Being Impractical Has Its Gain

On By sashakatzIn FemmeFuel by Sasha Katz1 Comment

There is a voice on the inside that speaks through your heart.  The voice is wiser than your own.  The thoughts expressed are higher than your own.  This voice doesn’t have any motivation beyond love.  The voice always knows the way, always speaks the truth and always points you to the light.

The voice gives you inspiration and insight.  There are many things that will be accomplished in a lifetime, but the voice particularly speaks to the great adventures that were written for you before time.  You can think of the great people you know and you can think of the great people throughout history.  Both the small and the larger than life live out a dream that the voice once began to speak about deep within.

There is a woman who heard a voice.  Against all practicality, she walked to a home in Bethany where Jesus was having dinner at a table with a handful of followers.  She brought with her a beautiful alabaster jar filled with a fragrant essential oil.    With faith and love tucked in her soul by the voice, she poured the oil or perfume over Jesus’ head.

There are so many reasons why her act of kindness was against practicality.  It was probably late in the day when she began to walk; maybe it was sunset or perhaps night.  Not the best time to start a journey.  The alabaster jar of oil she carried was worth a year’s wages.  Whether the jar was a gift or whether she earned the money to purchase it, the idea of giving it away was a big decision.  As to her act, she probably knew it would not be understood by some or all.

Journeys are this way.  It is never the best time.  There is always cost.  We risk the chance of being misunderstood.

For those of us who have had the courage to acknowledge the voice that is wiser than our own.  For those who have tilted an ear to listen to the voice that loves us more than we will ever know.  For those of us who have begun journeys or who are thinking about beginning.  Remember this.  The woman with the alabaster jar met Jesus face to face because she listened to the voice. Our journeys are always this way.  The voice that calls will always be the voice that meets you.  He will be with you always, even to the end of the age.

 

Get on the Disassembly Line

On By sashakatzIn FemmeFuel by Sasha KatzLeave a comment

In a world that regularly points to self improvement, I have been thinking about disassembly.  When we take a look at ourselves, it’s easy to look for the traits that we consider weaknesses.  Those things about ourselves that we think look like a C- or D on paper.  In the midst of comparison and achievement, short comings are easy to focus on.  But, lately, I’ve been toying with the idea that some of those things I put on the D list may just be a part of who I am.

I’ve shared before that I’m not a small talk person.  I will probably bore you at a cocktail party, but definitely not over coffee or tea.  Take me to a big room of networkers passing business cards and I may take a long personal call in the lobby.  I can do small groups or talk from a stage or podium, but just don’t put me in a sea of people and expect success. For a long time, I took this as a weakness or lack of determination or skill.  I don’t anymore.  God made me this way.  I can’t small talk and that’s okay.

The fact of the matter is that God made you and He likes who you are.  Go ahead and be her.  Go ahead and trash self improvement this week.  Disassemble.  Inside of you, there is lurking a gift that is being masked by a weakness.  Throw off your opinion of your weakness.  See right through the hype of self improvement and seek that part of your self that is just waiting to bless your own soul and others.

And, as always, I invite you to share what you found in your soul on Facebook, Instagram or email me at sasha@femmefuel.com.

 

 

A Mother’s Heart is Universal

On By sashakatzIn FemmeFuel by Sasha Katz, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The wind doesn’t just blow. The origin of its direction and momentum begins with a breath from a maker.  We cannot always see this invisible leading, but it is always there. This leading is the same with our mothers.

Winds carry us, and even turn our direction, when necessary. Winds blow our hair away from our eyes so that we can see what is in front of us. Winds toss objects that were headed for us, away from us. This protection is the same with our mothers.

Winds do not follow maps, but intuitively cooperate with an orchestra that is masterfully playing. Winds arrive and disappear exactly at the perfect time. This intuition is the same with our mothers.

Mothers lead, protect and intervene in their child’s lives. When there is heartache, a mother comforts and supports. When there is pain, a mother mends with wisdom and strength. Where there is victory, a mother rejoices.

With confidence, I can say that a mother’s heart is universal. These qualities of leading, protecting and encouragement pass cultural lines. International boundaries. Shades of skin and belief systems. When a mother cries out for her child, she is heard and felt by the heart of many mothers.

This is why my heart cries for the daughters – – the victims – –  of human trafficking.  There is no other evil that declares its enemy quite as decisively as the sex trade. A daughter is the target of this darkness. The target of this weapon is her unique ability to lead and protect.  This weapon depletes her freedom, steals her hope and breaks her body. My heart cries for these daughters, their mothers and their grandmothers.

This is why we are four generations – – daughter, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother – –  standing for daughters who are trapped and living with only a grain of hope.  This is why the four of us are traveling to the Grand Tetons with Freedom Challenge this summer. We are accepting a physical challenge to climb. We are claiming victory for the daughters who cannot yet claim their own freedom.

This generational effort is only a mirror of the strength that has been displayed to me over the years. Who I am and who I hope to be has been spoken into me by the words and prayers of my mother and grandmother. Their spiritual and emotional strength has been matched by their time and resources. Their winds, sometimes gentle and sometimes like a hurricane, have blessed and moved mountains in my life. I believe that the strength of four generations climbing has the power to move global mountains.

