Pouring Out My Oil: {Guest Post by Kerry Ann Todd}

{*Today’s post is written by my blogger/instagram friend Kerry. Sh is a woman of God, wife, mother, writer, and essential oils enthusiast and educator. I hope you enjoy her words here today, and if you do, head to her blog to read more or her Instagram to connect with a little bit of her day to day life. Be blessed, Alesha}

I’m selfish and ambitious all at the same time. I have ideas that keep me up at night and wake me up in the morning but then I’m scared to share those ideas because they might not be good enough. I’m scared to share them and voice them because it might be my last one. It might be my last good idea. Another one may never come. Such is the life of a creative, I’m learning.

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1563219491829-5WOS51CQDRCUYBYYP386/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kEpVg-ILAPna1wRh-xAJ9fRZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwEv36x-EUL2-BSQ5feDhwGCbXuJBFqZ-erYzVouT8yOb9TwqchglLQOCYTRn7ZGxI/KerryToddGuestPost.jpg?format=original" alt=""/>

I have these ideas for essential oils classes, and gifts I want to send, and cards and letters I want to mail, meals I want to serve to my friends and neighbors, books and articles I want to write. And they come into my brain and then there is this mechanism in there, this program, that stops them.

The cycle usually goes like this:

The thought comes in. I think in words and so I just hear or see a bunch of words. I get really excited about it because I am easily excitable and ideas are my jam. I love hearing them, thinking about them and dreaming about them. I start thinking about the audience. I think of people in my real life who represent people everywhere and how this new idea could help them. I can literally think of nothing else at this moment. Because I love pictures, I start to think of graphics and pretty pictures to accompany the idea. I’m almost obsessing at this point, I’m sure if you took my blood pressure it would be elevated because I’m that excited. And this is where the enemy comes in. This is where the critical voice tells me that I’ve tried something similar before and never finished it. The critical voice tells me that I don’t have a huge enough audience. It reminds me of that IG superstar who did something similar months ago and how much of a success it was because of her huge following and her amazing graphic design skills. This is where my idea literally starts to wheeze but instead of saving it, instead of helping it to breathe by fanning some oxygen its way. Instead of taking its hand, I usually walk away because I’m scared.

I was listening to a youtube interview with Les Brown and he said this:

Imagine if you will being on your death bed- And standing around your bed- the ghosts of the ideas, the dreams, the abilities, the talents given to you by life. And that you for whatever reason, you never acted on those ideas, you never pursued that dream, you never used those talents, we never saw your leadership, you never used your voice, you never wrote that book. And there they are standing around your bed looking at you with large angry eyes saying we came to you, and only you could have given us life! Now we must die with you forever. The question is- if you die today what ideas, what dreams, what abilities, what talents, what gifts, would die with you?

This is not what I want for my life. These dreams, these talents, these abilities. They may not be the greatest, but they are mine. They are what I’ve been entrusted with. And this audience, these people in my life, they may not be the largest. But they are what I have been entrusted with. I’m reminded of the story of the widow in the Bible, who owed a lot of money. You can find it in 2 Kings 4:1-7. It’s a short story but it in the woman has to exercise great faith to listen to Elijah. She goes into more debt borrowing jars from her neighbors but obeys and pours out her little oil and miraculously fills up all of the jars she borrowed. Not one is left empty. Then she sells all the oil and pays off her debts and saves her sons. Her neighbors entrusted her with their jars and she went into her house, shut the door and filled them up with her little bit of oil.

I feel like that woman. I have all of these jars I’ve been entrusted with. I have these talents and these gifts and these passions. And I have a little bit of oil. A little bit of love and experience and desire. And Jesus is trusting me to pour it out. He is trusting me to take the ideas, the book ideas, the blog ideas and the business ideas and run with them. They may never be perfect but the obedience and the lessons from trying, from working something, from writing something, will be worth it.

So here I am, Lord. Here are these words and this space and these people you have given me the privilege of speaking to. Take it, use it, make something of it. Make something of me and of these stories. Make something of the pain and the beauty. It can’t be all about me. It has to be all about you.

You can connect with Kerry on her blog or on Instagram.

Let it Be Worth It

You might know my story.
You might know that I am passionate about serving God.
You might know that I moved across the country with my husband to help start a church.
You might know that I care deeply about people growing in their faith and serving God and others.

But as I sat in church a couple of Sundays ago…the first time I had sat through an entire service since my precious son was born eight months ago…as I sat and looked at the faces around me and listened to the worship music playing, I realized…

##Without God’s Spirit here with us, there is no point.

