Monthly Archives: November 2023

All Good Gifts, Christmas, Finishing Strong, Grace, Inspired, Jesus

Worship Wednesday – Make Room – Jonathan McReynolds

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Photo Credit: Heartlight

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” – James 4:8a

“Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.” – Ephesians 3:17

“In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.” – Jesus John 14:2-3

During COVID we starting putting out our Christmas trees and and nativities in November. [We have always started Christmas music in October.] Apologies to those who think we should wait until after Thanksgiving.

2020 was a rough year in so many ways. Longing for Christmas to come early came out of that, and nothing has altered that since then.

This world needs Jesus so badly. We as Christ-followers need Him…and we must keep space for Him in our lives.

My Mom was born just before the Great Depression happened, the shock of which shook the world. Her family was devastated by the economic downturn, but Christmas still continued a season of hope for her. The nativity below was Mom’s so it has been an annual reminder of there being “no room in the inn” for Jesus’ birth.

To consider his birth and what it means to us is too grand to just be celebrated in some tight commercial schedule toward the end of December. It is glorious how God came so near us to show Himself to us, up-close and personally.

So strange that room had to be made for him! We are made even more aware of our need to keep room – make room – for him in our lives.

Not just as a baby Messiah but every moment of every day in all kinds of ways.

Even in the chaos of life in this world of ours, He brings beauty and peace and healing.

He makes a way forward, and I want to make room for that…for Him.

Worship with me to Jonathan McReynolds‘ beautifully convicting song Make Room:

I find space for what I treasure
And I make time for what I want
I choose my priorities and
Jesus, You’re my number one

So I will make room for You
I will prepare for two
So You don’t feel that You
Can’t live here, please live in me

I find space for what I treasure
And I make time for what I want
I choose my priorities and
Jesus, You’re my number one
Yes Jesus, You’re my number one

So I will make room for You
I will prepare for two
So You, You don’t feel that You
Can’t live here, please live in me

I will make room for You
I will (I will) prepare for two
So You (So You) don’t feel that You
Can’t live here, please live in me
Live in me, yeah
Please live in me, God
I will make room for You

My will (You can move that over)
My way (You can move that over, too)
My ego (You can move that over)
My plans (You can move that over, too)
My schedule (You can move that over)
My itinerary (You can move that over)
For see I, I will make room for You

My habits (You can move that over)
My attitude (You can move that over, too)
Whatever it is (You can move that over)
That’s not like You (You can move that over, too)
Whatever it is (You can move that over)
You can move it over (You can move that over, too)
See I will make room, yeah

Whatever it is (You can move that over)
That’s in Your way (You can move that over, too)
Whatever it is (You can move that over)
If it takes Your space (You can move that over, too)
See whatever it is (You can move that over)
Oh, I don’t want it there (You can move that over, too)
See, I will make room, yeah

I wanna seek You first (You can move that over)
Keep the old things out the way (You can move that over, too)
I wanna seek You first (You can move that over)
Move it all out the way (You can move that over, too)
See, whatever it is (You can move that over)
Lord, I just want You (You can move that over, too)
So I will make room, yeah

See, whatever it is (You can move that over)
Move it over (You can move that over, too)
Please just move it over (You can move that over)
Help me move it over (You can move that over, too)
Jesus, I (You can move that over)
I just want You to know (You can move that over, too)
That I will make room

I find space for what I treasure
And I make time for what I want
I choose my priorities and
Jesus, You’re my number one*

*Lyrics to Make Room – Songwriter: Jonathan McReynolds

Mark Room (Jonathan McReynolds) – Daniel Ploof – Great study on making room for Jesus

YouTube Video – Come to My Heart, Lord, Jesus, There Is Room in My Heart for Thee

Make Room for Jesus – Monica Kincaid

5 Ways to Make Room in Your Heart for Jesus – Betsy DeCruz

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Monday Morning Moment – Healing from Sorrow and Grief – with Adam Young, Francis Weller, Curt Thompson, & Jesus

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Photo Credit: C. S. Lewis, Allume

So much sorrow and grief in the world…if you clicked on this blog at all, with such a sober title, then you are facing what is true for you, and for all of us.

