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e d i t o r ’s note michelle granado
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n the 21st-century, women are defined more by the world and the predominant culture ,than by their faith in God or moral or ethical beliefs. The world tells us as women that we are liberated; able to do whatever we want, not just whatever career or field of study, but even with our bodies – we’re told that we control our own destiny, that we get to decide, that we have rights and equal rights with men, that we don’t have to be told ,and in fact can’t be told anything anymore. Our families tell us we have to be superwoman, perfect mother, wife, housekeeper, school helper, activities facilitator, and career minded world changer. Sometimes we have so great expectations put upon us, we can’t even get out of the door. I am not knocking working women, nor am I propagating that all women should be a stay-at-home moms. Believe me, I’ve done
both and found him equally hard! Actually, I’m not so much focused on the physical woman or simply the things she’s engaged in. I’m focused more on the spiritual aspect of a woman’s life – and I’m wondering how many of us have simply given up on pursuing spiritual equilibrium. No, I’m not talking about balancing work with attending church on Sunday, nor helping out at the local rescue mission, or food pantry here and there. Rather, I’m talking about sitting down and contemplating: where is your heart focused? What drives you? How much has your faith in Jesus Christ affected the way you live—not just on the outside where all can see, but on the inside, the part that is only visible to you and God? I’m wondering how happy you are with the ‘you’ that lays down on your pillow after a long, hard day at the office or running the kids around to school or after school
activities. I’m wondering, does the ‘you’ that has filled her life with family priorities have any unfulfilled dreams? Do you have lingering doubts about your marriage, your life, your future, your relationships, and your faith? We spend so much time and effort on becoming the Modern Woman, the Career Woman, the Independent Woman, or the Liberated Woman. I believe we’ve been neglecting our womanhood in Christ, in God, in faith, and in the Word. We talk about being women of faith when we’ve been more women of religion than women of faith. We have so many examples of women in the Bible who are confronted by the word of God and are so deeply impacted, that their lives are never the same. I wonder if there is such a woman out there,one whose relationship with ,and faith in God drives everything she does and everything she believes.My hope is that this magazine will inspire you to blossom into such a woman as we explore the issues of woman’s heart and soul.
A WOMAN’S HEART AND SOUL
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CONTENTS This month: REsolutions »» p. 4
RESOLVE TO RELY AND REST by Wendy Templeton-Stone
»» p.12
WHY I DON’T HAVE NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS by Jaz Lancry, page 10
A RESOLUTION I CAN KEEP by Sandy McClaury, page 6
DON’T FORGET TO REMEMBER REFLECTIONS
by Abby Alderton, page 8
by Barbara Elkin
TACKLING GLUTTONY by Mabry Gardner, page 14
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Wendy Templeton-stone
A WOMAN’S HEART AND SOUL
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ow ironic that as I’m reaching for the remote to turn the T.V. off in order to work on an article on resolutions, the dialog on the show “Scorpion” is about resolutions: “Resolutions don’t work.” “Yes they do; you just have to have will power.” Within the next minute of the scene, the character touting his will power is reaching to fill his thermos with coffee which he just resolved to give up. Why is it that no matter how resolute we become, how resolved, determined we are, the majority of us fail in meeting our resolutions – new year or not? As with most everything else, we can look to Jesus to show us the way. In fact 1 Peter 2:21 calls us to do just that. “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” The context of this passage is about suffering. Hmmmm… we don’t keep our resolutions because of the very fact that we don’t like to suffer. Christ was resolute in following and fulfilling His Father’s will, and He was successful in doing just that amidst incomprehensible suffering. During His time on earth as a man, He endured ridicule, abandonment, betrayal, rejection, physical abuse, even sexual abuse – hanging naked on a cross. How, amidst all of this, was He able to keep His resolve to do all the Father asked Him to do even to the point of being crucified on the cross? It wasn’t through sheer will power. In fact, it was just the opposite of that. He knew what He was facing, so He took His closest friends and asked them to pray with Him, and He pleaded with The Father to make another way. “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) It was not by hanging on to His (Christ’s) will and pushing through by sheer will power, it
