andreachatelain

Moving from Solo to Solidarity in Rona Time

Posted on July 3, 2020 by andreachatelain

Just call me Mrs.Turtle. I tend to go into my shell when stressed. Other times busyness claims my focus and I forget about others. Anybody else? Without realizing it, I disconnect from people, stop reaching out, and can vanish into my little bubble of me and my family. But in doing so, I don’t receive tangible loving encouragement from others and I don’t have opportunity to give that love away either. So what do we do? How do we consciously move from solo living to solidarity in Rona times?

I asked God that very question. Lord how can I do better and serve my people well right now? And the easiest plan came to mind.

I need to CHALLENGE myself and others to simply check in.

So let me ask you, dear reader, how are you? What are you worried about? How have you been dealing with this stressful season? Are you totally turtle-tucked in? Or do you feel like people have been checking in on you?

I have up and down days. Anxiety on Monday, peace on Tuesday, who knows on Wednesday. Depends on what’s going on and how well I’m trusting Jesus with it all. Have I read my Bible that day, have I prayed, have I talked to someone who cares, have I exercised, did I eat well? It all plays a part in my emotional well-being.

I wonder who in your life, your community, needs YOU to reach out of your bubble and check in on THEM?

As I read through the book of Job recently I noticed how alone he was in his suffering and how dark that hole became. Literally to the point of wishing the day he was born would be stricken from the calendar.

Let’s not let our friends get to that point of isolation. Let’s push in with a text, a message, a hug, a dropped off coffee. Loving others doesn’t have to look extravagant, but it does require intentional thought on others instead of self.

Loving others doesn’t have to look extravagant, but it does require intentional thought on others instead of self.

I’m guilty of thinking waaaaaaaaay to much of myself lately. So I would like to propose a challenge for anyone who wants to make a little splash of love next week.

Each day we’ll check in on one person we know. Might be a long lost friend. Might be someone we know suffers from depression/anxiety. Might be a neighbor. I promise you’ll end up feeling better as a result and your heart will grow as your bubble opens up.

*I’ll give IDEAS AND ACCOUNTABILITY Monday through Friday July 6-10.

*SCRIPTURE and DEVOTIONALS to encourage you on your adventure of reconnecting and renewing relationships.

*And PRAYER prompts for your week.

But ultimately this is between you and Jesus. Whoever He puts on your mind is your mission. Together we can be the instruments of love to a lonely and isolated world. AND we’ll also invite others into our bubbles to combat our own loneliness and isolation! It’s a win-win!

Sound good?

If you haven’t yet, follow my facebook OR instagram @glorybeblog for instructions for next week. Excited to see how this challenge moves God’s people to intentionally connect and strengthen each other!

💗Andrea

Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She’s a Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer, and college English instructor to immigrants and refugees. She believes Jesus transforms lives when His people boldly seek Him. Her writing reflects her love for Jesus and heart for fellow believers.

Grow in faith with Andrea’s video Devotionals on Our Daily Bread! And more with WhollyLoved Ministries on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk.

Accepting God’s Good plans When Life Doesn’t Go Our Way

Posted on May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 by andreachatelain

Anyone else feel like all plans are in the trash and instead uncertainty looms all around? I can so relate with my guest blogger today, Barbara Shippy from Simquily Magazine. She’s gone through hard seasons of discouragement and came out the other side to share her wisdom with us. I thank her for writing to us in vulnerability, courage, and faith.

Accepting God’s Good plans When Life Doesn’t Go Our Way

By Barbara Shippy

I am an only child with a love and deep appreciation of big families (my mom is one of seven, and my dad is one of six), and my husband is one of four children. So when we were engaged and would dream about what our future family would look like, it didn’t come as a surprise to either of us that we both said we would love to have a big family of our own—like six kids kind of big.

We got married, and three years went by. Then four. All the while, we had moved four different times, and our last move landed us in a tiny one bedroom apartment seven hours away from our families for a job that had my husband on the road for eight months out of the year. Life was not exactly going according to plan. . . . Well, my plans at least.

It wasn’t long before holidays like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, which were ever only about celebrating my wonderful parents, had suddenly become painful reminders of the fact that we were not parents. Infant baptisms and the weekly invitation for children to join pastor up front for children’s message made my eyes pool with tears. Seeing parents in the store raise their voices at and yank on their rowdy children made me indignant. Happy announcements from friends and cousins who were expecting caused the awful green monster of jealousy to rise up like a beast that threatened to consume the joy I truly had for them.

