Tag Archives: committment

Going Places

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P1320123 compressedShe was attending the third day of Pastor Training. I’d been staying at her home for a few days already.

My first night in her home didn’t feel safe to me. There seemed to be dark forces at work, an authority of sorts to muck with my sleep and that hovered over the home.

My first morning, upon wakening, my conversation with the Lord was about how unsafe I felt, and that I really wasn’t sure I was to stay there.

I’d over the previous years become very attuned to when I was covered and hidden in the Lord and when I was not. The ‘not covered’ moments were becoming few and far between, and so when I sensed a compromised covering I would notice right away.

As I prayed about it though I very clearly sensed the Lord saying, “I want you to stay here. I want the blessing that you bring with you to rest on this home.”

I was reminded it was not about me. That my presence in that country was about something much bigger than me. So I settled into staying.

When my key contact came to pick me up that morning, I let him know how it had all felt, and suggested that he and I pray together for a spiritual safety in the home.

This we did, and in the midst of our conversation he realized that the first home I had stayed in they had in fact prayed and covered it before I came, this home they had not.

So we prayed together and everything was fine after that.

And now I was a few days later at the Pastors Conference with my host lady in attendance.

I shared that day some of my own struggles through life. The disillusionment and the heartache and loss, and yet how I had found through it all that God was a profound ally.

Something powerful happens when we are transparent and when we risk to tell our stories. Though they feel ultra personal, and of course they are, they are also something to be invested in the kingdom of God and in the lives of those we serve.

That evening over dinner, as my host lady and I ate together, she confided to me her own very difficult journey, of the immense heartaches and loss and of her bitterness to God that she could not quite shrug off.

It was a connection of like hearts and minds in many ways. We became friends that day. I prayed for her and declared the peace and blessing over her and her home that the Lord had already told me was his intention.

Three months later I was back again. And the tenor of the home and its inhabitants was markedly changed. There was joy and laughter and hope there now.

I mentioned this to her, and she said ‘yes’ it was much different. To me it was like I was in a very different place.

This is the power of God. In God’s intention we are well kept.

I don’t all the way get this blessing of God through our presence. When I think of myself in terms of the blessing of presence, of just being somewhere, I really don’t understand it. Yet I’ve had too many people speak to me of the impact of my presence to argue any more.

I’ve simply come to understand that when God chooses to work a certain way through us, we can either come alongside and do our part, or we can keep arguing and in the long run, miss out on so much.

Thing is, it really is not about us.

It’s about those we serve.

I don’t know about you. I don’t know the unique impact that you make on the world. But I do know that if others are commenting on how you effect them, if God is calling you to invest your life in a particular way, that you probably want to pay attention, trust those words and observations, and seek to do even more of that.

Self devaluing never benefited anyone.

My other host home in another village some 200km away has experienced the same blessing from what I can tell. From the time of my first stay to my third stay some six months later, the woman of the home planted a banana field, added doors to the interior of her home, plastered the inside of her home, and added a significant  addition onto one of her outside buildings.

I don’t know if this was normal per se, she is a widow and so struggles along in many ways, and yet I saw marked progress and improvement in her standard of living in the time I’d been there.

Was this God through me? I won’t ever really know. But this I do know. That if I am to bring the blessing of God with me as I go places, then I’d better be going places.

What about you?

Opportunity

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Cyndy Lavoie CoachingProfessionalism will never steer us wrong. Holding back on comments, reserving judgments, and keeping ‘us’ out of our responses enables a space in which much can happen.

The opposite, where comments are too-easy to come by, where judgments are without understanding, and where ‘us’ drives the entire process, we actually and in fact find process (and might I say progress) shut down.

Not much can happen in a space encroached upon by opinion.

Opportunity needs a nurturing space to grow as much as any of us.

We give a child room to grow. We hold back our warnings We refuse to utter threats. We do not dare foretell the future for we get it that a child is a living being, capable of much, wired to grow and to expand, equipped with intuitive strengths that will in fact lead him or her forward naturally.

The same is true of ourselves and each other. Nurtured with safe spaces we will naturally grow, we will mature, we will get to that next level, we will find our passion and go after it. These things need not be made up, but they can certainly be shut down.