In the past three months, we have moved to a larger building, added a second kids class, nearly doubled our volunteers, rethought every part of what we do, “relaunched” in our new location on Easter Sunday, passed out hundreds of fliers, invited friends and family, planned and dreamed, and held a series of prayer meetings leading up to it all…

And yet I looked around at the faces, old and new, realizing that all our work could very easily be pointless.

##Everything we had done…all the hours and work and preparations could be completely wasted if God’s Spirit was not there with us.

And I pleaded in that moment, that He would be with us…that He would pour out His Spirit in blessing. Because I don’t want our work to be in vain. I don’t want each Sunday’s scheduling and set up and serving and tear down to be in vain. I don’t want each service’s worship and teaching and praying to be just words thrown aimlessly into a room of people.

###I don’t want our serving to be in vain.

But I find my heart so easily slipping into the rut of doing and serving and leading just because that is the thing to do.

And I find myself praying often that God would work through our efforts, that His Spirit would bring life to our doing and serving. Because all the planning and programing and preaching is good and necessary, but if we forget Who it is that gives these things their purpose and power then we are missing the entire point.

Lord, let none of this be in vain.
Send Your Spirit to work and move amongst us and through us.
Pour out Your Spirit on us and through us.
Let our worship and our praise and our service bring You glory and honor.
Accept our work and our worship as an outpouring of our love for You.
Lord, please do the work that only You can do.
In our service and our worship…let it be worth it for Your kingdom.

Be blessed

Yes and No: The Main Reason We Don’t Attain Our Goals

{Hello friends. A few days ago my husband, Travis, and I were talking. I was sharing my frustration with myself and my failure to follow through on some goals. The result of this conversation was this post. He wanted me to write it, but he said it so well that I told him to instead. I think you will be truly challenged, encouraged, and blessed by it.}

It’s the end of Feburary. Many of us have quit our new year resolutions, while others of us have drastically cut back on our ambitious goals. What is it that keeps us from fultfilling our well-intentioned plans?

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1456508822694-8SF168UAC5IO2JE1SHZH/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kB80eW4KK5wgMfkTp6SjTNtZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpxkEDnlqEYEiGVDb0kl5jpOJsm5iyfgdjNZyk67t96-U_4JMfIDDY8RGcVnRlrKExA/image-asset.jpeg?format=original" alt=""/>

I’ve heard many good reasons in the past:

We don’t write them down…


We don’t create action steps…


We don’t have accountability…


We don’t set time to review…



And the list goes on.

But is there one thing we can do differently that would drastically increase our success rate? I believe there is.

Recently, Alesha and I were talking about the goals we set earlier in the year. Some of them are so far successful, while others are not. As we talked, Alesha said something very interesting:

“I know what I have to do. I need to stop going on social media in the morning before I do my morning routine. If I did that then most of my goals would be going great.”

When she said that, it made me think of a post I’d written last October on waking up earlier. In the post I talked about how I think that if you want to wake up earlier, the discipline you need isn’t so much in waking up at a specific time, but in choosing to go to bed earlier.

I think the same is true for goal-setting.

When we set goals, we tend to focus on what we need to do to fulfill them. I think…

We should spend just as much time choosing what not to do as we do choosing what to do.

Think about it this way:

You have 24 hours in a day. Currently, you are spending those 24 hours whichever way you want. Then comes a goal you want to achieve. You focus on adding a new habit, or rhythm into your life, but you never once think about the fact that you day is already full of 24 hours worth of activity.

In order for us to do anything new, we have to remove something else. It is literally impossible for us to add any new habit or goal into our lives without subtracting something else first.

Today is already filled with 24 hours of activity. For many of us, these activities will include things such as:

Sleep


Meal prep


Eating


Meal clean-up


Work


Driving


Parenting


TV


Social Media


Hobbies


Reading a blog (at least this one)


And much much more!

But not all these things are worthwhile. Some of them add value. But maybe even the ones that ”add value” don’t drive us in the direction we want our lives to go. We can’t fix that by simply setting new goals.

We need to choose what we will remove from our busy lives just as much as we need to choose what habits and goals we wish to add.

Otherwise, we’ll continue to fail.


We’ll continue to have unmet goals and ambitions.

So what goals have you set recently? Have you thought about what habits and things in your life have to be removed in order to add these new things in?

What will you quit doing, in order to start doing something else better?

And as the saying goes:

“Say NO to good things, so you can say YES to great things.”

May we all learn how to say “no”, so that we can begin to say “yes” more frequently.

{be blessed}

For the Days When You Want a Shortcut

Every day we see them, promises of a shortcut…of an easy way out or up or around.

