If you lean in close, you can hear it, the wrestling of restless women wanting more than religion. They want to know a real God who meets their real needs right in the middle of their real lives.
Some are wounded from the church and wondering if they’ll ever go back.
Some are conflicted and confused with this man named Jesus.
And some are deeply grieving the loss of loved ones, questioning the very character of God.
These women stand at their kitchen sinks in need of more than Christian clichés and phrases like: “You can do it.” At the sink, crumbs across the counter stacked with pots that need scrubbing, they stand with tears rolling down their cheeks, praying for more of Him. Desperate to know God in a real way because they’re not okay and their tired of pretending they are.
No more fake smiles and brushing the hurt under the rug. It’s time to get real and raw.
Because we’re living in a far more significant story, then we could ever imagine, much larger than our daily mundane moments. If we are not careful, we will get caught up in these moments, focusing on our pain, needs, and desires, and miss God’s invitation to experience His resurrection power within us.
If we’re not careful, we’ll be living a life defined by striving, rushing, and completing the tasks at hand, rather than the leading of the Holy Spirit. We will never discover real joy and fulfillment by merely getting-by in the mundane. We’ll miss the freedom Jesus’ conquered death for and live a life He never tended us to live.
About a year and a half ago I stepped away from this space for quite some time. I think five months to be exact. I took a step away after we adopted our fifth child. Admittedly, this lengthy silence wasn’t solely the baby’s fault. The truth is, I needed to do some healing. I wanted more of God. Struggling to believe I was enough for these dreams God placed on my heart I sought Him like never before. Questions that turned into lies rattled my mind daily until He spoke the word…” be.” Read more here.
Maybe you struggle as I do. Perhaps you have dreams deep inside your soul being held back by the lie of not being enough. Maybe you find yourself relating to the women I described. Finding yourself at the kitchen sink crying out for more…
I was there. Standing night after night washing dishes, longing to learn how to live from a place of being deeply loved by God, instead of trying to win the love of the world. A place where grace wins instead of guilt, where comparison is replaced with celebration. A place where all my shame and the whispers of past mistakes are somehow swallowed up in the sea of endless grace. A place where my identity is not in what I do, but in an in-depth knowledge of who I am in Christ.
I longed for all I did to flow from this place of freedom in Christ and genuinely being okay with where I was on my journey, even if it looked nothing like my neighbors. Because only in Jesus are we fully known and always loved.
It starts with realizing all our doing flows from a place of being wanted and loved, and getting lost in all our doing allows us to believe that this is all there is…
Because what if all our doing is only masking our insecurities? Masking the hurts and interrupting the healing God is trying to do?
During this silence, I wrestled with some pretty heavy theology. Asking the Lord many questions on what this thing called Christianity should look like and how on earth are we suppose to do church. Though its’ been a year and a half, I’m still healing and learning what it means to love unconditionally in a world that loves you for what you produce rather than who you are.
As God untangled the lies, I believed and replaced them with His truth a dream began to unfold. He revealed an image of women, just like me, standing at their kitchen sink and an idea began to unfold to encourage and equip women to live out the gospel in there every day with grace. Because a life set to grace is a life set to rest. As I emerge I’m excited to write from the place of freedom God unleashed.
From this place of brokenness, God spoke Thoughts at the Kitchen Sink, where real life meets our real God, into my spirit. A vision of an online community of women who are getting real and raw with each other to live out the gospel began to take shape.
I’m praying this will be a sacred place where I share my wrestling at the kitchen sink.
My prayer is our brokenness will help each other, and maybe it will provide a bit of healing. I promise to be authentic with you in my writing about my journey of desperately wanting to walk out wholeness.
So, it may look a little different around here; I promise to keep writing. To keep seeking. To continue following and obeying, giving Him the glory along the way. Won’t you join me? I hear the Father saying, “It’s time to get out of the boat and trust me.”
I am afraid. But I know He is with me, guiding and leading. Won’t you join me, because we need each other?
We’ve got to remember even in our doing we are ever so present, hanging on the words of Christ, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you” John 15:4.
Sweet friends, I am so glad you are here!
As you’re here, take a look around. Join the community and sign-up for my bi-weekly words of encouragement. Take a look at our new shop. My sister and I merged our talents and created a calendar for 2019 called “Becoming.” I wrote a devotional for each month I know you’ll love. It’s a love letter from God to us speaking into our journey of becoming. You can find it in the shop Here.
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How many of us feel like we're not living the life we were meant to have?We're getting lost beneath the responsibility of marriage, motherhood, and career, wondering if He still has a plan for us.
Yeah…you're tired, worn-out, looking for a place to find rest for your soul?
I understand. I get it. Me too. Join me in this journey for more...because we created for greatness.
