Unfiltered View

August 28, 2017 By Patti Hemphill 16 Comments

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I watched in fascination as one of our outdoor blinds disintegrated right before my eyes.

We use roll up blinds in the summer to provide shade for our deck. When they’re rolled down, we tether the bottoms to cleats so they won’t blow around. During high winds, however, those things billow out like sails on a boat, causing them to tug at their tether lines. One day a fast moving storm rolled in. Too late, I realized the blinds were still down. I got to the door just in time to see that tug turn into destruction. Oh, the tether line was holding all right, but the bottom part of the blind was being torn apart and ruined…with one violent gust, in a matter of seconds.

When the storm fizzled I went out to assess the damage. I tried to remember when we actually put them up. Even after caring for them by cleaning and storing them away every fall, we’d noticed they were drying out and becoming brittle. They’d still aged. The one, now weary from it’s years of service, now seemingly useless. I remembered when they were fresh out of the wrapper, strong and supple.

I actually felt a stab of remorse as we replaced that old blind with a shiny new one. My husband saved part of the old cord because, who knows? It may come in handy one day. To say the other blinds now pale in comparison is an understatement. But ya know what? I’m not replacing those old things until they’re good and ready to be replaced.

Who knew you could learn a lesson from a frazzled roll up blind?

Lately, I’ve begun to feel like my weathered blinds. Worn, faded and a little tattered. Less than useful. I’ve had a rough time accepting the new, shiny versions of God’s servants. For several years I felt there were younger, stronger forces looking to replace me. Or worse…roll me up and haul me off to the dump! I made rash decisions based on feelings of insecure inadequacy.

I guess I never thought I’d age.

I guess I believed no one would want me out of the way.

I did not want to step aside even when I felt it was the right thing to do. And ouch…I guess I thought I was being demoted to “lesser things.”

I’ve tried getting around this new season. It’s not one I’ve wanted to move into. I didn’t want to shed my youthful skin. I did not want to put on this outfit that now defines me as aging. [clickToTweet tweet=”I was letting the lines in my face, and the changes in my body, rob me of my self worth.” quote=”I was letting the lines in my face, and the changes in my body, rob me of my self worth.”]

I was mad. I had somehow allowed Satan to lure me into believing I was a fake. As if my service had meant nothing.

When we took the ruined blind down I had an unfiltered view of our woods. God’s grace shined through the gaping hole, giving me an unfiltered reflection of me. He’s made me see this season as one of blessed freedom and acceptance. He’s teaching me to embrace the new, older me. I’m realizing that like that aged blind, all I once was, wasn’t fraudulent. I had served a purpose. I did do some good things even in the midst of a storm of poor choices.

I know that from the torn apart and ruined version of me, a new purpose will come. The old cords of my faith are in tact, as good and as strong as ever. My people pleasing persona has disintegrated, been removed, and replaced by peace. My relationship with God is still strong and made new daily.

He isn’t done with me.

Have you begun to feel weathered too? Take good care of yourself. Give yourself a time of rest, however fleeting. It won’t keep the elements of aging from blowing through. But we can accept them and embrace them. Tether your self-worth to God and His Word, not what the gale forces of people and society say.

It’s time to unroll and care for a new blind with all its promise to last for a God-sized time.

Shared by: Patti Hemphill

An InLinkz Link-up

It’s in the Looking Back

April 12, 2017 By Patti Hemphill 6 Comments

A viper, coiled and waiting.

Sensing you, without being seen.

A subtle warning comes too late.

It strikes quickly, dispersing just the right amount of poison. The unsuspecting prey is left weak and sickened, yet able to crawl away. It lies in its hiding place, terrorized and depleted. Sadly, the injected venom emits a signal to the reptile, and it can now locate and reclaim its prize. Insidiously stalking its paralyzed victim.

Our enemy, ruler of the snake pit, pursues us daily.

He commands his brood of vipers to attack our distracted hearts and minds, flooding our inner beings with toxin. Some onslaughts are the flights of our own minds’ fancies…un-lived scenarios our psyches conjure up. Others are brutal, lived-out realities.

Either way, we’re left unfit. Our sense of purpose is snuffed out; dreams and potential are suffocated. Trepidation can overcome when we’re forced to deal with a disproportionate phobia or forced to confront what we can’t control.

A ringing phone at an unusual time, the dread of picking it up to say hello. Is there anything that sets the heart to quaking faster? Mentally preparing for words the caller may speak. Truths that may reshape and forever alter our lives. Wounds that will heal in time but leave their permanent mark of pain. Puncture marks from fangs that injected paralyzing poison.

MRI machines reveal what our flesh conceals. It’s miraculous, really. Yet panic sets in the moment that bed slides toward the small, small tube. An acrid taste on the tongue. Panicked by the method of discovery, as well as of the discovery itself.

Or climbing to dizzying heights, feeling the breath being pulled from our lungs. Wondering if we’ll have the strength to hold on if we lose our footing.

Or, me. Right now. Writing to meet my first ever deadline. Wondering what I’m doing, attempting this God-sized dream…

I’ve experienced being afraid a hundredfold, but I’ve yet to discover how to overcome it! I don’t have the answer.

I’ve reached for this aspiration, yet I’m anxious. It’s not good enough. I’m not good enough or smart enough.

I feel the serpent slithering ever closer, seeking me out. The evil one would have my veins filled with doubt and uncertainty. Even as I helplessly stare at this screen, my Savior blocks the fatal strike. I feel my Lord compelling me to type this thought.

Friends, we don’t have to be good enough. God is good enough, and He makes US good enough to carry out His plan for our lives. We just have to be willing enough. Willing enough to keep going. It has taken time and life to realize that some things can certainly be overcome and healed. Then there are those things that leave us lying in a paralyzed heap.

But, look up! Praise be to God…He sent us His Son to overcome the world and through Him, we can too! (1 John 5:3-5)

We don’t have to be good enough. God is good enough…We just have to be willing enough.

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We don’t have to be good enough. God is good enough, and He makes US good enough to carry out His plan for our lives. We just have to be willing enough.

I love the poem, “Footprints in the Sand.”* Beautifully penned words of truth, it’s about turning around to see exactly where Jesus carried us through. It’s in the looking back that I see, really see, that I’ve overcome many, “now-known unknowns.” Pain. Loss. Sorrow. Addictions. Pride. Rejections. Does the list end?

It’s only in the looking back that I’ve gained the surety of Jesus’s presence in my life.

It’s in the looking back that I’ve gained the certainty of His love so I can release my uncertainties.

It’s only in the looking back that I can now say, trust Him.

It’s in the looking back that I see, really see, that I’ve overcome many, “now-known unknowns.”

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When you perceive that coiled-up tormentor, have faith anyway. Remain faithful in prayer, even if you think it’s not leaving the ceiling of your room. Remain faithful to reading Scripture, even if the words evoke no feeling. Remain tenacious and intentional in your belief, even when you can’t feel a thing. Take the Sword of the Word in both hands, and sever the head from whatever serpent is chasing you down.

Because even lying in a heap, I found victory. You will, too. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Shared by: Patti Hemphill

* “Footprints” author is a debatable issue.

We don’t have to be good enough. God is good enough…We just have to be willing enough. Click To Tweet

We don’t have to be good enough. God is good enough, and He makes US good enough to carry out His plan for our lives. We just have to be willing enough.

It’s in the looking back that I see, really see, that I’ve overcome many, “now-known unknowns.” Click To Tweet

We don’t have to be good enough. God is good enough…We just have to be willing enough.

Click To Tweet

It’s in the looking back that I see, really see, that I’ve overcome many, “now-known unknowns.”

Click To Tweet