by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Today, I’m thrilled to welcome author and friend, Lori Roeleveld. We first met several years ago on Facebook when she posted her desire to begin an online accountability writers group.
Desiring to keep the group small for obvious reasons, the call-out was limited to the first twenty-five people to respond. I was timid but determined to set my introverted ways aside and join this community — so I responded, and my life has been forever changed by this group that has held together, led by Lori, for five years.
Lori’s first book, Running from a Crazy Man (and other adventures traveling with Jesus), continues to impact my life. If you’re expecting a comfortable feel-good read, this isn’t the book for you — but if you’re ready to be challenged and spurred on by a woman who knows, loves, and follows her God with a tangible passion, you will want a copy of this book, trust me.
So, thank you, Lori, for allowing us a glimpse into your quiet time today. I’m excited — let’s get started.
If we were to join you during your one-on-one times with God, what might we observe?
I’ve never been able to confine myself to one daily quiet time with God. As a young person, I spent hours with God – back in the days when kids were sent out to play until the street lights came on. I’d put my Bible, my hymnal, and my journal in my bike basket and sit under a tree reading, praying, singing, and writing several times a day. In college, I was impressed by Brother Lawrence’s practicing the presence of God concept and so I continue to incorporate time with God throughout my day. On work days, I read a passage before I’m out of bed and usually pray through my current needs before my feet hit the floor. I then listen to the Bible on CD in my car. At odd times through the day, I’ll google an image from the morning’s passage or look up a definition to deepen my understanding of what’s going through my mind. After work, I generally process what God’s been bringing to mind by writing it out (often resulting in a blog post but not always.) I generally get caught up in a story or concept for days at a time and God seems happy to supply object lessons as I go about my day to reinforce what I’m reading. When I have a weekend or vacation, I’ll spend longer periods of time with God alone in the morning, reading, taking notes, praying, and looking up cross-references or Hebrew/Greek stuff.
Other than the Bible, what is your one go-to “tool” you use during your time with the Lord?
Probably my laptop. I like to type out my thoughts, it’s how I process, and love being able to look up different translations, images, or definitions on the Internet.
What’s one of the most unique experiences you’ve had during your one-on-one times with God?
I spent six months away from home at a job I didn’t like and where I didn’t feel accepted by the people. I decided to devote hours every night being alone with the Lord and asking Him to direct my quiet time. I was very afraid of what would happen. What if I didn’t sense any direction from Him? I started every evening by praying and then opening my Bible to a passage – reading and following references as I read. The sense of God’s presence was very powerful for me and I felt an incredible peace sort of leaving my burning questions aside and allowing Him to direct my thoughts. The first week, I was concerned about how I would know it was God leading my time but He confirmed it in a powerful way. At the time, I was visiting churches as one does when living in a new place. Over six weeks, I visited six different churches and every week, the sermon was on the theme that God led me to study in my quiet hours that week. It remains one of the most significant times of calling and formation in my life.
Is there anything else you would like to add about your one-on-one time with the Lord?
As have most long-term believers, I’ve experienced times when reading His Word and praying felt dry and I couldn’t sense His presence. When that happens, I’ve learned not to agonize. I ask Him if I’m putting up barriers such as cherishing sin in my life or being too distracted and I wait for an answer. Sometimes one comes but at other times, I’ve learned to just be patient and not try to force things. Just as the shore couldn’t handle the sea being at high tide all the time, so we even need a rest, a low tide, in our relationship with God. I’ve come to trust that the intensity of His presence will return in due season if I continue to show up. I don’t abandon my time with Him during these periods but I don’t agonize or try to force the issue, either.
What word of encouragement would you like to share with the readers in regard to spending time with the Lord?
Show up messy. We worry too much about having mixed motives when we spend time with God. I used to put off meeting with Him when I knew I really was just showing up because I wanted something. Now, I just admit that right away and ask Him to cleanse me of impure motives. It’s a much better process than me trying to do it without Him. Show up messy, show up late, show up inconsistently at first but whatever you do, keep showing up with Him.
