For the Love

A few years ago I went to Women of Faith in Kansas City. I remember seeing this lady on stage that didn’t seem like she fit the “mold” I was used to at WOF. Then, I heard her speak. It was tearing down the barrier between us and them and really reaching people for Jesus. I had tears rolling down my face. Her message was what I needed to hear. I hadn’t heard of her before. During the break I went to check out her book. I grabbed the book Seven. The lady behind the table said she was coming up to sign and I could jump in line to meet her and be one of the first. I said, “it’s ok, I don’t really know who she is.” Then I thought, what the heck and jumped in line.

Jen Hatmaker was so nice and genuine.

 

I read that book and then ordered her other book  Interrupted. I realized there’s a lot more people that are like me out there than I thought. I am weird but not as weird as I struggled with. I don’t want to be a pretty church ornament. I just want to be messy about his business. It doesn’t always look like clean buildings and organized Sunday School rooms. It doesn’t mean you have to volunteer for everything at the church either. Sometimes we just need to be the church. It might be the only church people ever see. (I am not saying don’t volunteer or be involved in your church)

Seems in every story I read in the Bible it looked messy to those looking in, but God always had a plan.

So, back in March I registered to be on her launch team with 5000 other Jen Hatmaker fans. It was a shot in the dark. Then after a particularly rough week I got an email that I made it in the “500” to be on her launch team. I got her book the day before I left for Nicaragua. It was my plane read. I laughed, I cried, I fist pumped, I cried and laughed some more.

It’s about fighting for grace in a world with impossible standards. Right out of the gate she says take some things off the beam. It’s ok. You know what? I hate being a room mom. I did it. I hated it. I can supply some snacks. The end. I’ll put my energy in things I am good at. Trying to get twenty-eight kids to throw Cheetos at a shaving cream head while cringing about the mess we just made for the janitor ain’t it.

I really enjoyed the turning 40 chapter. I am quickly approaching that time in my life. I am actually looking forward to it and she makes forty sound appealing. I am ok with mom hands and a few wrinkles. I am ready to love on the younger generation and tell them it will be ok. My friend, Janet, did that for me. My friends with kids in college and married daughters they breathe life into me. They give me hope that this all comes out in the wash when we keep our eyes focused on Him. I am ready to keep running this relay while handing batons off to the next mom of littles and saying, “you are gonna make it and you will like these people you made, they’ll tie their own shoes and you can read a book at the pool.”

I made it through Chapters one and two with some fist pumps and misty eyes and Chapter three let those tears fall. “If it isn’t also true for a poor single Christian mom in Haiti, it isn’t true.” There isn’t a status or place we enter that says we’ve arrived whether we are single or married, poor or rich, because God’s calling us to reach people. God just wants us to be faithful with what we have whether it’s thousands or mites, but really he said Go into all the world and make disciples.

Chapter 5 – Leggings aren’t pants and no one wants to see you nether parts. Manpri’s are a don’t.  Barney doesn’t have to worry that they’ll be under the tree for him this Christmas.

Ahhh.. It was sooo good to laugh after a cry.

Chapter Six – We can run our race, ladies. It’s ok to be good at things. It’s ok to have gifts and talents and use them. Hiding them does no good and it’s not arrogant to use them. Jesus gave us a lane. Run.

After I fist pumped and got excited I was in for more laughing. She talks about commercialism and the need to buy the next wonder thing. This makes me laugh as one who has done that. Tonight I sit drinking my apple cider vinegar water and ignore the ten thousand commercials and social media posts about the next energy boost. I’ve done that. I’ve bought the miracle cream and awesome hair stuff and I still look the same. Not buying.

The truth sets us free. It really does. I held a secret for over a decade that nearly destroyed everything and the moment I let it be truth I was free. I said it out loud in a room full of scary Christian women that at any time can label or judge me, but I am free. Because of my freedom my inbox is full of women saying it empowered them to be honest, to let the power of their testimony be a shout out to the one that makes it powerful, Jesus.