And then there was that question we like to ask in our culture: So when are you two going to have kids? It got to the point where I would have to walk away and let my husband answer—not because I was frustrated at the person asking, but because our go-to answer of “Whenever the good Lord gives us one” was becoming increasingly difficult to say. After four years, my heart was starting doubt what my head knew to be true: that the good Lord truly is good and that His plan for my life, for my marriage, is truly the best plan there is.

I knew the Scripture verses particularly applicable to our situation:

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8–9

But this is what hit me like a ton of bricks:

“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3

Had children become an idol in my life? How could something so biblical, a command even from God to be fruitful and multiply on the earth, be an idol?

The truth of the matter, though, was that children had become an idol in my life. And it was a sobering realization that slowly (very slowly) began to change the way I looked at our situation.

By God’s grace, I began to realize the value of surrender. Of surrendering what I wanted our life to look like to God’s plan for our life. Of surrendering my fears of what the future might not hold in store for us to God’s good and amazing gifts He had bestowed on us already. Of surrendering my fear of the unknown to God’s all-knowing ways, and surrendering my design for the future to God’s greater plan.

The tears didn’t necessarily go away—and neither did all the doubt that God truly knew better than I did. But what we didn’t have became less and less consuming, which made room for what was most important: faith in Jesus Christ and His Word, which has eternal significance. The constant struggle, however, is that in this world, it is so easy to lose sight of the eternal as we relentlessly pursue the temporal.

Surrender is simple in theory, but it’s certainly not easy. It was, and continues to be, a journey that requires God’s mercy and help to let go of control.

For me, surrender happens through honest conversations with God (He can take it!), fellow Christians who will walk the journey with me, pastoral counsel, and most of all a Bible that is read often—because “faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

A few years later, God, in His timing, blessed us with a miracle—a beautiful baby who is now an incredibly busy and fearless toddler. Among many things, I’ve learned that the journey I began years ago, of learning to surrender my will to God’s, was just the beginning. Now, as a mother, my fears and doubts have not gone away, they’ve just changed. And they still have the potential of becoming idols. So while my journey to motherhood was full of valleys and peaks, it was one that taught me great lessons about God’s patience, His love, His timing, the goodness of His plans, and the importance of surrendering my will to His.

“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’” Matthew 6:9–10

Barbara Shippy is a wife, mother, and the editor of Simquily.com. An online magazine for the simple and quiet life, Simquily aims to encourage readers to approach daily life with a renewed sense of determination and joy. Formerly a book editor at a Christian publishing house, Barbara enjoys the opportunity Simquily offers to remain the world of words while navigating life as a stay-at-home mom.

Did this piece spark a thought? Share below or on Facebook, or Instagram. Until next time, sending you and yours love, blessings, and prayers for health and peace.

**Here’s how to GET MORE free encouragement from me right to your inbox! Join the Glory-Be sisterhood. You matter to me! I’m so glad to walk in faith with you.

Grow in faith with Andrea’s video Devotionals on Our Daily Bread! And more with WhollyLoved Ministries on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk.

When we forget to abide

Posted on May 7, 2020May 7, 2020 by andreachatelain

I promise in the end this will be hopeful. But the beginning isn’t. I share because I wonder how many of us started off strong and then bad days became hard weeks. And hard weeks rolled into ‘when is this going to end.’ So here’s the truth about why it was getting so hard. I stopped abiding in God. And He told me so.

I wake up and I know exactly how the day will go. I know when the power struggle will start with the kids. I think about it before it even happens. I know that math will set my daughter off. That the internet won’t work on my son’s computer. I know that the littlest will play with his animals while I don’t have time to read him a story because school, laundry, endless dishes, deadlines.

I know I’ll feel trapped and unseen all day. And I know I will at some point want to get away from it all as my bad attitude gets the best of me.

So. That’s what forgetting to abide in Christ looks like in my life. And I’m so thankful to wake up joyful again today. Here’s how.

Last night I got a message from a loved one. She encouraged me to read Psalm 91. But before I did I angrily asked God why it’s been so hard. Lovingly, but truthfully He revealed that in all the social distancing, I’d decided to distance myself from Him. Not on purpose. But in disbelief that He is the One true powerful God.

Lovingly, but truthfully He revealed that in all the social distancing, I’d decided to distance myself from Him.

I stopped reading my Bible and started sleeping in.

