Fields rolled by and I wondered which farm was her’s. I took photos just in case this was the one.
It wasn’t. But we were getting close to the gravel road that would lead us to our resting place. After speaking at a women’s event in Ontario all weekend, I was traveling with my friend Leah to the Farm to visit with my sweet friend, Ann Voskamp.
I couldn’t wait to see Ann and meet her family. Each one as unique and wonderful as I had imagined. Two boys hid (and giggled) under the porch while we visited. Her girls sat on the swing and listened. Flowers bent in the breeze behind the white picket fence.
And a zip line waited for us in the backyard. I didn’t know about it until dinner time. Listening to each child describe their father’s creation and how much time it took to build, voices echoed excitement. So I decided to ask if I could try it.
Smiles stretched big across their faces. No one there knew that this city girl is a farm girl at heart who loves a little adventure.
I even talked their mama into trying it for her first time!!
The next day we sat on the porch, eating apple slices and talking. We talked about the power of naming things like self-doubt, anxiety and fear, as well as the beauty He brings that we easily miss. How naming them can bring clarity to our thinking and invite God into our everyday moments.
Then we talked about framing the moments and messes so we can see God in them and worship Him there. Will you join us on the porch?
_______________________
Lord, we want to see You. We.Need.To.See.You. Open the eyes of our hearts and our souls, slow us and show us how to frame the gifts You give us each day – the moments, the messes, the simple, the sacred. In Your Name Amen!
Join Us On The Porch
Slip a note in the comments below this post by clicking “Share your thoughts.” As a special gift, when you join Ann and my conversation you will be entered for a chance to win one of three copies of A Confident Heart or a copy of Ann Voskamp’s New York Times Best-Seller, One Thousand Gifts.
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Good Morning!! What a beautiful thought – “framing the moments” of life! It is so easy for us to rush by our moments and at times even have to stop to think about what all is going on.
You’ve heard the statement – stop and smell the roses – same as if we would just slow down and let God show us how to frame the important things.
Thank you, for this message.
As I also wish we could all be on a large porch together – I am enjoying my porch as we have time with God this morning.
ALL have a blessed and gifted day!
I’m on a journey of my own…well not my own but mine and GOD’s…I have started making my days more intentional to focus on God. I use to wonder why I was never used like other people then I watched them, the ones I know were real and living for God and that was the answer. They truly were living for God and that was their main object everyday. They start their day with Him and spend all day with Him and then close their day with Him also. It’s not saying that they don’t have any bad days but you can just see that their day is handled better with God in it and Him being first not just calling on Him when they needed Him. I thought I was a good person and I still think I am but I want to be better…I want God in everything I do and for Him to be first in everything I do. Watching Ann and Renee this morning just helped me see what I need to do to get closer with God and that is for me to be closer with God. I hope that everyone reading this will help me pray for that closer walk and that you will pray for that closer walk for yourself also, I will include you in my prayers also. Like Ann said “Dare to live fully right where you are”. I will start my journal today, I really have never been able to put my thoughts on paper or even in any comment section but with the Lords help from this day forward I will get it done. I like how Ann calls it a Gratitude Journal. I know that I have been blessed in so many ways, in many small ways that make a big difference. Thanks so much for today, May the Lord continue to use you both and bless you each day.
Judy I too have begun to draw closer than I ever thought I could be to God. Circumstances on my job recently have made me stop and refocus on what or rather who was more important than my situation and that He and He alone can change my path. I was trying to do things my way dealing with a toxic environment on my job and it all came to a head when I was immediately removed from my position of working in Human Resources to working in the mailroom. The first few days all I could do was cry and think that I was being punished for speaking out about the injustices I saw, yet each day I would read the word or go to service and bible study and the Lord would speak directly to my situation. He referred me to the scripture where he says, “let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” To tell my story so that others can know. He also said that I need to be connected to the “true vine” which is Him and that if I abide in Him, He will abide in Me. I took this literally because I was connected to my own vine in trying to fix my situation at work but now I understand that I need to refocus my thinking and allow God to place me int he job that He chooses not what I choose. I think we all desire to have that closer walk with God and in our desire He will make it happen. I pray that you will truly begin that journey as you said and I look forward to your testimony of what’s to come. God bless.
YES! Thank you Ann, for the way you show us how to frame life and see the beauty right we live. Extraordinary. So glad you had that visit Renee so you could share this today, music to my soul. And I loved the zip line photos. Yay!
Love the feel of God and His love coming through you ladies…He is in everything we do we just have to make sure and look for HIim in it all…
“A pretty picture and we’re in it!!” Love it!
Love that you had time to spend with your sweet friend, and love that you’re so open in sharing your journey with all of us! My family and I just did a Treetop Adventure Park with ropes courses and ziplines – to which we were attached by harnesses, not a t-bar – but it was amazing!
Hi Porch Friends
I’m just now learning how great God can be. I have had some very bad medical problems and when I went back to the doctors to have more test, there was nothing there to do test on, how amazing is God. I believe He has a very special plan for me and I can’t wait to know what it is. It is so nice to have friend here on your page where we can learn to go deeper in God love and word. Thank you all for helping me know My Lord and savior better.