Jen says, “With every I am here, and I’ve been there and You aren’t alone and God has this, your scary truth gets less terrifying, less overwhelming, less paralyzing. It becomes fully exposed with no secrets left to threaten you.”

 We get to be 2 Corinthians 4 because darkness presses us but it cannot crush us. Amen.

Again, she lets us catch our breath after the heavy stuff because Chapter 8 is thank you notes. Like, Thank you maxi skirts for basically being crotchless yoga pants. You must read this book if just for the Thank You Notes! My thank you note would be:

Thank you Just Go Girl for ensuring I can burpee, squat jump, and do jumping jacks while wearing a diaper strip capable of holding ½ cup of liquid after having four small children tarzan their way out of my body. However, they make bear crawls appear that I Fooped. I hate bear crawls, anyway.

 

 

That leads right into being a Spicy Family. We are spicy. We are not quiet or sweet or reserved. I’ve tried and nearly combusted. If you’ve seen me on social media, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s no secrets here and no shame. You ask me and I’ll answer because I don’t want sister Susie at school giving you false information. When my kid comes home in fourth grade and says, “so if I want to have a baby, I just need someone to reach up there and crack my eggs” we first calm Barney down because he’s yelling about worrying about your own stuff before letting someone touch it and I am  trying to out yell him to calm him down while making throat cutting gestures like a mime. Poor kid didn’t know what was going on, but yes, one day I’ll explain how to crack those eggs.

You get to laugh and you get to cry and then you get to say Amen. I won’t break down every chapter but I am telling you, you need to read this.

One of my favorite chapters is “Dear Christians, Please Stop Being Crappy”. Ok,  your version says lame. I liked crappy.

I love social media and the power of it. I do. I love seeing kids rescued and people helped. I love seeing old friends and connecting with new ones. What makes my heart hurt is how fast we will jump on something to show everyone what we are against. We tear each other down. We tear unbelievers apart before ever inviting them in.  The Gospel is good news folks. It’s good news. It’s Grace wrapped in flesh meeting the woman at the well, stopping the stoning of the adulteress woman, it’s eating lunch at the sinner’s house, it’s setting captives free. It’s good news people. Jesus died for sins. Come on. There’s a better way. They need to know us by our love. Loving sinners isn’t condoning sin. It doesn’t give a pass to atrocities happening every day to innocent victims. His kindness brings us to repentance. It’s Him, not your picket signs. We can meet them where they are. We have a  Gospel of beautiful examples.

Please stop being resounding gongs. We love  1 Corinthians 13 for weddings but not for everyday life, not for the people closest to us that are capable of ripping our hearts out, not for those living a life we don’t condone. People complained that Jesus hung out with sinners, was a glutton, a friend of tax collector’s and sinners (Matthew 11:19). I guess if being a friend of sinners was good for Jesus, it must be good for me.  

I saw how mean Christians can be to our own when they fall this summer. It was like a horrific train wreck that went on for hours on social media. We can do better church. I believe in us.

I have never had someone come to church with me because I said, “hey, you are a sinner, and you need to come.” I said, “I was a wreck, a mess, and Jesus found me, You want to come, friend?”

That’s a whole blog in and of itself. Go get the book. In September I am going to do a book club. There’s recipes we can cook together.  There's  more chapters and honest things we need to look at to really grow community, to grow with each other. There's laughter to be had and tears to be shed. There's conversations and friendships ready to be built as we tear down walls and masks.  
 
 

 

 

In a few weeks I am headed to Jen’s house for the launch party. Since March I’ve been in a community of people on facebook that have not just catapulted a book into #1 but loved each other through some really tough dark times, rejoiced in some pretty amazing days, and laughed together while being scattered across the world. I am going to meet some of these ladies in person, thank them for the beautiful community they created, and pray that somehow right here in my little neck of the woods we can create a community that says For the Love of Jesus, I am walking with you.

 Go Get it! Comment on this blog and I am picking one lucky winner next week to get a book from me.