Menu Close

Tag: inspiration

Prince of Peace

Tracey Dyck 16 Comments
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
Prince of Peace. What a beautiful name. It is a sound of hope when calamity strikes us or busyness unravels us or hardship grinds us down.
Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace. To me, these names paint a picture of the enormity of Christmas.
One whose perfect plans and infinitely wise counsel are met with awe. A champion God, glorious in His strength. A loving Father so ancient He has no beginning, and so eternal He has no end. A Prince of complete and utter peace.
All of this was wrapped up in a squalling infant boy thrust into a cold and broken world. All of this majesty, all of this strength, all of this infinity . . . confined within human flesh, a vulnerable baby completely dependent on his teenaged mother. Mighty God. Everlasting Father.
Every time I pause and let the weight of it sink in, I can hardly fathom why He would do such a thing. It’s then I sense His heartbeat, and it’s there I find His answer.

For me. For us.

It was for us He came. For these glorious, incredible, imageo Deo–made in the image of God–creatures. For these broken, lost, fallen human beings. He entered our world because of love, to accomplish one purpose: to bring us peace.
The original Hebrew word is shalom, and it’s used 239 times throughout the Bible. The English word, peace, doesn’t even begin to convey the depth of its meaning. This shalom speaks of wholeness, soundness, and well-being. Completeness in number, safety and soundness in body, health, prosperity, quiet, tranquility, contentment. Peace in relationships. Peace from war. Peace with God.
We were cut off from this shalom, struggling to recreate it or achieve it or be worthy of it. Locked into a covenant of law that promised us shalom only if we could live up to its impossible standards. Then Jesus came to fulfill the law and restore us to this all-consuming peace, this rightness with Himself.
Shalom dawned on the first Christmas day, and it was brought to full light on the day this crucified Savior returned to life.
My Prince of Peace came to fill me with shalom. Completeness, soundness, absolute rightness. A quiet strength inside that knows that no matter the storm, I am anchored in Him. A contentment welling from within, unthreatened by outside circumstances. A haven found in the shadow of His wings, in the shelter of His love.
In Him, shattered hearts are made whole. Dead soil springs up with new life. Old coals kindle with fresh flames. Peace reigns.

This Christmas, may the Prince of Peace fill you to the brim with shalom. Merry Christmas, my friends!

Keep Reading

Yesterday’s Bread

Tracey Dyck 29 Comments

Life can be dry sometimes, admit it. Sometimes we let our passion die down to embers. All that’s left is dust and ashes and maybe a barely-surviving coal or two, and so we trudge onwards in the dark, wishing for brighter times.

Sometimes that doesn’t just describe our life, but our relationship with God.

I’ve been there more times than I care to admit. I’ve heard all the trite phrases about being sold out, on fire, all in. Those are nice when you’re feeling sold out, on fire, and all in. Not so much when the emotions wave goodbye, and you feel neutral or depressed or angry or tired or scared.

Maybe you’ve heard this one too: passion isn’t an emotion, it’s a choice. It’s an oft-used phrase, at least in my circles, and though it may be clichéd, it’s absolutely true. You can have passionate emotions (there’s nothing wrong with that–I love feeling passionate about something) but if that’s as deep as the passion runs, it doesn’t take much to send it crashing down.

Passion is a choice.

And sometimes you’ll have to fight against every ounce of your current feelings to make that choice. Sometimes you don’t feel terribly enthusiastic about someone or something, but you choose to value them anyway. You choose to put energy into building that relationship or pursuing that project. The awesome thing about making that choice, is that if you keep making it and keep making it and keep making it . . . the feelings of passion will often follow.
Revelation 3:16 in The Message version says, “You’re not cold, you’re not hot–far better to be cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit.”
When I’m stale and stagnant, I usually want to vomit, too. Being stagnant sucks. No growth, no movement, no passion–it makes me feel gross. I find in those times, I look back longingly at seasons in my life when I was passionate. I wish I could extract the feeling of blazing enthusiasm out of the past and inject it into my present. I wish I could return to those times.
Perhaps you’ve been there too, or maybe you’re there right now, longing for that old spark.
Guess what? It doesn’t work that way.
And that’s okay.
You probably know the story of Exodus–in one of the most epic exits in all of history, Moses leads his people out of slavery in Egypt and heads for the Promised Land. But in chapter 16, we find the Israelites struggling through the wilderness with nothing to eat. It is then that God provides manna, bread from heaven that covered the ground of their encampment each morning. But He instructs them to gather only what they need for today, to keep nothing for the next day.
If I were in their situation, in the middle of a desert where food is scarce, and I saw the ground blanketed in bread, I would probably want to save a few extra snacks for the road. Who knows when food will be available again, right? Obviously some of the Israelites thought the same, because a few of them kept extra manna. And overnight, it became wormy, smelly, rancid. Completely inedible.
I find that’s a striking picture of what happens with us. You might have had a mountaintop experience, a spiritual high, a time when you felt deeply connected to God. I’ve experienced that, and if you have as well, that’s amazing. But when life gets hard or boring, and those feelings aren’t there anymore, you wish you could somehow go back to that. Yet you can’t.

