Mentions:
Matthew Paul Turner’s Blog: Jesus Needs New PR
NOTE: If you would like to join me in “Operation Wear-A-Cross” during the month of December and 1) do not own a cross necklace and 2) are experiencing a financial hardship and cannot purchase one, please contact me at ncsnapp@gmail.com.
I’m linking up with Michelle from “Lost in the Prairies” and Rachel Ann from Home Sanctuary for “Company Girls”. Visit, visit, visit!
* Friends, I’m in Book Launch Land. I’m feverishly working to prepare for the release of Heart Sisters: Be the Friend You Want to Have. I’ll be re-posting some oldies (but hopefully you’ll think they’re goodies!) now and then so I can focus more on the upcoming release. Thanks for understanding . . . Oh – and I so appreciate you taking the time share on social media. This is the way of the writer these days and will help get the word out about Heart Sisters! A few years ago, I was talking to a woman who was in ..
Last week, I found myself with an unplanned hour and a house of beckoning chores demanding immediate attention. So like any woman with a house full o’ kids and a husband that works long hours, I thought I would just cram as much as I possibly could into those precious 60 minutes. I arrived home, put on my running shoes and started to RUN throughout the house, checking this and that off my list. A few minutes into my Wonder Woman mission, I grabbed a load of dirty towels and, clutching my phone in my right hand, loaded them in ..
I know, I know . . . Who wants to raise an anxious child? Who would ever read such a post? Of course, none of us intentionally tries to raise a child prone to anxiety and stress. But many of us are. Myself included. I’m not preaching to you from the pulpit – I’m talking to you as a friend sitting with you in the same boat. And at times it feels like we’re wearing life preservers and praying for rescue, doesn’t it? The more I think about this though, the more I realize that perhaps parenting is really not ..
If you’ve been hurt by the church, then it’s likely the thought of ever going back to church again is right up there with oh, say getting your teeth pulled (sorry, Honey.) (My husband’s a dentist. I have to watch dental jokes and comparisons.). I need to confess I once felt the same. Honestly, when those wounds were still raw, the thought of ever stepping foot inside another church again was enough to make me physically ill. We (Jason and I) talked it over incessantly. “Maybe we could just follow Jesus and just not go to church?” we asked each ..
We sat contemplatively around the table, speaking softly about the struggles of marriage. I complimented her on her courage because for some reason, we feel shame when we admit our marriage is in trouble. I know because I’ve been there and felt it, too. I begin to share some of my own heart and experiences with my ten year old marriage, wisdom attained through the really hard places. Unfinished wisdom that still percolates and wisdom I know but don’t always allow my actions and choices to show it. I then share some heart changes I had to make in order ..
I don’t know if you have read the book, Radical, by David Platt but much of what you are feeling and noticing is addressed in that book. It has been life changing for me. My life is not to be lived for me, it is a daily sacrifice offered to God to bring people to Him. Thanks for a great reminder!
Blessings!
.-= Star´s last blog ..Coffee Talk 12310 =-.
How funny, Star! Would you believe that you are the third person to mention this book to me? OK, God…I hear you! I’ll start it this weekend. Thank you for being his messenger today, Star!
I just finished reading Outlive Your Life which touches on the subject a bit.
I think WaterbrookMultnomah has the book Radical available for free if you do a review of it for them. http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/sign-up I haven’t read it yet but I heard it was good.
At our church we have a sign in the parking lot where you exit that says, ‘into the mission field’. Never thought too much about it until now.
.-= Joyce´s last blog ..Letter B =-.
Wow – that is awesome, Joyce! I love the sign – so true! Into the mission field we go…
Thanks for the link – I am going to check it out now!
Natalie,
Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your blog, particularly your message today. I accept your cross challenge and am excited to challenge people in my life, in Miami Florida, to do the same.
God Bless
Heather
Heather, I love hearing from you! I’m glad you enjoy reading what God has to say through me.
Thanks for accepting the challenge – would love to hear your thoughts at the end of the month! I’ll post about it after the year is over.
Blessings to your sweet family and you during this Christmas season in SUNNY WARM Miami…(You have always been such a smart girl…:))
Weird…I just did my WFW on how the cross is where love and wrath meet…and how it’s startling to hear comments contrary to Christ spoken from those wearing a cross around their necks. HA!