Our organizations and our opportunities, our teams and our projects are the same. Nurtured with safe spaces they will naturally grow, mature, get to that next level and congruent with inherent passion.

Professionalism understands this and holds back on comments, judgments and opinion. For nothing shuts opportunity down faster than these things.

Wisdom is clear but also subtle. We must be the same. Walking in wisdom and in that professional space where ‘what we think’ takes a back seat, we find expansion and growth that we never dreamed of.

Humility understands that there are many more pieces to any pie than what we are seeing at any given time. We are not omniscient.

Committments

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compressedI’ve been working on the plan for next year.

Now plans are a tricky thing. Because they cannot be guaranteed to work out just the way we envision them.

With any plan there are elements of it that we can control, that we can ensure and that has the locus of control right in our hip pocket so to speak.

But then there are the elements of any plan that depend on others, on specific circumstances and details and assumptions that once in the midst of the plan we realize will not jive.

Plans usually have the hows and wherefores down. ‘We will do such and such at this time and in that manner.’

(I’m pretty sure this sets us up for failure)

I’ve made a plan like that for 2013. It was a good exercise. The process refined my thinking, opened up my creative planning, and really made me look at what can be done.

Rather than being stuck in overwhelm or waffling in confusion, unsure how to go forward and not knowing what can or can’t be done, the process of making a plan turns stalemates into forward action.

Every plan requires decisions made, the future envisioned and that certain crisis within us that takes on the courage necessary in order to go forward.

Plans are great things.

Yet, once the plans are made, so many things can go wrong.

The plan I’ve made has multiple holes in it. There is room for all sorts of error and miscalculation and simple misunderstandings.

For the plan isn’t just about me or for me, it is about and for a number of others.

My friend in Uganda, who originally invited me there wrote me about a month ago with this, “All we know Cyndy is we need you back in Uganda.” He had been speaking to the Pastors that I’d already been alongside and this was their conclusion.

My other friend and primary interpreter for much of my times in Uganda said this to me last August, “Okay Cyndy, you’ve been here three times now. It is time to make this more official. Raise up a team of us, teach us to carry on the work.”

So I’ve been praying and contemplating, digging deep and reaching farther into myself for this next leg of the journey, and I’ve come up with a plan.

It sounds good. It looks really good on paper. But like all plans, it will need its fair share of tweaking. For like any plan it is just a compilation of my own ideas. A general sketch so to speak of the year to come.

That sketch will be filled in with color and with light and with flesh on the bones. Most likely in ways I could have never foreseen.

There are cultural differences to take into account, differing world-views and expectations, and then the simple matter of logistics and technicalities. I really don’t know so much of how the year will work out.

So while the hard emotional labor has gone into the plan, while I’ve dug farther into myself to see what is really there, and while I’ve put words to what I envision and what I think is possible, I’m holding my plans loosely.

In open hands stretched out.

It’s now time to harness those plans with something that is even more powerful.

Commitment.

Pure and simple commitment.

The rough idea is laid in place. But the goal, the real goal, the end result that is the reason the plan was made in the first place, this is where our commitments reside.

Allowing the details of my best laid plans to fall to the wayside, reveals my commitment. ‘To grow a small team of forward thinking, visionary leaders, leading in humility kind of godly leaders within Uganda’

This I can commit to. This is really the plan.

How it will work out. Exactly. I haven’t the foggiest idea.

Yet taking it from a plan to a commitment we find incredible power. Not because of you or I, but because a commitment will draw from us more than we even know we have to offer.

It will be messy and unmanageable in many ways. There will be surprises every single step of the way. Some things will work and other things will not.

The power of commitment though, cuts through all that.

So my suggestion as we are nearing another year. Make your plan, yes.

Yet even more powerfully, what is your commitment?

For that is where things will happen.

Faithfulness

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P1290233 compressedSome of you may not know that I home-schooled for sixteen years. With five kids, I at one point in time was overseeing five different grade levels. In addition to this, we had Korean students joining our homeschooling for more than five of those years. And I was tutoring English on the side as well.

I write this today, because I am struck by the themes of our lives, and how they seem to unfold before us, almost unbeknownst and certainly never foreseen.

