How to Respond to Manic Mondays

Hello Monday.

From the moment the office opened, it was a crazy day.

The phones rang non-stop.

The waiting room flooded with customers.

The work seemed never-ending.

And it was such a beautiful day!

Wait. What?

How can a crazy-busy Monday be beautiful?

In case you forgot, this is how Monday's can be beautiful.

This morning as I was readying myself for the day, I was reminded of a phrase I heard frequently as my days as a missionary - "walk in the opposite spirit." Most of the time this was said in terms of how to respond to others. But today I applied it the spirit of the day. 

What do I mean?

Mondays suck.

It's like Monday constantly has a bad attitude.

And it's my choice how I'm going to respond to it.

Do I respond with the same bad attitude?

Or do I walk in the opposite spirit?

Today I chose the latter. I chose to have a good attitude. 

I chose to find the beautiful.

My beautiful day included a gorgeous spring-like day, some one-on-one time with my mama, and breakfast for dinner with my husband.

How did you respond to this manic Monday?

Q & A with Tosca Lee

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to ask New York Times Bestselling author Tosca Lee a few questions about her latest novel, Iscariot, which released on Tuesday, February 5th. Iscariot is a fascinating look at the story of Judas, arguably the most reviled man in Biblical history. Tosca is the author of Havah and Demon, and the co-author of Forbidden, Mortal, and Sovereign (written with Ted Dekker). 

Me: What drew you to Judas's story?

Tosca: My editor friend Jeff Gerke (who published Demon and Havah) suggested it. And I ran in the other direction for about a year. What finally got me was the encouragement of friends - most notably Robert Liparulo - and the fact that I finally admitted I was obsessed with the story.

Me: How do you see yourself in Judas?

Tosca: This story is largely about love vs. the law and about the agendas we have for God. Things that I've gone round and round about most of my life. Ultimately, though, this story is really about the inexplicable and uncontainable person of Jesus.

Me: In Matthew 26:50, Jesus tells Judas, "Do what you came for, friend?" What do you think of Jesus' response to his near betrayal?

Tosca: That he knew it was coming. That perhaps, he even had compassion for Judas, knowing that a day would come when he had wished he had never been born.

Me: What was the hardest part of writing Iscariot?

Tosca: The research. It took a year and a half. It was ginormous. And then writing it. And then editing it. The entire project was a long labor.

Me: What, if anything, do you want the readers to take away from Judas's story?

Tosca: Of course I want them to ask the question if they would have done the same, but what I really want is for them to slip into the skin of someone close to Jesus and experience him, as I did.

Many thanks to Tosca for giving me the opportunity to do the Q & A!!!

In Jesus, Judas believes he has found “the One” – a miracle-worker.  The promised Messiah and future king of the Jews, destined to overthrow Roman rule.  Galvanized, Judas joins the Nazarene’s followers, ready to enact the change he has waited for all his life.

But Judas’ vision of a nation free from Roman rule is crushed by the inexplicable actions of the Nazarene himself, who will not bow to social or religious convention – who seems in the end even to turn against his own people.  At last, Judas must confront the fact that the master he loves is not the liberator he hoped for but a man pursuing a drastically different agenda.

Iscariot is the story of Judas – from his tumultuous childhood and tenuous entry into a career and family life to culminating events that have marked him as the betrayer of Jesus.  But even more, it is a singular and surprising view into the life of Jesus himself that forces us all to reexamine everything we thought we knew about the most famous – and infamous – religious icons in history.

Has Love Found You?

Photo by: skyler817

"Three things will last forever - faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love." 

1 Corinthians 13:13

There's something about a good love story that we as a society deeply appreciate. We find ourselves telling love stories everywhere - in literature, movies, music, media. We engage in taking sides, rooting for one couple over another in fictional romance novels (Team Jacob or Edward, anyone?). We all have a favorite love song or two. We obsess over the successes and failures of Hollywood's power couples. 

Love stories are everywhere.

A mom longs for a little girl. A sibling for her sweet little boy. With aching heart and bended knee, she prays for her womb to be blessed once again. In the summer of 1977, her prayers are answered as she finally gives birth to her sweet baby girl. 

A young girl misses her daddy, taken away long before his time. Her heart and soul are lonely, longing to be filled with a father's love. Her Sunday school teacher tells her about Jesus, which begins a life-changing journey. One day He reveals to her how great & how vast His love is for her, that He is her Father and she is His daughter.

A young woman meets a young man, kind and caring, with those gorgeous blue eyes and sexy smile. She may not have fallen head over heals in love instantly, but he certainly had her attention. He pursued her over time, gaining her friendship first and stealing her heart later. Theirs is a crazy kind of love, but oh how they love each other!

These love stories are my own.

Love found me long before I was born, birthed out of love in my mother's heart.

And love continues to find me. 

...in India surrounded by the bright smiling faces of orphans, capturing my heart the moment I laid eyes on them. 

...in Bangladesh as my team was tromping through the muddy fields to reach a small village where they had never heard the Gospel. Love found a whole village that day.

...in small-town Ohio living and loving the people here in small, simple ways.

