God Will Rewrite Our Story...Plus 5-Steps to Healing Hurt HeARTs Prompt

Each one of us has a story...

Every day we are "writing" that story in the way we live our lives.

Some days we do better writing than on other days...

Unlike an author that writes with pen and ink, or even types, we cannot throw what we have written away...or what someone else has pushed in and written what they willed on our story

Over the course of time, our skills improve.  
We meet people who help us along the way.
People become a part of our story whether we invite them into it or not.
Challenges, joys, griefs, fellowship, laughter, dancing, births and deaths;
mistakes and successes; transformations and inspirations....

All are transcribed on the pages of our lives...


The good parts; the painful parts; the parts we regret eventually...


Everything is there - nothing can be thrown away or erased...


But there is another Author.  The One who has written upon all of history.  

When we submit our "manuscript" to Him, and let His careful eye read;
He doesn't erase.  He doesn't reject.  He doesn't throw away.

2 Corinthians 3:3

He rewrites.  He writes over the places that need help.  He writes over the pain and mistakes and regret and doesn't remove their fact...


By His writing, He redeems our story. 


Nothing is removed - it is reframed and written by the Author's hand to reflect what He knows is true.
And as He writes, a miracle occurs...

We begin to see as He does, and we begin to co-author our stories with His...
Just as in any good story, there is a beginning, a climax, and then the end...
Between the beginning and the end, there must be a conflict...


Healing Art/Healing Journaling Prompt
 
 (Please read through the entire entry before you begin.  This will give you a better experience as you will know what to expect as opposed to 'just winging it'!)

In my last post I shared a spontaneous journaling piece I had done that morning. As I was writing that blog entry, I remembered this technique I had tried several years ago, journaling on top of journaling to make interesting marks on art...I don't believe I ever published anything with it, as I was still practicing - I still like the look of it - and the idea of "abstract journaling" comes to mind...

The "look" is abstract; or modernistic if you prefer - but it isn't random.  In putting new writing on top of the old, we are becoming co-authors with God, rewriting our past with His promises and truth - His words coupled with the act of writing will help cement His promises in our hearts (not to mention that you will end up with something that looks very contemporary to use in your art, or just keep in your journal.)1

Supplies:

Prepared art journaling page or plain journal - even just a sheet of paper of choice
writing tool
a Bible

Step 1:

Prepare to write.  Close your eyes and breathe in and out slowly three times.  Still your mind.  Ask the Lord for His Presence and guidance for this prompt.  Pay attention to what comes up in your mind:  is it an image; words; an emotion felt even in the body?  Jot down 3 - 5 words that will help to remind you of what came up at the top of the paper or journal you have with you.

 Step 2:

Using free writing (quickly writing the stream of thoughts and ideas flowing through your mind without regard to proper grammar or punctuation), write the words that come to you concerning the topic found in Step 1.  You might want to set a timer for around 5 minutes for this portion, so you don't get bogged down in possible negative thoughts or memories.  This is just a suggestion, not a hard, fast rule!  Remember that healing art is supposed to be fun!

Once written, do you need to step away for a few minutes to ground yourself or regroup?  You can drink a cup of tea or coffee, take a short walk, move around for the duration of a favorite song or two.  These activities help to get you "out of your head" and into the present.

Consider if you want to do the next part of this exercise now or wait a while or even wait till tomorrow.  Any decision is perfect for you - and waiting may give you more time to 'hear God' for His promises and purposes and healing words for what you have written.  You may want to take time to search the Scriptures for specific verses that apply to what you have written (trusting that the Holy Spirit will "illuminate" the one's He specifically is leading you towards)

Step 3:

Return to your journal entry and begin to write over the top of your previous writing any words, promises, quotes, verses, etc.  that you believe the Lord is saying to you about the topic.  You can write in any direction!  For my piece, I turned my original journaling upside down and then wrote over the top of it.  I got some nice upstrokes and downstrokes over the course of my page using this method.  Write as much as you like.  If you run out of new words to cover your original writing, just begin to repeat until all of your original entry is covered.  Or, if you have more new words than old, you can stop when the old is covered OR begin a third layer of writing!  Fun!  And the Lord may speak something to your heart about these layers covering your original!



Step 4:

Add extra embellishments if you like.  I noticed swishes and dots (from dotting my "i's" and "js", and I had space to add embellishments and liked the way it turned out.  (Plus, it gave me some additional practice with my dip pen!)






Step 5:

You might want to do a little reflective journaling about what you learned through the process.  Consider documenting the words, scripture, quotes and promises that you used in your overwriting to keep them as a legible way to remember what God has written over your heart!


Need some ideas for God's promises?

