Meet Jeanine

Morning Quiet Time & Finding God in the Everyday Moments

5/19/2019

I have found that the best time for me to have my daily, morning quiet time is right after I get up. If I try to wait until I've gotten a few things done, I forget about it and then, don't want to stop the momentum to do it.

But I am not a morning person, so that period of time right after I get up is the one Dolly Parton sang about, where I "yawn and stretch and try to come to life." Sometimes I am just not in the mood to be social, big-time introvert that I am.

So I struggle sometimes to know where and how to begin in those first few moments. And I'm finding that the devotional I want to talk to you about today, really helps me start that holy conversation and connection during those beginning "is it really morning?" moments.

Watch the video to learn a little about it...

Everyday Holy: Finding a Big God
in the Little Moments

I am really enjoying this devotional. Her style is so down to earth and relatable. And reading the devotionals gives me a jumping off point in those early morning moments.

She talks about God, and our relationship with him, in a way that makes me feel like I've had a conversation with her, and makes me want to continue the conversation with him.

I've spent a lot of time believing I should be more like this Bible teacher or more emotional like that person or hear from God in a certain way...but God has made me to be me. And he's made you to be you. If God were after only one type of relationship with one type of person, it would have been a whole lot easier to create one person and be done with it. - Melanie Shankle, Everyday Holy

5 Ways to Make this Devotional Part of Your Morning Quiet Time

(1) Connect with God's Presence - first, spend a few contemplative moments connecting with God. I promise he'll wait for you to wake up fully & be right there the whole time. :)

(2) Read the Bible Verses - I encourage you to glance at the Bible verses or passage first and go read the surrounding story in the Bible. Then, come back to the devotional.

(3) Read the Devotional in Everyday Holy - read her point of view about the Bible passage and think about how her wisdom and insight applies to your life or resonates with you.

(4) Talk to God about it - continue the conversation with God, especially about what the devotional and Bible verses mean to you, personally. Listen for what he has to say, too. And bring anything else to him that's on your heart.

(5) Write it Down - then, grab your journal and write down any insights you don't want to forget, and any messages from God you don't want to lose.

Now, that you're ready to incorporate it into your quiet time, I guess the only thing left to do is buy it.

What do you think? Is this a devotional you'd be interested in using?

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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Faith Books: Leaving Church

4/29/2019

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I thought that being faithful was about becoming someone other than who I was…I thought that it meant ignoring my own needs… I thought that it meant always trying harder… -Barbara Brown Taylor, Leaving Church

In the beginning of the book, Leaving Church, Barbara Brown Taylor tells us that she has always known God as a Divine Presence that she felt most connected to in nature.

It seemed an effortless connection, but she didn’t have words for this Presence until she began to hear people talk about God.

Because, as she said, she wanted to be close to God always, she decided to major in religion in college, and then, go to seminary. She was following God all the way into a career, and eventually, she was ordained as an Episcopal priest.

These stories are about the phase she describes as “finding herself.” Two more book sections follow, one about losing herself and the final one, about finding herself again. She says that we go through each of those stages in our lives, again and again.

In the stories about losing herself, she says a lot that I can relate to about busyness and wanting to help. But, they both led her away from her connections, both with God and with herself, as she took on more and more, and kept saying yes.

Her busyness seemed to be about trying to do enough, trying to help everyone she could. It was hard for her to let go of that in order to get the rest she needed.

I think the part I can relate to is how hard it was to let go of it, but for me, it has always been about being enough, or becoming enough, rather than doing. There seemed to be virtue on offer, just in the trying, in the busyness, itself, because of the possibility of getting there someday.

Eventually, I realized that I wasn't actually getting anywhere, except farther away from myself, and she seemed to have a similar realization.

In the final section, she describes the road back to herself and to peace, but I was left wanting to know more about where she was with God at the end. Her faith had changed along the way, had shifted, but to what?

Most of it is really great writing, but I felt like it ended in a kind of vague place. Maybe that was a reflection of an unresolved time, or a resolution still in progress.

I loved learning the story of her journey of faith, in general, though.

What do you think? Is it the kind of book that would interest you?

And can you relate to her idea of the three phases in life: finding yourself, losing yourself and finding yourself again? That could make a great slow faith journaling question, especially if you felt inspired to look for memories of those stages at work in your own faith journey.

See you tomorrow!

Love, Jeanine

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God Unrecognized: The Grief Walk (Microfiction Story + Journal Prompts)

4/28/2019

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What would it be like to have God walking with you and not know it? And is it possible that it happens to you all the time?

Microfiction: A Fictionalized, Modern
Retelling of Luke 24:13-35

We had decided to take a walk. I just couldn’t stand being in that gloomy living room with the rest of my friends for another minute.

Normally, I loved to hang out with them. They’d come over, I’d make popcorn and we’d all watch movies. I could count on them to show up a couple of hours after church each Sunday.

But today, we were just sitting there, in silence. And I couldn’t stand it.

When my best friend, Amy, suggested we go for a walk, I was so relieved, I’d have agreed to go jogging – and if you know me, that’s saying something.