Love has a way of finding each of us in unique ways. That's why I've invited some of my friends to share their love stories. Each Wednesday in February a new love story will be featured. As they share, I hope you will join the conversation by sharing your own story.

Love found me.

Has love found you?

What A Soul Needs

Today, as most Mondays do, lived up to its name. It was crazy and chaotic. Manic in every sense of the word.

The phone rang off the hook.

Email flooded my inbox.

Customers poured into the waiting area, sometimes two or three at a time.

Yet there was such a peace about today. Not once was I anxious or overwhelmed with my responsibilities or the never-ending pile of things to do.

Towards the end of the day, with maybe only an hour to go, the snow began to fall. Each flake drifted towards the ground, gathering together there to create a thick blanket.

I've noticed something about snow. When it snows a hush falls over the land. It is not loud and boisterous like rain storms. It doesn't just leave a giant mess of wet, muddy puddles. Snowfall is gentle, quiet, peaceful. It leaves a beautiful mark on the world first. Only when it melts does it uncover the messiness. (But let's not talk about that right now!)

Peace is what my soul needs.

And that is what I shall focus on today.

What does your soul need today?

Take Time to Pause

Life is busy. 

We fill our days with work, family, friends, social media, entertainment of all sorts. If we're lucky, we may get a little bit of sleep to energize us to do it all over again the next day. We live in a world that thrives on staying busy and filling the void in our lives with noise. 

Noise that tries to drown out the voice that says "I'm not good enough."

Noise that tries to fill the cracks of a broken heart.

Noise that tries to feed our hungry souls.

We need to stop the noise.

Joseph Iregbu's SELAH offers us a moment to pause, to quiet our souls, and reflect on the grace and hope of God. This 90 day devotional takes the reader on a journey of discovery - of finding out who God really is and what our purpose is in Him. 

This book is not for everyone. It's for believers who are seeking personal growth in their walk with God. It's for those who feel helpless and hopeless due to life's circumstances. It's for folks looking for greater meaning and purpose for their life.

Do you long for quiet moments with Him or want to (re)discover what it is to walk with God? Then SELAH is the book for you!

Though this book is not yet available to purchase, the author has generously offered the first seven days FREE for download. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this great offer!

  

Will You Join the Challenge?

It's Monday. Again.

Today was dark, cloudy, gloomy, full of rain. It reminded me of another wet & wild Monday.

But every cloud has a silver lining, right?

This morning I sent out my typical Manic Monday Challenge tweet encouraging folks to find the good and positive things to focus on throughout the day. As always, I challenged them to tweet, blog, or share their good thing on Facebook. Most of the time this challenge seems to go unread or unanswered, but today was different. Several of my friends joined me in the challenge & tweeted about the good things they focused on today.

Kristyn tweeted that she was being encouraged through the #JustOne2013 online conference and was looking forward to hanging out with the refresHER ladies this evening.

Jes tweeted that she was looking forward to spending time with her parents and husband in Florida this week. (I'm a wee bit jealous she's going to be in sunny FL for a whole week without me!)

Kelly tweeted that her good thing for the day is Hope Clinic, a free medical clinic that meets the medical needs of low-income folks in our community.

Those tweets absolutely made my day!

Another thing that made my day was the anticipation of what's to come this week. In response to another friends tweet this morning, I realized that it's the little things that sometimes really do make my day. This week it's the joy of receiving a second chance, of engaging with my online writing community, and of getting my car back from the shop.

In the midst of the struggles, the hardships, the hopelessness and despair, there are so many good things that can easily be overlooked or missed entirely. But by slowing down and intentionally reflecting on our lives, or even one short 24 hours, the good things become clearer. 

Every single Monday I purposely seek out the good things in life for the sole purpose of reminding myself that life is good. That despite the crap that is happening in my life, God puts little blessings in my life. Blogging about my "manic Monday" is simply a way to log those blesses so that one day I can look back and remind myself of the good. It also helps keep me accountable, and forces me to slow down and reflect.

Will you, like my friends did today, considering joining me in the Manic Monday Challenge? It's simple. If you're a blogger, grab the Manic Monday badge in the side bar on the right and start posting on Mondays about those good things in your life. If you don't blog but are on Facebook or Twitter, update your status or send out a tweet using the hashtag #ManicMondayChallenge.

So tell me, what good thing did you focus on today?

A Day to Dream

Yep, it's Monday. It's been a crazy, manic day.

But today's not just another Monday.

It's a day to show love and extend grace.

It's a day to hope, to dream.

Today we celebrate and remember the man whose iconic speech inspired change in a nation. We also celebrate a man whose election to the position as President of the United States has changed the face of a nation.

On this Monday, we look forward with hopeful anticipation of what is to come.

What is yet to come?

I have no idea.

But I hope it's better and brighter than today.

In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., on this manic Monday and all that will surely come, "Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream."

I have a dream...

...that the hungry will be fed.

...that the thirsty will be given drink.

...that the naked will be clothed.

...that the orphaned will find a forever family.

...that the prisoner will find true freedom.

...that the slaves will be set free.

...that the sick will be healed.

...that the hopeless will find hope.

...that the lost will be found. 

What are your dreams?