at the window seat: “The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) Please, read it again. God is not scanning the landscape for who messed up. His eyes aren’t roaming the earth to find what’s wrong! He is looking for who loves Him and will follow Him. It struck me that if He isn’t scanning the landscape for evil neither should I.

Do you combat reliving negative experiences while minimalizing positive encounters? I have to train my brain to search out the good in life! A solid instruction, written in the first century yet just being actualized by researchers today says: “”Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8) It is a worthy discipline to meditate on the good in life.  

My friend, I pray that the meditation of your heart today brings you joy and comfort. In the middle of the chaos, confusion, and negativity of this world, there is an oasis of peace and honor with God. Scan your landscape to discover the love He has poured out.

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Allow me to be a resource for your spiritual journey. Get my book, Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love, and compassion anywhere books are sold or on my website at http://www.MargaretAllen.org

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Give God Praise

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My worry list is long enough. I have to set it down and focus elsewhere. I started listing all the ways I could give God praise and I’ll tell you what, I had to shout!  Has God been good to you? Has He provided a way when there was no way? Has He repaired a breech, a broken place, that you thought would never get straight? Has He comforted you in your worry or fear?  Oh my goodness, let me just list a few ways I’ve seen His love displayed recently.

When I struggle with insecurity He answers with encouragement. I begin doubting the impact of my book and God graciously sends an encourager. Women I don’t even know have messaged me to say how my words inspired them. Just this week a young mom sent me this note (I share with her permission): “I’m on chapter 4 of your book and I can already say this is exactly what I needed to read at this time in my life.  I had been feeling the need to be a light and share more love and peace in this world and your book inspires me and shares all the ways I can do this.  It is a life changing way—a godly way—and I love it!” She concluded, “I thought I should share with you that your book moves me towards humanity and God.” Do you think God nudged her to share this on the very day I needed to hear it? He doesn’t have to encourage me this way; it is His goodness to do so.

My daughter has been looking for a job. She wasn’t certain about the direction to take with her career. She was prayerful in the process and sought out all kinds of good advice. Can I just give God praise right now? He didn’t have to, but I totally sense God’s hand in the direction she has taken. After a month of interviewing she got a great offer, and not for just a job but a career. He was watching over her entire process with kindness and provision.

Another daughter is working remotely. Her heart’s desire was to work from LA near her college friends while she could. It touched this mamma heart to see her pray about this hope and have opportunity after opportunity fall through. Just when she had pretty much given up on that dream, an email came inviting her to join a group of awesome Christian women in an apartment one block from the beach!

Even in our struggles, our lives are a showcase for God’s goodness! He loves to bless and encourage His children. We may battle doubts, insecurities, uncertainties, or just unmet dreams, but God is faithful to care. He is faithful to provide and protect. He makes a way where there is no way! God reassures us in scripture: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

These are just a few of the ways God has been good to me recently – how has God been good to you? If your immediate reaction is, well He hasn’t, I encourage you to look at your life with a different lens. Where has He helped you, protected you, provided for you? His goodness is waiting to be discovered.

Find my book, Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love, and compassion anywhere books are sold.

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Need a Break? Pt. 2

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Is the Sabbath relevant to Christians today? We ask the question like it is some bitter pill we must swallow, while the world outside is literally tripping over itself to market concepts of rest, self-care, mindfulness, gratitude, laughter therapy and other such shadows.

Christians, come on—let’s enjoy our beautiful heritage! From the very creation of the earth God modeled a Sabbath rest. Jesus said the Sabbath was made FOR us. (Mark 2:27) This gift of rest includes two facets: to stop working and to draw near in relationship to God. One day a week stop working! This requires faith though. How will we stay competitive if we take a day off? Our fear about performance roots into our identity whether a farmer, a Silicon Valley techie, or a minister. Few Christian businesses take this bold approach to obedience. Few individuals enjoy a truly restful, spiritual respite in their week.

My friend Shinae and her husband were compelled to build the rhythm of a weekly Sabbath into their young family after hearing a message on creating margin. She shared, “The Holy Spirit deeply touched our hearts about taking a full day off and relaxing spiritually, mentally, and physically on the Sabbath. Rather than doing our work and schoolwork on Sundays we finish by Saturday night. On Sunday we go to church, spend family time together hiking and biking. We invite friends over, read, and so on.” She ended with this, “I truly believe that taking a full Sabbath makes our family’s life more abundant and enjoyable.” 