If you are a woman, you were made to blow strong like the wind. Your invisible strengths like wisdom and intuition have great power to impact many daughters. Your visible power such as time and resources has immeasurable power to change the lives of many hopeless and trapped daughters.  Your winds can blow for local and global change. Blow, gentle Spirit, blow in us so that even our very last breath is one that carries another daughter to her freedom.

This post was recently shared on Freedom Challenge’s blog.  I encourage you to learn more about human trafficking and The Freedom Challenge.  You just may find yourself climbing for another woman’s freedom.

 

 

The unlikely seemingly partners: Joy and Pain by Chris Sweet

On By femmefuelIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I am a notoriously optimistic positive person (the sickening kind).  I hate feeling sadness and grief. I have this weird belief that if I go through a difficult moment in life and I get all sad and stuff that I am a failure at Christianity.  Yup not joking.

So when I went through my recent tragedy and I got depressed. I felt like a failure for feeling depressed.  I started apologizing to God for not being happy through my storm.  I felt again a mess.

But He’s been teaching me about pain and joy being like family members to each other.  These emotions need each other although both really don’t want to hang out with the other because each thinks the other is cramping their style (or swag).   Isn’t that so typical of family relationships?  Often family members love each other but there are moments when they may not want the other there all the time.

Rob Bell, Christian author, says beautifully that “People moving towards each other, lamenting together, this is where God is.”   Isn’t that beautiful? As we express sorrow and our pain together, God is present.  We need to know what pain is to be able to recognize joy.  “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”  Anne Bradstreet, poet.

Margaret Manning Shull author and teacher of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries describes perfectly the description of the tug of war for Christians.  She says, “For Christians, ‘being happy’ can often resemble the language of victorious living and resurrection, to the exclusion of Jesus’s matter-of-fact instruction to his followers that in this world ‘you will have trouble, but I have overcome this world.’(1) I too easily forget that many who have gone before me as that great cloud of witnesses did not yet receive what was promised.(2) They, too, lived in a land of ‘maybe,’ and in the bittersweet juxtaposition of joy and sorrow.”

So let’s welcome the full range of emotions as we deal with difficulties and be ok with feeling those feelings.  Brene Brown, best-selling author, says:  “When you numb your pain you also numb your joy.” Sadness and pain have their time and season.   But don’t give up.  Remember God has you even as you are feeling the full extent of loss and pain.  Each difficult time has the potential for you to learn the tools needed for the next difficult event. And when the joyful moments come (because they will) allow yourself to feel that too and appreciate its time with you.  It’s time for us to welcome the dynamic of joy and pain at the family table together.

Read more at: http://www.azquotes.com/author/19318-Brene_Brown/tag/pain

http://www.preachitteachit.org/fileadmin/SiteFiles/LegacyUploads/Rob_Bell_Part_3_Lamentations.pdf

http://rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/for-the-joy-set-before-him

Child-like Faith

On By badaimathewIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

By Bindu Adai Mathew

When I was young, I was taught to pray to God, especially when I needed His help with anything. Back then I felt blessed when my prayers were answered. And for the times they weren’t, I was disappointed, but I never recall being hurt or angry with God when things didn’t happen the way I prayed. I always knew he was all-powerful, and I always believed He was all loving. But honestly, luckily for me, my problems never felt overwhelming to the point where I was bitter and angry at God. Or maybe back then, I just had that child-like faith.

Even when 911 happened, I didn’t question God’s sovereignty or His goodness. Even when one of my best friends from high school was murdered by a serial killer in 1999, I didn’t question God’s sovereignty. I was shaken, scared, and I questioned why God allowed it, especially since He had protected me from being there. I still recall the week before she died, we had initially made plans to have dinner and maybe even have a sleepover so we could talk into the wee hours of the night like we did when we were in junior high and high school before I headed back to grad school. But just the day before, she cancelled, and the very night I should have been with her, she was murdered. So while I was upset, shaken, and had lots of questions for God, I still didn’t question His essential goodness.

As I’ve gotten older, in many ways I believe my faith is deeper. I know that He is truly Omnipresent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent. Yet with that knowledge, there is also a deeper testing of my faith, especially as life’s challenges beat on our souls and hearts like pounding waves in the midst of a storm. In the desert, in the waiting, I often find myself looking up and not just asking, “Why?”  But now my “whys” aren’t just a question. They’re sometimes an accusation.

We know that every blessing comes from God, and when you see movies like “Miracles from Heaven,” our faith is renewed because that is the kind of God we serve:  a God of mercy, justice, and love. It is with movies and testimonies like that when we know that all things truly do work together for good. But yet, each of us know of plenty of other prayers that haven’t been answered in the way we had hoped.  A beloved family member or friend still died of cancer. The couple struggling to conceive continues to remain childless. A marriage that was prayed over never got restored and still resulted in divorce. A wayward child or family member is still lost.

So when we seek God. When we pray. When we stand in that gap and believe that God is good and that He can and is willing, and things still don’t work out, what then? When we experience things in our lives that are contrary to His will, what do we believe then? Is God still good? We KNOW the answer is yes. But we may not always feel that way.