I stopped praying and starting running my mouth when frustrated.

I stopped trusting and started depending on my limited wisdom and power.

Yep. That’s who you’re following here! The girl who just stopped! But I think it’s important for you to know. That when you follow a person you’re following someone flawed. And all that person can do is point you to the flawless Jesus. Amen?

So as I read my Bible God was able to speak to my soul and comfort me. I soaked in the fact that I’m not alone. That my faith is real. That God has a proven track record of saving His people. And that when we distance ourselves from God, life is a lot harder internally than when we spend time with Him. You want God’s help? Make time for Him. Pray. Read. Be still and quiet before the Lord. Get up early. Stay up late. Do what you have to do because it’s what you need.

Reading this morning in Psalm 13 and the Psalmist might as well be me. Starts off asking…

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
²How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” (Psalm 13:1-2 ESV)

Truth is our God never forgets us. But it can feel that way when we stop abiding. When we choose to distance ourselves from Him. But the end it like waking up remembering the truth that God doesn’t move away from us. He is steadfast even when we waver.

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
⁶I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.” (Psalm 13:5-6 ESV)

Trust in His steadfast love again today. RE-joice. RE-new your faith. You get a RE-do as you come near to your Jesus. Today gets to be today and yesterday is in the past. And because of that you and I and all who call on the name of the Lord get to sing. Today let’s replace sadness with singing, bravely CHOOSING to rejoice in the Lord even when our circumstances may be the same.

-Andrea

How are you doing? Comment below or on Facebook, or Instagram. Until next time, sending you and yours love, blessings, and prayers for health and peace.

**Here’s how to GET MORE free encouragement from me right to your inbox! Join the Glory-Be sisterhood. You matter to me! I’m so glad to walk in faith with you.

Grow in faith with Andrea’s video Devotionals on Our Daily Bread! And more with WhollyLoved Ministries on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk.

A New Magazine: Simquily

Posted on April 6, 2020April 6, 2020 by andreachatelain

There’s a new online magazine out there called Simquily.com, and it’s fabulous! “Instead of reacting and doing damage control when chaos hits, did you know you can preemptively claim your day’s tranquility?” Read more from the article I contributed called Finding Solace in the Chaos of Everyday Life to this month’s issue.

There’s a plethora of great writers to check out. I hope this issue helps you find a slice of calm in your home this season!

-Andrea

Share with me your tips below or on Facebook, or Instagram PLEASE! Until next time, sending you and yours love, blessings, and prayers for health and peace.

**Here’s how to GET MORE free encouragement from me right to your inbox! Join the Glory-Be sisterhood. You matter to me! I’m so glad to walk in faith with you.

Grow in faith with Andrea’s video Devotionals on Our Daily Bread! And more with WhollyLoved Ministries on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk.

5 ways to Gracefully Quarantine

Posted on March 18, 2020March 18, 2020 by andreachatelain

On a scale of loving your mandated home-time, to get me the heck out of here, how are you my friend? Not gonna lie, we’ve had ups and downs. Music parties and meltdowns. Banana bread smiles and bedtime tantrums. But surprisingly, more often than not, we’re faring well with our solitary life. As I ponder how to support you and your family, I thought I’d share some rhythms that are keeping us sane.

Hello Jesus! We need you!

I start each day with 30 minutes of alone time with my Bible or prayer. I don’t share this because I’m awesome, but because He is my only shot at sanity. With God on my heart and mind, I feel more peaceful, powerful, and in control because I’ve been reminded that HE’S in control. Parenting and stressful moments don’t feel as overwhelming, this virus doesn’t seem as scary, and life feels joyful as I begin my day reading things like Psalm 23.

Make a daily schedule

I am not type A, not at all, but I realized if we don’t have a schedule, we soon have chaos. Ours is very simple:

Wake up by 8am, breakfast and PBS while mom does devotional, school time (family read aloud, math, writing/spelling), daily walk/downstairs playtime, Lunch (kids help clean up time), chore time, Science experiment (today we made a tornado in a pop bottle, we’ve also done volcanoes, and food coloring experiments basically as a throwback to my childhood ha!) here’s a good website for ideas… http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments.html Then we do one hour of quiet time and wing it the rest of the day with games/baking etc.

My kids are actually thriving and have started to memorize the schedule. They’ll tell me what time it is and what’s next. Now hear me well, I stink at schedules! So if you’re just holding it together with movies and cookies, I get it. But I’ve tried total freedom and this schedule, and it is hands down working better for us to have a rhythm to each day. Praying you find yours!