One day in seven we design to look like heaven. Go ahead, imagine heaven and make your Sabbath mirror it– joy, peacefulness, childlike hope, laughter and wonder in the glorious presence of Christ the King. The believer’s rest includes a rest from strivings, a rest from fear, rest from working out a righteousness of your own, a rest from sorrow. As we place a boundary around this focused time, ask: Is our heart softened to hear God’s voice?  Are we positioned to receive from God Almighty? Can we offer Him the praise and honor due His Name? We set a boundary around our Sabbath to think higher, dream bigger, love more deeply, and find our stride with God.

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night…” (Psalm 92, A song for the Sabbath day.)

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If you need resources on how to walk closely with God, check out my book Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love, and compassion. It can be found anywhere books are sold, or at http://www.MargaretAllen.org.

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#RIPRBG

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You don’t have to always agree on her stance to appreciate her impact on our country, especially for women. Ruth Bader Ginsberg said, “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” Her opinions gave voice to women in our country deserving equal rights along with equal opportunities. 

I know I don’t usually talk politics but may I share what RBG represents to me? Included in my book, Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love, and compassion, is a story about a college student who said she couldn’t be friends with someone who believed there should be a wall. “I burst out laughing. ‘That’s bull, I said. Look at Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Antonin Scalia! They couldn’t have been farther apart in their political views, and yet they were lifelong friends who enjoyed family vacations together. You couldn’t be friends with someone with a different view on how to run the country? Do you realize how narrow-minded and petty that view is?” (p.55) Surely, we can be bigger than this.

David French summed it up for me in his recent tweet, “I hope and pray that the passings of Justice Scalia and now Justice Ginsburg don’t also herald the end of an era they modeled in their own relationship – when deep friendship could flourish across profound disagreements.” RBG represented strong belief coupled with a gracious lifestyle.

I know how difficult it is when our political views are bound with what we consider morally true. Many of us feel we are defending the moral rights of humanity with our politics. RBG gripped impassioned morals in her political stance and yet she didn’t allow it to be a defense for isolationism or hostility.  I question a sense of morality that promotes behavior contrary to basic human kindness.  

The Psalmist wrote, “My soul has dwelt too long with one who hates peace. I am for peace; But when I speak, they are for war.” (Psalm 120:6,7) We are entering a contentious season for our country. Are you for peace, dear Christian? Are you a person of peace? (The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, meaning wholeness, peace, harmony, wellbeing) Or are you for war- for discord, variance, strife, and quarreling? Are you bent on continual hostility? I know kind and gracious Christians who contort into angry, snarling beasts on Facebook.

In this election season, I am committed to RBG-style “deep friendship that flourishes across profound disagreements.” No matter which side of the aisle, I am bound to the human right and dignity of every person I encounter. I am creating cultures all around me—in my home, my church, the grocery store, work, and social media—full of honor, love, and compassion. How are you creating a loving environment in your circles of influence? Please share your methods of bringing peaceful, healthy discourse.

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You can find my book, Gracious Living, at www.margaretallen.org or anywhere books are sold. 

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Need a Break?

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I don’t mind working from home, it’s living at work that wears me out! Are you just done? Over it? Needing an infusion of creativity, energy, and vision? I know of something that helps, but my answer may surprise you. This is a habit that productivity consultants and the Bible agree on.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God…For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20)

Before our mind races to an image of people huddled around their Bible by candlelight, consider what it could look like for us to take a Sabbath. In my book, Gracious Living, I describe a process: “My husband and I made small changes in habits and reaped the family benefits of this gift of the Sabbath. We purposed to make Sunday a restful day. That meant the tiny changes of finishing all the laundry by Saturday, choosing not to get online or watch television, and instead having family night where we played games, worshipped, and had devotions. Andy and I used to laugh that we couldn’t buy a nap on Sundays, but we sure tried!” I’ll add that we also skipped dinner on Sunday evenings as a way to lessen the work load while also modeling prayer and fasting to our children.

Dear Parents, if our kids are doing school online all week, they need a break from technology. How can we possibly develop a healthy family culture if we are never all together in an undistracted environment? “Those Sabbath days we not only modeled how to listen to God and enjoy His nearness, but also how to listen to each other and enjoy each other’s friendship.  It trained each of us to live in a mindful, restful, reflective rhythm each week. It gave us permission to pull out of frantic busyness and breathe. Embracing the grace and rest of a weekly Sabbath filled us with the energy to give others grace throughout the week.” (From Gracious Living, p. 96) Not only is our personal life energized by this day set apart, but also our professional life. Productivity experts advise executives to take a day with no texts, emails, or work calls to evaluate the big picture, birds-eye view of life.

