Author: Lou Moore

Nearly 3 weeks on from when Chris and Craig Westhoff arrived and I am still processing my copious amounts of notes written from the wisdom they shared.  What an honour to have these gifted friends come and hang out and minister to us for a whole 2 weeks – and the good news is they are coming back before the end of the year!!!

One of the sentences I’ve got written down in my notes and underlined multiple times is this;

“Can we see Him in each other? That’s His dwelling place.”

I can’t get this out of my mind.  When I am looking at my husband, children, friend, neighbour, stranger – am I seeing what God intended?  His original idea crafted together by His own hand.  Or am I a little blasé and blind to the worth of others?  It made me wonder how we can keep growing as a community, as a family, to have a culture where it is normal to show up and be seen for who we really are.  The great bits and the less than wonderful parts. I wonder whether it’s harder to see the thumbprints of the Creator in each other when we come with the edited version of ourselves.  When we hide behind “I’m fine” or when we avoid reaching out in a conversation or for prayer because it can feel risky. 

We need a collaboration between the ones doing the looking and the ones being seen.  

We need to look again; past the seen, beyond our preconceived ideas, further into the very essence of each person.

At the same time we need to shed the walls, lay down the filters and allow people closer so we can be seen just as we are.

So can we just agree to do that? To work harder at the “seeing” and to be brave enough in the “being seen”?

Who’s in?

It’s no surprise that this was the message God brought to us through our prophetic friends.  Kris Vallotton says, “The main function of a prophet is to equip the saints.” As we are seeking to LEAN IN to God and to each other this year, it’s not surprising that the we are being encouraged and equipped in how to do that.  

As Chris and Craig shared at our Leaders Community gathering, they urged us to acknowledge our weakness and celebrate it because when we do we can look around the body and find the strengths we need in each other.  Doesn’t that start with seeing? Seeing ourselves and each other clearly?

James 3v17-18 (The Message) says, “Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterised by getting along with others.  It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two faced.  You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honour.”

What a challenging piece of scripture.  

So here is what I propose;

Let’s show up.  

Le’ts be seen.  

Let’s look closer.  

Let’s call out where we see the thumbprints of our Maker.  

Let’s cheer each other on.  

Le’ts be ridiculously generous in how we speak about each other.  

Let’s make sure people hear the great things others are saying about them.

Let’s lean in.

Lou Moore

Last night was our third Leaders Community gathering since we launched in September. As an elders team we really felt this was an area God was prompting us to prioritise and be intentional about, that is an integral part of what is needed if we are to move forward into everything God has for us as a church family.

In light of our theme “Lean In” this year, we connected, worshipped, discussed and prayed around what leaning in meant for our leadership and how we help those we lead and do life with to lean in as well. As I was preparing for the evening, God gave me a picture that I’d love to share with you.

The picture was of a rugby field, with players running around with the same end goal in mind – to win – but operating in their individual roles. They all had specific jobs to do but at certain points there was a need to all come together as a scrum to drive the game forward. 

We, you and I, are like those players. We all have individual roles and spaces but our goal, I hope, is the same. Our God given mission is to BUILD the church. Whether you are sharing the gospel, raising children to love God, being salt and light in your work places or taking someone out for coffee. Whether you are evangelising, making disciples, serving, encouraging, worshipping, teaching, learning or resting – it is all for one reason. To build His Church, the Bride. 

The times where we have to all come together to lean in and push forward are when we form a scrum. Every member of the team is needed. You are needed. No matter your experience, your gift, whether you are on the rota or whether you feel like you will make any difference – everyone is needed. And all of them is needed. In a scrum, the players pushing forward are using their whole selves, every ounce of energy and strength. And there are those on the outside, ready waiting to anticipate, support and run when needed. Not one person is a spare part. 

You are not a spare part.

I have felt God challenging to me to be all in – to use everything at my disposal to build his church. To not be passive but to engage, to lean in with all I have. He’s been showing me the times I am sitting on the sidelines opting out, where I am not offering all I am and all I have. I don’t think this is necessarily about doing more and giving more – but just being willing to give what we have and if that looks like measly scraps then that’s enough and God can multiply it into being more than enough. 

I wonder what a Sunday morning would feel like, what our homes, the school gates, our workplaces, our relationships would be like if we lent in with our whole selves..

I think it would feel like we were building the church and bringing His kingdom to earth.

