Tailspins of Busy

Sometimes we find ourselves in a tailspin of busy.

Our neighbors are moving to a new house in sight of their old one and we have been pitching in--certainly a tailspin of busy.

Perhaps you had a work deadline that entered you into a tailspin of busy. Hours evaporated and everything else went on hold.

A new baby creates a tailspin of busy. Sleep evaporates and parents go into overdrive to keep everything afloat.

Does nature go into tailspins of busy? Is that what we would call a thunderstorm or a hurricane?

Would God say He was in a tailspin of busy for the six days of Creation?

Would Jesus say He was in a tailspin of busy while He suffered on the Cross?

It seems our tailspins of busy are not the problem. I think it is the cycle of rest that eludes us.

Busy is its own elixir in our world. It fires up adrenaline and accomplishment that are heady and intoxicating.

But...nature rests from upheaval. God rested after Creation. Jesus finished His work and returned to heaven.

Remember a tailspin of busy is only fruitful if it is followed by intentional and scheduled rest.

Do the harder thing: rest.

The Joy Factor: Tortoise Training

You know the tortoise--the winner of the race in the fabled story, The Tortoise and the Hare.

In a sense, the tortoise made a comeback. The hare had made exceeding fun of him and the tortoise couldn't take it anymore. The tortoise pointed out that even the hare could be beaten.

The tortoise crossed the finish line with his famous motto, "Slowly does it every time!"

Imagine that your best self is the tortoise--and something you are trying to overcome is the hare.

Whatever cycle of defeat that you wish to change--procrastination, griping, poor eating, smoking--it taunts you that you cannot overcome it.

Can you make a comeback? Absolutely.

Tortoise training is feeding your strength one decision at a time. Even our worst cycles of defeat can be beaten, just like the obnoxious hare.

One decision at a time. The finish line is yours to cross.

The Joy Factor: Savor Stunning

What is stunning to you?

A digital moment in time?

An idea brought to life by skilled hands?

A child's love expressed with such abandon?

When stunning surfaces for you, remember to savor.

Therein lies another chance at joy.

Photographer: Stuart Kime

The Joy Factor: Feeling Better

"How are you?"

Tired. Exhausted.

"Why? What happened?"

Oh, I feel like that every day.

Perhaps one of our saddest realities is that, as Americans, we have crawled inside the hamster wheel and while working as hard as we can, we find ourselves exhausted and without any margin of energy with which to enjoy relationships and life.

The hamster may be completely joyful inside that wheel but we are not.

Yet we are wired for joy because we are made in God's image.

I have found a reservoir of joy that I didn't see coming. When I asked God in my forties to show me how to age with the least disease, the least pain and the most mobility, He led me to nutrition.

Remember that age-old adage: You are what you eat. It is...simply true.

Begin your own search. Might I suggest a starting point? Forks over Knives--a documentary presenting startling research on how eating changes can impact and even completely reverse low energy and disease (available on Netflix).

Let the hamster keep his spot. There's a feel-better place for you, where joy can once again come into view.

The Joy Factor: Two Pillars

We've vaguely heard that Solomon built God's Temple in Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Chest of the Covenant of God, was housed there. Inside the Chest were the two tablets Moses received from God Himself. No place on earth was more holy than this Temple.

But did you catch that two freestanding, bronze pillars graced the entrance to the Temple and that Solomon named them?

Jakin, or Security, and

Boaz, or Stability.

This Temple brought God joy for He was worshiped there.

So Security and Stability marked the gateway to the Temple where joy reigned in praise of God.

If our bodies are now the temples of praise for the Lord, what pillars are characteristic of us?

Think of someone who knows you well. Would he or she say Security and Stability are the pillars of your personality that exists to praise God?

The more the pillars of our personality reflect that which leads to praise and worship of God, the more joy reigns in our life.

The Joy Factor: Iron In My Soul

Isn't it true that some part of us is in exile from its best version of self?

Is our eating exiling us from our best health?

Is our grudge-holding exiling us from our best peace?

Is our worry exiling us from our best rest?

There are a thousand things to say about each of these, but let's whittle it down to something we can take away on this Monday morning.

Jesus wants us to know joy in this life before we head to eternity. There are enemies of God who want to rob us of that very joy.

The tension and balance of this life require freeing ourselves from the enemy camp to enter into the joy camp.

As we look at the joy factor this week, let's begin by making part of Psalm 119 into our prayer: Invigorate my soul so I can praise you well, use your decrees to put iron in my soul (Message translation).

Write it on your mirror; enter it into your smartphone. Say it over and over: "Lord, I want to use my life to praise you so show me the way to having iron in my soul."

Sand & Sauce

Today our church won't have church.

Or will we?

We'll opt instead to organize dozens of volunteers to man inflatables for children, serve the pig that cooked all night, and cheer the players on two sand courts as the volleyball tournament becomes a fight to the finish.

Signs are up all over our small town saying "Free BBQ/1-4pm."

If it is like years past, we'll see some volleyball regulars that show up once a year to compete for first place. There will be children squealing in delight, new relationships forged, and a sense of community that is strategically planned for and orchestrated.

A voice will come out of the event that says, You are loved here. Come. Eat.

And we won't even have had church.

Or will we?