It’s so easy to get sucked in. We want to think that things don’t take time or work or perseverance. Because hard work over a long period of time takes discipline…

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553421227-WKD5K88426ZNNIN1SN9G/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kLj5Rn8aGrngf01RRk3zzwlZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpzlBSGS2Wv3raOMTz4xYSP20SdQTRGCg4DAOxMeJLiz1y6rThZQbacVcuUQpS3pyF8/Shortcut1.jpg?format=original" alt=""/>

Discipline is hard and even discouraging and overwhelming, until I sometimes wonder what the point is. But we all do it… We go to work because we want a pay check.


We limit our diets so that we won’t gain weight, or perhaps will lose it.


We lift weights and run laps and complete reps so that our bodies will look the way we want.

But just as easily, we chase fad diets and drink popular health drinks and jump on money making bandwagons…all with the promise of quick and easy with little-to-no work involved.

All the areas of my life that I look back on and am pleased with the growth and progress I see are the result of hard work and perseverance.

…not loop holes and skipping steps.

And I’m beginning to realize that for most good things, there are no shortcuts.

As I’m leaning into this new year and reflecting on the past one, I’m seeing that this is especially true in spiritual growth.

”…train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7b-8

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553433528-Z5HDS0TAOW34MAAF3XTZ/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kCdkgi52mJSxiXRcEjfNK9hZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwiVvDRkVW6wuaewK1P7wuqOblFAzog6VjhZz4-bmR7vtcnBm2kG9oFioxo-JDUh9U/Shortcut2.jpg?format=original" alt=""/>

I look at rough edges that are being rounded out…


I look at areas I’m learning to bite my tongue…


I look at things that used to completely derail me with stress…

And the growth I see is a product of years of habit and perseverance.

There are no shortcuts for spiritual growth. We can slow down our spiritual growth, but we can’t speed it up or skip ahead or go around or make it easier.

We won’t get the fruit of a life saturated in Jesus unless we discipline ourselves to actually saturate our lives in Jesus.

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553454073-FMLXH48GE4PWEAHBHMD6/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kB80eW4KK5wgMfkTp6SjTNtZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpxkEDnlqEYEiGVDb0kl5jpOJsm5iyfgdjNZyk67t96-U_4JMfIDDY8RGcVnRlrKExA/Shortcut3.jpg?format=original" alt=""/>

And I look back at years past and am thankful. I was training before I knew it. I was disciplining myself without realizing the results that would come. I was building habits and disciplines that have held me close to Jesus in the hard times.

As I reflect on those disciplines, I don’t feel anything but thankfulness.

I don’t feel pride or accomplishment or boastfulness, because I know that the building of those habits in Jesus was so much of His grace and so little of my own wisdom or strength.

It may feel pointless today…


It may seem like useless repetition today…


It may be impossible to see growth or progress today…

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553378143-RT1KTJWWB6954PWJXSPK/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kObfbrJlkERqswoxpg0Dn-NZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpyYXoyrDt3o6y4el5hgPpL1fcvQ7fy1fgnQixSvGqz7QS754Fp_h2owOdubEhtsWIE/image-asset.jpeg?format=original" alt=""/>


  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553393936-YAGDOGKJUXZ905079ZKF/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kJ1oJoOIxBAgRD2ClXVCmKFZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpziSlY8A1LmVReJFCynOXqeaWYLb3HWLzCmFZz9oDHtK-zoXiGli2Az6uRt_tQQ38k/image-asset.jpeg?format=original" alt=""/>

But choosing to train myself for godliness is something I’ll never regret. Because, looking back I don’t regret one single Sunday of sitting through church, one sink left full of dishes so I could read God’s Word, one moment of putting aside my schedule to love my neighbor…

And just about this moment is when guilt and condemnation and comparison creep up and threaten to beat my desire back into apathy. So just about this moment is when it’s essential that I remind you and remind me…

You won’t be able to do it on your own. I can’t do it on my own. I haven’t done it on my own.

And I certainly haven’t done it perfectly or easily or beautifully. But looking back through the mistakes and the work and the brokenness, growth has sprung forth, because the mistakes and the failures and the mess ups have just pulled me to the feet of Jesus again and again.


Isn’t that the point anyways? Isn’t that the whole reason Paul tells us to discipline, to train, ourselves for godliness?

Disciplining ourselves for godliness requires that we draw near to Jesus in humility and surrender, because we need His strength to do it, so that He gets the glory for it.

Don’t we all want to be closer to Jesus in 2016…in 2017?


In 2020?


In 2030?


It starts today.

It starts with perseverance and discipline and failing forward by falling into the arms of Jesus, Who has promised to do it in us.


The question is…will we?

Be blessed

For the Days When You Want a Shortcut

Every day we see them, promises of a shortcut…of an easy way out or up or around.

