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From Overwhelmed to Flourishing

How to Discover Your True Value to the World

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Imagine with me for a moment. You are stranded on a tropical island. You are not hungry, the temperatures are perfect, there are beautiful trees to shade you, and you are comfortable in every way. You are alone. You will only be on this island for a short time so you don’t need to worry about finding food or shelter or a way off, and you don’t have time to nap or do much exploring. You don’t have a book or iPad or another source of entertainment.

You are alone with yourself in paradise. No to do list. No expectations. During this time, you are not a wife or a mother or an employee or a friend or any role that you currently play in your life. You are just you, exactly the you that God created. There are no expectations of you. There is no way to prove your value or your worth. You are simply on this island to exist as you are.

Now, with this picture in mind, how would you rank yourself while on this island? If you were to place yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, with one being that you are of little value, useless, and without purpose, and 10 being that you are awesome and incredibly valuable, where would you place yourself? How would you value yourself, as a person, if we stripped away all of your roles, all of your accomplishments, and all of your expectations? You are simply, you.

We all strive to be valuable. We work hard in our various roles to prove our worth. At the end of the day we often wonder, Am I Enough? Do I matter? But our value and our identity isn't based on what we've done or the roles that we play in life. Our value is based on something else entirely. Read this post to learn more about how to answer the question of Who Am I?

How do you value yourself?

Some of you might rank yourself as a 10 or pretty close to it. When you take away all of your roles and expectations you think you are a pretty amazing person. But I would guess that many of you likely gave yourself a much lower ranking. Maybe you said a 3 or 4. You might be thinking, without my role as a mother, or without my accomplishments at work, what value do I have? If you strip away all the things that I do for everyone, do I have any worth? If you take away my ability to do all of the things I do, then what meaning is there for my life? If there is nothing for me to do and no one for me to help, then what purpose do I serve?

This, I think, is where many women find ourselves. We spend ourselves on behalf of others all day every day. We work hard, we accomplish great things, we help, we serve, we strive to change lives. There is so much that we do. And we expect so much of ourselves because the need is so great. Our kids need us, our husband needs us, our employer needs us, our church needs us, the school needs us. And so we give and we give and we give. And we measure our worth and our value to the world based on how much we were able to give and do and accomplish. We keep on striving and working because that is how we prove ourselves to the world.

Am I Enough?

Our accomplishments and our roles become our identity. We define ourselves based on the things we are able to do and the person we are able to be to those around us. Our identity is built on our efforts, achievements, and performance.

We are constantly receiving the message that we are not enough unless we do all of the things. We are pressured to try harder and be the best or at the very least to keep up with everyone else who can do everything else so well.

So we spend ourselves all day every day striving, achieving, pushing, and working to be enough. To prove our value and worth to the world by the effort we put in and the results we receive.

Which is why the thought of stripping away all of our roles and achievements and ability to prove ourselves is downright frightening to many of us. To consider and define who we are without what we’ve done and what we are capable of doing doesn’t even make sense to us. That’s not how the world works.

Who Am I?

Except, that is exactly how God works. You see, God says that we are enough exactly as we are. He looks at us in our darkest of failures and sees perfection. He notices all of our flaws and says “beautiful”. He recognizes our deepest secrets and calls us His “beloved”. He looks down upon us in the midst of our chaotic mess and says “Radiant”, “Honored”, “Desired”, “Chosen”, “Enough”.

There is not a single thing we can do on this green earth to change how our Father sees us. Our identity as His child cannot and will not ever be changed by anything we achieve or don’t achieve. We are His beautiful, accepted, blessed, wanted, creation.

My friend, you are a 10, at all times, no matter what you do or don’t do. You can never and will never change your worth. Your identity isn’t based on your role. Your value isn’t determined by your achievements. Your worth isn’t defined by your accomplishments. Your beauty isn’t decided upon by your outward appearance. You are a 10 because God says it is so. The Creator of the Universe looks upon you as the picture of perfection.

You are because He is.

What do you do when your roles and abilities are taken away?