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was by surrendering His will to The Father. Luke 22:43-44 says, “And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony He prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” A couple of things to note here: 1) It was God who provided the strength to endure 2) Christ was willing to suffer. He didn’t want to, but He was willing to not only suffer but die an excruciating and shameful death that we might be reconciled to The Father through the shedding of Christ’s blood. He was the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for all mankind. Why was He willing to suffer to such an extent? Christ knew The Father’s nature; His very nature is love (1 John 4:9) so The Father wouldn’t ask Christ (or us) to do anything or go through anything that was not ultimately a product of His love. Christ trusted The Father completely. Christ was motivated and empowered by and through the love of The Father for us. Hebrews 12: 1b-2 gives us the answer and admonishes us to follow in His footsteps. “Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” As you consider resolutions for this year, or even just today, would you resolve to follow Christ’s example? Are you willing to surrender your will, are you willing to suffer and in so doing be completely dependent on God and to focus your eyes, mind and heart on the joy that is set before you? In Christ, you too, at this very moment, are seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of the throne of God. (Ephesians 2:6) So now, resolve to rely and rest. Rely on His power and rest in His love, because from here, you have all power and authority; you are victorious as you rest in complete dependence on Him and receive the fullness of His love.
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A res olution I can k ee p
Resolutions, resolutions, resolutions. It must be January. The perfect time to toss out my old self and start fresh. Banish Clutter! Be a better mom! Eat clean! Work out! Get organized! I didn’t do it last year so here is my chance to make all those changes. Great timing: New Year, New Me! I tell myself every year that I will be better at all the things. Be more compassionate. Lose 10 pounds. Learn something new. Be more organized. Stop yelling at my kids (this would be easier with a little cooperation from said kids, but their resolutions typically involve less homework rather than less mommy crazy-making.) And every year? Not so much. Sometimes I even blow my resolutions so spectacularly that I do the complete opposite of what I had planned. Last year, I gained weight, yelled more, and as I sit here typing – there is so much clutter on my desk that there is barely any room to move the mouse. Ack! And, really? I’d like to know if there are people in the world who actually resolve to make all these changes on January 1st and truly follow through. If so, they are amazing, and they are probably not my friends. I’m not saying they aren’t very nice people, I’m sure they are. They are just not MY people. My people are the folks who only look like they have all their ducks in a row. They look like they have it all together. They might even manage to make it to work/school/any place other than the couch on TIME! But
secretly, they are like me. We fail at New Year’s resolutions. Our houses get a frantic 15 minute cleaning before friends show up at the door. A timely arrival involves lots of yelling, some tears and breakfast in the car. They (and I) might still refer to the extra pounds as “baby weight” even though their youngest is 6. We post pictures of our “clean” and healthy dinners on social media when the truth is: one of the kids will never eat anything that isn’t orange, the kitchen is now being cordoned off in wait for a Haz-mat team, and there may or may not have been a fast food dinner just yesterday. Through it all we all say, “I’ve got to be better at…” or “I wish I could just be more…” or “Someday, I will get my stuff together.” Declutter? Ha. Work out? When? Feed the kids well? Occasionally, sure. Every day? Whoa… adjust those expectations, folks. Listen, my people, I have learned a little something about myself over the years of resolution failure. I am a terrible multitasker so making ten resolutions on January 1st is the recipe for utter failure. I need to make small changes when I reach my tolerance level for whatever part of my life needs an overhaul. That is RARELY January 1st. When I get overwhelmed, I chuck it all and convince myself I am fine as I am. Which is a fact I think my people and I all need to realize. We deserve as much credit for the things we manage to get right as the things we struggle with. Hey, there’s my 2017 resolution!
This year I resolve to give it all my some (and SOME of it my all) and celebrate when I unearth a sliver of the wood grain on my desk, when I make it somewhere on time, when I hug instead of yell, and every time I make a positive change or a baby step in the right direction. Now, THAT sounds like a resolution I can keep! - SANDY McCLAURY
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There are so many things in this world that can distract us from focusing our attention on things that are above. This year I choose to regularly ask myself: what am I focused on? Do I really need to watch another Youtube video or read another news story, or should I be immersing myself in the Word? I know that whatever consumes my mind consumes my life. Are my sights set on fleeting, unsatisfying, insignificant things that are distracting me from my Lord, the only subject that matters?