We loved walking in our neighborhood, though usually under much happier circumstances. I wasn’t hoping for much from this walk, but I thought maybe it would be nice to feel the soft breeze on my face.

You see, our closest friend had just died. It was shocking to us, although she’d told us she thought something was coming.

She’d just preached a sermon last week that made us both laugh and cry, and today, someone else was standing up there in her spot. How could someone filled with so much light, be struck down in such a violent way?

As we turned the corner, onto the long side street with so many beautiful trees, just beginning to bloom with spring, Amy told me she was considering taking a break from church, because it had been so painful not to see Jessica there today.

We both had loved her from the minute we met her, and we knew they’d pick her to be our new pastor. She had a way of talking about the life of faith that made us want to keep her talking so we could have it exactly the way she described.

We’d just told her that a couple of weeks ago, that we were so grateful for the way she gave us a new and deeper understanding of God, and encouraged us in our faith. She always came over on Sundays, too, so we made her say the prayer whenever we decided against popcorn, in favor of a real meal. She was so kind, so warm and friendly, and so approachable that just being around her made your day better.

I didn’t know how I was going to manage church, without her, either.

But before I could respond, and try to talk us both into sticking with it, we saw someone walking toward us, waving. I thought maybe I’d seen her at church, but when she got up to us, she told us she’d seen us walking around the neighborhood and wanted to walk with us.

Her name was Laura, she said, and she told us she’d heard us talking one day about our church and had wanted to find out which church it was, so she could go check it out. We looked at each other, communicating silently that we’d tell her what had happened, and then began to explain how we’d just lost our pastor.

She listened as we all walked toward the park at the back part of our neighborhood, and it was so good to talk to someone who didn’t know the story. I could tell she really understood how heartbroken we were.

And even though it’s impossible to know what to say to someone in a situation like that, her empathy was perfect, and we knew we’d found another friend.

Amy never mentioned taking a break, but somehow, while those soft breezes became our companions on the way to the park, Laura got us talking about all the other reasons we loved our church, and by the time we reached the park, she not only said she was coming, but got us to agree to meet her there next Sunday. She turned to head back home, but said she was so glad she’d met us and was looking forward to seeing us next week.

We sat down at the park for a while, just hanging out, and I realized that I felt a little bit better. Talking to Laura had really helped.

I mentioned that to Amy when we began the walk back to my house and she said she felt the same way. I think we both felt relieved we’d promised to go to church next week.

I was even looking forward to seeing my friends again back at the house.

This Passage Inspired the Story Above

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. - ESV, BibleGateway.com

Slow faith suggestion: grab your journal & a cup of tea. Then, compare the story I wrote to the Bible verses that inspired it, thinking through the journal questions and applying them to your life. The most important question is the one below...

2 Journal Prompts for Reflection

(1) The fictional walk around the neighborhood was inspired by what happens on the road to Emmaus. I got the idea after reading the passage during a quiet time, and mentally, placing myself into the story.

Give yourself a brief meditation moment & imagine that you are one of the people on that road. What are you feeling?

Imagine having someone come alongside you who makes you feel the way you do during your prayer time with Jesus. The same, but more, because you can see this person, feel his or her energy, hear the person’s voice in response to whatever you say.

How do you think those moments of connection would feel?

Have you ever experienced a Jesus-with-skin-on moment like that before?

(2) Those two people on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus because they were experiencing him in a different way than they had before. What might have made their experience of him different?

Do you think that your experience of him in spirit might be different than it would be if he were walking down the road with you in person?

How can you deepen or shift your connection with him in spirit, so that it’s closer to what what a 5-sensory ultra-magnetic, physically warm & loving connection might be like in person?

Are there times when you don't recognize his presence?

Though the story at the beginning of this post did not actually happen, I believe it could have. I believe that, as women of faith, we have moments like that all the time.

We get distracted or upset, and just when we need most to know that God is right there with us, we don't notice or recognize him.

He understands, of course, because he knows us. But he also wants us to be able to hear his voice, know his presence and connect to his love at any time. The key to doing so is spending more time just connecting.

More slow, Mary faith and less Martha busyness.

Wishing you deeper connection and the certainty of knowing he's with you always.

Love, Jeanine

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A Faith Book about Spiritual Doubt

4/22/2019

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It's Easter Monday and today, we're exploring a faith book about how to handle doubt as a woman of faith...

Doubt like Thomas's can be a positive thing, especially if it brings us closer to God. Doubt can help shape our faith. - Sheryl Giesbrecht Turner

faith book for women, faith book for moms

I think what I love most about this book is her effort to normalize doubt, as part of the Christian experience.

I used to feel guilty about my own doubt, seeing it as a flaw and a weakness. I thought that if I were a better Christian, I would have certainty, instead.

But in the book, the author suggests that doubt can actually help us create a closer relationship with God. That it can become a passageway both to deeper trust and to certainty.

I invite you to grow comfortable with doubting.
- Sheryl Griesbrecht Turner

What about You?

In your faith tradition, how is doubt handled? And what do you believe about it?