I believe it is when we believe and continue to trust God even when the situation looks hopeless that we then truly grow and we truly experience the miracle we were seeking. It is when our eyes can look past the natural and our hearts are resolved to trust that we see the supernatural. We see glimpses of God in His glory. It is when we focus on God and not just what we want or prayed and refuse to give up our faith that not only does God shine… but we shine. And it is when our faith is not based on what He does or doesn’t do but what He did on the cross and who He is that we then truly experience that life-transforming answer we were seeking.

So during this month, I pray that those April showers fertile your heart… may they wash away your guilt, your anger, your bitterness. May that child-like faith, along with love and joy, bloom into beautiful flowers in your soul that not only last through the month of May but throughout the year.

 

A Few Good Reasons to Find Your Rest

On By sashakatzIn FemmeFuel by Sasha KatzLeave a comment

I recently wrote that I am ending my struggle with the traditional definition of rest.  As with most newly discovered revelations, it takes some time to swim through the bottleneck to the peaceful space of understanding.

Just to recap the last few months, God offered me a big plate and I gladly took it.  Three months of serving, giving and sharing.  It was a bit of a whirlwind, but I knew each event, time to share and work-behind-the-scenes had a beginning and an end.  My heart was beating for the women who did the work with me; the women and girls we were ultimately serving; and for the battle ground for good we were claiming.

The God-strength in me for that itty-bitty season looked like/felt like the tenacity of many horses running together.  And, that is sort of what is was; a whole lot of sisters running a really good race together.  Sometimes we are lucky enough to see the hopeful dreams in our heart work out in every day, small living.

Undoubtedly, the vibrations of our sister feet on the pavement woke up the darkside.  I could see how my spirit could have been slowed up or cancelled by discouragement and disappointment.  The world is good at that.  But sisters prayed, passed on bricks of encouragement and God showed up.

On the physical side of things, I hurt my back at bible study in the middle of all this.  Really?  I got a crazy flu and bronchitis.  Huh?  The combo of the back injury and the respitory infection made it feel just awesome to breathe.  Nice trick darkside.  Funny enough, nothing got in the way of the good work.  When we are weak and down, somehow He knows to dig deep in our souls and make magic out of a beat up body.

Just a few weeks ago, my plate was complete.  The round, shiny plate that was once full was emptied by the completion of some good works with good friends.  This is where I am.  This is the bottleneck.  What does a big heart do with a big, empty plate?  My soul yells, fill it!  Lord, what will I do for this next season?  Wisdom tells me to wait.

Wisdom tells me to take some time to seek and listen.  Wisdom tells me that, in the same way my good work season was rest for my soul, my next season will look very different, but also is rest for my soul. Our friend Matthew tells us to take His yoke and learn from Him because He is gentle and humble in heart.  In this way, we find rest for our souls.  In a season of busy and in a season of quiet, I may find rest for my soul.

Really, finding your way of rest, is worship.  He desires to bring you rest for your soul.  And, because you are made in His image, with a big, red beating heart that pumps best when you cling to Him, He has a very specific and unique design to bring you rest.

Your rest may look wild or adventurous.  It may be quiet and still.  It may ebb with activity or sway in a hammock with the gentle wind.  As He leads, you will find rest for your soul.  As you live in His rest, you are worshipping Him.  Keep moving and breathing in Him.  Keep resting and worshipping.  Keep swimming through the bottleneck to the open space He calls rest.

 

Thinking of Palm Fronds

On By femmefuelIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

By JMathis

Reflecting on the many uses of palm fronds today.

Palm fronds screaming with rockstar abandon, “Hosanna in the highest!!”

Palm fronds dusting off the cobwebs of my hidden sins and deepest shame.

Palm fronds exalting high the Name of all Names: King Jesus, my Savior!

Palm fronds sweeping away the pride of life from the pathways to my heart.

Palm fronds bowing before Him, humbled by how fiercely He loves.

Palm fronds shaking off the filth of my biases, prejudices and my “judgy eyes”.

Palm fronds swaying to the voices of angels, dancing like Wild King David.

Palm fronds brushing off muck from years of thoughtlessness and apathy.

Palm fronds nudging me towards worship and closer intimacy with My Father.

Palm fronds mopping away tears of regret, sorrow and remorse.

Palm fronds lifting My Redeemer to the highest realms of praise and adoration.

Palm fronds blowing off my years of cruelty, disregard and callousness.

Palm fronds standing tall before Him, victoriously waving flags of Healing and Deliverance. Salvation and Joy. Goodness and Justice. Miracles Unending.

Palm fronds loosening the worldly ties that bind my soul to darkness.

Palm fronds leading the procession of The Widows, The Orphans, The Abused, The Mistreated, The Neglected, The Abandoned and all those He holds tightly to His heart.

I lay my palm fronds on the dirt roads of my innermost self, Lord, giving way so that You reign over my thoughts, words, actions and dreams.

I offer my palm fronds to You as an act of my reverence, submission and devotion.

Use those palm fronds to cleanse and wipe away anything that is not of You.