Check these links:

Promises that speak to fear and anxiety 
Promises that speak to worrying 
Promises that speak of God's love for you 
Promises that speak to times you feel overwhelmed 
Promises that speak of God's compassion and mercy 
Promises that speak of His constant presence 
Romans 8 is a tremendous chapter of the blessings we have because we are God's children.
And finally, a list of "I am" through the promises of God verses (also known as our identity in Christ) 
 
Blessings!
Cindy

An Open Letter to All Christian Youth Leaders...(I really want to hear your comments)

First of all, I truly want to thank you for the service and sacrifice that you have given; for answering God's call and for working in the harvest field of teens and tweens...

For prayers prayed in the secret place, for firmness when these youngsters have acted out, for holding them gently when hearts are broken and cheering them on as you watch them "get it", for letting them see you worship, for letting them ask the hard questions and hearing you say "I don't know, but I'll ask God...", for being an example to them and a reflection of Jesus...

I think about what the books in heaven that God writes and are written in His Presence must say about these days of yours and secretly hope to read them with you and Him one day!

I have a story to share with you...

There was a man, a manager, who was working in a certain company that had branches throughout the world.  The branch he was part of was a minor part of the corporation, and was located in a remote area.  But this man liked his position and his job and was perfectly content in his place in life.  He ran his projects with exquisite administrative skill; his few workers assigned to him loved his organizational power, the smoothness that all their projects were always completed in; so they weren't surprised at all when the CEO of the corporation called their manager to company headquarters in order to oversee a new program that had been in the works.  The manager's new group was exponentially larger than the handful of employees he was used to and many had their own ideas about how to proceed with the R&D project that was already underway.  Immediately our manager saw he needed to go in a different direction than the group's previous leader had been going, in fact the entire reason the CEO had brought him into the situation was that the CEO knew the manager would accurately direct the project in the way the CEO knew it needed to go in order to be successful.  This new direction would ultimately allow everybody who was part of the project to interject his or her own unique style for the ultimate good of the company and the population who would use this system.  With the help of some of his old trusted workmates who had relocated with him, the manager began the monumental process of initiating the change. There was some resistance - persons who were loyal to the former leader didn't like the new manager, others felt their personal leadership and ideas were just as good or better than the new manager's, and others just went with the flow.  Small conflicts and office politics arose and yet the manager continued on, using the same skill set he had developed back home to keep the work moving along as well as encouraging the dissidents to work together for the good of all.  The CEO was pleased and had frequent conversations with the manager about the project, the people, and personal issues as well.  They became quite close as the work continued.  Occasionally, the entire group would be stumped as to how to proceed, even the manager, but the CEO could always see what was needed and would inform the manager during their daily chats, and he in turn would take the instructions back to the group and the work would move forward.  In truth, all the manager needed to do was to speak the word of the CEO; the resulting flow of ideas and connections and fresh innovations for the group was nothing short of miraculous.  

It became time to take the project out in the field.  The CEO placed the manager in charge and provided for the entire group to accompany him as they implemented the new program in the various company branches and other venues who were wishing to use it.  Their conversations continued on a daily basis, a good thing as implementing the new system and traveling brought new challenges and conflicts that needed to be worked through.  As always, the CEO was on top and knew what the entire group needed, trusting the manager to convey his (the CEO's) words accurately.  Some of the workers saw the gifts the manager had and aligned themselves with him, becoming his apprentices so to speak for they had vision to see that the new system and its benefits would extend far into the future, and they needed to learn the manager's strategies to continue the work and to train others who would come after them.  Others kept trying to implement the system in their own way, almost in opposition to the gifted manager.  It was these who stirred most of the group into grumbling and complaining when the travel and training seemed to reach an insurmountable problem which would effectively shut down the new system for all time, resulting in going back and redesigning the entire thing.  Most of the group were declaring "failure", only the apprentices stood by the manager.  Our manager, tired, stressed, and quite frankly, inconvenienced by the continual friction came back from his daily conversation with the CEO to address the entire group...and for the first and only time, his actions displeased the CEO.  The manager began by reciting to the group his feelings of the moment, "You are a rebellious group, will you listen to the solution!?" and he struck the podium with his hands, not once, but twice.  And as he shared the CEO's words, the solution did come forth and the entire group continued their tour of training and implementing the system.

But when it was time for the travels to end, and the group was going to be kept together in a brand new location that the CEO had provided to be the center of the new system (in order that anyone who wanted to learn it could come and train, then stay or take it back to their homes), the CEO had to tell our manager that he couldn't continue to lead the group there...the personal anger displayed that fateful day was not a true reflection of the CEO, and the vision, the history, that was to be written about the new system had to remain free from the idea that striking and anger was part of the new methods.

The CEO and manager remained close friends however, conversing often through the day, until the death of the manager...

This story is loosely based on the account found in Numbers 20.  I trust the history of Moses and the dealings with the people of Israel in the wilderness are familiar to you...



I know you are human, as Moses was, and I am glad you are willing to be a leader of such a similar mob of tweeners and teens!  But just as Moses, when tiredness and stress and inconvenience makes your words and actions less than grace-filled, less than a reflection of the truth of God's nature, I wonder about the far reaching effects of such...