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”
he standard features on a simple, hand-held, point-and-shoot camera have inspired me to re-evaluate my New Year's Resolutions.
Matthew 4:16: “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Psalm 119:130 “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Ecclesiastes 2:13 “I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.” A dark photo is considered underexposed, meaning that the camera lens wasn’t open to receive enough light to make the photo turn out right. Underexposed photos are difficult to fix. Is my spiritual life underexposed? Am I closing myself off to being exposed to God's light, which I know illuminates and gives wisdom?
Psalm 91:14-15 “Because he has focused his love on me, I will deliver him” Colossians 3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with the Messiah, keep focusing on the things that are above, where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God. Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, partners in a heavenly calling, keep your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. Have you ever tried to take a photo of someone and accidentally had your camera focused on some insignificant thing in the background? If you have, you know that when this happens your subject-- the important part of the photo--comes out blurry and ill-defined.
Have you ever taken a photo of a beautiful scene, looked back at your camera roll, and sighed in disappointment? This happens to me every time I try to take a picture of a full moon with my phone and it ends up looking like a tiny speck. When it comes to image quality, “resolution“ refers to the amount of detail a particular image holds. The higher the resolution, the better the image quality. My phone camera just doesn't have a high enough resolution to take great photos. Low-resolution images are grainy, unappealing, and hard to use. I am made in the image of God, and I want my life to reflect the detail and brilliance of His glory. I know I cannot be perfect like He is, but I trust that daily through his grace I will be transformed into a high-resolution image.
- danya granado
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don’t forget to remember abby Alderton
I I I
will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds. - Psalm 9:1 will remember the deeds of the LORD; Yes, I will remember Your wonders of old. - Psalm 77:11 remember the days of old; I meditate on all that You have done; I ponder the work of Your hands. - Psalm 143:5
I know I’m a little late, but Happy New Year! January is a season of beginnings, a season of new, a season of looking forward. I’ve always loved the New Year. I’ve always been that person who makes resolutions and tries new diets and starts flossing again. But for some reason, I have not been very optimistic this year, I haven’t set goals for myself. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been struggling with the thought of the new year. “What’s so great about this?” I’ve thought to myself, “It’s not a new beginning for me, it’s just another day... Another day of chronic pain, another day to keep breathing.” To be honest, I was the Grinch who stole New Years. But God. But God, who is rich in mercy, softly spoke words of comfort to me. He spoke to me through His Word, through my husband, through books, through my family and my friends. What if we balanced the New Year season of looking forward, with a healthy dose of retrospect? Since the autumn of 2014 I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal. Over the years I’ve written thousands of things
A WOMAN’S HEART AND SOUL I’m thankful for. Counting blessing after blessing. Always counting. Ever counting, on and on. I’ve written down almost three thousand things I’m grateful for. I know I’ve missed thousands more; I know I’m blind to so much grace. But the more I look for graces in my life, the more my eyes are opened. The more I count, the more I realize that I’ll never be able to stop counting. The blessings never stop. The graces never cease. I will never run out of things to be thankful for. So lately I’ve been going back through the journal. The pages are full. My heart is full reading them. The numbers on the right side of the page grow steadily. I realize my growth in Him has been steady too. I feel like the Grinch, heart growing three times it’s size. I read prayers answered. I read desires fulfilled. I read trials ending. I read grace filling, blooming, making whole, making strong. I read old prayers that now, weeks, months, years later, have been answered. For years I have thought that counting the
blessings was simply to increase my current view of God, increase my capacity for joy in Him, and appreciate all that He’s blessed me with. Just recently my eyes have been opened to see that making lists of graces is a means to recount, like the psalmists, all of His wonderful deeds. It is so important to remember what God has done for you. Yes, it is important to be thankful for what God has given you right now, in this moment. But I think there is a lesson to be learned from the Israelites, how they retold His wondrous deeds for generations. When despairing, look back and see how He has provided for you. Look back on your life and try to find His fingerprints, evidences of His grace. And don’t just look back on your own life, look at other’s lives, and see God’s handiwork in them too. Don’t stop there! Read your Bible, and see how God not only works in your life and the lives of those around you, but how He has shaped all of history! If you’re struggling to see what God has done in your life, read His Love Letter.