Um, this little accessory queen only has like one cross in her arsenal and I don’t know if it will match my outfit EVERYDAY…but I’ll try! Thank for the challenge to my attitude and heart at least!
Yes, we are on the same wavelength, eh?
It always confuses me too when I see someone not acting so lovingly with a cross around their neck. Of course, we all have our bad days and there’s grace for that of course. But I do think if we are publicly wearing a cross around our neck we just need to be careful.
Hey Natalie,
I’d love to donate cross necklaces to any one who emails you needing one. I make Disciple’s Cross necklaces, and I’d love to share them with those without! {AP Disciples Cross}
.-= Ashley Pichea´s last blog ..Faith – Based on Evidence or Emotion =-.
Ashley, I love your generous heart! How wonderful!
I collect cross necklaces so…I, for one, would love one just because it would be made by YOU.
I’m going to write about this challenge on Monday so there might be some others and I do have one more but I’ll email you.
Thanks, Ashley!
I remember years ago (high school or college), during a time when missions was very much on my heart (and it still is!), feeling frustrated that I was not “out there” in some third world country spreading the word of Christ and being a “missionary.” I was challenged by someone to view the world around me as my mission field ~ just like you were saying. I remember how much it struck me. I had been thinking that I’m really not making a difference if I wasn”t heading off to some other country to share the good news. Yet if I’m not doing it HERE, how good am I really going to be somewhere else? Kind of the “bloom where you are planted” idea. What am I doing in the place and circumstances God has me in NOW? Maybe some day I may be in China or Africa or wherever, but right now he has me here. My classroom in the public schools was my mission field for years. MOPS and the beautiful ladies there became my mission field for a time (and even now!). My own children…and now their friends and families. My neighbors. Every life we touch is a life for Christ, whether here in our own back yard or halfway around the world.
I so love your heart, dear friend. And I love seeing how God is speaking to you and using you. You continue to be a blessing in my life and God is using you to remind me of things and challenge me as well.
.-= Kim´s last blog ..Angels Watching Over Me =-.
Thank you my dear friend! I love your words, as always. We are eerily similar aren’t we?
I love that you listed all of those opportunities you have to serve and share. As our kids get a bit older, it’s easy to see how yes, their friend’s families, their teammates, their teachers, etc. would bring more exposure to debunking the “judgmental Christian” stereotype.
And just so you know…you are a HUGE blessing in my world, too! :)
I think you are SO right about having a mission field right in front of us. There is so much need right under our noses and if everyone was called abroad, who would be left here to serve?
.-= Jen´s last blog ..A Few of My Favorite Things =-.
Good point, Jen. :)
Hi Natalie-
This is my first visit to your blog–popped over from Home Sanctuary. I have been surfing through your content and your life story and about page, and have enjoyed reading your story. I confess I’ve yet to view your vlog, cause right now I’m in the same room with my dozing hubby…and don’t want to wake him…but look forward to hearing about the cross challenge.
(I also clicked over to Matthew Paul Turner’s blog–don’t know whether to laugh or cry at many of his entries…ohmy.)
Anyway, so glad to “meet” you, and I’ll be following along!
Like another commenter mentioned, I just read Outlive your Life and there are some similarities. I always love your perspective.
.-= debbie´s last blog ..Gee Thanks- Researchers I Think Youre Ugly Too =-.
Natalie, So enjoyed your vlog today and the subject, ouch, it sure hits home with me. Another book, Crazy Love by Francis Chen is one that if you have not already read, you would likely be blessed by it as well. And, yes, Radical is sooooooo convicting.
You inspire me and I’m grateful to have linked up with you. Blessings and hugs!
.-= Lea Culp´s last blog ..Christmas – Past and Present =-.
o yes, that Crazy Love book is wonderful, like your other commentor mentioned. For me, wearing a cross is such a HUGE responsibility. I would just be a bit worried I would mess up and not represent Jesus well enough to others. I wouldn’t want to add to the negative adjectives. Perhaps when I am further along in my journey I will feel more confident about it, but I think it is a beautiful challenge for those of you who have walked longer with God. And yes, there are so many hurting people all around us, not just across oceans in poor countries. Our mission field starts at home. It’s the most important mission I think, and we are already here, at home. Bloom where you are planted…
.-= Vicki´s last blog ..the lucky one =-.