Be still

Halfway through your day find a space away from your family to practice solitude. May sound weird to practice solitude in a quarantine, BUT you’re around your family all day and you need a break from them so you can regroup with God and continue to serve them well.

ONE HOUR once a day, I send each kid to a different space with at least 3 activities to do (books, water colors, toy animals, ANYTHING) and I go to my space WITH NO PHONE. I read, write, nap, garden, or any other thing that brings me peace and joy. If it’s a hard day I read my Bible again or pray.

Try one new thing each day

I think this is important because it breaks up the monotony of seclusion. I’ve been baking A LOT. I’m sure I’ll regret it come swimsuit season, but who cares. I’ve been reading new recipes and getting excited about trying them. Try my new fav banana bread.

I’ve planted new seeds in little pots (if you don’t have any, use an old peanutbutter jar or any plastic/glass jar, dig up some dirt, save and dry a seed or two from a veggie you eat like a pepper, plant and water it, and see it grow!)

Who knows what I’ll do tomorrow LOL. I have a whole tub of yarn begging to become a scarf.

Creatively Reach OUT

It’s easy to think you can’t help others if you’re homebound, but it’s quite the opposite. I was reminded while reading through the book of Acts just how often the Apostle Paul was imprisoned or arrested and still had great impact. Some ideas for you and me?

*Write one letter a day or each week to people you love to make them smile. #ilovemail

*Write big notes of scripture or hope on a big paper each week and tape it to your window so passersby can read your message.

*Video chat your family once a week to check on them.

*Send $ to your local food banks and have your kids write an encouraging note along with it.

I mean, possibilities are endless and you will feel better as you reach out to help others.

I’d love to hear how you and your family are weathering social distancing. What recipes are you baking? What Bible verses are you clinging to? What websites are you using? Help a sister out!

Share with me your tips below or on Facebook, or Instagram PLEASE! Until next time, sending you and yours love, blessings, and prayers for health and peace.

**Here’s how to GET MORE free encouragement from me right to your inbox! Join the Glory-Be sisterhood. You matter to me! I’m so glad to walk in faith with you.

Grow in faith with Andrea’s video Devotionals on Our Daily Bread! And more with WhollyLoved Ministries on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk.

Conquering Fear of Rejection & Stepping into Courage

Posted on March 11, 2020March 10, 2020 by andreachatelain

My friend Jennifer boldly describes tender and hard areas that can keep us silent…unless we conquer our fear of rejection and step into courage. Read how in today’s guest blog.

By Jennifer Slattery

For a long time, fear of rejection was my greatest foe. It hindered my relationships with others, my effectiveness, and my peace. Worse, it kept me from fully surrendering to Christ. I was far from the confident, courageous ambassador Christ created me to be. Upon first glance, this might not seem like such a bad thing. After all, I have yet to meet a woman who in some way doesn’t struggle with such insecurities. The problem arises when we place our desire to please others above our desire to please God—the author of life and hope.

This almost always results in disobedience. Worse, it hinders my proclamation of grace and thus the very role God created me for. In fact, when I allow my insecurities to enslave me, I’ve slipped into a role reversal. I become self-obsessed and make Jennifer Slattery, rather than Christ, the center of my world.

Here’s what I’ve found: the more I focus on myself, the more miserable and insecure I become. Always. But when I focus on others? When I truly love them? That’s freeing. And healing and empowering.

The other night, I watched my daughter share a really difficult and vulnerable story to a room full of high school students. And while she’s not normally nervous speaking in front of crowds, I’m sure a part of her would’ve much rather stayed home. She might even have wrestled with whether or not to talk about this thing, but her love for the young girls growing up in today’s hyper-sexual culture propelled her.

You see, her freshman year in high school, she was sexually assaulted. This experience scared, mortified, and shamed her and was made all the more painful by her confusion. Prior to this, she’d been homeschooled then attended a small private school. She’d had limited access to movies and television. Therefore, her experience with males had always been positive. I don’t think she’d ever seen a woman objectified before—not until that happened to her.

She didn’t tell her father and I about this experience for a long time, for years, actually. Instead, she buried it deep in her heart, feeling dirty and ashamed. This impacted her relationships with others, especially boys, even those who weren’t like the ones who had treated her so horridly. Often, that’s what happens when others hurt us. Unless we learn to feel and grieve and heal with Christ, those wounds begin to fester, impacting our perceptions and interactions. Our pasts can create an ongoing fear that others will hurt, use, or reject us. And so, we erect barriers around our hearts and then wonder why we feel so alone.