Take a moment more and let’s sit together over this. Or if you have 2-3 friends or family members you deeply trust, gather them for a talk that will begin the healing of both a current grief or a distant sorrow. Losses, whatever they are, endure in our minds and bodies. If we leave them unshared, we still attend to them, either by the work of keeping them buried or by numbing them with the aid of our idols or addictions.

“When I stopped trying to block my sadness and let it move me instead, it led me to a bridge with people on the other side.” … I learned that sadness does not sink a person; it is the energy a person spends trying to avoid sadness that does that.” – Barbara Brown Taylor

When you think about a sorrow, grief, or loss in your own life (current or past), what comes to mind? Something always comes. We are all experiencing a global sorrow in the war brewing in the Middle East. Here in my town, a young widow and an older one are daily finding their way forward through grief. For you, maybe it is a past loss of great import…or even one you think is only important to you. If it’s important to you, it matters to those who care about you. We self-edit and compare our sorrows, but they stay strong and real in our own life experience.

What can we do to heal the ache of these sadnesses? To refuse to isolate ourselves and our losses from community? To experience hope again?

Just today I came across the incredibly helpful series of podcasts on sorrow and grief by the therapist Adam Young.

How to Heal from Sorrow and Grief – Part 1 of 5 – Adam Young Counseling – Podcasts 132-124, 137, & 138

Adam Young describes the four conditions needed to allow us to work with sorrow and grief:

  1. We own that our sorrows and griefs matter and should be taken seriously.
  2. We need to gradually move from a posture of contempt toward our sorrow and grief to a posture of compassion and kindness and welcome.
  3. We need to find a few people who can be the village for us… allowing us to risk sharing our sorrow and grief with other people.
  4. We need to move our bodies in a way that allows for the integration and release of our sorrow and grief. – Adam Young

We can be very hard on ourselves regarding our sorrow and grief, because somehow we think we should get over it or not care so much or ___________________________ (fill in the blank). Even when we push our grief into the deep interior of our minds, or we try to forget through our “drugs” of choice, it is present. Closer to the surface than we imagine.

Photo Credit: Francis Weller, Pilates Embodied, Pinterest

In the above podcasts, Adam Young quotes psychotherapist Francis Weller extensively, which is a huge help for those of us who have yet to read Weller’s book The Wild Edge of Sorrow. Weller emphasizes the impact of grief over time, on our minds and bodies and relationships. He encourages community as the place, or people with whom, to release our sorrow.

Francis Weller Quotes from his book The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief

I’ve been reading The Deepest Place by Dr. Curt Thompson (the fourth book he has written and the fourth book of his I have devoured!). Thompson talks about the common nature of suffering in all our lives. Once we embrace that fact, then we can be more open and honest with “villages” of people who are there for us…and we for them. This has been so healing for me as I’ve opened up about my own sadness regarding the rupture of my extended family and the pain we have all suffered from it.

A group of us just today were hearing an update from a friend who has endured through a chronic illness for which her doctors have found no solution…yet. She is tired and struggling. Reading Thompson’s chapter on perseverance reminded me of her ordeal. Her faith in God and her determination to keep open and close to her community have given us all hope that the future will be brighter for her…and we will be there with her for it.

Healing from Trauma: the Power of “Being With” – Parts 1 & 2 (Podcasts episodes 141-142) – With Curt Thompson MD and Adam Young

That new landscape that C. S. Lewis talks about (in first image above)? It’s one we have the privilege of seeing together when we show up for one another…especially in sorrow and grief.

Photo Credit: Heartlight

Being Known Podcast – Season 7 – Confessional Communities – Curt Thompson MD