When you experience it, how do you react?

I have always wished it away. But because I was raised in an academic, prove-it-to-me kind of family, I have often struggled with it.

The book suggests accepting it, instead, and shows you how to use it as a launching pad into a deeper faith.

So, if you also tend to be a doubting Thomas, and would rather be a faith-filled Mary or Martha, I highly recommend this wise, comforting book. I loved it the whole way through.

Below the quote, I've included part of an interview where the author talks more about the book and about dealing with doubt.

And by the way, if you like reading inspirational books, get access to my lifestyle library, where I've got an article with links to all the faith book blog posts I've written, all in one place.

My lifestyle library also includes articles about slow living, hygge at home, perfecting your morning routine & other lifestyle topics.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

If ours is an examined faith, we should be unafraid to doubt. If doubt is eventually justified, we were believing what clearly was not worth believing. But if doubt is answered, our faith has grown stronger. I know God more certainly and I can enjoy God more deeply. There is no believing without some doubting, and believing is all the stronger for understanding and resolving doubt. - Os Guinness

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Easter: The Conversation at the Stone

4/20/2019

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A Creative Retelling, from John 20

Jesus: Mary

Mary: Rabbi, it's you! Oh, thank God. (she hugs him)

Jesus: Listen, I can't stay. I'm only here for a moment.

Mary: You can't stay?

Jesus: No, I just wanted you to see me before I left, and know that I'm okay. And I want you to tell the others.

Mary: What do you mean before you left? Where are you going?

Jesus: I'm going to go be with God. Tell them all I'll be with the Father. Your God, the one you already know.

Mary: But you came back.

Jesus: For just a moment. I have to go, but I will be with you all in spirit.

The Grief and the Glory

I often think of Easter in songs.

There's Keith Green's lyrics - "it is finished. He has done it. Life conquered death. Jesus Christ has won it."

But there's also Bryan Duncan's song - "Please know that I love you. I'll stay by your side. If only now in spirit. I'll still be your guide. You will not suffer long. I've suffered for you. I love you with my life."

When Easter comes, I feel the triumph of the victory, but right along with that is the sadness of the loss.

I think about the confusion Jesus's friends and family must have felt. None of them had expected the story to end this way. And it must have taken a while to sort out that it was also a beginning and a very important one.

Being with him, even for a moment, would have been wonderful. But then he left again. They wouldn't have understood yet what it meant to be with them in spirit.

So, I am an odd duck, I know, to relive grief every year along with the glory of his victory, but I do.

And I understand the bigger picture. I'm so grateful that he did leave, because now I can know him in spirit. And so can you.

But I want to say that it's also okay to miss him. To wish you could hug him. Or sit at his feet the way and have dinner with him, the way Mary and Martha did.

This Easter ending of the story foreshadows the one we all long for, the time still to come when we will be with Jesus and see him with our own eyes.

Happy Easter!

Love, Jeanine

I would like to say, just before I leave you, I'll be back some day. And with me I will take you. So do not be afraid. Only watch and pray. And wait for my return. ... I'll prepare a place where we can live together. And we'll be face to face. And share our new forever. ... Please know that I love you, I'll stay by your side. If only now in spirit, I'll still be your guide...
- Bryan Duncan, Love You With My Life

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Anticipating Easter: 5 Things I Learned During Lent this Year

4/19/2019

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This year, my approach to Lent was slightly different.

Less passive & more slow faith contemplative. Instead of just reading through a passage or devotional, I talked about it during my quiet time. I prayed it during my quiet time.

And I jumped into the story to get a closer view. As a result, the stories seemed more true & in an even deeper way than they usually do. They became more real to me in those moments.

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances. -Robert Flatt

5 Things I Learned During Lent this Year

(1) God is my God & I am his people.

When you personalize what you're reading in those Bible verses and passages, it almost feels like a story written just for you.

This year, I let go of a lot of the self-imposed rules about my faith - what I should be thinking as I read, what I'm supposed to get out of a passage, how a quiet time is supposed to go, whether or not my faith or beliefs are good enough. And I just dove in without the baggage.

Each time, I let go and begin again, it's at a deeper level. And my faith morphs into something a lot more God+Jeanine and a lot less this-is-what-it-should-look-and-feel-like.

(2) The one who knows us is with us.

Though you might feel like you've been dropped off alone in the middle of a never-ending story that isn't going your way, God is right there with you in it, caring about exactly what you're going through, in a way that you might not be aware of at the time.

If you're grieving, he's grieving with you. He knows that ultimately, you're going to be okay, but he also loves you & understands exactly what you're feeling. And what was even more important about this idea is the following...

(3) Feelings are normal.

The Lazarus story was my favorite this year. And one thing that really stood out to me was that Mary and Martha both understood clearly who Jesus was and what he was capable of, but still cried as they talked to him about losing their brother.

But not only did Jesus not chide them for being upset when they knew he could ask anything and God would grant it - that might be a slight paraphrase - he cried with them.

So, trusting him does not mean you can't be upset when things go wrong. Feelings are allowed.

(4) No matter what, God wants to use you.