We begin to form labels like: I’m not good enough. I’m tarnished. I’m worthless. I’m discarded. I’m rejected.

Those labels effect everything. They keep us in bondage. I don’t know how true this was for my daughter, but regardless of how she might or might not have felt, she acted courageously. Why? Because she knew those precious teens sitting, row by row, in front of her, needed to hear her story. And so, she told it.

She shifted her focus off of herself and onto Christ and every youth in the audience. With her eyes on God, her fear of rejection lost its power.

Self-obsession is a ravenous beast that will hold us in bondage. It will trigger our insecurities, feed our deceptions, distort our perceptions, and deaden our impact. To break free, we need first recognize how deeply loved we are, not for anything we have or haven’t done but because of who Christ is. God is love and therefore we are loved. But we also need to love God and others more than we love ourselves. We need to practice being other’s focused. Because love, breathed in and then out, truly does have the power to break every chain, our fears of rejection included.

Jennifer Slattery is a writer and speaker who’s addressed women’s groups, church groups, Bible studies, and writers across the nation. She’s the author of Hometown Healing and numerous other titles, writes for iBelieve and Bible Study Tools, devotions for Guideposts and the Quiet Hour, and maintains a devotional blog at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com. As the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries, she and her team help women discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. Visit her online to find out more about her speaking or to book her for your next women’s event, and sign up for her free quarterly newsletter HERE to learn of her future appearances, projects, and releases.

In her 12-part podcast series titled Faith Over Fear, she helps listeners battle many of the anxieties and fears that often assault us, sharing practical tools and timeless truths that, when applied, can help us live our Christ-won place of victory. Find these episodes on Life Audio, her correlating Bible reading plan Faith Over Fear on the YouVersion Bible app, free printable calendars to her Faith Over Fear 10 week challenge, and her private Facebook group you can link arms and find encouragement from other warriors steadily advancing toward freedom.

Comment below, on Facebook, or Instagram.

**Here’s how to GET MORE free encouragement from me right to your inbox! Join the Glory-Be sisterhood. You matter to me! I’m so glad to walk in faith with you.

Grow in faith with Andrea’s video Devotionals on Our Daily Bread! And more with WhollyLoved Ministries on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk.

How Gardens Deepen Faith

Posted on March 6, 2020 by andreachatelain

I bet you didn’t know that your back yard is the PERFECT place for you and your family to grow deeper in faith. Spring is a time of hope and a warming of our souls and our bodies. It’s also a time we plant dead looking seeds, in faith, believing they will grow into strong plants bearing a good harvest. We plant because we know life comes from burying that dead seed. That representation of hope is just one that points to the gospel as we put our hands in the dirt.

Some of the most famous parables, or teaching stories, Jesus spoke were about farming. So when you grow up in the city it’s hard to understand to the core what He was saying. As my kids and I have worked our backyard organic garden the last six years it’s deepened our understanding of some of these stories.

Jesus used a planting analogy when trying to explain why He would die on the cross for us.

He told His disciples “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him,” John 12:24-26 ESV.

Do you hear that? Jesus, in perfect faith and hope, planted His life in the ground knowing He’d be raised up again by the Father because it was the only way to make our dead hearts alive again in Christ. His one seed of obedience grew into the faithful Christian family of today all over the globe and in the Heavens.

You, my friend, are part of the fruit God bears on the earth when you have faith in Christ.

But it doesn’t stop there! As we follow Jesus, like He said in the above passage, we get to bear a rich harvest too. As we put our life seed in the ground of this generation, laying down our lives and plans and following His, we grow a miracle crop in the people around us with Jesus.

So when I’m in the garden, I can’t help but see the Bible in action. I see dead seeds coming alive. I see weeds being pulled from external forces just like our sin is pulled out by the Lord. There’s thorns growing up with my raspberries reminding me that there are blessings and hardships in life as I poke my finger looking for the good. And there’s a harvest after the plant grows for a season from tough rain and storms.

I mean, if that doesn’t make you want to have a garden, I don’t know what will! Experiment with some dirt and seeds and see what you and God can grow in your backyard and in your heart this spring! Feel free to ask questions below if you need help getting started!