Michele Cushatt had built a successful business and career as a speaker, writer, and speaking coach. Until one day a phone call from her doctor informed her that she had cancer, of the tongue. After three battles against tongue cancer, today, she is happy to be alive. And yet the battle cost her in many ways including two-thirds of her tongue. Her identity was forever altered and changed.

She came out on the other side of her cancer battle as a completely different person. In medical terms, permanently disabled. In real life, she’d lost much of the function of her tongue including taste and the ability to speak without extreme effort and an impediment. She has large scars in many parts of her body. For months she couldn’t eat or speak. She endured intense chemo and radiation to her head and neck. And those are just some of the physical wounds.

Through her battle, she came face to face with the question of “Who am I?”. As a speaker, the use of her tongue and clear speech could be considered part of the job description. As a mother, her ability to take care of her young children is considered a requirement until she became so sick that she couldn’t even care for herself. As a wife…as a friend…in so many ways she was unable to prove her value and worth in the ways that at one time felt so critical.

Am I enough?

With this question in mind, she began a journey to discover her real identity, based not on the roles and expectations of our culture, but on the truths of the gospel. She spent time learning who she was because of who God is.

I Am Book

And then she wrote a book about it called I Am: A 60-Day Journey to Knowing Who You Are Because of Who He Iscomes out today. I’ve had the chance to soak up the words of this book over the past few weeks and I don’t want to say it lightly, but I really do feel that this book can be life-changing.

I Am is a 60-day devotional type of book. It is not a play-by-play memoir of her life or cancer experience. Instead, Michele walks you step by step through a journey of self-recognition. A journey that will open your eyes to the truths that God says about you. A journey that will lead you to discover your true identity, beyond your roles and accomplishments.

This book will guide you into a place of knowing that you are a 10, all day, every single day. You are enough.

Each day in the book begins with a bible verse and a personal story from Michele’s life which ties into the theme for the day. The themes are all “I Am” statements to help us recognize our true identity. Things like:

  • I am Created
  • I am Loved
  • I am Beautiful
  • I am Valuable
  • I am Fought For
  • I am Heard
  • I am Seen
  • I am Wanted
  • I am Able
  • I am Desired
  • I am Filled
  • I am Healed
  • I am Comforted
  • I am Free
  • I am Redeemed
  • I am Radiant
  • I am Honored
  • I am Sent
  • I am Enough

Each day ends with a “Who am I?” section that takes the lesson into a personal application with questions and suggestions to help you truly grasp the message and graft it into your identity.

If you have ever asked the question “Am I Enough?”, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this book today. It truly is a blessing and nourishment for the soul.

Yes, my friend, you are more than enough.

Today’s Action Step

Order your copy of I Am: a 60-Day Journey to Knowing Who You are Because of Who He Is and soak up the message to find out how to view yourself as a 10, just as your Father sees you.

Additional Resources:

An Invitation to Become Brave

17 Small Ways to Make the New Year your Best Year

Thy Will Be Done

How to respond when life doesn’t go as planned

When you feel like you’re failing at everything

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Parenting from a Place of Love – Not Fear

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There is a popular meme that shows up on my social media feeds on a fairly regular basis. It goes something like this:

I am not your friend. I am your parent. I will stalk you, flip out on you, lecture you, drive you insane, be your worst nightmare, and hunt you down like a bloodhound when needed because I love you! When you understand that, I will know you are a responsible adult. You will never find someone who loves, prays, cares, and worries about you more than I do.

I am certain that the author of this meme created it from a place of sincere love for their children. I have no doubt that they do love, pray, care, and worry about their children just like I do mine.

All actions stem from a place of love of a place of fear. Parenting is really hard. And it can be terrifying. The potential for disaster is great. We could ruin our kid's for life! But we don't have to parent out of fear. We can choose love instead. Positive, loving, respectful parenting. Parenting from a place of love is possible.

On this journey we call parenting, we are all clueless. None of us truly know what we are doing and most of our actions are fueled by the fear that we are fully capable of screwing up our children’s lives. I love my kids like crazy, just like you love yours, and there is a very real chance that we will mess up in some way and ruin them for eternity. No pressure.