Thank you for sharing your heart with us today, Lori. God bless you!
Is there one particular part of Lori’s interview that resonated with you today? If so, please share! I would love to hear from you.
Lori Stanley Roeleveld is a disturber of hobbits who enjoys making comfortable Christians late for dinner. She’s authored an unsettling blog since 2009; a pursuit that eventually resulted in her first book, Running from a Crazy Man (and other adventures traveling with Jesus). Her new release is a Christmas novella, Red Pen Redemption, available now and she’s currently working on her next release, Jesus and the Beanstalk. Though she has degrees in Psychology and Biblical Studies, Lori learned the most important things from studying her Bible in life’s trenches. You’ll find her at her website www.loriroeleveld.com. If not, know she’s off somewhere slaying dragons. Not available for children’s parties.
(Lori’s site was recently voted one of the top 100 Christian blogs. Congrats, Lori!)
If you missed last week’s post with Marcia Moston, you can view it here.
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
I LOVE giveaways!
Last week, I shared in this post how God’s redeeming power took a seemingly hopeless situation and brought forth a story thirty years later that I pray will inspire others.
Today, you have an opportunity to win a copy of this story, included in Chicken Soup for the Soul’s most recent release, Hope and Miracles.
To enter your name in the giveaway simply leave a comment! I’ll draw a name via random.org on Friday, 2/20, and post it on Facebook as well as this blog.
Congrats to Bruce Brady, the January winner of Lori Roeleveld’s Running From a Crazy Man, and Other Adventures Traveling with Jesus.
I can’t think of a better way to kick off a new week than sharing a little something special with you.
Don’t forget to leave a comment to enter your name in the giveaway!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble…
Psalm 107:2
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
Today, I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Lori Roeleveld. She’s incredibly talented, downright inspiring, and a witty disturber of Hobbits.
Lori’s NEW book, Running from a Crazy Man (and Other Adventures Traveling with Jesus) was released in December 2014.
Frankly, it’s unlike any book I’ve read. Brief essays, if you will, that take aim at the soul, penetrating the heart on its way with truth through beautifully told stories. I’ve yet to sit down and be content to read just one. I double dare you to try! And I’m in good company. Check out what Jerry B. Jenkins had to say about Running from a Crazy Man:
You’ll find yourself saying as I did: just one more chapter. And one more. And one more. ~ Jerry B. Jenkins
I’m sharing Lori’s book not only because it’s relatively NEW on the market but because of her voice—her fresh Gospel-driven perspective. One moment you’re giggling like a girl and in the next, your soul is dropping to its knees in recognition of Who is truly speaking to you through these shared adventures.
I highly recommend this book (as well as Lori’s blog) for all the serious travelers of Christ out there. In fact, I’d like to share a copy with you. Simply leave a comment on this blog sharing ONE thing that stood out to you in her story, Are You Stuck in the Wrong Story?, below. I’ll draw a name via Random Name Picker on February 1st and announce it that week. If you would like it signed, I can mail it to you at the end of May (I see her at the conference mid-May.)
In the meantime, enjoy this excerpt — and don’t forget to leave a comment on the blog for your chance to win a FREE autographed copy!
|
| Lori Roeleveld |
Are You Stuck in the
Wrong Story?
Following Jesus When Life Is No Fairy Tale
Cinderella knew the truth. She was intended for greater things than sweeping
ashes from the hearth.
Are you sometimes haunted by the notion that you were meant for more? You
should examine that idea. It may be from God.
My daughter got me interested in a Sunday night television show called Once
Upon a Time. It’s the story of a town inhabited by storybook characters trying
to find their way back into the world in which they really belong.
But really, it’s the gospel.
That’s probably not what the writers intended, but Jesus, in an effort to reach
His people, will even inject Himself into the primetime lineup of network
television.
In the first season, Once Upon a Time was all about the characters awakening and
remembering that they were once part of a glorious land. It features one child
who still believes in their story and is willing to take drastic measures to
remind everyone else of their former glory. Because of him, they are awake.