Comment below, on Facebook, or Instagram.

**Here’s how to GET MORE free encouragement from me right to your inbox! Join the Glory-Be sisterhood. You matter to me! I’m so glad to walk in faith with you.

Find Andrea’s devotionals with WhollyLoved Ministries on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk. Soon to come from Andrea… Video Devotionals on Our Daily Bread!

Why Your Jesus Friend Keeps Inviting You To Church

Posted on February 26, 2020 by andreachatelain

He kept inviting me to church and it got annoying. Yes, I was curious, always trying to better myself, but church was for rule-followers and old people. Right? I never did attend his church, perhaps out of fear. But as I watched the way he lived, the way he loved harder, gave more freely, forgave richly, and genuinely cared for people, I was hooked. I wanted to know more about this way of life that seemed to flow so naturally from my friend. So I church shopped.

Some were full of old people and I didn’t feel I belonged. Others were too big, some too small. I felt like Goldilocks until I found one that preached the gospel of Jesus boldly. The message was simple and loving, yet convicting. The people were kind. It was a soft landing, a home, a family, I never knew I needed.

Then I understood. Turns out church wasn’t about church. It was about meeting with Jesus!

I realized my friend invited me multiple times in the past, not to get me in a pew, but because he wanted to share the treasure he’d found in God with me.

He had seen first hand the forgiveness, love, grace, acceptance, healing, restoration that comes with relationship with Jesus. He sweetly thought I was important enough to share that goldmine. Now? I’m so thankful for his quiet, patient invitations that led me to seek God for myself.

We read the intensity of Jesus’s disciples, their hunger to share the good news of Salvation with all people, their willingness to be persecuted to give away the best gift they could share. Why? It brought the joy to bring others into God’s family.

“… that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our[a] joy may be complete.” 1 John 1:3-4ESV

Do you hear that? They have a coveted fellowship, an intimate community, with the Heavenly Father because of Jesus. Jesus gave His Father’s love to this ragtag community, and as they experience just how good their spirits feel wrapped up in His love, they can’t hold it in. Their joy is complete only as they give that same love away, inviting others into God’s family.

Maybe your church-loving friend is annoying. OR it’s very possible that they keep asking you to church because they too are welled up with the Father’s love. They can’t help but invite you into the family that has changed their life. You are important to them and they want you to experience a love that surpasses anything in this world. They want to see you walking in freedom that you’ve never imagined.

Or if you’ve never been invited, consider this your invitation. Come and see for yourself that Jesus is good. I’m telling you are welcome in God’s family no matter what. God is good and He meets each of us where we are and loves us forward.

And if you are that annoying friend. Keep loving. Keep inviting. Keep serving even when you don’t see traction. God is working invisibly in people’s hearts because of your humble kindness. Love God, love others, leave the rest to Him.

Q:What keeps you from going to church? Or what do you love about your church? How can we be a people that radically open our arms to those who feel excluded like the disciples did for the gentiles? Comment below, on Facebook, or Instagram.

Featured Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

**Here’s how to GET MORE free encouragement from me right to your inbox! Join the Glory-Be sisterhood. You matter to me! I’m so glad to walk in faith with you.

Find Andrea also at WhollyLoved Ministries and her devotionals with WL on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk. Soon to come from Andrea! Video Devotionals on Our Daily Bread!

Equipping your Anxious Kid to Overcome

Posted on February 12, 2020 by andreachatelain

I see you. I know how helpless you feel as you watch your kid unravel in worry and fear. I know the loneliness that comes when other parents seem to have it so easy. When simple things turn into big issues real fast. Then you aren’t sure how to turn the day back around. It’s hard. But it’s a lot easier when you aren’t caring for your anxious child alone. Practically how can you help your kid? And what role does faith have in caring for anxious kids?

I’m not a psychologist, but I’m a mom on the front lines. One of my kids is just like me. She has anxiety. But at first, I thought her daily “big emotions” were a behavior problem. I tried to contain the fits and outbursts. But then I realized the root of the problem ran deeper to her core. She wasn’t just throwing tantrums, she was fighting the mental illness of anxiety. And I realized it’s my job to equip her with tools to overcome. Here’s some ideas to get you started…

1.Diffuse YOUR anxiety and MODEL well

Many of us caring for anxious kids suffer from anxiety ourselves. I’ve noticed as my daughter spirals, my heart races, it’s hard to breathe, I fear losing control, and I easily go into freak out mode trying to control the situation. Wrong.

