Families splinter. Finances sink. Fear creeps.

Where’s the joy?

As Jon and Kate divorce and Tiger Woods makes news — YUCK! – as foreclosures increase and jobs remain scarce, as fear creeps into your life, your faith may falter.

Are you there now? It’s OK. Honest.

God understands. He gets it. When Jesus sandaled through Judea he felt every emotion: grief, sadness, anguish and peace, joy and contentment.

You are in good company. Think Moses, David, Sarah, Esther, Gideon. Each experienced a crisis of faith.

Then they laughed again.

Yes. After the night the day breaks. After winter, spring blossoms. After a big New Year’s meal, a nap.

May I encourage you to laugh again in 2010? Our Lord knows your needs. He knows how your heart is breaking. He promises to provide — in his way, in his timing.

What do you want God to heal in your life? A family situation? Your finances? Health? Something else?

Question: Now that it’s August. Have you experienced healing? If so, what?

You Are Loved!

Do you have a burden for single women? How about troubled teens? Are you energized to open your home to others and make them feel welcome? Do you like comforting folks by bringing them meals or sending them cards?

God wired each of us for a purpose. I’m wired to encourage hurting Christian women find hope. Do you know how you’re wired? Do you know your heart’s passion?

In other words, what gets you out of bed other than the need for a caffeine fix? Continue reading this post over at Take Root & Write, where I have the column Counselors’ Coach.

You Are Amazing!

I quit prayer walking a few years ago.

Why? I had stopped praying. Sure, I tossed up a few “Keep my kids safe, Lord” and “Help me be patient.”

But then

instead of praying

I noticed

this neighbor’s shiny new car

and that neighbor’s

lush, jungle green grass.

I coveted and complained and maybe just maybe God liked that I stopped my “prayer walks” that had become “tear walks.”

Pronounce “tear” (rhymes with “pear”) since I ripped into me and into God’s character of goodness. Or go with “tear” like fear; the walks had sure turned into boo-hoo bashes parties. Your pick!

Then

I prayed about praying. God gave me an idea: Recite Psalm 23 while walking.

So God and I gave it a go.

Talk about a difference: Wow!

Question: Do you prayer walk?

You Are Blessed!

Pulling up to a red light, Kate noticed a young man clutching a sign.

It read, “HOMELESS. NEED FOOD. PLEASE HELP.” The icy wind reddened his hands. She knew what she had to do, even though it inconvenienced her. She drove to a store, bought men’s gloves and returned to the sign holder. She rolled down her window and handed them to him.

And she prayed for his mother.

Kate, too, has a grown son. Addicted to drugs. Sleeping somewhere. She couldn’t warm her own child but she could show Jesus to a stranger.

Debbie Macomber shares this true story in her book One Simple Act: Discovering the Power of Generosity. A sister in Christ and bestselling fiction author, she understands. She’s dyslexic and her third grade teacher told her mother, “She’ll never do well in school.” And she didn’t.

But her love of words and her parent’s encouragement, and later her husband’s, gave her the boost to sign up for a writers’ conference in New York, and — to use a cliche — the rest is history.

This post isn’t about Debbie or Kate. It’s about you and overcoming your struggles in Jesus’ power. I want you to find hope and healing. One thing I learned:

Sometimes to find healing you need to reach out to a hurting soul and help her.

Here’s an example: A woman I counsel — whom I’ll call Sandy — spied a lady dumpster-diving for food scraps behind a fast-food joint. She maneuvered her car from the drive-thru lane and into a parking spot. Sandy had bought two lunches, one for herself and one for the lady. She handed one bag of food to the lady. She said, “I don’t want your food. I don’t take no charity.” Sandy put the bag of food just inside the dumpster and walked back to her car, glancing backward to see what the lady would do.

She took the food.

Now Sandy and the lady have a game of sorts. Sandy places food by the dumpster when she sees the lady and the lady eats. Sandy feels she is making a difference. She feels less alone.

This simple act of generosity reveals Jesus to a lady and to a hurting world.

“Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:16 NIV).

Question: Why can you thank God today?

You Are Blessed!

Did you know that you talk nonstop in your head?

Some thoughts are neutral. Oh, mayonnaise, where are you?

Some are positive. Woohoo! I found the mayonnaise in aisle 12. Good job, Lucy.You’re quite the sleuth.

Some are trashy. What?! A bazillion calories in a tablespoon of mayonnaise. You already have cellulite on cellulite, you fatso. Put it back. Ugh!

Thoughts are powerful.

