Loving, Leaning, Learning: In a Slump?

Hey, Friends. I know it has been a while since I blogged. I hope everyone reading this and all your family members are doing well. Thanks to all of you who prayed for me as I spoke at the church I grew up in a few weeks ago. It was such a blessing to be there. The people of that church invested in my life in more ways than I could count through the years, so if you are one of those people and are reading this, THANK YOU.

At the Bigham household, we are so ready for school to be out. Most of you know our oldest child, Karson, is finishing out her kindergarten year. It has been a wonderful year, but she and I are ready for her to be home…mostly I J. My friend Amanda gave me a great idea to write all the things we want to do this summer on popsicle sticks and put them in a jar…that way we can pull a stick out every day this summer. Karson and I sat down at our kitchen island on Saturday night and wrote down all kinds of activities from play in our sand box to swim at my sister’s pool, play Guess Who, etc. etc. etc. We had the best time, and it made us look forward to summer. Karson is such an example to me of embracing life. Whatever she does, she is “all in” and has the most amazing time (although when we are ready to leave a place, and she is having a total meltdown at almost six years old, this slightly comes back to bite usJ).

On a separate note, I don’t know, it seems like I’ve been in a little spiritual slump over the past week or so. I wanted to share with you some truths for times when we have these slumps. Even when we don’t “feel” like investing in our relationship with Jesus, He is our unchanging source of strength. He is alive and living within us, and we can ask him to help us be motivated to draw near to him.

Here are some steps we can follow for these yucky times:

1. Ask him to help you. Pour your heart out to him. Tell him what you’re struggling with. Be honest. Example “Lord, I don’t feel very close to you right now.”

(1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.)

2. Ask him to change you. Ask God to give you the desire to come near to him.

(Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.)

(James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.)

(Mark 9:24 I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.)

*If you don't know what to pray, try just praying scripture. Praying his word is praying his will.

3. Obey. Even if you don’t “feel” like it. We don’t have to “feel” like spending time in God’s word, to do it. We don’t have to “feel” like praying to call out to God. We are called to spend time with him every day, even if we don’t really want to. He isn’t limited to our human emotions. He can still speak to us even when we think we are in shutdown mode.

(John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.)

(Luke 11:28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”)

4. Remember, THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS. If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you relate to the fact that there are ups and downs in the Christian walk. Thankfully, the downs almost always turn to ups. You may feel down right now, but you continuously have hope in Jesus. We really do bounce back…I think this is called grace.

(Lamentations 3:22-23 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.)

(Psalm 30:5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Hope this helps some of you out there who may be in a bit of a slump. If it offers any comfort to you, I think I’m coming out of mine. Hope you will be out of yours soon, too.

If any of you have tips for “down” times in our Christian walk, please leave them in the comment section below. You may have to register your email, but I think it is a fairly quick process.

There are a few pics below.

Love you all.

Jodi