When Fear Wants to Give You a Hug

Sometimes, when you’re on the verge of something new, fear will appear as “a friend” to turn you back. It will say “Let me give you a hug. You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.”

It seeks to repress your success in doing what God has called you to do. We don’t want those kinds of hugs! This kind of fear is not our friend, but our enemy. Back away, fear! No hugs from you today!

We must crush fear if we are going to tap into our potential and live the fullest life. Jesus said, “I came to give you life abundantly.” I want that.

Whatever is in your heart to do, all you need is already there, too.  God doesn’t plant dreams in our hearts to leave them to die.  He provides all we need to carry them out.  But the action steps – those are up to us.

And remember…the Wright brothers didn’t have a pilot’s license!  The way to learn to do things, is to do things.  What we need for each step is provided at that time.  We don’t need it all now.  We need provision for the step we are on.  As we take steps, we find the ideas, the creativity, the connections, the courage and more – they find us.

I bless you with discernment on how to move forward in your vision, how to recognize fear or distraction, and for continued clarity for your dream.  I bless you with a pioneering spirit to carry out all God designed just for you.

Begin.

(c) Robin Lawrimore, June 2013

Treasure in a Small Town Diner

When you walk in, you feel at home, like you’ve been welcomed by family who has cooked a meal just for you. 

Quin’s Country Comfort Restaurant in Quinby, SC, just 5 minutes North of Florence, is a new blessing to the quiet community where I live.  We have needed a family eating spot for a while and now we are blessed with a place whose purpose is to serve a quality meal for every guest.  I went in to find out more.

Quin Gregg is the owner and entrepreneur with a knowledge of quality service and a history of business start-ups. Quin also knows how to dig the treasure out of the people who work for him, helping them develop their own specific talents, and be part of a great family team.  From the lighted disco ball in the kitchen that shines over food preparation, to the office wall where co-workers have written words of encouragement for each other, this place has heart.

When  I stopped by to interview Quin, I walked through the door focused on learning about the vision and the food, but found much more.  While the food was excellent – my family devouring fresh catfish sandwiches, hamburgers, and the daily plate special with homemade meatloaf – I found there was a story of restoration.

“I’ve been in recovery for ten years, and most of the staff is in recovery, too,” said Quin.  “Our lives depend on it, and here we give each other mutual support.  This place helps them get back on their feet and stay standing.”

And the writing was literally on the wall with “Let go and let God” and “One day at a time” and I wondered what would happen if every business owner took this kind of loving care of their employees and sought to build them up as valued individuals.  Quin and his wife, Alicia, are not just building a business, but building people who have lived through difficult experiences, some who are surprised to still be alive.  They’ve hired people like Justin, a culinary school graduate who has cooked at some of the best restaurants at the beach, and Stephen who makes that meatloaf.  Lauren, Sabrina, and Lori Ann are part of the wait staff, serving with incredibly thankful smiles.  I wonder to myself what hidden gifts and dreams are waiting inside each one.Quin tells me more of the story.  “The place was originally opened as a liquor store and has now come full circle as a place of recovery.  I originally worked at the liquor store when I was 21 and that began my problem with alcohol.  I am a true Prodigal Son who returned here four years ago to help build up where I grew up.”

The food is why folks keep returning to his door.  “We’re cooking the same foods I grew up on that my grandma cooked, like homemade macaroni and cheese, fried okra, cornbread, liver and onions.  My favorites are the new sandwiches, the French Dip and the Reuben.  We’ve got great onion rings and skin on french fries that are hand cut, and a really great cheese burger.”

Quin says their immediate goal is to keep the light bill paid as the restaurant business is tough, but he hopes to add catering in the near future.  Quin’s Country Comfort Restaurant also delivers within the local Quinby area and the response to that service has been great.

There is live music during lunch on Tuesdays and at dinner time on Friday evenings.

My time with Quin reminded me that when we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that inspire us, and by love for others, then we are truly living life.  The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.  At Quin’s Country Comfort Restaurant, they are not settling.  They are working hard to see what can be accomplished.  And there is  treasure in this small town diner for sure!

For more information, you can follow Quin’s Country Comfort Restaurant on Facebook here, and call to place your “to go” order by calling 843-678-8986.  But you’ve simply got to see it to believe it, so come on by Quin’s at 473 Quinby Plaza in Quinby, SC.

Hours:  Monday-Saturday, 11:30-2:30 and 5:00-8:00 with Sunday lunch from 11:30-2:30.

(c) Robin Lawrimore, June 2013

 

Fall

I have four granddaughters – 8 yrs down to 6 months – and I’ve watched 3 of them learn to walk.  I have two daughters, ages 24 and 28, and I love continuing watching them learn to walk in the different seasons of their lives.

We walk, we stumble, we fall.  We learn to stand still with balance.  The same thing happens in our personal lives.  The more we walk close to God, the more stable we become, the more balance and blessing we experience in our lives.

And every season is different, every day, every event bringing trial, difficulty, strength, blessing — and we learn.  We learn to walk where we are.