It really stood out to me this year that Jesus sent out his disciples to do the same healing work he did. He loved them tenderly, and often seemed to be training them to continue being there for people after he was gone.

But these same disciples were often so clueless that half the time, they didn't seem to get who Jesus, why he was with them, or what was actually going on at the time. And sometimes, I could totally understand that because Jesus said some confusing things.

But they were still the ones he told his secrets to and he chose them, again and again, to be with him, to learn from him and to do the work he called them to do.

They were helpful in spite of themselves. And so are we.

(5) God is like Jesus.

I am grateful for all of the Lent and Easter stories because of what I learn and remember about what God is like. The tenderness, the radical acceptance, the healing, the friendship, the calling, the rescues and the miracles.

That's the God I walk with every day, my hand in his.

Knowing him and holding his hand - that's what Easter means to me this year.

What Does Easter Mean to You?

Renewal. Rebirth. New Beginnings. Hope. Restoration. Resurrection.

There are so many words that surface during this season as people write and speak about anticipating spring and Easter. What does this time of year mean for you, or in your life?

Here are a few journal prompts you can use during your next morning quiet time...

(1) How did your relationship with God or your faith grow during this season of Lent?

(2) Did you get any new insights on familiar Bible verses or passages?

(3) What does Easter mean to you this year?

Wishing you an Easter filled with meaning, or a spring filled with the possibility of renewal, or whatever you celebrate that you dive deep into its energy.

Love, Jeanine

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The Sabbath Simplicity Lifestyle, Part 2: How to Create One

4/17/2019

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What were Sundays like when you were growing up?

We'd go to church and then, sometimes go out to eat after the service. But once we got home, my mom would do the laundry. I can still hear the sound of Neil Diamond's "Soolaimon," sometimes also sung or hummed by my mom, in concert with the sound of the washing machine. I'd read with the music as a backdrop, sometimes singing along.

Yesterday, in part one of this two-part series on creating a sabbath lifestyle, I talked about how the book, Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity, inspired me to make changes toward creating a slower, sabbath lifestyle.

I described how doing so has changed my morning and evening routines. It's also changing my experience on Sundays.

But doing so in good ways, that make my days better. As I mentioned yesterday, it's a slow lifestyle, and her book is actually a slow lifestyle book.

Slow living always means taking more time to savor life, in addition to the Sabbath rest this lifestyle generates.

The heart of honoring the Sabbath happens on the day you choose each week, which for me, is Sunday. That is the shift I am tweaking even more than the other days of the week, toward rest.

Do you have a day of rest on the weekend?

“Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
- Mark 6:31 (NIV)

Shifting the Way You See Yourself

Sabbath Simplicity can become a lifestyle that helps you uncover your true self & keeps you from defining yourself in misleading ways.

In the book I've quoted above, the author makes the point that giving ourselves a Sabbath and spending time with God will infuse that day with love that has nothing to do with accomplishments or possessions.

She says that we sometimes see ourselves in terms of what we own or think we need to own. Or define ourselves in terms of what we have accomplished or failed to accomplish.

Taking a break from shopping and working breaks that spell and may make it easier to see ourselves the way God does.

Applied to myself, it means that when I choose this lifestyle, I become the person who loves Hallmark movies, and laughing with her son. Or the person who gets lost in a novel and returns to awareness to find that the light in the room changed as afternoon headed for evening.

Life, in those moments, becomes quiet times, and cups of tea. Family time and time with friends.

How to Create Sabbath Simplicity in Your Life

I suggest starting with creating moments of rest in your day. And then, you can move toward changing what you do on the weekends.

Try it right now: take several deep breaths in a row, before continuing to read.

Mentally let go of any stress you have been feeling. Stretch if you need to and then, take another deep breath or two.

Take a moment to imagine what’s next for you, in your day. Imagine it going smoothly and well before returning to what you are doing now.

Could you find a way to take a break like this several times a day?

The next step might be to create an hour’s rest in your evening that does not include multitasking. Time with family, time with your spouse, or time just for you. At the end of that time, imagine restful sleep that night, and a peaceful day the next day.

And finally, how might you create more Sabbath rest during your weekend, each week? What shifts would you have to make?

As this post comes to an end, I encourage you to continue thinking about your need for rest and how you might meet it.

A Gift for You

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To access Sabbath Hygge: 4 Ways to Use Hygge to Create Deeper Rest, other slow living lifestyle inspiration, and the rest of my lifestyle library, click the highlighted link.
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What are your thoughts about making time for rest?

Do you create moments of rest each day? And a weekly time of rest? If you don’t, what could you shift in order to do so?

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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The Sabbath Simplicity Lifestyle

4/16/2019

16 Comments

Just like my faith book posts, today's post and the part-two post, tomorrow, began with reading a book I wanted to share. But then, I realized that I wanted to share more than I normally would about the impact the book has had on me, and the decisions I am making as a result. Keep reading, and I'll tell you why.

rest: living in sabbath simplicity, sabbath simplicity

When I first downloaded the book, Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity, I really just wanted some encouragement to rest on Sundays. With my chronic illness, I am sometimes sick for long periods of time, and I find that when I don’t make it to church, it’s all too easy to make it just another day to work from home.

