New Release!  Children’s Devotional Book!

We are excited to announce the release of Riding Upside Down With Jesus. My grandson, Andre, was thrilled when I wrote Upside Down and became my biggest fan. He wanted to write the next book with me and now here we are…finished! You will love reading about Andre’s adventures and his unique spiritual reminders with your children and grandchildren. Riding Upside Down With Jesus can also be used to prompt discussion with groups of children ages 3 through 10 years old. You can buy Riding Upside Down With Jesus on Amazon ($12.99 paperback). Enjoy!

Social Science researchers distinguish the concepts of guilt and shame. Guilt is a helpful emotion in that once recognized, the discomfort of this awareness that we have done something wrong can spur us on to change. On the other hand, shame is a profound, painful belief “that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love or belonging” (Brown, 2013, Shame vs. Guilt, brenebrown.com).

In the Choice 4 section of Upside-Down, I try to address the concept of shame beginning with the poem and Devotion 1 about the woman caught in adultery and dragged before Jesus. Guilt motivates us to repentance. We can reach out to Jesus, confess our sin, repent, and move on. However, shame can keep us wallowing in thoughts of our past sin and regret. Shame becomes a barrier to reaching out to Jesus. We feel so unworthy we have difficulty receiving His forgiveness and grace.

The narrative of the woman caught in adultery illustrates who we are in Jesus’s eyes. He did not see her as unlovable or unworthy of His grace. Instead, Jesus reminds us that no human being is without sin. However, as His beloved daughter or son, we are worthy because He is worthy. His grace cleanses us so that we no longer need to have doubts about Who loves us and Who we belong to. Let guilt goad you to confess, repent, and move forward in change. Then release destructive feelings of shame to your Savior and receive His grace. You are loved.

I like to plan. I like to feel that I have things organized. I like to think my way is the best way. Honestly, I have strong tendencies towards control. I have struggled with this my whole life. Although, it is something I have prayed about without ceasing, the urge to control still rears its ugly head at times. Thus, the words in Week 2 jumped out at me once again as I read the Upside Down Devotional Journal today: “Surrender is not the easy way, but it is My way and your way to victory” (p. 30). We may think we have a firm foundation when we exert our control. However, we have all experienced times when our best laid plans, our cherished dreams, and our long-held expectations crumble. What then are we left with? As believers, we are left with the best; we have Jesus. He is our foundation, and He will always remain firm. The last two lines of the poem read in reverse remind of the victories I have experienced with Jesus when I yield to His way:

A firm foundation of surrender

Instead of shifting sands of control

Today, let’s take a breath and cease resisting. Welcome Him with open arms and surrender.

Although Upside Down was initially written as an individual weekly devotional, I have had readers ask about using the book as a guide for their Small Group Bible Study. The Discussion Guide is now ready! Request your free Small Group Discussion Guide through my author contact on this website or subscribe to the newsletter.

Enjoy!

Staci

I need to continually watch that my words do not sound critical. I like to think that I am exercising “judicious evaluation” (Merriam-Webster online dictionary) as a carryover from my teaching years. However, if my heart is sitting in judgment then no matter how positively I try to couch it, my words are going to sound critical and judgmental. Matthew 12:34 reminds us that the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

In his sermon on 2/6/22, our pastor, Aaron Duvall, talked about the phrase “speaking the truth in love”. Too often that phrase is used as a precursor by Christians when they want to give negative criticism to someone else. Pastor Duvall questioned why this phrase is our “go to” when we feel a need to point out something negative rather than when we want to focus on encouraging others. What would happen if we spoke the truth in love to encourage others and build them up rather than to criticize or rebuke them?

Today I am going to be more mindful of speaking encouragement rather than criticism. However, first I need to take inventory of my heart more carefully. Is my heart filled with love, gratitude and encouragement?

Jesus, may my heart be cleansed from criticism and may encouragement flow freely from my lips today.  Amen

Choice 2: Thanklessness or Gratitude?