You can’t feed on yesterday’s bread.

[source]
You can’t expect to be nourished by the time you had with God last year, last week, or even yesterday. That food, so to speak, was for that day. It’s like if I eat a five course meal on Monday and think that I won’t need to eat for another week. I’m going to be hungry on Tuesday, no matter how much I ate on Monday. The same is true for our spiritual lives.
I used to think that was depressing, until I realized I don’t even need yesterday’s bread. There’s a feast spread before me today. Day after day after day, it’s like God scatters fresh manna across the ground, there for the taking.
Every day I can choose to gather fresh inspiration and nourishment for my heart. Every day I can choose passion. I can choose to dig in, to be enthusiastic, and to make another connection with my Father.
Do I make that choice every day? Nope. Some days I huddle in my tent, nibbling on rotten bread. Some days I see the manna covering the ground like snow, and I don’t lift a finger to fill my jar. But those choices, too, belong to yesterday.
Today really is a new day. I challenge myself, and I challenge you: gather fresh bread.
Keep Reading

Problematic Opportunities & Opportunistic Problems

Tracey Dyck 15 Comments

Okay, grab a pen and paper before you read any further. Or open a fresh Word document or a note on your phone–just something to write with.

Ready? Set? Go.

First question: What are three of the problems you’re facing right now? Quick, write them down–whatever comes to mind. It’s only a three item list, but my guess is it’s either annoying or depressing to look at it, isn’t it? That’s okay. The next step will be even more annoying, at least at first.

Because now I want you to write down as many benefits to having each of those problems as you can think of. All of the positive things about them. All of the good things that can come out of them. There is at least one thing to be found for each problem, probably many more.

As part of our ongoing college class on attitude, we did this exercise earlier this week. It really gave me pause. Those problems I listed? For a long time I’ve viewed them as limitations.

My job is a setback to achieving my dreams.
It’s really hard for a young adult to make money.
Because of my personality I can’t do ____.



But are they truly limitations? In a way, I suppose they are. But these obstacles are not nearly so insurmountable as I think. The greatest obstacle is in my mindset. Do I see these things as problems, or as challenges? As opportunities?

For years, athletes believed that running a mile in four minutes or less was physically impossible. Until a man named Roger Bannister broke the record. After that, runner after runner after runner broke the four-minute mile . . . because they believed they could.

The more cynical among us may dismiss this whole attitude/positive thinking thing as a mere mind game, but I disagree. There’s tremendous power in your words. The words you think, but especially spoken words. And if you think something often enough, it will come out verbally. As you continue to reinforce those words, they will turn into beliefs–often subconscious ones–and people will act based on their deep-seated beliefs. There’s scientific and Biblical evidence for that.

So what do you believe about those problems staring back from your screen or piece of paper? How are you limiting yourself?

God doesn’t limit us. He designed us in His image, full of His nature–as believers, full of His Spirit. The only limits are those we place on ourselves.

The first step towards breaking past those limitations is changing our perspectives. I’m not discounting your problems, by the way. They’re real. They’re hard. But there’s more within your control than you may think! Start seeing the good in those situations.

Is my retail job a setback on my way to becoming an author? Maybe not completely. I’m paying my way through college with money from that job. I’m learning valuable leadership and people skills. I’m learning how to sell a product. After all, what’s the difference between a pair of jeans and a book? There’s got to be some common sales principles I can transfer from one to the other.

Is the system really designed against young adults, the newbies trying to work past their entry-level jobs? Try Googling a list of the current youngest entrepreneurs. There are some very young people making a crazy amount of money. More people than ever are striving to think outside the box. Why can’t I forge multiple avenues for myself and use my imagination?

Is my personality preventing me from doing things? Or is some of that just learned behavior, habits I can replace? I’ll never stop being an introvert, but I can learn to step out of my comfort zone more and be friendlier. I can grow leadership skills so that becomes more natural. I can become less controlling, more flexible and spontaneous, and more affirming of teammates even when I’m focused on a task.

What about you? Are those problems a little less daunting now? When we view them as opportunities and challenges, life becomes a thrilling adventure rather than a series of backbreaking trials. Maybe tackling all three at once is overwhelming, but attitude is contagious. Pick one and decide to change your attitude about it . . . and watch what happens as it spills into other areas of your life!

(Hint: it works even better when you invite God into the process and ask for His help.)

What’s one problem, big or miniscule, on which you’re resolving to change your attitude? Share in the comments, and let’s motivate each other to find new perspectives and march forth with courage. Our adventures await us.

Keep Reading

7 Ways to Write More Words and Read More Books

Tracey Dyck 19 Comments

Before we dive in, I’d like to highlight some great editing tips Jenny Frietag @ The Penslayer compiled this week. You can read the post HERE. I was thrilled to see a piece of my own advice included!

The end of November is drawing near, folks, in case you haven’t noticed. Which means thousands of writers are striving to meet their fifty thousand word goal in the days remaining. I am not among that huge tribe of crazy (that is, crazy awesome) people, but perhaps I’m absorbing some of their excitement, because I’ve been more productive this month than I have been in the last two months combined. Hooray!