The Bible underlines thought power. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, NLT).

When you think well your emotions and actions will line up with God’s plan and purpose for you:

an abundant life.

Thinking well is the result of a Holy Spirit-controlled mind. Take a look at this verse.

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what the sinful nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of a sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:5).

In other words, the sinful nature prefers bad company like lust and greed and lies. Lots of lies. Satan tempts you to lie to yourself and wallow in depression, strike out in anger or worse.

A Spirit-controlled mind wants what God wants, that His will be done.

But how?

To think well you need to continually believe. “Continual,” a present participle in the Greek, basically means, now that you believe Christ for your salvation keep on continually believing Him all day, every day.

It is a faith walk. Kinda like marriage.

Remember the day you walked the aisle, pretty in white, butterflies tickling your tummy, and you said “I do”?

But then you had to continue to make a go at marriage day after day.

Even moment by moment on the hard days,

or months

or years.

Thinking well is like this. You must choose to think well daily.

Or they’ll stink like trash.

Need help?

Ask for my complimentary Think Well charts.

Simply send me an email. Write Think Well in the subject line.  My email is  Lucy@LucyAnnMoll.

You Are Beautiful!

The is the third part of a three-part story. Read part one and part two – just scroll back a bit. I found it among my email, sent to me by my brother-in-law Gary. The author is unknown. If you know who he or she is, please tell me. I made minor changes.

Jack lit up. “Now I remember,” he said. “I was behind the serving counter. You came in and asked me if you could work to get something to eat. I said that it was against company policy.”

“I know,” the woman continued. “Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble. When I saw you put the price of my food in the cash register, I knew then that you paid and everything would be all right.”

“So you started a business?” Jack asked.

“I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered.”

She opened her purse and pulled out a business card. “When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons. He’s the personnel director of my company. I’ll go talk to him now. I’m certain he’ll find something for you to do around the office.” She smiled. “I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to
live until you get on your feet. If you ever need anything, my door is always open to you.”

There were tears in the old man’s eyes. “How can I ever thank you?” he asked.

“Don’t thank me,” the woman answered. “To God goes the glory. He led me to you.”

Outside the cafeteria, the officer and the woman paused at the entrance before going their separate ways.

“Thank you for all your help, officer,” she said.

“On the contrary, Ms. Eddy,” he answered. “Thank you. I saw a miracle today, something that I will never forget. And. . .and thank you for the coffee.”

When God leads you to the cliff of financial disaster, illness, loneliness, or broken relationships, trust Him fully and let go. He will catch you when you fall, or He’ll teach you how to fly! Do you believe this? Many blessings to you, Beloved of the the Most High God.

You Are Beautiful, Lucy

A friend forwarded me an email that held this gem. A reason it resonates with me: The first stanza of “Jesus Loves Me” is my statement of faith on my Facebook page.

Here’s the forwarded email, with a few edits:

“On Sunday I watched an Atlanta church honoring one of its senior pastors who had been retired many years. I wondered why the church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.

“After a warm welcome, he rose from his high back chair and walked with great effort and a sliding gait to the podium. He placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then he began to speak, slowly, quietly.

“‘When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me. The only thing that would comfort was this verse.

Jesus loves me this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
We are weak but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.’

“When he finished, the church was quiet. He shuffled back to his chair. I don’t believe I will ever forget it.’”

A simple song. Words of truth.

When I forget about me, I sense his peace. Less of me, more of him. I am weak, he is strong.

A beautiful warrior gets her strength in Christ.

You Are Beautiful, Lucy

SUBMIT. Use this S word in church-y circles or even at Wal-Mart, and you may hear this verse quoted, word by word, sometimes pridefully, sometimes timidly, and only occasionally with proper use.

It is among the best known verses in the Bible. Here goes:

“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting to the Lord.” (Colossians 3:18)

Two similar verses pop up in Ephesians.

“Wives, submit to your hubands as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)

“Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” (Ephesians 5:24)

Push the Pause button.

Whether you’re married, single or single again, this message is for you. The battle of the sexes, especially in our homes, endears us mortals to the devil, who not only wants marriage redefined (you know, guy with guy, gal with gal. . .maybe even guy with gorilla. . .Barak Obama and far left judges have opened Pandora’s box) but also destroyed, along with the couples’ innocent children. If you have a kid or were a kid, read on.

OK, hit Play.

While many can quote the “wives submit” verses, few remember its counterparts, one in Colossians, two in Ephesians.

“Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.” (Colossians 3:19)

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:25)

“In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives, as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” (Ephesians 5:28)

The command the apostle Paul chose for women: submit. For men, love.

Hmm. Submit and love. It this unfair? shortsighted? out of wack?

Are women suppose to obey? Be doormats?

No. Rather, both the husband and wife are called to self-sacrifice. Look at the word the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, selected for love. It is agape in the Greek. This self-sacrificing kind of love isn’t about sex or affection or brotherly kindness. It is the kind that lays down one’s life for the other.

It looks alot like. . .submission.

The wife is to submit and the husband to sacrifice. Neither obey the other. This is for children.

As a Bible study author astutely poined out, an argument in such a home would sound like,

“I insist that you have your way.”

“No, no, really, I insist you have your way.”

Wow. Just imagine that was the tone of your arguments, each trying to out-sacrifice (the man) or out-submit (the woman) the other. Just imagine the number of marriages that would not only survive and thrive. The kids too.

As a child of divorce, I remember too well the yelling, door-slamming and cold silence in the years before my parent untied the knot, and guilt, fear and sadness tangled me up like seaweed. I had the childlike thought, “If only I were a good little girl, they’d still be together.” But I wasn’t responsible for their ugly choices. They were. It took me a long time to learn this.

I carried my misconceptions into my own marriage, now a few months shy of the 25-year mark. (Woohoo!)

Desiring to be a good wife, I let my husband make the big decisions. Is this biblical?

Again let’s look at Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 7:4-5, the husband and wife together make an agreement concerning their sexual intimacy, a big deal in marriage; just ask your guy.

So what’s the bottom line:

My sister in Christ, you are beautifully made and you are strong. In Christ, you are strong enough to submit to God and to your husband if you are married.

Remember these three things:

1. In a godly home, an argument sounds like,

 “I insist that you have your way.”

2. Satan is out to destroy marriages. Fight for yours.

3. Bless the children of divorce by supporting the custodial parent in any number of ways: babysitting for free, cleaning her house, doing minor repairs on her car, and/or listening to her hurts.

A beautiful warrior submits as to the Lord.

You Are Beautiful, Lucy

The weirdest thing happened at my black belt test.

Okay, I gotta pause.

You may not know I do karate. Now you do.

A karate-chopping, hiiiiiya-ing Christian chick? Yeah, guilty as charged.

I got into karate many years ago for two reasons: to learn self-defense and to do an activity with my then 10 year old. We both earned orange belts, she stopped, and I continued kicking, blocking and punching my little heart out.

“Chuck Norra.” This is what you may call me. Hey, Norris is a Christian and a black belt (a gazillion times over). . .why not follow in his step-punches?

Well, the day of my black belt test came.

And the weirdest thing happened.

I proclaimed Christ.

You see, at a black belt test, near the conclusion, the ten or so testers pepper us almost-newbies with questions.

And, me oh my oh, the Qs to me came out of an evangelism playbook by God.

“Lucy, what is the most important thing you learned about respect?” asked the judo-jujitsu guy at the far right.

I answered something like, “I learned a greater respect of the unseen spiritual war all around us. In karate, there is an unseen enemy just as there is in the world. This unseen enemy is evil. He wants to steal and kill and destroy. Through karate I saw these parallels more clearly.”

Then a question from the Kunfu Panda lookalike in the fourth chair from the left.

“How have you incorporated the philosophy of ying and yang in your karate?”

I hesitated,

breathed deep,

and spoke my heart.

My voice quavered.

“This is a difficult question,” I began. “I know how to answer the question the right away — balance and all that [the "all that" being anti-Christianity"] – but I don’t believe it.

“So I’ll tell you what I do believe.

“I asked my orginal sensei if I could use nail polish to paint over the ying-yang symbol on the school patch. He said, ‘Yes.’ So I painted it yellow then drew the Cross on the circle. My strength comes from Christ.”

For a second, I thought my answer might doom me. No black belt for Lucy?! After seven years of training?

Then I remembered that the founders of my style of karate, begun in the 1940s in Hawaii, were all Christians and even posted a prayer “in the name of Jesus.”

I sensed peace. I felt purpose.

I figured that maybe just maybe my test had nothing to do with my becoming a black belt afterall.

Maybe just maybe the test was this: Would I proclaim Christ in front of 100 people with my reputation on the line?

What do you think?

Please take a moment, leave a comment and “vote” – ”Yes, this was a faith test” or “No, it was black belt test only.”

A beautiful warrior proclaims the excellency of Christ.

You Are Beautiful, Lucy