Reading the book did encourage me that Sunday needs to be a day of rest.

But then, the idea of sabbath simplicity as a slow living lifestyle began to call my name. And this slow lifestyle book was suggesting a lot more rest than I was getting at the time.

Was I finally ready to hear the common refrain my life kept trying to sound about how I needed to rest much more than I normally did?

It began to seem like the calling that it was. And finally, I started seriously thinking about how I could do it. How I could make it work.

And I found that it does work. Maybe it would work for you, too?

For women of faith, the sabbath simplicity lifestyle merits a closer look...

...you need only to be still. I know how weary you are…You have been struggling to just to keep your head above water, and your strength is low. I am calling you to rest in Me. - Jesus Today, by Sarah Young & Exodus 14:14

What is Sabbath Simplicity?

Sabbath simplicity is creating a slow living lifestyle around honoring the Sabbath. But not just on one day of the week.

Sabbath simplicity can begin with honoring the Sabbath once a week, but it also means gradually beginning to honor that rhythm every day. So, your deepest extended rest would begin on the weekend, but your daily rest can begin every evening with dinner and family.

We need moments of rest throughout the day, where we give our minds and bodies a chance to push the reset button. Creating a Sabbath Simplicity lifestyle will give you those moments.

My Own Plan for Sabbath Simplicity

Though I still need to shift toward a better weekly Sabbath rest, I am benefiting already from adopting the Sabbath Simplicity lifestyle during the week.

I start each day with a morning quiet time routine that includes reading the Bible, prayer and other inspirational reading. Which means my day begins with rest.

I work from home, but even when work is calling me to jump in and get started, my days go better if I have a morning quiet time first.

“If you are the type to keep running all the time, perhaps the first step on your Sabbath Simplicity journey is to begin to see the evening as a time to take a small rest, to reconnect relationally, to stop.”
- Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity

My after-dinner evening routine brings me rest, again. Though I sometimes do, my goal is to shift away from getting back to work after dinner and toward reading, watching something on TV, and hanging out with my son, instead.

I also pause, throughout the day, instead of rushing from one activity to the next. That pause seems to be lessening my stress by letting me sort of catch up to myself before going on to the next thing.

What would a Sabbath shift be like for you?

Tomorrow, we’ll talk more about this idea of creating a lifestyle around honoring the Sabbath. And I’ll share some other thoughts from the book that inspired me.

Meanwhile, download my new, free slow living eBook.

See you then!

Love, Jeanine

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Slow Living for Women of Faith

4/15/2019

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Our life with God is meant to have a rhythm, a cadence.
-Keri Wyatt Kent, Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity

The Slow Living Series

This post is part of a slow living series that can help you get cozy with the slow living lifestyle & finally, conquer mornings.

Here are the other posts in the series ...

The Slow Living Lifestyle and Philosophy
How Do You Want Your Mornings to Feel?
Tea and Meditation: Tea Ritual Ideas
The Slow Morning Solution for Night Owls

To download all of the slow living posts in a free printable pdf & bonus getting started checklist, plus extra bonus information about slow living for families, go to The Slow Living Series.

Finding Our Own Pace & Cadence

In this post, I want to take the slow living lifestyle philosophy and apply it to our life of faith and our relationship with God.

I believe that we are meant to learn from Jesus, how to find our own rhythm of living our lives and pausing to rest.

How to act and then, rest. How to serve and then, pause. Just like he did.

But what sometimes comes up for women as we think about slowing life down and taking time to pause and rest is this fear that we won't do enough (or be enough). We often define ourselves by how busy we are, by everything we are trying to accomplish.

As Christian women, we are called away from defining ourselves in any way that is not ultimately about God. And His is the voice that should inform how we spend our time.

When we strip away every circumstantial identity — writer, mother, wife — we are left with the only identity that can never be in question: I am a woman of God. When we define ourselves as women and men of God, ...our worth is no longer in question. - Erin Loechner, Chasing Slow

We must learn the rhythm that God has wired into us and to begin, we must pause. - Keri Wyatt Kent

The most important reason to pause, and to shift into a slow living lifestyle is to make sure that we slow down long enough and regularly enough not to miss God's voice.

That still, small voice is most easily heard when our hearts, minds and bodies are quiet. It's much harder to hear those whispers above the noise of our busy lives.

In my own life, when I was too busy, I was missing something. And we need God's wisdom too much to take a chance on missing it.

I love the way church sermons can sound like they were written for us. But that's not the same as the voice we hear in our own quiet times, speaking softly just to us, telling us exactly what we need right in that moment.

But God's voice is available all the time - not just during those moments when we spend time dedicated to Him.

In order to hear it, we can't do one thing while thinking about another. We can't live half in and half out of each moment, already mentally headed for the next thing.

That be here, now thing is for all of us. And it's imperative, because we have a connection with God to protect. An openness to hearing what we need to hear and to being shown what we might be missing.