And yet this meme literally makes my heart ache. I truly don’t see how being my child’s worst nightmare is in any way a picture of love. I believe that all actions come from either a place of love or a place of fear. We don’t have to parent from a place of fear. We can choose love.

parent the hard way

Parenting from a place of love, not fear.

I want my children to learn how to control their emotions and live peaceably. The best way for kids to learn is through modeling and imitation. If I flip out on my kids and drive them insane as the meme suggests, my children will miss out on the most valuable lessons I can provide them regarding self-regulation and emotion control.

And the dictionary defines a friend as “a person who you like and enjoy being with; a person who helps or supports someone”. Hmm, I think that is exactly how I want my kids to think of me. Sure, we are not on a level playing field and I am the authority figure, not just their buddy, but if my kids want to call me their friend, I’m totally down with that. I’m completely fine with the idea that my kids might actually like and enjoy being with me and that they might consider me a person who helps or supports them. I think that’s called winning at parenting.

I haven’t the slightest clue how to deal with all of the mood swings, tantrums, and misbehaviors that my children exhibit. I make mistakes in parenting every day. But I’ve been doing a lot of reading and research lately to start seeing the types of things that work to raise great kids and the types of parenting methods that research shows can be detrimental to our kids.

I kind of feel like I’m coming out of the parenting closet today. You see, when memes like the one you see above are so prevalent, and thousands of people rally to support my favorite football player when it was discovered that he beat and injured his child, I feel quite alone in the way that I have chosen to raise my kids.

And yet, I know that I am not alone in this. I know there are many other parents who feel the way I do. There are many parents searching for a better way, to parent with peace, to offer our children respect, to prioritize our relationship with our kids over punitive control, and to be an example for our kids to model themselves after. So I’m speaking up today in the hopes of encouraging others trying to navigate this journey. I want to open the eyes of parents who are looking for a better way. We can do better by our kids. We can offer love, grace, peace, patience, and kindness to our kids and fully expect them to grow up to be capable, self-disciplined, compassionate adults.

Please don’t misunderstand. This method of parenting is not one of permissiveness. My parenting efforts are absolutely geared toward discipline and strong limits, but I don’t believe that we need to spank our children into good behavior. And I don’t think that we properly teach our children how to handle their big emotions by isolating them until they “figure it out” all on their own. And I most certainly do not believe that shaming our children, publicly or privately, will teach them how to be successful adults.

Over and over again research has taught us that physical punishment does not work in developing long-term obedient children. What research has found is that bullies create bullies, so if we are mean and hit our kids, our kids are likely to be mean and hit others.

Research has also found that while kids may immediately start behaving properly after receiving physical punishment, they are less likely to be obedient down the road when parents are not around, and to sneak around and lie to their parents in the future to avoid more physical punishment.

Physical punishment is also well correlated to depression, anxiety, anti-social behaviors, poor intellectual performance, and a higher usage of drugs and alcohol. Not exactly things that I have envisioned for my children’s futures. (A few sources for all of the above research findings can be found here, here, and here.)

Good Parenting Starts by Prioritizing a Good Relationship

As humans, we were created for relationship. We learn in relationship. We grow in relationship. We thrive in relationship. As parents, we must learn to value our relationship with our kids as gold. Not by allowing our kids to walk all over us and get their way, but by loving them through disappointments, by empathizing with their frustrations in the midst of our limits and discipline, and by connecting with them on a daily basis so they know that they are loved, that they matter, and that we really do care.

connection parenting

I’m quickly becoming very passionate about this topic, so I’m excited to share the things I’m learning along the way. With a five-year-old and a two-year-old, I know that I will have many opportunities to practice and learn effective strategies. I will freely admit that parenting in this way is much harder than I originally imagined. Spanking, time outs, yelling, and forcing my kids to do what I want would be so much easier, but in the end, it doesn’t raise kids who have an internal sense of discipline, compassion, and cooperation. I’d rather parent with a long-term view of my children’s lives than with a short-term plan for immediate compliance.