Looking back at my own school years, the one thing that came through time and time again, year after year, report card after report card, was this, “Cyndy is not living up to her potential.”

Looking back at high-school, where I would bluff my way through Biology 12 with ridiculous rambling balder-dash answers to test questions (my teacher passed me because he was so amused, really, he told me so), the easy A’s I got in Psychology 12 without any studying whatsoever (a girlfriend was quite miffed with me about that ), and the Art class that I made sure to have each year, where we would spend our time practicing dance steps…

Who woulda’ thunk that my life would be marked by education and learning and mentoring.

I missed a phone call from Uganda early this morning, not sure who it was, and so I simply add this to the many calls, texts, and emails that remind me quite regularly of the same thing, “Please come to us.”

“It is time to make this work more official Cyndy, please mentor a small group here in Uganda that we might carry on the work.”

“All we know Cyndy, is that we need you in back in Uganda.”

When are you coming to Mozambique?

When are you coming to Pakistan?

When are you coming to…?”

When I was homeschooling, the routine was grueling. At one point in time, at the fullest point, I began the day at 7am with my oldest, checking on her work, reviewing whatever was new that day, and assigning the next work. Then at 7:45 the same with my oldest son, and then again with my third.

We would then fit some breakfast in, and have the youngest working at their stuff, with all of us ready for the Korean student/s to arrive at 9am. I’d get them set with what they were doing, then time with my third and fourth, and the projects they were all doing together, and later one-on-one time with my youngest.

I’m not even going to finish the full extent of our days. Pretty sure you get the picture. On top of all this, three of my five kids had various degrees of learning disabilities. And so there were the challenges of working alongside and through those realities.

During those years I learned a number of things. I learned how to schedule my time, and to self motivate. I learned how to juggle  and I learned to put down the balls that needed to be put down for a time.

I learned to meet and to pour into a life and to grieve when that student left us. Again and again. I was always saying goodbye to Korean students, and I missed each of them deeply when they left. It was those years where I learned to grieve so well.

I learned to stop in the middle of a day, a couple times a day, and just sit. With my cup of tea in hand on the front steps of my house, I caught 15 minutes of silence and quiet deep inside myself. I learned to work hard and to rest hard.

Most of all I learned faithfulness.

And as I look ahead at the years to come, pouring into the spiritual lives of hundreds of people, mentoring small teams across the seas, encouraging and training and teaching, all the while holding each commitment, each church body, each pastor, deeply in my heart, I clearly see, that homeschooling, was just the start.

It was my training ground. A pressure pot of responsibility, of creativity, of time management, of patience, of honoring others over myself, and most of all, of faithfulness.

I’ve been asked many a time, “How did you do that?” To which I always respond, “I have no idea.”

And it is true. I look back and really have no clue how all those homeschooling years happened. I do know that I am so deeply glad for those years. There are numerous warm memories and crazy things and beautiful routines that happened in the midst of simply growing alongside my kids.

But I don’t really know how I did all that.

Looking ahead, I have no idea how I am going to ‘do all that’ is being asked of me in Africa and beyond. But I do know that I don’t have to know at this point in time.

For anything we do is done a step at a time. A month at a time. A year at a time.

We don’t walk in decades, we walk in days.

And all that is really required is faithfulness, and a heart that carries others, and will to make some things happen.

From responsibility to responsibility, we grow and are grown, we bless and are blessed.

The Spirit Beckoning

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passion of real workI’ve been working hard. Putting my nose to the grindstone, I’ve been putting in hours, getting done what I know needs to be done. With a priority list of first, second, and third tasks, I’ve always just doggedly worked away.

Always. For years now.

And years.

I like work. Love my work in fact.

Love the people and the writing and the speaking and the preparing. Love the social media end of things, meeting others from around the globe, encouraging and pouring in strength. I love prayer and preaching, love speaking the heart of God, prayer ministry and coaching. Love all of it.

Today though, I came to the end of my running to-do list.

