Join the Journey of Communing and Flourish in New Life

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and once again I was given the privilege to preach. My sweet Pastor husband had an epiphany years ago, and decided I was better equipped to talk to mothers than he was. Consequently, every year, he gets a break and I work on Mother’s Day. However, once the sermon is over, I don’t do anything. I don’t cook, I don’t do dishes, I don’t break up fights, I don’t clean up after the dog.

In April, I spoke at a retreat on the topic of communing. I spoke four times over the weekend. Session one was a brief introduction about me and my topic. In sessions two through four, I spoke about three different elements of communing with God, one element per session, for the rest of our time together.

Mother’s Day Sermon

This year for Mother’s Day, I combined those four sessions into one sermon. Definitely a challenge! However, I was unable to share everything God’s Spirit has been teaching me about communing. So, I will be discussing this idea of communing with God in my next four blogs. Today is the “Introduction.” I’m providing you with a link to yesterday’s sermon, and I’m sharing some of my journey toward communing. I hope you’ll join me for the next four weeks.

Mother’s Day sermon link: Communi ng

My Journey toward Communing

The committee organizing the retreat where I spoke requested I make the first session brief, and simply introduce myself and my topic. At first, I thought an introduction would be super easy. I wrote the three other sessions first, then carved out time to jot down ideas about myself, along with what would work best to introduce the idea of communing.

Honestly? I don’t like diving into “me.” I know I write about my experiences, my feelings, and my struggles here on my blog. However, I pick and choose. Please understand, I’m not aiming to present you with a more idealized view of myself; I just don’t like to do a ton of introspection. I am admittedly gun shy since I normally wind up feeling worse about myself. Know what I mean?

A-Ha! Moments

In the process of deciphering how best to introduce myself, God provided some “a-ha!” moments. He graciously revealed how I spent the majority of my growing up years proving myself. As the youngest of five children, I wanted to be viewed as important and as capable as my older siblings.

God brought a memory to mind of when I was baptized. My father was performing the baptism in a local lake, and I was super excited. I was too enthused for my dad. He told me in his stern voice that I needed to calm down because this was a serious moment. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was a defining moment for me. I began to believe my best self was not my fun and energetic self. Satan began whispering the lie I couldn’t be enthusiastic and fun AND also be seen as fully honoring God.

College and New Lies

When I went to college, Satan worked to solidify that lie in my thinking. I felt freer to exhibit more of my fun side when I went to college, after all I was thousands of miles from home. I didn’t perceive myself to be wild, but others certainly did because I was loud, boisterous, and full of pranks. Even though I went to class, wrote my papers, attended chapel 3x a week and went to church every Sunday, others still saw me as out of control. I encountered several who assumed I didn’t love Jesus very much, and Satan used their comments to affirm his lie.

My senior year in college I married Tim. My sweet Pastor husband is calm and controlled, the king of discipline. I stretched him and he stretched me; we both needed what the other brought to the table. Unfortunately, Satan whispered new lies to me, and I began to believe I needed to become more disciplined to prove myself worthy. Satan used these new lies to underline his previous lie about the necessity to control, and even squash, my enthusiastic and fun spirit.

Motherhood and Battling Lies

I wasn’t always aware of the lies Satan was telling me. However, I often felt less than in comparison to others. This came to the forefront when Tim and I had children. I felt torn between always creating fun, enjoying the day and my kiddos, and wanting my children to behave in an idealized manner. Sadly, I didn’t know myself well enough to recognize I was parenting without complete clarity within my own struggle. I was caught between the approval of others, my God-given personality, and my perception of how I was supposed to be.

I look back now, and I can see I wanted to please God, but I needed approval from others. Somewhere in the mix, I was also aiming to create a safe space for my spirit. I was torn between wanting to have fun, and also wanting to be seen as a mature, disciplined, committed believer in Jesus. I lived for a stamp of approval from my spouse, my children, my friends and co-workers, my church, as well as Jesus.

In an effort to survive my inner tension, I kept myself happy by creating “fun” for myself. I shopped, I crafted, I decorated, I scrapbooked, read, and put puzzles together. None of my choices were immoral, but I would withdraw from my family and friends to give myself space from the lies I was unaware I was battling.

Learning to Love Life Anew

At some point on my journey, I understood I wasn’t enjoying the life I was living. I don’t remember what brought that revelation to the forefront, but I do recall not knowing what to do next. God has graciously taught me the same lessons over and over because I’m having to retrain my brain. He is gently teaching me how to perceive myself, perceive others, perceive life, and perceive Him.

God has been teaching me that real life, the life that is most enjoyed, the life we were each uniquely created to live, is all centered in our relationship with Him. It’s not about having fun or being disciplined enough to succeed. Those are lies Satan whispers to our souls.

“This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent ~ Jesus Christ.”
John 17:3

Each of us can have glorious eternal life now when we focus on knowing God. Not striving for His approval, but knowing Him, delighting in Him, and experiencing Him in the midst of our everyday lives. When we commune with God, we can be who He created each of us to be in all our exclusive individuality. We can enjoy living life as He reveals it to us without any doubt of our worth.

Communing Defined

You may be wondering what communing is. The dictionary tells us communing means to converse, talk together with profound intensity and intimacy; to interchange thoughts and feelings. Each of us communes with God when we engage in continual conversation with our Father over what we are experiencing throughout our day. We may mentally or verbally process through a struggle with Jesus, seek wisdom, offer gratitude, or express delight over a simple pleasure.

Paul expresses communing in the familiar verse “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) When we choose to commune, we choose to invite God into every aspect of our daily lives. We experience the presence of God regardless of the circumstances we encounter, just like we do when a spouse, mentor or friend faces a situation with us.