Today’s Action Step

Parenting our kids well is one of the most important tasks we have. It is also, one of the hardest. Take a few moments to consider your most recent parenting methods. How do you respond when your children misbehave? What words and actions are you modeling to your kids when you have a disagreement? Are you modeling the behaviors you want your kids to have when it comes to controlling emotions and impulses? Do you strive for long-term success or immediate compliance? No one is a perfect parent. No one gets is right all the time. The way we can improve is to regularly analyze what we are doing, what is working, and what areas are opportunities to improve.

Additional Resources

Websites

Ahaparenting.com

ParentingBeyondPunishment.com

PositiveParentingSolutions.com

Positive-Parents.org

Books

Positive Parenting: An Essential Guide

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting

Jesus, The Gentle Parent: Gentle Christian Parenting

Elevating Childcare: A Guide to Respectful Parenting

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The Best Gift

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gift“And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.” Romans 5:16 NLT

This gift. This precious gift that we celebrate each Christmas. The gift of a Savior, a Messiah, a Hope in darkness. This gift brings us life, peace, and joy. Forgiveness from all sins. “God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.”

I don’t always make the best decisions. I’m lazy, I’m envious, I get angry much too easily, I gossip…I could go on. I take for granted this precious gift that God has given me. I ignore what I know to be right for what feels good in the moment. I do what I want without a thought toward the consequences. I want to do the right thing in the long term, but in the moment, the easy way out is the path that I choose.

I see the consequences of my decisions. I catch a glimpse of the costs for my careless actions. You see, the wages of my sin is death. The wages of my laziness is poverty. The wages of my envy is resentment and discontent. The wages of my anger is pain and damaged relationships. The wages of my gossip is hurt and strife. But this gracious Gift, this precious baby that we celebrate on Christmas day, leads to forgiveness and grace and mercy.

God understood that we can’t, but He can. He recognizes that our flesh is weak, but He is strong. He knows that our strength will fail, but His love will always prevail. So He sent His Son, He sent His Love, and the wages of our sin is now wrapped up in forgiveness. The payment for our sin has been covered by the Gift. And we receive grace, we receive forgiveness, we receive hope, we receive a new day.

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago)
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us –
to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies;
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
Luke 1:67-79

 We so often remember the baby in the manger. We talk about Mary and Joseph, the wise men, and the shepherds. We remember the story about the time when God sent His Son to be with us, to live among us. We celebrate the birth of our King, our Messiah. And this is good.

But the reason that we needed a King and a Messiah was because we needed to be rescued. We needed to be redeemed from our sin. We needed a Savior to save us from ourselves.

“So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” Romans 8:3b

And because of this great Gift, we have freedom. Because of the sweet baby who was born in the stables, we are not controlled by our sinful nature. Because our Messiah entered this world and became like us, His Spirit can now reside in us to bring us life, to give us hope, to give us joy. We are made right and we can find our righteousness through the goodness of God’s precious Gift.

“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do…For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Romans 8:12, 14

I don’t always make the best decisions. But God sent His Son to redeem me from my bad decisions. He sent His Spirit to guide me toward the path of righteousness. He sent His Love to cover me with His grace.

My prayer is that this Christmas we tune into God’s Spirit to guide us each day. May we walk close to God, dwelling in His presence that we might learn to be like Him. May we look to that baby in the manger and watch His journey from manger to cross and use that story to guide our steps, our thoughts, and our decisions. May we be led by the Spirit into the fullness and abundance that God’s great Gift provides.

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Stay in the Race

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Welcome to a new month! Okay, so I’m a few days late, but can you believe that we are already one month into the New Year? I guess that means it’s not so new anymore.

How has January been for you?

I don’t think I’m alone in feeling like January has been a little crazy and February is shaping up to be a little crazy as well! In my local community (maybe most of the U.S.?), we have dealt with the worst winter in many years with multiple snow days nearly every week! My kids haven’t been to a full week of daycare since sometime in December. I had high hopes that this week would be better but the meteorologist tells me that the snow will be returning within the hour. On top of all the snow we’ve had my son’s illnesses and surgery, some major deadlines and catch up to take care of at work, I’ve started another round of small group meetings with my church group. And the taxes need to be done, the car needs maintenance, and hey look, Valentine’s day is next week, there are dates to be planned, cards to decorate, and class parties to purchase supplies for.