3 Ways to Shift into a Slow Living,
Listening Connection with God

(1) Unhurried Quiet Times: in our quiet times with God, we can start our days letting God lavish us with His love for us (1 John 1:3) and then, we can lavish with love each part of our day, one thing at a time.

Bring your journal, so you can take notes. Write down the thoughts and insights and guidance you receive, and from time to time, go back to re-read it, to see how they are being woven into a story. And to make sure you are seeing the bigger picture.

(2) The Pause in Between: after fully engaging with each new moment of our day, we can pause. Refill, pour out, pause. Then, repeat, letting go as you pause, before moving on to the next thing.

The idea that we should rush, rush rush and hurry up to get there did not come from God, and it's hurting us. Slow living offers us a chance to honor the way God made us and slow down long enough to listen carefully to hear His specific call around developing our own pace.

Start with your morning quiet time routine. An upcoming post today will say more about the concept of slow mornings, but not address quiet times specifically.

How can you create a morning quiet time routine that is slow and unhurried, and gives you plenty of time to hang out with God? Make sure to give yourself enough time and freedom in your quiet times.

(3) Taking Time to Rest on the Sabbath: take a look at how you spend your Sabbath day. It's so easy to use it as a day to finish our chores, or get more done.

Do you use it to rest? That's our calling.

My blog posts tomorrow and the following day with be about creating Sabbath simplicity, which is a way of honoring the call to rest fully on the Sabbath.

When you can create a lifestyle that both honors the Sabbath and gives you moments to pause throughout the day (including your time with God), you will be honoring God's call to rest and leaning into your own God-made pace and rhythm.

What's the first change you feel called to make? Let me know in a comment.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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What is Slow Faith?

4/14/2019

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Slow faith is faith that develops over time spent in God's presence (Isaiah 41:10). It's a felt sense of who God is, along with the experience that backs it up.

It is dedicating time to sit at the feet of Jesus, the way Mary did (Luke 10:39), so that you can develop her faith and learn about him.

Slow faith is about giving yourself Sabbath rest and slowing life down (Matthew 28), so there's plenty of space for your morning quiet time routine and for whispered wisdom from God when your mind and heart are open to hear it.

It's trusting that God will lead you down the path made for you (Psalm 16), without the rush to get there yesterday. It's resting in hope as we continue down that path, following him.

Slow faith is the willingness to get cozy and quiet, and listen for that still, small voice while you spend time delighting in God's presence and he delights in yours (Psalm 16).

It's giving God your doubts (Mark 9:24) and being willing to wait to know the answers, because you've decided to trust God no matter what. And you know there's time.

Slow faith is filling yourself up with God's love (John 13) because there's nothing you'd rather do and no place you'd rather be.

This is what slow faith means to me. It's the kind I want most.

Read These Blog Posts for More Slow Faith

Slow Living for Women of Faith
The Sabbath Simplicity Lifestyle
The Sabbath Simplicity Lifestyle, Part Two

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Growing Your Faith with the Lazarus Story

4/13/2019

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In yesterday's post, I compared Lazarus to Wesley in The Princess Bride, and made the point that even when life hands you its worst, and it looks like things are not ending well, you can trust that God is still writing your story. The real ending is still to come and may be just around the corner.

Today, let's take a look at the next part of the story, when Mary catches us to Jesus and he sees her grief...

Martha went back & called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him...The Jews who with her in the house... followed her...When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord. come and see." Jesus began to weep. - John 11: 28-44

Mary's Faith and Jesus's Love & Grief

In this passage, we see several things happening...

(1) Because she knew him well, Mary - and Martha, in yesterday's passage - knew that Jesus could have prevented her brother from dying. She doesn't say she wished he had been able, she is convinced. She knows without doubt.

(2) Jesus, who loves Mary, is moved by her grief and the grief of the Jews who came with her. Not only does he empathize, he begins to grieve, too.

(3) When they offer to show Jesus where his friend, Lazarus, has been laid, Jesus begins to grieve even more, and weeps because of it.

Journal Prompts for Your Morning Quiet Time: Becoming Mary

Slow faith idea: during your next morning quiet time, settle in with a cup of tea and grab your journal. Use these journal prompts to grow your faith.

In this passage, Mary demonstrates a deep and powerful faith in and tender, loving relationship with Jesus. They are friends, and we see their close connection.

As you connect with Jesus each day, he wants that same deep and loving friendship with you, loves you just as tenderly and you can trust that he is there for you when you are hurt, troubled or grieving.

This story, in which Jesus shows us what God is like, demonstrates that God grieves with you. Even when He knows the good ending He has planned for your story.

So here are the journal prompts to take with you into your quiet time with God...

(1) What is on your heart right now that you wish would change or come to an end? Is life handing you anything that grieves or frustrates you?

(2) What would it mean in your life to think of God still writing your story, planning a powerfully good ending you just can't yet see?

(3) How does it feel to know that God empathizes with everything you are feeling about your situation, and grieves with you, even though He knows the resolution is coming?

(4) Mary had full faith that Jesus would have been able to save her brother's life and heal him. How can you have Mary's faith in your situation?

