Deep Dive by Mary Folkerts

 

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:9,10 (NIV).

I watched my 82-year-old friend dive into the summer lake while I sat in the boat with my fear. 

As a child, it was ingrained in me to fear deep water, and I never had swimming lessons until I was in high school, and then only for a short while. This, and not having much access to swimming pools, created in me a fear of water if it was too deep to stand in. 

So what a strange dilemma when you become a swim coach who can’t swim. That’s right. I help coach Special Olympics swimmers on my daughter's swim team, but I cannot swim. All  I can do is stand on the side of the pool, relaying instructions from the head coach, cheer the athletes on, and see if someone is in distress, but I cannot jump in to save them. I watch with a sense of longing as the swimmers effortlessly cut through the water, their limbs and minds trained to know how to keep their bodies afloat in deep water. They don’t fear the depths as long as they trust what they have learned. 

What a strange dilemma when you become a

swim coach who can’t swim!

 Isn’t it true that we often spend too much time splashing around in the wading pool of Christianity because we’ve never really learned how to swim? Oh, we’ve been saved by faith in Jesus, but we’ve never had the desire to swim in the deep end. Fear holds us back because when our feet can’t touch bottom, we lose our sense of control. And we don’t like to lose control. We want to “do Christianity” on our own terms. We read part of our key verse, “… I have come that they may have life…” and that’s where we stop. 

“...and have it to the full” is the deep dive. This full or abundant life is not necessarily characterized by a life of ease. One of the biggest things that keep us from experiencing this life Jesus desires to give us is our inherent need for control. We like to keep our feet firmly planted in our own plans and desires. We hold on tight and miss out on the blessing of trusting God’s love for us. We have been taught that Jesus is faithful and trustworthy, but do we believe it? Have we never learned to truly trust because we refuse to go where the water is deep? 

How can we encourage readers to dive deep into an abundant relationship with God when we fail to do so ourselves? Shallow faith is not a tried faith. It’s working through the difficult emotions, the ugly sins, admitting to failure, discouragement and depression. It’s being authentic. It’s removing the mask of perfection, revealing the depths of God’s love and working power within our own desperate hearts.

Shallow faith is not a tried faith.

And sometimes, by God's grace, He gently nudges us deeper than we wanted to go, to where we have no choice but to cling to Him.  It’s here that we become aware that living in His abundance means complete trust in His goodness, which brings abundant peace no matter how deep the water.

Mary Folkerts is mom to four kids and wife to a farmer, living on the southern prairies of Alberta, where the skies are large and the sunsets stunning. She is a Proverbs 31 ministries COMPEL Writers Training member and is involved in church ministries and music. Mary’s personal blog aims to encourage and inspire women and advocate for those with Down Syndrome, as their youngest child introduced them to this extraordinary new world. For more inspiration, check out Joy in the small things https://maryfolkerts.com/  

Learning to Listen to God's Voice - Ruth L. Snyder

This month we are sharing "God Moments" with each other. I find this a delightful, and thought-provoking theme. I love how God speaks to each individual in ways that are meaningful to them. He truly is a good, good Father!

I'm grateful my parents modeled listening to God from before I was born—we flew to South Africa when I was six weeks old because my parents obeyed a call from God to serve there as missionaries. When I was six years old, my parents listened to a plea (similar to the Macedonian Call in the book of Acts) from a man who asked if anyone would help him tell his people (in Botswana) about God. As a family, we experienced many "God moments".

A favorite place to walk and listen to God

Over the years, God has spoken to me in many different ways, and often with a combination of the following:

1. The Bible
2. Prayer
3. Circumstances
4. Friends
5. Thoughts that wouldn't leave me alone

I'm continuing to learn how to listen to God better. 

Usually, I sleep well and don't wake up in the middle of the night. However, there have been many times when God has woken me up in the middle of the night and impressed on me that I need to pray for a specific person or prayer request. When I wake up in the early morning hours, I've learned to pay attention to who is on my mind and pray for them. Sometimes I hear about specific answers to prayer, and sometimes I don't.

God has also been dealing with getting rid of idols in my life. He has shown me that anyone or anything that I put above Him is an idol. If I act out of fear, I am allowing people's perceptions to be in control. If I eat comfort food rather than bringing my problems to God, I am making food an idol. It is not only important for me to start the day by spending time with God and in His Word, but also to talk with Him and listen to Him as I walk through each day. 