As working from home and living at work have blurred any sense of normalcy, setting up a boundary like a Sabbath will actually increase our creativity and zest for life. Interestingly, Jesus said “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28) This boundary was designed by God FOR us. Jesus described the Sabbath as a gift to help us rest and savor life. It is not meant to be a rigid ruleset that confines our activities. Rest is a good thing. Reflection and mindful living are good things! Consider enjoying a Sabbath this month and record what you discover.

I would love to hear how you have created a pattern of rest in your life. Does anyone else follow a Sabbath? Let us hear from you! Share any habits that have worked for you and your family.

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I talk about ways to walk closely with God in my book, Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love, and compassion. It is available anywhere books are sold. http://www.margaretallen.org

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God’s Thumbprint

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In what feels like day 666 of this stupid year I am searching for hope and direction. I wonder how to reflect the love of God in this climate. I ask myself, am I truly changed by Christ; do I look like Him? Now I want to touch a deeper truth, so hang in with me! God showed me something so darn cool. 

 He brought to mind a seed. A seed contains the complete imprint of what it produces. In one tiny apple seed lies all the genetic and cellular information needed to produce an apple tree. Nothing needs to be added to that imprint of a seed other than favorable conditions of water, soil, and sunlight.

Now consider this:

1 Peter 1:23 “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” I am reeling from the implications of this truth. Add to it John’s words:

John 1:12,13 “He gave the right to become the children of God to those who believed in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” It’s like we carry the thumbprint of God in our heart!

We are born of imperishable seed. We are born again not by the will of flesh but by the will of God. When we said yes to Jesus Christ, we were born again to become a brand new being. In that seed contains the complete imprint of who God designed us to be! Our part is to partner with the process by choosing favorable conditions to life. We can choose to spend time in the Word, prayer, and service.  We can partner with honor, love, and compassion. His life has been planted in every believer. No matter our highs and lows, closeness or distance with God or people- we bear His image because we are born again, not of perishable or corruptible seed. God was actually delighted to bring us into this new relationship of being His children.  He is excited to lead us to fulfill our destiny, not of our own effort, but by partnering with the treasure He has already planted in us. This is great news.

My friend, do you wrestle with doubts about your spiritual growth? Do you question how you reflect His life? I would love to hear how this picture of being born of His seed is transforming for you. It may feel like day six-hundred of this year, but we can learn to rest in God’s goodness. We can trust His gracious design.

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Have you gotten your copy of Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love, and compassion? Get it today on Amazon or http://www.MargaretAllen.org

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Faithfulness

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Every now and then in life we get a glimpse of the broader picture that we are in: the people who shaped our lives as well as the ones we are pouring into now. This week I reconnected with influential people from my past and honestly, it humbled me. I visited with two of my mentors: Judy, my Sunday school teacher when I was a brand-new Christian in high school, and Jim, the pastor who fought against denominational precedents for women to secure my licensing as a minister. These two invested in me at a time in my development as a human being that would cause even the most hopeful to doubt. But they walked the walk; they demonstrated to me a powerfully grounded and guided life in Christ. The fruit from these two saints, walking faithfully with God into their 80’s, will never be fully known this side of heaven.

In the middle of our dinner, Judy’s iPhone alarm sounded. At eight o’clock every night her family stops to pray for our country. We all joined hands and prayed for a while and then seamlessly continued dinner. Judy delivers food and prayer each week to women she laughingly calls “old people” (she is just a few years younger). Every morning Jim prays over the phone and discusses scripture with his grandson in the military. Jim pastored a church until a stroke reduced his health this year. For both Judy and Jim, their lives are filled with serving the poor, sharing the good news of salvation in Christ, fighting injustice, and re-presenting Jesus in their daily life.

Faithfulness. Consistency. Serving. I know they aren’t very sexy concepts in a time where we are all looking for three easy steps to Zen. Showing up, matters. This walk with God is not a sprint. It is a lifetime of small and large choices. It’s choosing to sit at the feet of Jesus every day to listen and to learn. It’s setting an alarm to pray for our nation, our community, our family. It’s loving the person in front of you, no matter what their politics, orientation, or Covid compliancy. It’s turning away from all our media distractions and actually investing in the two things that are eternal: people and the presence of God.

Here’s my prayer this week, and it’s as raw and vulnerable as can be:

“Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.” (Psalm 25:4-7)

My friend, what decisions are you bringing before God today? Are you walking a faith-filled Christian life? May He show you His ways and teach you His paths. May God bless you and increase your influence. May He shine through your faithfulness and serving. May God bless you and give you peace.

Thank you for reading my blog! If you are looking for resources for yourself, or for a group study, check out my book, Gracious Living, creating a culture of honor, love and compassion. You can find it at www.MargaretAllen.org or Amazon.