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His Word is there to remind you of all He’s done. Look back. See how far God has brought you. Remember His wonderful deeds. Be filled with hope. Keep moving forward. Remember His promises fulfilled and look forward to this new year with the hope of knowing He still keeps His promises. Remember how much grace He has lavished on your life and let that inspire you to embrace this year. Remember how much strength He has provided you to get through past trials and let that give you courage to tackle whatever you are facing today.
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Issue 1 | January 2017
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W h y i don’t have n e w year’s r e s olutions
Jasmine Lancry Growing up I always made New Year’s Resolutions and always came away from them feeling like a failure. Now don’t get me wrong I do not think that making New Year’s Resolutions are necessarily wrong but they can be improved upon by the way we think about them. What I mean about this is that instead of thinking of it as a completely new start where we forget everything and focus on this one time to change, instead focus on ways to grow and learn on a journey that encompasses more than just the day but the whole entire year. Lessons learned in 2016 can be improved upon and bettered in 2017. So instead of saying I am going to finally lose the weight or become a better person starting January 1, 2017, why not make it a daily change. I like to look at it as not just a one time affair that you have at the beginning of each year but an everyday affair. You do not have to make a resolution to change only one day of the year because that limits not only your determination but your whole way of thinking. For me personally I like to make goals and I also like to make the “New Year” a way to focus on something that I can grow in
You do not have to make a resolution to change only one day of the year because that limits not only your determination, but your whole way of thinking.
and learn. This year I am learning about Redemption and what that means to me and how that relates to God. This for me is a way to really look at the whole year and not just a one time event of change but multiple seasons that I went through. Last year I learned about Beloved and what that means to me and how that relates to God. Looking back I think Beloved was something I grew a lot in and helped me to change my perspective on relationships and I think Redemption is a great way to build upon what I learned in the last year. Now I started doing this because a friend in college recommended it to me and I thought it was a brilliant idea. So I prayed about it and asked God for signs to make it obvious what I should focus on with him for the new year. At the end of 2016 I did the same thing of praying and asking for signs and “Redemption” is what came to be. In other areas of my life for this year I have always had the goal to travel outside of the States every year and for the past three years I have accomplished that goal. But I wanted to expand on that and make it more challenging for myself. So I decided I want to
A WOMAN’S HEART AND SOUL plan more trips but have a more creative aspect to it. So now this brings me to why you are reading this blog and why I am writing it. I have been wanting to start a lifestyle blog that has a niche geared towards “Adulting”. Because for me I think it is important to share the lessons I have learned as a new adult trying to figure things out. And it is a very harsh reality when you graduate and realize all of the responsibility you have and how college did not prepare in a lot of ways (as well as your parents/relatives) for what you are about to go through and how to handle it. This blog is going to be about the lessons I have learned as well as others in regards to “Adulting” as well as travel, coffee shops, photography, food, and overall how to navigate in this world and have a great time
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doing it. Now for me creating this blog it is a way for me to achieve my goals that I have had in place for a while. I think goals are great but if you do not have an action plan and people to keep you accountable to those goals you will always fail. For me my plan is to write a blog at least once a week and talk about things that I am passionate about as well as well a YouTube channel that will share some of my “Adulting experiences as well as food, travel and etc. I hope you stick along for the ride and I am excited to start this new year improving on what I learned last year and how I grew and challenging myself to be more creative and step outside of the box. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to stay kind, stay true, and stay laughing!