Lately, God has been speaking to me about obeying the speed limit. I have never received a traffic ticket, but that doesn't mean I always obey the rules. In the past, I usually drove anywhere from 5-10 km over the speed limit on the highway. My conscience started bothering me. Most people don't see me as a rebel, because I tend to be sneaky in the way I rebel. God reminded me that He knows, even if no one else knows. He sees my heart. Going the speed limit is not so much about the speed, but about submitting totally to God and obeying those He has put in charge.

Two resources I am digging into this year are 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice by Mark Virkler and a Bible Memory seminar with Graham Best.

I will end with one of my favorite "God moments" from this past year. One day last summer, my boys begged me to take them to garage sales. We wrote down addresses that were advertised and went from sale to sale, discovering new-to-us treasures. At one sale I noticed there were three lawn mowers for sale.

That evening, I pulled our lawnmower out of the garage, filled it with gas, checked the oil, and pulled the cord. It had worked the week before. No matter what I tried, it would not start. I prayed, and I asked a couple other people to try, but it still wouldn't start. Then, I remembered the garage sale with three mowers. My schedule was full and I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to the sale until late the next afternoon. "Lord, keep a lawnmower there for me."

The next day, I prayed several times. We really didn't have money for a new mower. Finally, I was able to drive to the place we had been the previous day. I held my breath as I walked up the sidewalk. When I looked up, there was one mower left! "Thank you, Lord!"

I approached the owner, an elderly man, and told him I wanted to buy his lawnmower. "You know, I just don't understand. You saw I had three lawnmowers for sale. This is the best one, but nobody bought it."

I smiled. "God kept it here for me."

"This is my favorite lawnmower. I wouldn't even be selling it if my relatives hadn't given me a new mower as a gift. I still like this one better, but I can't sell the new one."

I felt sorry for him, but happy for me! He showed me how it worked...one pull and it roared to life. The price was less than half what a new one would cost. I came home feeling like God had blessed me with a Cadillac lawnmower. God is indeed a good, good Father who takes care of us in amazing ways.

How has God spoken to you? What is your favorite "God-moment" from the past year?

What do you do for a LIVING? ... by Jocelyn Faire

     I have been doing a lot of living in the last few years, perhaps I am collecting material for my next writing project, or perhaps I am refuelling my soul after a long depletion. There are seasons of life and seasons of writing life.

     When I express thoughts, my desire is to bring hope and light into dark places and because of that I need to be filled with my own hope and light in order to spill out encouragement. When I pondered this month's topic I recognized that what I need for writing is my own source of inspiration. Inspiration is defined online as "the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative; the quality of being inspired; a sudden brilliant creative or timely idea; the divine influence believed to have led to the writing of the Bible." While not competing with the writers of scripture, I realize that some of the people I share with will never open a bible and I want my words to draw them into a quest for truth.

     When I first retired as a nurse, my mother would usually ask me, "So what are you doing now?" I would tell her about this or that, and say I am also writing. She would then ask, "Are you getting paid for any of this?" To me the message was, if you are not being paid, it had no value. In my mother's defence, her work supported the family in my growing up years, so she wondered how I could make ends meet without a paying job. I have stopped apologizing in my life for taking the time to sit by rivers, or in the presence of nature's beauty. Time spent in prayer and processing life is time well spent, it is also necessary for writing. Now I reformat the question "What do you do for a living?" into what do I do to make life alive. There is no doubt in my mind that our writing improves with passion for living. Simply existing is not enough. I'm after the abundant life that Jesus spoke of in John 10.
  
But, how do I move from existence to abundance?

♪♪ … when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad. ♪♪ from The Sound of Music

Here are some of my favourite inspiration and writing resources:

Beauty, especially in nature.

Artistically prepared foods.

A park bench along the river.

A good cup of coffee. (Goes well with park bench)

Good walking shoes, as one should walk a lot. I concur with 

Frederick Nietzsche who said All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.

A place to observe people.

Eyes wide open.

Second hand stores. I used to volunteer in one, and experienced some of the most interesting moments.

A good bicycle.

Kayak or canoe to be on the water.

A camera to create artistic shots for posting.

A positive attitude.

Warm clothing for cooler days.

A good cup of tea, good books, good poetry.

Travel-especially cultural travel broadens the outlook.

Because of where my daughter lives and works, I have visited some interesting countries, and met many wonderful women of varied faith backgrounds. 

Google for searching quotes and sources.

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music—the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.   Henry Miller 

Jocelyn is the author of Who is Talking out of My Head- Grief as an Out of Body Experience.  She is on a quest for Beauty in Life.