  • Website refreshed. Check
  • Other website built. Check
  • Advance engine figured out. Check
  • Event I was speaking at. Done and Check
  • Prayer Meeting this week. Check
  • Blog Written. Check
  • Grandson babysat. Check
  • Daughters hung out with. Check
  • Curtains hemmed. Check
  • Dishes done. Check
  • House organized and tidy. Check
  • Deck winterized and ready for rain. Check
  • Emails caught up. Check
  • Inquiry emails out. Check
  • Next weeks schedule confirmed. Check
  • Items delegated out. Check
  • Check, Check, and Check.

And all of a sudden I am alone in my house. The only sound as I write this, is the dryer rattling round and round. I’ve the rest of the day by myself, with nothing pressing upon me. I can hardly remember the last time I was face to face with quiet and time and nothing to do.

It is in this space that I hear the Spirit beckoning me. A soft whisper in my heart, the voice of God impressing upon me, to come and ‘lets do some writing’… and my heart responds with trepidation.

Now, I have been walking with God for over 40 years. I know the heart and the voice of God, and I have given my life over to the kingdom of God on this earth, and however that might play out in eternity.

But today, right now, I am afraid. Not afraid afraid, but rather an avoiding kind of afraid. For this invitation to enter into the writing at hand (a book I’ve been working on), is a scary kind of thing.

I’ve realized lately that I have always shrunk back from the most important work. I’ve shrunk back from the miracles and from the places where glory supersedes and surrounds.

This invitation to write feels to me that I am being invited into the grand hall of The King. That the beauty there will be so overwhelming that I’ll simply have to fall to my knees, that the presence of the King will consume me, and there will be no recourse but to quake and be rendered speechless.

Yet in this place, are the miracles. In this place are the great works of art. This place holds the glory of God come to mankind.

How long have I been avoiding this work. The real work. How long have I been playing it safe; playing at work that matters, doing the relatively easy work, the work that looks great but doesn’t really take much from me.

There is a whole core of my understanding of God that has never been expressed. This is the work I am being called to today. And like a squirmy worm on a hook, I would rather do any other seemingly great thing than to go and write words and pages that enter me into this profoundly deep presence of God.

I imagine the crazy artistry of Beethoven or Bach as they pounded away on their pianos and over their music script. That is what working on this book feels to me. Like heading into a cave where everything else falls aside, except me and the Lord.

It’s all I’ve ever wanted. And all I’ve ever truly been afraid of.

Capturing God’s Heart – Women – Volume 12

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It is pressing upon me to today take a look at what the Bible says about women. There is much assumed and categorized when it comes to women. Much that is not in line with the heart of God, and while there is not time or space to look at everything we might discuss about women, we will look at a just a couple of thoughts today.

The Bible begins with the creation of the world, (and as John and Stasi Eldredge brought to our attention in their book, Captivating), we see that creation begins with wide swaths. Like a giant brush painting a large picture, a grand work of art, the first strokes lay out the background and the vistas of creation; light and dark, land and sea and sky.

Continue reading →

Freaking Out

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Bigger PerspectiveI wake up almost every day freaking out. With new things on the horizon (with new things right in front of me), it is way too easy to be overwhelmed and unsure.

Therefore, every morning I spend considerable time quieting my heart and mind, praying, meditating, journaling, until my center has been reestablished in the character of God rather than my own immediate realities.

I’ve learned to not move until there is peace.

In less than eight weeks I will be in Uganda once more. And though there are many things about this trip that I do not know about, details not yet fallen into place, provision still to come, I’ve learned that peace comes in the character of God, and not in my own immediate realities or understanding.

None of this is about you or I. And I wonder sometimes if we really get this.

Though our lives feel ultimately personal, when our lives are intersected by the spirit of God we simply become the canvas for God’s painting.

It’s really not about us.

Simply the conduit by which God is translated to the world, our lives take a back seat. My own freaking out places are simply my humanity that has trouble seeing the bigger picture, trouble seeing past myself.

Freaking out is simply ‘myself’ in the midst of the picture. I’ve got to remember, I am the canvas, God is the artist. Period.

Are we given over to God?

Given over to God is the ultimate opportunity and adventure. While everyone’s experience and specifics are as numerous and different as the sands on the seashore, ‘our lives given over as a canvas’ is there for everyone.

It is in fact the call of the gospel and the invitation of Jesus Christ.

This world has gone bad. We can all agree to that. With illness and atrocity, chronic discouragements to trauma (and this is the short list), life certainly is not what its all cracked up to be.