Whether you’re doing NaNoWriMo or not, if you’re a writer, you probably want to write. (I should hope so, or else why call yourself a writer?) And quite possibly, you want to write more than you are currently doing. But life is busy, isn’t it? How do you find the time?

However, not all of you reading this are writers. But there’s a 98.239% chance that you are a reader.* Life is busy for you as well. Things like school and work and obligations crowd out less urgent things like reading.

*I would be surprised if this blog attracted someone who didn’t care for books in some way.

So what are we busy readers and writers to do? I can’t promise a magical solution to clear your schedule, but I do have some lil’ tips to share that can help you put more time into your creative pursuits.

Step 1: Recognize that time is not a thing to be found or made.

You can’t find time–you already have it. Nor can you manufacture time. You have twenty-four hours every day. No more, no less. The most productive writers and most prolific readers out there don’t have more time than you do! They’ve just found a way to manage their time wisely.

Time is a resource, just like health or finances. So evaluate where you’re putting it. Figure out what’s nonnegotiable, such as sleep, work, school, time spent with God, building and maintaining your relationships, etc.

Step 2: Manage your free time.

Everything outside of those nonnegotiables can be moved around or minimized.

I keep my Goodreads status updated, so obviously I have time for it. Likewise with the shows I watch, blogs I read, and YouTube videos I consume. All good things, but also all potential time-suckers.

For a few days, pay attention to all the little things you do, then decide whether those are things you want to spend time on. Trust me, I’m as guilty of wasting time as anyone else. (I’m trying to break some bad phone habits, to be honest.) But you might be surprised how quickly those little things add up. Five minutes on your phone five times a day is twenty-five minutes, you guys–almost half an hour.

Step 3: Find the blank spaces in your day.

This will look different for everyone. For me, I read during my lunch breaks at work, even if it’s only a few pages. My brother and I take turns driving to school, which gives me forty free minutes to read when he’s the driver. Three days of the week, my college schedule is such that I have a couple free hours over suppertime, so if I don’t have homework, I usually answer emails and blog comments, draft a new post, or write.

If you’re in a waiting room, that’s another chance to read. If you have a few minutes between activities, you can scribble out some plot points so that later, you can jump right into your next writing session without staring at a wall for ten minutes.

Step 4: Carve it out of your schedule with a ruthless knife of terror.

If you’ve done all of the above and you STILL DON’T HAVE TIME (oh, excuse me, haven’t managed the time) . . . you may have to carve out a block of your day to curl up with a book or write a few pages. Don’t feel bad if you have to schedule this stuff in.  If to-do lists and planners are your thing, penciling in your hobbies might be the trick to finally doing them.

Step 5: Hold yourself accountable.

Whether it’s the satisfaction of checking off that box or buying a new book once your current read is finished, find a way to reward yourself for sticking to it. Writers, what motivates you? Some of my writer friends like to forbid themselves from using the internet until they’ve written X amount of words each day–for them, social media is a nice little break before jumping back into their manuscript. Or maybe taking a walk, playing with your dog, grabbing a snack, or indulging in stupid YouTube videos is what will drive you to reach a daily goal.

It’s also a good idea to find someone who will keep you accountable, someone who will ask you what you’ve written this week. Knowing you have to report to them will give you that extra drive to keep going.

Step 6: Short stuff.

Obviously if you read shorter books you’ll read a larger quantity of books, and if that makes you feel better, no problem. But that’s not really the point, because you’re still not reading more pages . . . So I guess that’s not super useful! But reading in short bursts whenever you have a minute helps.

In writing, don’t underestimate the power of word sprints/word wars. I’ve found that I can write more if I set myself a series of ten or fifteen minute sprints, with the simple goal to see how much I can write during that time.

Something the 100-for-100 challenge taught me was that even if you’re crazy busy, you can still write a little bit. And we all know that a lot of little bits add up to a big bit.

Step 7: There’s a time to just do it, and there’s a time to relax.

Sometimes you have to work at getting around to the things you love. Silly, I know, but that’s how life is. And if you’re fighting to guard your reading/writing time, great. But don’t become so task-oriented that you suck the joy out of those things. Don’t write just because you scheduled it 7:30-8:30 every Wednesday night, and you have to write five hundred words or ELSE. Don’t read just because you have to get through six books a month to meet your Goodreads challenge.

Do it because you actually want to.

Really, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to shut off your brain after a long day, and watching a movie instead of writing. You need to unwind too, or your writing will suffer. And don’t be so wrapped up in making progress that you kill the book you’re reading. It should be recreational, after all! Take it easy now and then.

All you NaNo’ers: this is the month to power through and meet those goals, yes! But don’t do it at the expense of your health or peace of mind. Take a day off if you need to, even if it means working extra tomorrow to make up for it. The world will not end if you don’t write 1,667 words today.

So why are you still hanging around Adventure Awaits? Go write that book! Or read it, whichever you choose.

Keep Reading