You and I need a plan to check our feelings at the door when caring for others. Explaining your process of combating anxiety is the first step. Tell your kid, “I’m feeling anxious so I need to….” For example, I tell my daughter to wait because I need to take some deep breaths, and I need to step away to a quiet room for a minute to calm down. She sees my healthy process of dealing with anxiety. Meanwhile, I ask God in prayer to help me see the situation through His patient and loving lens. So model your strategies and pray. (*side note, you may need counseling to cope with caring for your child. The healthier you are, the more you can help your kid)

2. Treat the Physical & get over judgment

Equip your kid with tools they can learn and implement when you’re not there– ones that will last through adulthood. Some ideas are therapy, essential oils, chiropractic care, physical therapy, yoga, meditation/quietness, diet change, stepping away to a safe environment. Be willing to try any healthy avenue you think could help your child because no two children are the same. Your kid may need therapy and oils while another may need more sleep and medicine. Don’t let others’ comments deter you from pursuing the best plan for your kid.

3. Model Spiritual tools

Each person has a body, spirit, and soul. So we can’t ignore that our kids suffering from mental illness need divine help as well as physical. Empower your child through Scripture and prayer. When kids feel powerless, they need to be reminded they have a powerful God. In meltdowns you can remind them they have a God who will never leave them when they are fearful, upset, or anxious. The seed of truth planted in hard moments will last a lifetime.

Pick three verses to focus on. They should be short and easy to memorize. My favorite verses I say to my daughter as she takes deep breaths and squeezes my thumbs in her room to calm down:

Matthew 6:34 , Joshua 1:9, 2 Timothy 1:7

3. Listen Well

Last night my daughter told me, “I get mad and yell because you don’t listen to all I want to say.” Gulp. Sometimes my fix-it mind wants to hear part of her story and then make it all better. But that’s not what she needs. Kids with anxiety need a trusted adult who can sit with them in the hard and listen well. Not only does it bring to light their unseen anxiety, it also helps us understand the heart of the issue. As you listen, tune your ears for the core problem. Is it fear, loss of control, fear of failure, insignificance or feeling unloved? As we diagnose the real issue, we can guide the conversation back to truth.

Practice silence as you sit with or hug your child. I know dinner is on the stove and basketball practice is in ten minutes, but they are more important. Don’t try to hurry the process. Listen well. Hear the real fear. And gently guide the conversation back to truth. Sometimes the act of being silent and steadfast reminds my daughter she’s not alone and she’s able to work her way out just by me sitting quietly with her.

#4 Bask in Grace

You are an amazing parent. The fact that you clicked on this blog and want to empower your anxious kid shows it. I want to remind you that God promises to finish the work He starts in each of us. Especially our anxious kids. As we are faithful to equip, empower, and embrace them, Jesus is doing so even more. He hears our prayers. He sees our need. And He will give grace for each day however we need it as we surrender our kids to Him in prayer. God hand picked you to guide this child and He’s planted sufficient power within you through His Holy Spirit to do it.

I hope this post makes you feel less alone and more excited as you put into practice some new ideas. I want you to feel empowered as you do what’s best for your anxious child physically and spiritually. And I send you a virtual high-five and hug from one caregiving parent to another.

Featured Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash

Find your voice in the conversation. Q: What helps your kid overcome anxiety or panic attacks? Help other caregivers with your ideas by commenting below or on Facebook or Instagram.

**Here’s how to GET MORE free encouragement from me right to your inbox! Join the Glory-Be sisterhood. You matter to me! I’m so glad to walk in faith with you.

Find Andrea also at WhollyLoved Ministries and her devotionals with WL on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk. Soon to come from Andrea! Video Devotionals on Our Daily Bread!

Caregivers of Kids with Invisible Illnesses

Posted on February 5, 2020 by andreachatelain

I’m so thankful my fellow writer, Jessica Brodie, wrote this piece for Glory-Be today. It validates the invisible struggle so many of us are fighting for our kids. I pray it encourages you today. -Andrea

Caregivers of Kids with Invisible Illnesses

By Jessica Brodie

I have a child with mental illness—debilitating anxiety and depression that at times impacts not just her but the harmony of the entire house.

I’m no stranger to these issues, for mental illness runs in my family. Just as some families have a genetic predisposition to diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, several of my family members struggle with chemical imbalances in the brain.