This morning was a fairly typical morning in the Moore household.  I sat down to do a 10 minute devotional from IF:Equip and got about half way through before Martha wanted a story and/or Rupert needed feeding.  This is what life is like with two little ones.  There isn’t much time.  Life is hectic, fast, messy and also brilliant fun.  It is hard to remember let alone find time to do a quiet time.  It is tricky to engage in church whilst keeping an eye on toddlers running around or keeping babies quiet.  It would be easier to disengage and feel guilty that church and faith sometimes doesn’t “feel” like it used to.  Something has changed and it can be easy to think it is God rather than the season we are in.

I relayed this story to a friend and she replied, “yup, they don’t call it the black years for nothing!” and I instantly wanted to reject that name.  The black years. How many times do we name a season negatively and then live as if there is truth in that name?

Friends, I don’t know what life is throwing at you during this time.  Maybe you are tired.  Perhaps you are grieving.  Disillusioned? Disappointed?  Doubting? Whatever it is you are going through at the moment, God is still God.  He is BIG enough for all the emotions, all the turbulence, all the surprises we are dealt.  And He can still move.  Whether it feels like He is or not.  We can trust Him to be God in the good times and the bad.  The happy and sad.  The colourful and the black.

There is a beautiful chorus in the “Desert song” by Hillsong that goes…

“All of my life, in every season

You are still God

I have a reason to sing

I have a reason to worship”

What ever the colour of your season, we still have reasons to worship.  So let’s not sit back, let’s stand up.  Let’s not back off but lean in.  Let’s remind ourselves that He is still God and big enough for where we find ourselves.

I am a few months in to being a mother of two and I have just about caught my breath.  There have been situations and circumstances that have made this adjustment just that little bit harder but it finally feels like we are getting the hang of it.  At least, there are hours (sometimes maybe a day) where I think I have it all together and I am coping well.  And then something happens… my eczema flares up, we get a set back on our plans, the children get ill, someone asks something of me that is more than I can give and then I am not so much coping but surviving.  The guilt sets in and I am ashamed to say that for this season I. Am. Not. Coping. 

You see, I have always prided myself on the fact that I can get on with things, that I keep going, that I cope.  So it was a bit of a shock to learn that suddenly I cannot do all of this by myself.  Of course this isn’t the first thing I have found difficult. There have been tricky times before but I’ve got through them. And therein lies the problem.  I.  I have got through them. At least that is what I seem to have been telling myself.  God is definitely trying to teach me a lesson here that I have, (excuse my bluntness) been too thick to learn.  This time round, despite dusting myself off after each fall, the punches have kept on rolling and I am feeling done in. In this season I am having to accept help, to learn to rest, to say no and put things down.  I have had to reassess priorities and put boundaries in. 

And I am still wrestling with this lesson.

But despite feeling shame in not being able to do it all, although I worry what asking for help says about me. God is reminding me that there is no pride in being able to do it all, no badge of honour for being so independent you don’t need anyone else. Instead He tells us that His power is made perfect in our weakness and that we should boast all the more gladly in our weaknesses so that His power can work through us (1 Corinthians 12v9).  In fact, Jesus said we are blessed if we are poor in spirit (Matthew 5). It is not for us to hold it all together, to do it all in our own strength, priding ourselves on being independent and ok.  It was never the point.  We were designed to need each other.  To need him. That’s how the body works, we need each part to function like we were created to.  We were never created to go it alone.  Phew!

So when we can be brave enough to show up and take the risk to expose what is really going on for us, not only can we experience true community as we ask others to stand with us in it.  But we also allow God to be who is he is meant to be. Our God. Our Father. Our comforter.  Our provider.  Our councillor. Our strength.  

Freedom within boundaries

I have been watching my 2 yr old daughter Martha walk round the kitchen, mainly talking gobble-de-gook to herself, hearing her repeat phrases that I must say a million times a day that she has picked up.  “Right”, “so”, “that’s it, good girl”, all hilarious little conversations between her and her baby that mimic our daily dialogue.  But then I am caught off guard as she walks round the room again, pointing to various items and repeating, “No…..”  “mummy cross,” and my heart breaks.  I worry, wondering whether this is her overriding feeling of what I am saying to her day in, day out.  That I am a stern figure ruining her fun, managing her, rather than releasing her.  Controlling, rather than empowering. 

The thing is, in reality, I do say ‘no’.  No to when she is about to touch something that will hurt her.  No to things that aren’t good for her.  No to things that she wants but because she is two and I am not, I am aware of things she isn’t yet. (There are also a number of not so noble reasons I say no too!) So, yes I say no. Not because I want to restrict her, but because I want her to be safe and secure.  Can you see where I am going with this?