For the past three years, I have been living again with my parents and I’ve watched God let me fall to let me learn to walk where I am.  And He is the best parent, filled with love and mercy and discipline, to help me grow into all He designed from the beginning.

So I can expect to fall every time I risk stepping out into places I’ve not walked before, but I can expect Him to be there to catch me, to let me learn to walk again and again.  And I am thankful for verses like this….

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.  (Jude 1:24)

My heart catches almost like a sudden stop when I ponder things like this, how this amazing Creator who made me, accepts me just like I am, where I am, and helps me learn to walk over and again.  And allows me to watch those who came from my womb learn to stand on their feet, and having done all…to stand.  Thank you, Father!

(c) Robin Lawrimore, June 2013

Linking up with the Five Minute Friday here.  Have a weekend of witnessing blessings!

 

Stepping into the Unknown

This is where the excitement begins.  This is where we begin living a good story.  This is where we can smile knowing that we don’t have to see all the way home, because He does.  A friend brought me a photograph of a flight of stone steps that lead up to a waterfall.  The caption: …every journey begins with a single step.

This is the walk – and I again find myself stepping into the unknown and I am learning to love it. This is where the smile of God finds its way through all the cloudiness of earth, past all my questions, and pierces my soul with favor and encouragement. Do you know this feeling?

I accepted a job offer last November that I thought would be a fit.  I can learn how to do about anything, but I’m such a people oriented person that without enough social contact, I wonder if the oxygen level in the room has changed.  I have loved the people, but not the job itself.  If they’d only pay me to be the corporate encourager or take prayer requests, I’d be just fine, but the job they hired me to do would, of course, go undone.  So our problem solving led to only one reasonable conclusion.  Today is my last day here.  It’s bitter-sweet.

I am so glad to have been here for this time, these last 6 months, to meet people I’d not met before, to see how God made them, gifted them, and find His fingerprints on their lives.  And my boss just started teaching Sunday School at his church and to see his excitement and be thrilled at how I know the Holy Spirit will come in and teach right through him, and lives are being changed because he said yes. 

And my other boss, who is the comic relief and occasionally walks out into the lobby and exclaims how good it is to be the best looking man in the building.  What a great listener and thoughtful person he is, too.  And to watch in this workplace as they pursue the new on a daily basis, encouraging others to excel.

And two of my co-workers and I accidentally formed a click called the Squirrel Club and today the club members took me out to lunch.  We squirreled away to La Bamba and had shrimp and yummy ingredients over rice.  I will greatly miss our club meetings and funny stories.  It is easy to be thankful for these people.  So many new friends.

But what if it had not been a good experience?  What if, like some stops before this one, it was hard or even abusive?  Could I still thank God then?  That is the question that challenges the focus of your heart.  Giving thanks for it all, following where God leads, and seeing what He does with different sets of circumstances is the life of earth.

The Lord has said to “follow His lead into places unknown and I will see Him do something mighty before my very eyes.”  On days when my faith and outlook are strong, it can feel like I’m dancing inside, like Jesus is leading me out and twirling me around.  And there are days when I don’t feel like the two-step, and when I feel like I can’t see a darn thing or feel like I’ve been at a red light far too long.  I turn my thoughts to remember verses like this one:

Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.  ~Isaiah 50:10

This is the adventure that makes me tremble a little (sometimes a lot), but I’m in the center of Heaven’s gaze, under those wings, inside that right arm.

It’s really the life I’ve asked for…to know Him more.

I have a friend who recently developed some serious physical issues yet says, “I am doing well and loving living every day. His plans are perfect and I accept them all with joy and thanksgiving.”  Her joy amidst uncertainty leads me into a deeper courage, a fuller way to live.  She lives a ripple-effect kind of life that washes over those in her path with blessing that challenges.

None of us can know all that tomorrow holds on any given day.  In a sense, we step into the unknown every time we get out of bed.  So for all those humans out there reading these words, let’s say it again together…

Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.  ~Isaiah 50:10

He sees the way forward, promises to never leave us, and that makes the heart of this little girl glad.  So thankful.

(c) Robin Lawrimore, May 31, 2013

How to be Emotional and Still Keep Your Friends

You might have heard the story about the executive who arrived at work in a cloud of anger and berated her assistant, who, in turn, snapped at the innocent mail clerk, who then scattered the thirty-page report of a harried secretary, who went home and yelled at her son for wearing his ratty, ripped jeans. And as the boy stalked off, their cat chose that moment to cross his path.  Big mistake!

So what do we do when we experience strong feelings?  Most of us either bury them deep inside until they fester like a wound, or take them out on someone else, setting off a chain reaction until the cat is kicked. And yet “emotions help us to wake up. We have no clearer messages about what is happening in our lives. Our emotions show us where to direct our attention; rather than obscuring the path, they can clarify and sharpen it.”

To read more, click here.  I’m guest posting today at Healthy Lifestyle Institute for Women.  Thanks to Stacie Cole for inviting me to post! 