Things have gone horribly wrong.

Spiritually blinded by the fracture between ourselves and God, Jesus came onto the scene to give us back our eyesight (Thank-You Jesus). That ability to see and know things beyond our knowing, to access wisdom beyond our own smarts, and to have the finger of God sweep through our days leaves whisps of godly presence behind.

Good presence, honorable presence, right presence.

And in that presence of God we are invited to join in on setting things right in the world. The redemption of all that has gone wrong (while completed on the cross) is brought into our realities as a continual present tense happening that you and I can partake of, enter into, and move forward through our own involvement.

We come to ask, “What is on your heart God? How might I make happen today what is important to you?”

And the world begins to be set right. Bit by bit, little by little, the lost land taken back, things set straight.

The message of “God so loved the world”, doesn’t end with you and I, it is in fact an invitation,

“Will you love the world alongside me? You and I together.”

We are all better together.

Freaking out is simply us in the middle of the picture. But Us doesn’t have to stay there. Us in the middle of the picture makes for pretty small perspective and shortened eyesight.

God in the middle of the picture is the great exchange.

“My own eyesight is pretty narrow God, I’d like your eyesight please. My own life is overwhelming and nerve wracking, I’d like to live through your life God. My own perspectives are small, I’d like to move and have my being through your perspectives God.”

We simply give over our humanity for an understanding of and relationship with God and his glory and love and presence poured out on this earth.

And we don’t have to freak out any more.

Inestimable Value

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Value in UgandaImagine if you will for a moment, that you have a person by your side of inestimable value; a person who has made themselves invaluable to you. A person who knows what is important to you, what makes you tick, how you work best and the values by which you work.

Just imagine.

There is a Pastor Edison in Uganda, overseeing a number of churches throughout the surrounding area where he lives.

The day I spoke at his church I spoke of this:

“Imagine that Pastor Edison has a helper. But not just any helper. Imagine that this helper has made it top priority to know Pastor Edison. And not to just know him but to study him. To find out what is important to him.

What does he value, how does he go about his work, what is the manner of his interactions, what are his nonnegotiables? What are his goals and dreams, and what are the priorities in the churches he oversaw?

Imagine that before this person really offers what s/he might bring to the table, the first months are spent simply studying Pastor Edison. Just imagine that this person gets it that to know Pastor Edison is the first and foremost key to being useful to Pastor Edison, and to the surrounding parish”

As I asked there I will ask here, “Would this person be of use to Pastor Edison?”

Would this person have made him or herself incredibly invaluable?

The answer of course: and with a wide grin and dancing eyes, Pastor Edison gave a hearty, “Yes!”

It is the dream (and deep need) of every leader to have such a one(s) by their side.

I had been reading the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.

Daniel is a fantastic book that tells us so, so much about being promoted within a kingdom.

While many believe that promotion comes only to the lucky or the wealthy or by some off-chance, the story of Daniel in the time of the Babylonians testifies otherwise.

Promotion is never chance.

Daniel starts off as a foreigner in the land. The Israelites had been taken captive by the Babylonians, and Daniel finds himself a young man in service to the King.

We find a number of different things about Daniel and his character and service.

First off, we find that Daniel had a few of his own integrity points by which he wants to live, and he holds these close to himself, defends them and through tact and wisdom does not give them over to the oversight of anyone else.

Only a few times do we read of Daniel standing firm in his own stuff for his own stuff sake, but firm he does stand.

Daniel held to a level of personal integrity which powerfully paved the way for the rest of his incredible service to the Kings that came and went during his lifetime.

Reading further and as the stories are told, with snapshots of encounters with the Kings, we find Secondly that Daniel honors Kings.

He honored the earthly kings, and he honored the King of Heaven.

Daniel sought to know the hearts and motives and values of the Kings, and his service was always in fact a service to each King. He came to deeply love the Kings, and wanted only success and safety and prosperity for them.

Daniel was that one by the side, the one of inestimable value.

And because of this, his influence grew and grew and grew.

For you see, the King could trust him.

Daniel had proven over and over that he was there for the King,

And because the King could trust him, he entrusted him with his Kingdom.