In this very average, every day moment, God reminded me again about who He is.  He is not an angry parent, saying no to every desire, every road we want to travel down.  He isn’t putting in arbitrary rules to ruin our fun, but because He is God and we are not, He knows what’s best for His children.  He knows what will bring us goodness, what will bring us joy. 

With Him, there is always more freedom within the boundaries He puts in place.  We just have to choose to trust His goodness.  His faithfulness.  His love.

Let me just say from the get go: I am for marriage (I am also for singleness). I am for healthy, functioning relationships. I believe in the fairy tale marriage. *Gasp*…It’s just that I have a slightly different view of what that looks like to the picture we are sold by this world.

In the wake of Valentine’s Day and the beautiful card and flowers still sitting on my dining room table, I find myself with a sense of sadness.  I’m sad because when I look past the pretty filters of Instagram and the carefully constructed statuses on Facebook, I know there are people who are hurting and aching because their relationships don’t seem to measure up to those that the movies depict or the perfect life that social media portrays.

So let me tell you what I believe a fairy tale marriage/relationship looks like….

It looks like patience. 

Kindness.

Honouring.

Putting others first.

Truth telling.

Hopeful.

Persevering.

Sound familiar?  This is what 1 Corinthians 13, biblical love looks like.  The Message puts it like this…

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Doesn’t force itself on others,

Isn’t always “me first,”

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies.

I don’t know about you but none of these things come naturally to me.  By nature I am selfish and sinful, so this idea of love is hard. work. This is love that needs constant work.  Constant grace.  Constant forgiveness.  It needs Jesus. Every. Single. Day.

It may not sound glamorous, but it is real and it is SO worthwhile.  When we subscribe to this ideal, we get a glimpse of what God created marriage to be.  Two people growing together, daily choosing each other.  Preferring the other’s needs above their own.  Wouldn’t a world where people chose to love like this be something to be reckoned with!!!

It’s been a while since my last post.  It’s been a while since I have felt I have anything to say.  It’s been a while since I have felt like I have anything to give.  It’s been a while since I have felt God speak, since I have felt His love. It’s been a while.

It feels better just writing that.  Admitting it.  Relief.

Have you ever felt like that?

I have felt a bit lost recently.  I guess I have been hurting.  And when I am hurt, I hide.  From friends.  From family.  From God.  I have been mad.  Disappointed.  Confused.  Frustrated.  And hurt.

Today as I have been cleaning the house and adding little homely touches, I listened to a talk and then whacked the worship music on LOUD.  As the words and truths permeated my being, tears ran down my face.

 “How many time have you found me wandering in the rubble of yesterdays hope.  Weighed down with burdens, barely standing but, I am desperate to see you again. I’m running into your arms of grace, with no reason to hide away.  It’s not the first time I’ve been in this place but I’m come home again.  Welcomed home again.”

God welcomed me home again today.  I have kept Him out of the hurt corners of my heart.  I have kept Him at arms length.  But today He welcomed me with GRACE.  Today as the tears fell, so did the walls.

You see, when I am hurt, I retreat.  I become a recluse.  I try and stand by myself.  I close myself off from love.  From the promises He has spoken over my future.  I believe the lies.  And then I blink and find myself distant, alone.  And I try and find my own way back again.  Believing that I have to do the work.  That I have to start again.  That I have to have my “routine” right before I can face Him.

“But while Lou was still a long way off, her father saw her and was filled with compassion for her; he ran to his daughter, threw his arms around her and kissed her.”

The parable of the Lost Son tells us something different.  I may feel more comfortable being punished for being distant, to apologise forever, to pay the price.  But God bridges any gap we put between us and Him.  He runs to us and embraces us with His forgiving arms of grace.  We will find Him waiting for us to return.

Today, my only response could be to lift my hands and exalt Him.  Proclaim truths where there had been the whisper of lies.  Step up and out where I have held back.  Fall on my knees and lay it all down again.  Relinquish control.

As I prettied the house, I read over some promises and prayers written out on our wedding day by friends and family.  I read over prophecies given to me.  I forced myself to dream again.  They had been forgotten, tarred by faithlessness.  But today as I found myself on the way back, I reclaimed them.  I put them into a centre piece on my table where I can see them daily.  So I can be reminded.  Encouraged.  Inspired.

“I run this race set before me with perseverance, so that I can be all that God has created me to be.”

So, with my heart bowed low and my hands held high, all I can do is walk with Him and build up a dialogue where there has been silence for a while.

Zovirax