It’s so easy to get sucked in. We want to think that things don’t take time or work or perseverance. Because hard work over a long period of time takes discipline…

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553421227-WKD5K88426ZNNIN1SN9G/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kLj5Rn8aGrngf01RRk3zzwlZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpzlBSGS2Wv3raOMTz4xYSP20SdQTRGCg4DAOxMeJLiz1y6rThZQbacVcuUQpS3pyF8/Shortcut1.jpg?format=original" alt=""/>

Discipline is hard and even discouraging and overwhelming, until I sometimes wonder what the point is. But we all do it… We go to work because we want a pay check.


We limit our diets so that we won’t gain weight, or perhaps will lose it.


We lift weights and run laps and complete reps so that our bodies will look the way we want.

But just as easily, we chase fad diets and drink popular health drinks and jump on money making bandwagons…all with the promise of quick and easy with little-to-no work involved.

All the areas of my life that I look back on and am pleased with the growth and progress I see are the result of hard work and perseverance.

…not loop holes and skipping steps.

And I’m beginning to realize that for most good things, there are no shortcuts.

As I’m leaning into this new year and reflecting on the past one, I’m seeing that this is especially true in spiritual growth.

”…train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7b-8

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553433528-Z5HDS0TAOW34MAAF3XTZ/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kCdkgi52mJSxiXRcEjfNK9hZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwiVvDRkVW6wuaewK1P7wuqOblFAzog6VjhZz4-bmR7vtcnBm2kG9oFioxo-JDUh9U/Shortcut2.jpg?format=original" alt=""/>

I look at rough edges that are being rounded out…


I look at areas I’m learning to bite my tongue…


I look at things that used to completely derail me with stress…

And the growth I see is a product of years of habit and perseverance.

There are no shortcuts for spiritual growth. We can slow down our spiritual growth, but we can’t speed it up or skip ahead or go around or make it easier.

We won’t get the fruit of a life saturated in Jesus unless we discipline ourselves to actually saturate our lives in Jesus.

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553454073-FMLXH48GE4PWEAHBHMD6/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kB80eW4KK5wgMfkTp6SjTNtZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpxkEDnlqEYEiGVDb0kl5jpOJsm5iyfgdjNZyk67t96-U_4JMfIDDY8RGcVnRlrKExA/Shortcut3.jpg?format=original" alt=""/>

And I look back at years past and am thankful. I was training before I knew it. I was disciplining myself without realizing the results that would come. I was building habits and disciplines that have held me close to Jesus in the hard times.

As I reflect on those disciplines, I don’t feel anything but thankfulness.

I don’t feel pride or accomplishment or boastfulness, because I know that the building of those habits in Jesus was so much of His grace and so little of my own wisdom or strength.

It may feel pointless today…


It may seem like useless repetition today…


It may be impossible to see growth or progress today…

  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553378143-RT1KTJWWB6954PWJXSPK/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kObfbrJlkERqswoxpg0Dn-NZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpyYXoyrDt3o6y4el5hgPpL1fcvQ7fy1fgnQixSvGqz7QS754Fp_h2owOdubEhtsWIE/image-asset.jpeg?format=original" alt=""/>


  <img src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55c38a57e4b00989028332c9/1452553393936-YAGDOGKJUXZ905079ZKF/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kJ1oJoOIxBAgRD2ClXVCmKFZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpziSlY8A1LmVReJFCynOXqeaWYLb3HWLzCmFZz9oDHtK-zoXiGli2Az6uRt_tQQ38k/image-asset.jpeg?format=original" alt=""/>

But choosing to train myself for godliness is something I’ll never regret. Because, looking back I don’t regret one single Sunday of sitting through church, one sink left full of dishes so I could read God’s Word, one moment of putting aside my schedule to love my neighbor…

And just about this moment is when guilt and condemnation and comparison creep up and threaten to beat my desire back into apathy. So just about this moment is when it’s essential that I remind you and remind me…

You won’t be able to do it on your own. I can’t do it on my own. I haven’t done it on my own.

And I certainly haven’t done it perfectly or easily or beautifully. But looking back through the mistakes and the work and the brokenness, growth has sprung forth, because the mistakes and the failures and the mess ups have just pulled me to the feet of Jesus again and again.


Isn’t that the point anyways? Isn’t that the whole reason Paul tells us to discipline, to train, ourselves for godliness?

Disciplining ourselves for godliness requires that we draw near to Jesus in humility and surrender, because we need His strength to do it, so that He gets the glory for it.

Don’t we all want to be closer to Jesus in 2016…in 2017?


In 2020?


In 2030?


It starts today.

It starts with perseverance and discipline and failing forward by falling into the arms of Jesus, Who has promised to do it in us.


The question is…will we?

Be blessed

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