(5) We know that Mary spent time with Jesus, developing a close relationship with him. Are you spending enough quiet time with God?

More Resources for Developing Mary's Faith

Next month's JeanineLetter (my free newsletter) will be about how to develop Mary's faith by creating an adoration quiet time. And there are other quiet time resources already in the lifestyle library.

Join us by clicking on one of the highlighted links in the paragraph above. It's free, and I'd love to have you.

Wishing you Mary's faith in a sometimes doubt-filled world.

Love, Jeanine

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Lent & Lazarus: The Bigger Picture

4/12/2019

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Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ... So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to His disciples, "Let is go to Judea again." ... When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ... When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him ... Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." ... Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live..." - John 11: 1-27

I read this passage today, and noticed once again, that even with stories I have known for years, I sometimes hear them differently at different moments in my life. I believe that God nudges me to point out whatever might be most relevant to my life at the time.

Today, I thought about the larger picture. The slow faith, big picture we often can't see from the ground, in our lives. Martha got a glimpse of it, in that story, and I wonder if we can find ways to keep our eyes on it, too.

The Story of Lazarus & The Bigger Picture

Have you ever seen The Princess Bride? I hope I am remembering this correctly, but there's a moment where it is said about Wesley, both that he was only mostly dead, but also that he had been mostly dead, all day.

In the movie, Wesley recovers his life moment by moment and is finally, come fully back to himself and is able to save the day. But that was when he was only mostly dead.

In the Lazarus story, we have an actual death, and he comes back to life in a single moment of Jesus's healing. But then, Jesus had the power of God as his disposal.

Still, both stories point to the fact that even when it seems like the story is over, in the bigger picture, there may still be plenty of story left. And that, along with the echoes of Easter's dying and rising, is the point I want to make today...

Whenever a situation seems dead in the water - when your worst story seems to have come to an awful end - know that there may be a rising, a stunning reversal, just around the corner.

Or a new path you'd never have seen or found, may open up to you; one that's meant for you and finally there after walking through the pain of your current story.

Jesus loved Lazarus! But instead of coming right away, and healing him while he was only sick, he allowed Lazarus to die, knowing that story's true end, and wanting for Mary and Martha something even more powerful than immediate healing for Lazarus.

Because he waited, Mary and Martha experienced a miracle and a deepening of their faith, as did many around them who saw or heard what happened.

Even the death someone he loved very much was not a problem too hard for Jesus. Which means there's nothing in your life that you can't offer up to God and know that He's got your back.

The waiting, for resolution, for peace, may feel horrible! And you may be tempted to count Him out. To assume it's all over.

But reach for faith, that even while your faith feels like it is dying, God may have a resurrection planned.

And He is definitely up to something. Even when you can't see it yet, and can't yet see the bigger picture.

For surely, I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29: 11-13

This is the story of Easter. But also a story that I believe we experience again and again in our lives.

The ending we think we see, in our story, is not really the end. The real ending is still on the way.

Can you relate to that, right now, in your own life? Is there a story you wish would resolve, already? Know that you are still in the dying phase. The rising is on the way.

Have a wonderful weekend!

And come back tomorrow for part two on the Lazarus story. In it, I offer ways to grow your faith using the next part of this story & journal prompts for exploring it.

We'll look at Mary's faith for inspiration and connect with Jesus's love for us.

See you then!

Love, Jeanine

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Slow Faith Reading Challenge: Faith Unraveled

4/11/2019

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Most weren't looking for a faith that provided all the answers; they were looking for one in which they were free to ask questions.
- Rachel Held Evans

faith blog posts, faith books, faith blog topics

I am delighted to have chosen this book as part of my reading life this year. Written by Rachel Held Evans, it's a story of her life of faith, but especially of her struggles to hold on to it.

Especially when she began to have doubts and questions that didn't get resolved.

I highly recommend it if you have ever had a crisis of faith, or walked away from your faith for a time, as I did.

I can't always say I feel closer to God - the doubts often return - but I think I'm finally beginning to understand that it's me who's moving, not him. Like salvation, evolution is an everyday process. I'm still changing & I always will be. -Rachel Held Evans

I loved getting to know her journey, but loved even more that the book didn't end with everything wrapped up tight. Reading between the lines, she points to living with the questions, living with your doubts, and taking them all straight to God.

I think the frustration that can come from wanting certainty can lead to wanting to walk away from faith. But from my own experience, doing that only leads to more uncertainty, or that's what happened to me, anyway.

Reading her book encourages me to let go of trying to find absolute certainty and be okay with the questions. But to not give up on faith or on God.

If you have read her book, I'd love to know your thoughts at the end! If you haven't, does it seem like a book that would appeal to you?

Do you like reading faith books, too? Get access to my lifestyle library. It includes posts about growing your faith, meal planning on a budget, hygge at home, perfecting your morning routine & other lifestyle topics.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms & like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could no live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. - Rainer Maria Wilke

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Faith Books: 5 Things I Loved about Book Girl

4/4/2019

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This year, I decided to create my own personalized list of slow faith books to read and I have been sharing my thoughts about them here.