We start the year with big hopes and dreams for our New Year and yet life doesn’t even let us catch our breath. You may have hopes of losing weight, starting a new project, being a “better wife”, reading more books, spending more time with the kids, keeping up with the housework, quitting that bad habit, serving healthier meals to your family, or becoming a rock star at work. And yet, here it is February already and if anything, things have gotten worse instead of better. There may be plenty of excuses and valid reasons, but the reality is 2014 is aiming to be just the same as 2013.

I’m one of those people who really likes to see forward progress. I want each passing year to be better than the last, not in a superficial way with more stuff or more money or more adventures. But I want to see improvement in things that matter. I believe that God is always calling us higher and deeper, our journey of life should continue to move upward toward Him. My Christian faith calls me to keep striving, keep improving, and keep growing.

Re-Evaluate

At the start of the New Year, you may have created a vision and some goals for 2014. Now would be a great time to read back through those lists to remind yourself what you’re hoping to achieve this year. Ask yourself some questions:

Are these goals actually achievable in my life right now? – We certainly want to push ourselves, but sometimes in the excitement of the New Year we might push the bar a little too high. It’s okay to adjust to something a little more realistic.

Are these plans still important to me? – This early in the year, your ideas probably haven’t shifted too much, but sometimes life throws a curve ball and what you thought was really important, just doesn’t make the list anymore. Your passions and interests may have shifted to something else. You may have learned something about yourself or the subject of your goal that makes you less interested in continuing down the path you were headed. Changing directions is acceptable, even if it’s a complete 180.

Is there something else I need to add? – Lowering expectations and changing directions is often the result of a new interest or a new goal. If you need to add something to the list, there is still a whole lot of year left to accomplish new things.

Make It Visible

If you don’t have your goals written down, that is step number one. However, I have my goals written down (or typed out in Evernote). I can access my goals anytime, anywhere through my computer, iPhone, Kindle, or even someone else’s device. The problem is I actually have to think about thinking about my goals to stumble across them. Out of sight, out of mind plays a big role here.

I have big goals for the year that I break down into smaller goals each month. It helps me make progress toward my big goals. I’ve decided that after reviewing and creating these monthly goals in Evernote, I will jot down the basics of my goals on an old fashioned 3×5 card to keep on my desk. I’m at my desk every single day, so I’ll have plenty of opportunity to keep my goals in my sight, in my mind and stay focused on achieving them.

Find some place that you can store your goals that you can guarantee you will see everyday (or most days). It may be your wallet, your bathroom mirror, your kitchen sink, your desk, your car, just find a place that you can spend a few moments reading through your goals to keep them front and center in your focus.

Make Room for Grace

Let me make you a guarantee. You are going to fail. Not every day. Not for every goal. But there will be a day when you don’t meet your goals. There will be a day when life makes a sharp left turn and you end up bruised on the side of the road. There will be a time when you get sick, get busy, the snowstorm shuts down the entire city, the house demands extra repairs, the kids get on your last nerve, or the car behind you forgets to stop. Goals will need to be sidelined, restructured, and postponed. Results won’t be as expected. All your hard work will feel like it was for nothing.

On these days, it is important to know that “His mercies are new every morning.” For this moment, you can cry, yell, and throw up your hands, but tomorrow when you wake, look at that old 3×5 card of goals, take a deep breath, and put one foot in front of the other. “Press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you.”

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?
Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.
No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others,
I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

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What Does It Mean to Show Tenderhearted Mercy?

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Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. – Colossians 3:12

For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt the need to make a difference in the world. I was “raised in the church” and attended Christian school for most of my education, so hearing things like “you were called for something big”, you’re going to be a “radical world changer”, you have destiny and purpose, God has called you to do a “great and mighty thing for your generation” were instilled in my brain for many, many years.