IN Christ Love
Angela
That is so beautiful, thank you for that gift! I am not in a good place right now, and sometimes I feel like God has forgotten about me but I know that He will carry me through it all and that blessings will come from this moment of darkness.
Hi Jessica, God never forgets about us no matter what we do are where we are. we have to just keep I eyes and heart on and open to him at all times. He will answer our prayers in His time not ours. I know He will bring you out of the darkness a new and better person, so just keep Him in your heart and your eyes on him. Remember He try’s to teach us something in every thing we go through. Praying for you daily.
Rest in God.
In Christ Love
Angela
I am a farm girl also and I often find the beauty of God’s creation when new life is born. In the spring when everything is blooming is another beautiful painting God gives us to enjoy. We just need to slow down in our everyday hurry to notice all the beauty God has created for us because it is all around us all the time if we just look.
As my husband of 37 years lay dying of pancreatic cancer God brought a butterfly by the window of our home. Everyday a different beautiful butterfly reminded me I was not walking this path alone. Then after Rick arrived in heaven God continued to fly butterflies in my path.(even past a window as I sat on an airplane.I have learned to watch for His special signs of love just for me:)
Bless you, Pam ~ I am so sorry for your loss. Keep watching for those butterflies:)
Oh, to stop and reflect on God’s goodness in the midst of the busyness of life! How great and good is He! Last year I was NOT in a good place. I kept staring at the closed door, and did not see the OPEN door. I have been blessed in countless ways! (You sure are gutsy to go on that zip line!)
I’d love to join you on the porch! What fun!
I believe looking for gifts everyday has made me more focused on being more positive. 1000 gifts has been a true instrumental Part in changing my outlook on everything . The smallest things I notice in everyday life makes me smile more and believe even more in God’s grace and goodness. I want to give copies of these books to a couple of my friends and my daughter who through fatal accidents have turned them into non believers. They are bitter angry people whom I pray for continually. They do not see miracles, moments, or happy. Thanks for the videos and the time .
You ladies are REAL! You’ve been through the stuff you talk to us about. You hit my heart right here at home on “my farm” in Wisconsin. I am 55 yrs old and have never come to this point where I just can’t face a situation. It hits too close to home. It hits my heart hard. I have never felt so weak and utterly helpless. Thank you for reminding me that I don’t have to because HE does and did for me what no other can or has done. Your love to help other women with your words overflows with His redeeming love and tears flow now with gratefulness and thanksgiving. Bless your hearts for sharing.
It is all about perspective, isn’t it? Beautiful message this morning.
I love, crave even, snapshot moments with my Lord. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly all that we as k or think–I am reminded how He delights in giving these good gifts! Oh where does my doubt then come from?? My flesh & my heart cry out for the beauty in a snapshot moment–whether ugly or beautiful to the eyes. To see a thread He has woven, to see pieces come together, or just waiting with only one piece, we need to praise Him, to thank Him, and rejoice continually in all things–for this is His will. And He is able! Praise and glory to Him!
I love this conversation . I could feel the power of the love of God with the two of you, and it drew me in. Thank you for sharing how important the little things of God are in our everyday walk. They are actually bigger to me then the big things because then I become an individual to Him. We are sooo indiviauls to Him. I am so glad for this confident heart book, it has made me look at things and see them for what they really are , and not for the lie that I have believed .
I have enjoyed the two visits with both of you on the porch! The older I get, the more I am beginning to realize that it’s all about what I focus on and that no matter where I am or what I am walking through if I will look I will see God in the midst of it. I enjoyed the Bible Study, A confident Heart and will seek out Ann’s book before my beach trip. I think it would be a wonderful book to take with me. Thanks you both for ministering to me!!! Blessing to you both!!!
I love the passion for God that can be observed in Ann and Renee. I appreciated the discussion about moving from the darkness to the light and framing the moments of our lives. Keeping focused on God with Godfidence, gives us Confidence not in ourselves, but in a mighty God who loves us. Thanks, Renee, for the story of your son watching the sunrise and seeing himself in the picture. It reminds me of the saying that if God had a refrigerator, our picture would be on it and it would be one of light, not darkness. So many times I focus on the darkness and that if I adjust my focus, I will see God the light right in the picture. Thank you so much ladies, for your thoughts today. I am going to check out the website you recommended. Your farm, Ann, looks so inviting. Wish I could sit on your porch, too.
Pam Schaeffer
Love it. 🙂 Ann spoke in video about taking photos, how we just move over slightly to either remove or add to the picture. Having just spent a couple of days at the lake surrounded by snow, taking lots of photos of both beauty and destruction God showed me me how we so often see the bad but if we shift our focus or framing within the camera lense ever so slightly we see good within the bad. Coming home, turning on my computer and hearing you two talking about this very thing was such a confirmation and a blessing. Many thanks and God bless you both 🙂