But it wasn’t until 18 months ago, when I attended a mental health symposium, that I fully began to equate mental illness with physical illness. Prior to that, while I knew it was “real” and “important,” I somehow got the message that mental struggles weren’t “as bad.”

I heard some hard truths at that symposium. One came from United Methodist pastor Dr. Robin Dease, who noted, “Just like cancer, mental illness is a disease that requires treatment.” And Zenethia Brown, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Mid-Carolina, delivered another hard truth, stating, “We treat ailments of the body different from ailments of the mind.”

“We treat ailments of the body different from ailments of the mind.” – Zenethia Brown

Those statements were game-changers for me, illuminating the bias and misunderstanding I had about mental illness and driving new awareness and compassion within my soul. I’ve always been supportive of people with mental illness, but this newfound knowledge ignited a zeal within me to stand up and speak out as a passionate advocate for mental health awareness—both in my family and for all people.

Yet I must have carried residual bias within me, for two days ago, I was scrolling through Twitter when I came across a statement from a friend that hit hard.

Deborah L. Alten (known on Twitter as @gtargirl), posted, “Some #caregivers take care of their aging parents, some take care of children, and some bravely shoulder the responsibility of caring for loved ones who battle #mentalillness.”

Her words made me stop and stare at the screen. Me? A caregiver?

Me? A caregiver?

And yet that’s who I was, only I hadn’t ever realized that.

See, I’d always thought of “caregiver” as someone who tends a parent with dementia or cares for a spouse with cancer—some physical need. Until I read Deborah’s words, I’d never thought otherwise.

And that’s the bias and misunderstanding still hanging on, for the truth is that mental illness is as much of a malady as physical illness.

Jesus said He came not for the well, for “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Mark 2:17 NIV).

And as we see throughout Scripture, He didn’t only heal illnesses in the body. Though He did heal His share of lepers, the blind, and those with serious fevers, He also healed illness in the mind and soul.

Jesus healed every part of broken people — including their mind.

One example is in the Mark 5, where Jesus called demons out of a man so tortured he was living among the tombs, and He restored the man to his senses (Mark 5:1-20).

Another is in the example of the four friends who lowered their paralyzed friend through the roof, from the Gospel of Luke. In the passage, the men knew Jesus was healing the sick but they could not get access. So these men got innovative.

“When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered (their friend) on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven’” (Luke 5:19-20 NIV).

Immediately, the Pharisees were outraged—who is this man who says he’s like God and can forgive sins?

But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He asked, “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home.’ Immediately (the man) stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on, and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed” (Luke 5:23-26 NIV).

Jesus knew sick meant sick—whether that is being unwell in the body, the mind, or the soul.

As He said to the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel of John, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14 NIV).

His living water heals us all no matter our infirmity, whether our thirst is from a physical or an emotional need.

Our friends and family battling mental health issues need us to step in like Jesus did. Fierce women model so well how to care for those with physical diseases everyday. Let’s adopt the same intensity as we rally for our people battling invisible illnesses too.

Q: How are you caring for those with mental illness? What’s the hardest part? What gets you through it?

Find your voice in the conversation on Facebook or Instagram.

Jessica Brodie is an award-winning Christian novelist, journalist, editor, blogger, and writing coach and the recipient of the 2018 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award for her novel, The Memory Garden. She is also the editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism, and a member of the Wholly Loved Ministries team. Learn more about her fiction and read her faith blog at http://jessicabrodie.com.

**Here’s how to GET MORE free encouragement from me right to your inbox! Join the Glory-Be sisterhood, you matter to me, and I’m so grateful you let me serve you:)

Find Andrea also at WhollyLoved Ministries and her devotionals with WL on YouVersion Bible App and Crosswalk

Author: andreachatelain

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Hello Jesus! We need you!

Make a daily schedule

Be still

Try one new thing each day

Creatively Reach OUT

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Q:What keeps you from going to church? Or what do you love about your church? How can we be a people that radically open our arms to those who feel excluded like the disciples did for the gentiles? Comment below, on Facebook, or Instagram.

Featured Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

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Featured Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash

Find your voice in the conversation. Q: What helps your kid overcome anxiety or panic attacks? Help other caregivers with your ideas by commenting below or on Facebook or Instagram.

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Caregivers of Kids with Invisible Illnesses

Q: How are you caring for those with mental illness? What’s the hardest part? What gets you through it?

Find your voice in the conversation on Facebook or Instagram.

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