Our reflections for the next section focus on choosing gratitude. In the introduction to her devotional book, Jesus Listens, Sarah Young gives an example of an incessant prayer that increased anxiety instead of bringing peace. She suggests that when you find that you are increasingly anxious as you pray about something that you instead change your focus to thanking God for how He is answering the prayer (p. xiii). I am practicing that today. Our Choice 2, Week 1 reading finds Peter and his companions very sleepy. When they awake, they witness Jesus in His glory. Instead of falling into a stupor and repeating the same prayers over and over this week, I encourage you to shift these prayers to thanking God for what He is doing in the moment. Instead of lamenting, Why aren’t You answering me, God?, look for the answers He is providing, i.e. enabling you to keep your comment to yourself and instead listen to a friend in need, giving you a peaceful moment of beauty in the midst of a stressful day, empowering your loved one to make a step forward with a positive choice, opening a door for you to show love to someone else, etc. Thank You, God!

Even as a child, I held dreams of becoming a writer. Somehow, I got sidetracked into the more lucrative (😊), yet satisfying, career of social work. In the midst of my career, I felt prompted to take a leap of faith so I quit my job and tried to focus for a year on writing. I started out at a sprint but didn’t save enough energy for the marathon. Life’s trials and stresses distracted me to the point I took a new full-time job to cope with my meandering. Retirement provided another burst of excitement that maybe now was finally the time I could concentrate on writing. However, although I had plenty of ideas, everything I wrote sounded tired and stale. I finally told my husband that perhaps it was time I put the dream to rest…that what I once thought as God’s calling, percolating as a desire within my heart, was just an unrealistic dream.

The next day as I was clearing my desk, a letter fell out of a reference book. The handwriting was difficult to read, and I could not decipher the signature. However, the message clearly jumped out from the page:  Do not stop your writing. I often joke that I wish God would send me an email of instructions. Now, my first wild thought was God sent me a letter instead!

This encouragement provided what I needed to hit the ground running to finish a devotional book. I felt the Spirit’s empowerment filling me with ideas, enthusiasm, passion, and courage. The book, Upside Down: Shifting to Jesus’s Perspective, was finished in two months from the time I found the letter.

Now back to the letter. My husband identified the writer as Joan, an elderly woman who had sent him encouraging letters when he was a new Christian serving in some difficult ministry roles. Joan loved to talk, ask questions, and offer advice. Unable to serve in visible roles now, Joan still used her gift of encouragement and responded to the Spirit’s prompt to write letters. In sending me a letter, Joan’s small act of faithfulness came to fruition at least 15 years after she wrote it and 12 years after her death.

Joan’s letter not only motivated me to complete the devotional book, it also encouraged me to follow through with the small, seemingly inconsequential, nudges from the Spirit—make that phone call, text that encouraging thought to a friend, invite a neighbor to our backyard, give that person a hug, smile at the harried store clerk. We can be a part of God’s daily plan by simply following these prompts. We may never know where our acts of faithfulness will lead, but God knows and will bring His work to completion.

Happy New Year!

I confess that I rarely go back and read articles, curriculum, and books that I have written once I have edited, polished, submitted and resubmitted a project. As a (hopefully now recovering) perfectionist, I find that I pick apart what I have written until I am so disappointed, I am embarrassed for someone to read it. If I don’t read my work after publication then I can go blithely along my way and pretend it has been well received. However, this time, I feel Jesus tugging on my heart; He is not done working in me through the Upside Down book. Thus, I am going to read the devotional journal with you. Throughout each month, I will share my reflections on how each section resonates in my life a year later. I hope you will join me in this adventure! Please comment and share your own insights and reflections. We are on this journey together, and we have the best Guide ever—Jesus!

The Christmas season is a perfect time to open our eyes to the awe and wonder of Jesus. One of our favorite family traditions is looking at Christmas lights. Last night, my husband and I strolled the neighborhood to admire the brilliance of the lights. A dusting of snow covered the ground and a crisp chill was in the air. Our eyes were drawn to dripping blue icicles, brilliant green and red geometric patterns, and pure, white twinkles inviting delight. An ordinary evening walk turned into the reminder that Jesus is the Light of the world and can penetrate even the darkest cold. What has reminded you of the awe and wonder of Jesus this Christmas season? I invite you to share your experiences to encourage us all.