There are Joshuas and Calebs in your care, watching and learning from you...there are others that will become strong men and women for God - Deborahs, Samuels, Hannahs, parents of Samsons and Ruths, worshipers like David and Bathsheba and Obed-Edom, prayer warriors like Nehemiah and Daniel...


When you are spent, and spent because you are working for and caring for our precious children's spirits, I pray that you see the heroes of the faith when you look in their eyes, when you listen to their words, especially their immature, hormone driven, less-than-stellar toned words...

You know this "unruly mob" is dealing with parents' divorces, bullying, peer pressure, perhaps domestic violence at home, and wondering if they should entrust you with a deep secret they have never told another living soul...just to name a few...and even tho' they have just had a great time, you don't really know what they are leaving you to go home to...

I pray that your words will "always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person"...

The other night, you told my learning disabled daughter, when she couldn't recite certain information to you, that "you were not going to wait another hour for her parents to show up" and when she explained her dyslexia was interfering, you were curt with her again - you made your inconvenience her fault (in front of other youth I might add), and she is afraid to come back to youth because you promised her punishment if she didn't get this one certain thing right...something she struggles with because of her learning disability and doesn't have control over, an issue that we had provided for because she cannot control it, but again, on the leader's end, our provision was not available...

The good thing about her communication with you is that you assured her you would be talking to her parents about it, and as you can see, I want to talk to you about it...


We are not derelict parents who try to drop off our child every chance we can and leave them for as long as we can...in fact, unknown to you at the time, we were already on our way to the parking lot to be there when the bus arrived, so in reality if you had to wait, it was because of ALL the other parents in the same situation as us - not knowing the youth leaders had decided to come back early (and why weren't we sent a text while y'all were on the way back home? When the appropriate leaders HAD the information needed to do so?) - because when we picked our daughter up there were about a hundred other kids waiting for their parents...in actuality the problem was with the leaders, when they chose not to make the calls to parents or to text them.

In the large scheme of things, I have thanked God that it happened to her/us, because He knew how we would handle the situation, how I would speak to her and how I would speak to you.  Trust me, if she had misbehaved we would be taking measure to correct that misbehavior.  In this situation, I think I have made it clear that I am thankful for your serving of the Lord, of us parents, and of our children, but I am asking that next time, you just try to hold it together for that one more hour (when you think of one hour in the light of eternity, it is so small) and continue to see those tweens and teens as future faith heroes instead of an inconvenience...that that one more hour might be when that secret is told, or the special intimate moment with the Lord during the retreat is shared with you, that somehow, maybe, God wants to give you a divine appointment to treasure till the day you are with Him in heaven...that hour of inconvenience might just hold another entry into those heavenly books He writes about us...

I hope you have heard my heart in this letter; please call me after you have read this...

**********************

I am hand delivering this at youth group tonight - what are your thoughts?

A Letter from my heart...

3 days ago, I meant to tell you “I am sorry for being grumpy at you last night when you pinched my nose, waking me up to tell me to be quiet" (I was snoring you told me) and you were just needing someone with skin on to help you feel safe as you laid in the dark, mind whirring too much to sleep…and I didn’t take the time to say those words because we were all cheerful about our Sunday – going to church, going to help friends move, going to get your new drum set that God had blessed you with. Then yesterday, when you felt so bad that the bad feeling overwhelmed you and for that brief moment – you went black – darkness in your mind overshadowing your heart and turned its angry vicious voice on your own being and then on me as the pain and despair poured out over both of us…(where does that come from?)…our day was gentle, peaceful, beautiful, successful till then … our love touched again soon after…but I wonder about the black, the bad feeling … did I make it bigger? Do consequences enlarge it, enrage it? You apologized as soon as your emotions subsided … we both forgave … but there still has to be consequences … consequences meant to teach, to train, to remind, to begin a new and healthier habit … I want to help, but my box doesn’t seem to have the right sized tools to repair the deeper hurt when it makes its way to the surface … do you understand? Do you hear my heart? I desire to be an example of kindness; consequences don't feel kind - to either of us it would seem!

And it is here that I hear God's whisper, that my toolbox has been fashioned by His love, and the tools inside, of repair and reconstruction, include consequences as well as
hugs,
faces touching forehead to forehead and nose to nose
and heart to heart,
smiles,
forgiveness asked for and granted,
words fitly spoken,
soon finding some small joy to be shared together
(yes, it CAN be ice cream with chocolate sauce as long as it isn't ALWAYS that!),
remembering grace,
practicing reconciliation,
expressing the warm embrace of deeper understanding,
unconditional acceptance that rightly values the person apart from performance,
the gift of time...

All these interject and bind My Healing Presence into the deepest areas of need.

And isn't all this, all part of My definition of kindness*, the fruit of the Spirit?
To provide that which is suitable and useful?
That which will allow for roots of love to grow deep and strong?


And in humble awe, my soul is on its knees...

*http://strongsnumbers.com/greek/5543.htm


Joining with other imperfects at Imperfect Prose Thursdays.