Usually, I write one faith-book post each month. But this month, I'll post about one book each week, beginning today, with Book Girl, which was a delight to read...

"Do you struggle with loneliness, do you yearn for a beauty you can barely describe, do you hope for friendship, or do you just need some courage to keep fighting the small battles of the everyday? Then pull up a chair, brew a cup of tea, and join the fellowship here as we read our way back to beauty and courage, to laughter and strength, to life in its fullest grace."
-Sarah Clarkson, Book Girl

Five Things I Love about Book Girl

book girl, faith books, faith books for women

First of all, I have to say that I adored the book from the moment it began. And I felt the connection to her that she seemed to want to create. Here's what I loved most...

(1) The beauty of her writing - she reminds me of authors like C.S. Lewis whose books you enjoy partly because of the way that they write them.

(2) The idea that children can be storyformed - makes me wish I could have emphasized books even more in my own parenting, although I did create a reader just like my parents did for me.

(3) "What is it I hope to become?" - she suggests this as a final criteria for deciding whether a book is a good choice. She urges good writing and suggests avoiding anything that doesn't leave you with hope for the possibility of goodness.

That's not exactly the way she says it, but that's what it meant to me. But finally, a book should be able to help you on your journey to becoming what and who you believe you are called to become. And I love that idea!

(4) She suggests that reading can be used as part of a spiritual practice. Now, this seems obvious if what you are reading is a devotional or a book based on your religious beliefs. But what if it's fiction? Because I love to read, I love this idea that what you're reading could become part of a spiritual practice.

(5) Her encouragement that books can give us and nurture hope - books that help you understand that change toward the better is less likely to be instant magical transformation, but a gradual mending of what is broken. She tells a brief story of deciding to resist despair, and talks about books that helped her see past or around moments of sadness and grief.

If you have read the book, yourself, I'd love to know your thoughts. And if not, does it seem like one you would be interested in reading?

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Would you like to see links to all the faith book posts I've written, all in one place? Get access to my lifestyle library. It includes posts about deepening your faith, meal planning, hygge at home, perfecting your morning routine & other lifestyle topics.
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See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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Faith Books: Searching for Sunday

2/5/2019

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Sometimes we are closer to the truth in our vulnerability than in our safe certainties. -Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving & Finding the Church

For several pages, toward the beginning of the book, including the sentence I quoted above, Rachel describes millennial ways of speaking about the church. She even compares it, at one point, to a more Generation X (my generation) point of view, and shares how their point of view differ from each other & other traditional points of view. I found myself agreeing with everything she said in those pages.

The only difference for me is that I didn't grow up as jaded about being advertised to, as she said is true for millennials. And I can still easily be enchanted by a well-told story, so traditional ways of presenting info through storytelling work well for me.. Other than that, though, I was nodding my head the whole way through. And how wonderful that was.

I found it so refreshing to read his book & see some of my own thoughts reflected in her words. So I couldn't wait to read the rest of it. And it didn't disappoint.

During most months, I will only post about one faith book, but this month, I did two because I couldn't wait to share this second book.

Slow faith journal prompts for your morning quiet time...

(1) Have you ever left the church, and if so, what was your faith challenge at the time?

(2) If you are a millennial, how might you see the church differently from older generations? Do you think you struggle with doubts, as she did, more or less than other generations?

(3) How might you use storytelling to describe your own faith? How would you describe your faith, as it is now, in a 30-second ad?

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

P.S. Updated in May: I am heartbroken that Rachel Held Evans has passed away. Her books & blog posts were so relatable, I felt as if I knew her. She was a kindred spirit.

I have been sharing her books and I think I have two more to go. She inspired me to write and blog about faith even though I sometimes struggle with doubt. She made that okay. And she will be missed.

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Everyday Holy: Finding a Big God in the Little Moments

5 Ways to Make this Devotional Part of Your Morning Quiet Time

Microfiction: A Fictionalized, Modern Retelling of Luke 24:13-35

This Passage Inspired the Story Above

2 Journal Prompts for Reflection

What about You?

A Creative Retelling, from John 20

The Grief and the Glory

5 Things I Learned During Lent this Year

What Does Easter Mean to You?

Shifting the Way You See Yourself

How to Create Sabbath Simplicity in Your Life

A Gift for You

What is Sabbath Simplicity?

My Own Plan for Sabbath Simplicity

The Slow Living Series

Finding Our Own Pace & Cadence

3 Ways to Shift into a Slow Living,Listening Connection with God

Read These Blog Posts for More Slow Faith

Mary's Faith and Jesus's Love & Grief

Journal Prompts for Your Morning Quiet Time: Becoming Mary

More Resources for Developing Mary's Faith

The Story of Lazarus & The Bigger Picture

Five Things I Love about Book Girl

Jeanine Byers

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Everyday Holy: Finding a Big God
in the Little Moments

Microfiction: A Fictionalized, Modern
Retelling of Luke 24:13-35

3 Ways to Shift into a Slow Living,
Listening Connection with God