(c) Robin Lawrimore, May 2013

 

Packed & Ready for Fullest Life

Live life to the fullest today! For me, that means stepping forward into things God has asked me to trust Him in, asking for prayer when I need it, and refusing to let fear or worry distract me. I can say to those voices, “Thanks for letting me know that, but I’m going this way instead.”

Is His way perfectly certain, safe, and predictable?  Heaven’s no!  But He is good and always has my best at heart. In the walking out of our journey here, I come to know Him – if I choose to lock eyes with that Lion of Judah, that Lamb of the cross.  I am safe in His love and nothing can separate me from His heart.  Not situations, not worry, not sickness, not even death.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Father, I recognize my very real need of You today and every day. Help me walk closer than ever…in Your very shadow, under your wings, so close that I feel the feathers…Father, help me understand your heart for me is compassion and love and forgiveness. ♥  Help me see you more for who you really are – all-powerful, Creator, King, my healer and sweet friend. Help me go forward wherever you lead, knowing you will make my paths straight.

You’re a good Dad and I love you.

(c) Robin Lawrimore, April 30, 2013

When the Heart Waits…Again

You work up the courage to ask a question that comes from a deep place in your heart and get an answer you didn’t expect.  It’s tender for days as it creates even more questions.  Or you risk stepping out like Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade hoping your feet find solid ground, and instead find yourself in what feels like a free-fall.  You wonder if your expectations were too high or you still are not ready.  Again, you must wait and you really don’t want to, but you know from experience that the Father is trustworthy in the timing of your life.  Or do you?

There is nothing in your life that He is not completely aware of, enormously concerned about, and intricately involved in.  And it helps to remember that.  There are some days I repeat it often to myself, out loud, and it continues to drip into a deeper place in me where I am coming to believe it completely.

And it’s always the deep desires of our hearts that can trip us up, isn’t it?  (I hear your whispered yes.)  The things we’ve desired all our lives that often come to the surface skin of the heart and just touching it, caressing it with easy finger tips can cause a painful longing.  Or if those desires get bumped into by words or actions of others, it’s worse than a knee skinned on a rough sidewalk.

And I think of Jesus and how the enemy tempted Him to go after quickly what was promised by the Father.  The enemy knew what He wanted, all the nations, but the shortcut offered would have been their destruction.  And we would have had no hope as an anchor for the tempest of our souls.  His waiting for God’s timing and perfect plan was…perfect like a full-term pregnancy that gives a healthy baby.  Not an aborted plan, not a preemie weakling.  Fullness.

And isn’t that what we want and truly desire?  Fullness?  Fullest life.

So how do we respond when we must wait...”Take a seat please, and the promise will be with you in a few _______”….minutes, months, years?

We continue to choose faith.  We continue to choose to believe.  And we take action steps.  We continue to sow seed into believing that promise.  We speak out our believing and it does drip in and it does feel that Father’s smile at our seedling faith.  And that is really all we need…faith the size of a mustard seed.  The smallest of seeds can become the largest of trees and the limbs are strong for the roots have gone in deep, and we find there is room in the branches for more than we could have imagined, more than we even believed for, and we are living full.  Thank-full.

Waiting.  Necessary, needed, maturing kind of waiting.  And that Bible-God is fully aware of where we are, how we feel, and like a good Father, He is parenting us, loving us, and showing us that we can trust Him with the desires He placed in us as part of who we are.  They will not fall flat.  They will not die.  They will not be weak.

Our hearts respond and we believe, speak, and do faith, and He comes through and brings it about and we had no idea it was just around the corner.

Thank-full for these gifts, these blossoms of faith from my life….(please consider sharing your list in a comment?)….

• Healing and growth from hard experiences like divorce and death.
• Voices of grandchildren over the phone excited about the family hike.
• Remembering how God has kept me through life’s everything.
• Seeing my Mom extend love to the “hard to love” in her life.
• Chocolate cake with 6 layers of homemade icing.
• A man’s hands that take mine to hold them close.
• A man’s hands that wipe away tears.
• A dog that sometimes play-attacks and cuddles simultaneously.
• Church with friends who smile and are glad.
• Daughters lives – getting to see them learn to walk again and again.
• A Dad who doesn’t remember everything now, but is always glad to see me.
• Answered prayer from faith words.
• Invited to speak and seeing in eyes the response to the call to fullest life.
• Mistakes forgiven, acceptance no matter what.
• A friend who writes thrilled at the sponsorship of a child in Africa.
• A friend who listens when the Spirit says “call her and pray.”

It’s lists like these that build faith for the unknown, the unseen, the yet-to-be, and instead of the waiting in agony, life starts to become an adventure.  Can you share a list that builds your faith?  Write as much as you want, friend.

(c) Robin Lawrimore, April 2013

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,…plans to give you hope and a future…You will seek Me and find me when you seek Me with all your heart.  ~Jeremiah 29:11, 13

Linking with Ann Voskamp today…