Now, it is the same in this life, with us as people in our jobs and companies and organizations, and it is the same with the King of this Universe.

Promotions happen as we prove our trustworthiness.

It is all a test,

“Who can I trust?” is the question every leader is asking.

The entire Bible is God’s letter sharing (his) heart with us. We find God’s nonnegotiables. We find God’s passions. We find God’s values. We find God’s manner of work and priorities.

God is putting it all out there, “Here read of me, find out what makes me tick, what is important to me. I am looking for those who will serve alongside me, but first you must know me. Who will take the time to study me?”

It is the wise person who studies God, to find out how to serve and to be of inestimable value.

Like any wise person in any company or organization, the one who wants to be advanced seeking to study and learn the values and priorities and heart,

In like form, as we pour ourselves out in service to The King,

Proving that we are oriented to the King,

Taking our cues from the King,

Seeing all of life as through the eyes of The King,

We will be entrusted more and more, bit by bit, with the King’s Kingdom.

Trusted with the King’s priorities and heart and vision…

Inestimable value

Capturing God’s Heart – Faithfulness – Volume 2

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Volume Two:  Faithfulness

I have been reminded of God’s faithfulness and of the opportunity that we have to be faithful to God.

I’ve been reminded that even in the midst of life and the struggles we have, that God looks to our hearts. There will always be struggles and challenges, but regardless of difficulties, we can still respond to God in faithfulness in some small way.

Let’s begin by looking at God’s faithfulness to us. It is fabulous to read in 2 Peter 1:3, how God has granted us all things by which we may succeed with him:

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. “ 2 Peter 1:3

The call to walk with God begins in our hearts alongside his heart. Sometimes we think we need to have more of this or more of that before we come to God. Sometimes we think we need to be great or better or… something. But the Bible is pretty clear that we do not need much to serve God, other than a willing heart.

The boy in the book of John had five loaves and two fish, and this was used in a mighty way.

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, ” John 6:9

Reading all of John 6:1-8 we find the full story and of how over 5000 people were fed from the five loaves and two fish.

In another passage we read that the widow with her two small coins was said to have much faith.

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said,

“Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4

Quite profoundly, it is important to know that we do not need to wait until we have ‘more’ before we can be used by God.

( But Note: that the widow giving all she had to live on was a victim of the religious system that would demand of her, her money, in order to be right with God. She was under spiritual abuse and it would have been better if she kept her money for we are also told in scripture that we are to give out of what we have and not what we do not have. 2 Corinthians 8:12 )

We do not need more, we simply walk in faithfulness.

In whatever we have been given the question becomes, have we been faithful?

In Matthew we read of the man who buried his talent in the ground only to find the displeasure of the Master.

“I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant!” Matthew 25:25-26

I suggest you read all of Matthew 25:14-30

Again:  We are simply asked to be faithful with what we have been given.

Examples of the kinds of things we may have been given:

• physical: home, belongings, food, land

• emotional: mercy, compassion, understanding

• community: influence, leadership, wisdom

• intellectually: intelligence, understanding, knowledge

• church: worship, encouragement, organization, service

• legacy: those things handed down from our parents, family traits that bless others

It does not matter what we have been given. There is no one thing that is better than any other. The key is that we are faithful with it before God.

What is God asking of us in this area? How might I honour God with this?

When we are faithful with the little, we find we will be trusted with much.

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”  Matthew 25:21

As we are faithful we will find that our territory of influence increases.

In Isaiah we are told to enlarge our tent, for God is expanding our territory:

“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.” Isaiah 54:2-3

In faithfulness we sense the pleasure of the Father.

Whatever we have been given, faithfulness is the key. God looks past our circumstances and past all the good and bad of our lives and looks at our hearts.

“For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

It is important to note that what have we been given is unique to each of us. We have all been gifted differently, and so we are called to walk a unique and very personal walk with the Lord.

It is therefore good to remember to leave space for others to respond in faithfulness to God, as God is asking it of them.  You and I cannot tell another what their faithfulness is supposed to be. 

This conversation of faithfulness takes us before the throne of God, one to one. One day we will be able to share with God what we did with all that he gave to us. 

Listing What You Have Been Given:

• Take some minutes to list the things that God has given to you.