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Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. they are new every morning; great is thy failthfulness Lamentations 3:22-23
And he that sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.“ And he said unto me, “write: for these words are faithful and true.“ Revelation 21:5
REflections
CREATIVE WRITING
ESOLVED: TRUST JESUS TO BE MADE NEW A new year begins, and what will it hold? May my heart expect wonders. Let me watch them unfold. I will look toward my Savior, His works to behold, Ever seeking His wisdom, rich gifts of pure gold. I could strive to make changes, to reorient my days, To perform and transform myself in noteworthy ways. I could polish and perfect and refocus my gaze On a fancier me, to be handsomely praised. But demanding resolutions won’t make a better me, and whatever I accomplished would not make me free. No, instead I’d be bound to the changes I decreed, Ever longing for a garment that fit comfortably. So, I asked God to change me as He alone can do, To reveal His good plan and help me work it through. Because Jesus is able to make all things new His word declares it, and He’s faithful and true. Barbara Elkin January 14, 2017
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Barbara Elkin is the author of Reflections, a book of poetry and creative writing reflecting on faith and hope in Christ.
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mabry gardner My New Years resolution is food freedom.
disorder is not widely known.
If you Google “gluttony” and do a quick image search, you will find tons of cartoons of fat devils covered in food. There are also low budget stock photos of people at long dining room tables, having a feast by themselves.
In this culture, where Instagram and Facebook constantly show us 15-second baking videos and there are hashtags about how good food looks, we have to talk about gluttony. It is a much bigger issue than just being the fat lazy demon in the cartoons. This is so much more real than we can even realize. This also effects real people that we know and love. You don’t have to be over weight to be gluttonous.
But what is it really? What does gluttony in modern terms really mean? Gluttony is the over consumption of food, drinks, and or lavish items for the sake of enjoyment. In basic terms it’s asking food or drinks to satisfy you in a way that only the Lord can. It’s asking your food to go beyond your stomach into your soul. We have to talk about what gluttony truly is as Christians. We have to talk about eating disorders and food glorification. Did you know that binge eating is a disorder in the diagnostic manual used by therapists and doctors? We are often talked to about purging and anorexia, but binge eating
Why don’t we talk about it? Because it isn’t cute, catchy or flashy. It’s not shocking and honestly affects most people in the modern, American church.
I’ll never forget the night I sat in a park on a blanket as my very skinny friend cried and said that she felt that overeating had its grasp on her. I instantly broke. I was devastated for her that she was so broken, and I was also angry with myself for assuming that because she was skinny she didn’t struggle. I often looked at her with jealousy because she has a great figure after two kids and she looks cute in everything. There is not a single unflattering photo of her in the
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world and she just breezes into a room. I ,on the other hand feel like everyone can hear me coming and I seem to come crashing into every room I enter with a great enthusiasm. I feel like I don’t fit in normal sized chairs and I can’t shop in boutiques. So why don’t we talk about it? Because it isn’t cute, catchy or flashy. It’s not shocking and honestly affects most people in the modern, American church. I wouldn’t want to wear a T- shirt that says “I only care about pizza and my dog”. Not only is that not true (I love people!) it’s not something I want to advertise. I wouldn’t want people to know about it. I would want to hide behind it and pretend like I have a grasp on it. I do not have a grasp on my desires. I’m currently doing a 30 day diet because I felt like the lord was asking me to detox and take some time to focus on him. He wants me to deny myself so I can hear more clearly what He is telling me.
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And I am mad. I’m constantly wishing I was eating cake with friends at a party, or going to Chick-Fil-A for fries. Doesn’t this show the issues of my heart? That I am actually angry that I’m trying to do what God wants? This is heartbreaking for me to see how food has a grip on my heart. I often wonder in the midst of my anger how I could ask something so simple to be something so big in my life. How can queso be grappling for the throne of my heart? It’s just melted cheese! It doesn’t love me back! I know that I have to eat to live, but I cannot keep living this life that is being pulled in two directions. Most likely this 30 day detox will extend for more than 30 days as I wrestle with deeper things than 30 days can cover. All I know is that I will fight, and I will win because Jesus is always victorious.
Issue 1 | January 2017
If you feel led to share your heart and your unique perspective with other women of faith, contact pro31media@gmail.com with the subject line “Care to Share“