I don’t feel like I’m doing something big. I wouldn’t say that my life is radically changing the world. And I don’t know that I even want the “fame” that would come from doing a great and mighty thing for my generation. Most of the time, I’m in love with my life. I enjoy my career, love my family, I’m grateful for my church, I’ve got a few good friends, life is good. I’m incredibly blessed. And yet, more often than I’d like, I get the feeling that I really was called to do more than just enjoy my amazing life.

Am I the only one that feels this way?

And I think this goes further than my career. I truly feel that the work that I do is important and I am helping people every day. I know that I’m putting people on the path to changing their world and some people will go on to make a difference in many lives because of the work that I do in my career. But I feel like I should be doing more outside of the 8-5.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a feeling that stems from guilt or obligation. This stems from the fact that I have been blessed beyond what I could ever hope to deserve. It comes from a place of knowing that for some reason, my life is amazing, but also seeing that there are millions of hurting people all around me. I feel like I should be doing more because I have more excess to give than others could ever hope to have in their lifetime. I want to bless the socks off of someone else because it’s the right thing to do and they need it more than I do.

But, the reality is that I’m a working mom. I have a career, a family, friends, laundry, dishes, books to read, blogs to write, and hundreds of statuses to read on Facebook! Time is limited. Energy isn’t always available. Money is tight. I don’t know how to fit “radical world changer” into my schedule.

I don’t know if I will ever become a “radical world changer”. I can’t see the depth of the calling that God has placed on my life. But I know that I can do more than I’m currently doing. I want to change one person’s life, at the very least. So I’ve realized that I can’t just wait until I figure out “my destiny”. My prayers for wisdom and direction are great, but “action speaks louder than words” applies to my prayers too. Sometimes I just need to stop talking to God about what I can/should/would do and just start doing things for Him and trusting that He’ll lead me as I go.

Is anybody with me?

So what does it look like to just start doing? I think it starts with small steps in our daily actions.

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy…

Tenderhearted: easily moved to love, pity, or sorrow

Mercy: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm

A few small ideas for showing tenderhearted mercy in our daily lives:

  1. The next time you see a man standing on the street corner with a sign, stop yourself from judging him and assuming he’s a drug addict or con artist. He very well may be. But extend mercy anyways and hand him some money.
  2. When your employee, boss, or coworker fails to do their part of a project, misses a deadline, or completely misses the mark on one of their goals, pick up the pieces, cover over their faults and grant them the grace to start fresh tomorrow.
  3. If your child disobeys one of your requests, sit with them and talk about mercy and grace. Explain to them how God extends mercy to us, even when we don’t deserve it. And then extend that same mercy to your child to reinforce how amazing God’s grace and mercy really is.
  4. As you begin your Holiday shopping, there is bound to be a hurried co-shopper who cuts you off, speaks rudely to you, or grabs the item you were aiming for…buy them a Peppermint Latte and bless them with a genuine smile and a “Merry Christmas!”.
  5. While you peruse your Facebook News Feed and view the 3,564th status for the week from that girl who always seems to have disasters and drama filling her life, stop and spend a solid 5 minutes praying for God to bless her more than she could ever hope or imagine. And if you have something to bless her with, make arrangements to give it.
  6. When you drive home and see that your neighbor has forgotten to close the lid on their trash can again and garbage is covering your lawn. Enjoy the beauty of fall as you pick up all the trash, then head inside and bake that neighbor some cookies. You have no idea what they might be going through.
  7. If your husband forgets to put his dishes in the dishwasher, leaves his socks all over the living room, falls asleep while you’re talking to him, or brings home a bad attitude from work, take a deep breath. Kiss him. Hug him. Smile and tell him you love him. Load up the dishes, pick up the socks, cover him with a blanket, and serve up his favorite meal for dinner.

What else can we do to clothe ourselves with tenderhearted mercy each and every day so that we can truly become radical world changers?

Additional Posts To Check Out

5 Steps to Refresh Your Faith

The Truth About the Love of God

52 Bible Verses for Working Moms

Thy Will Be Done

The Bible tells us to clothe ourselves with tenderhearted mercy, but what does that look like on a practical level in this day and age? This post seeks to explore how the small moments in our every day lives can allow us the opportunity to change the world through tenderhearted mercy and small acts of love.

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