• First invite God’s revelation. Then in the quiet of your heart and mind wait for the Holy Spirit to highlight and show you what you have been given.

• Write the things down as they come to you. Take as much time as you need.

• Think about how you impact people, the things you are able to do, the effect you leave behind.

When looking at our lives we find that faithfulness operates as past, present and future.  All through our lives we have had opportunity to faithfulness:

PAST

As youngsters it was about chores and schooling and in obedient response to whomever was raising us. As we grew we took on more responsibility and thereby greater opportunity to faithfulness.

Our faithfulness muscles grew. We become stronger before God and community. Others begin to notice our faithfulness and remark on it. Favour and open doors came our way, and we moved into larger responsibility.

Sometimes we have to go back and apologize for areas where we were not faithful. But even then, regardless of our past, it is never too late to begin in faithfulness today.

PRESENT

The present is all we have. So our primary focus is always what is before us at this time. 

Every day we have opportunity to increase in faithfulness. A few questions to consider:

What am I being asked to be faithful to today?

• What is in my immediate area of control?

• What and who am I responsible for?

• What are the tasks and people that I impact the most?

• Where do I make a difference?

• Am I being faithful today?

• And, how does faithfulness show up for me: In tasks, in the hearts of people, in the community at large?

KEY to this discussion: Where have I already been faithful?

Make a list of the things you have been faithful with.

Take your time, allow the holy spirit to show you, to give you pictures or words that 

highlight your faithfulness.

Let God affirm you and commend you, in your heart and in your spirit for your faithfulness already demonstrated.

“Well done good and faithful servant”

FUTURE

While our primary focus is always the present, we must also be faithful to what God tells us is coming and where he is leading our life.

It is our privilege to cooperate with the visions and prophecies that God reveals to us of our lives. These things speak of God’s heart for us and others, and asks a certain response of agreement and our efforts towards the same.

A few questions to consider as we look to the future:

• What are the prophecies over your life?

• How might you cooperate with God’s vision for your life?

• Expecting your territory to expand, how might you prepare for that?

In Summary:

Faithfulness to God’s spoken word over our lives results in larger territories. When we have been faithful in little we are given much.

Faithfulness is always walked out one step at a time.

Faithfulness is a personal journey with the Lord and cannot be compared to another.

Our gifts are different and our callings unique, therefore faithfulness shows up in different ways in each of our lives.

We share and talk with the Lord about all these things.

GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

Most of all we must remember that God is faithful to us. He is the model and the initiator of faithfulness.  It is by his power that we are sustained in faithfulness ourselves.

As we walk with the Lord we learn faithfulness and we are brought to expansive places where God leads and has fellowship with us:

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”  1 Corinthians 1: 4-9

Blessings and God’s abundance over you this day. May you know how very much God loves you, and may you increase in faithfulness before him this day.

Success to Significance

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cyndy in uganda– One Week Today –

January 8, 2013 – 6:00-9:00 pm

What are the secrets to a satisfied life?

How might we take all we know and all we have experienced and invest it deeply and well?

Are there ways to navigate significance by remaining grounded?

Am I really up for this?

 You may be asking these questions and more.
 
Perhaps you’ve never imagined you could take your present strengths and invest them. Maybe you aren’t sure what your strengths are.
 
Success to Significance is the process of leveraging our lives forward. 
 
All that you have walked, all that you have experienced, all you have learned are gifts to the world.
 
It’s not about big splashes, it’s not about grand ventures, but it is about showing up day by day and making of life exactly what you want it to be.
 
 

Join us TUESDAY, JANUARY 8TH, 2013  in Surrey BC

 

 

“Cyndy is one of the most authentic and powerful people I know. She has a way of creating a safe space for people to be themselves without judgement. Every time I’ve worked with her or interacted I’ve had the experience of coming away empowered and encouraged. She has learned how to take her life’s difficulties and experiences and use them for others’ good. She remains an example to me of how to leverage your life -no matter what happens to you. Her commitment to learning and growing inspire me to be my best and to reach further than I usually would! If you are considering working with her -do yourself a big favour and DON’T WAIT!”

George Watson, CBC, Business Coach Divisional Manager