Now, they remember they’re not just librarians or shopkeepers or waitresses,
but they have “once upon a time” bloodlines with ancient stories full of magic
and adventure.
Even though they’re awake, they are not yet back home in The Enchanted Forest.
They remain trapped in a foreign place hostile to their former way of life.
Dark forces oppose them. An enemy works against their return, trying to keep
them in bondage to their everyday, ordinary, lesser selves—to rob them of their
redemption.
It’s the gospel, don’t you see? Can you acknowledge the playfulness of our
amazing Creator as He inserts His homecoming beacon into our modern culture and
cries out for us to remember who we were designed to be?
Doesn’t your heart cry out after a long Monday, or in the face of another Tuesday,
to be part of a greater story? Isn’t there within you a longing for a home you
don’t remember ever knowing? Don’t you sometimes feel trapped in a minor role
when all your dreams and passions create a force that threatens to destroy you
if you don’t find the role you were born to play?
Jesus created everything. His story is in His Word, yes, but He roams,
unconfined, across genres. He appears in the music we write, the movies we
make, the art we create, and the stories we tell.
He is calling to us—calling to us from every medium—to remember who we are.
For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night
or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep
awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get
drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober,
having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of
salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:5-8)
Feel stuck inside a lesser role than you were intended to play? Wake up. Like
Sleeping Beauty, you need the kiss of true love. There is a High King and He
will free you if you come to Him. There is a rider on a White Horse coming. Can
you hear His hoofbeats?
Wake up, loved ones! You have a part in the greater story. Everything your
heart whispers to you in the night is true. There is more, and you were meant
to be part of it.
Once upon a time, there was a King who shed His blood to ransom His people back
from the grave. It is the greatest and truest story ever told.
And it is the place where you belong.
Lori Stanley Roeleveld is a
disturber of hobbits who enjoys making comfortable Christians late for dinner.
She’s authored a disturbing blog since 2009; a pursuit that eventually resulted
in her first book, Running from a Crazy
Man (and other adventures traveling with Jesus). Lori’s blog has a modest
but faithful daily readership and yet, in the past year, one post was viewed
over 1.7 million times and another was shared over 275,000 times on Facebook. Lori
has published newspaper and magazine articles, poetry, and plays. Her novels,
short stories, and Bible studies have won several awards. Besides degrees in
Psychology and Biblical Studies, Lori earned her Masters in Motherhood
homeschooling her two children through graduation. Now, she draws energy from
helping writers find their voice and see God’s vision for their work. In her
day job, Lori writes the stories of real families in crisis so others see their
strengths and values, not just their problems. You’ll find Lori at her website www.loriroeleveld.com or on her front porch writing. If not, know
she’s somewhere slaying dragons.
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
|
| Image Credit: Blogworld |
by Cathy Baker
Happy New Year’s Eve!
To close out 2014 in the blogosphere, I decided to share ten things I’ve learned this year. Hopefully, I learned more than ten (ha!) but it was first come, first serve in the memory bank so here goes (in no particular order):
1. I have two new favorite authors!
Actually, it’s because of Emily P. Freeman that this post exists at all. The idea originated on her site, Chatting at the Sky. Emily’s book, A Million Little Ways, remains at the top of my all time fave books.
Another favorite author is Lori Roeleveld. Her recent release, Running From a Crazy Man (and other adventures with Jesus), forwarded by Jerry B. Jenkins, is a must read for those who are serious about putting the gospel on display. (It’s 1.99 on Kindle right now!)
2. Every choice I make either moves me closer to my goals or draws me
further away from them.
When I consider my self-talk at the brink of an unwise choice it often goes like this: What difference will one frappe make in the big scheme of things? Truth is, that one frappe does make a difference. Every single time I say “no” to an unhealthy choice I’m actually saying “yes” to my goal of becoming healthier.
Today, I’m thrilled to welcome author and friend, Lori Roeleveld. We first met several years ago on Facebook when she posted her desire to begin an online accountability writers group.
