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Michelle DeRusha

Every Day Faith. Faith Every Day.

comfort

When You Feel Like You’re Way Out of Your League

December 5, 2012 By Michelle

Rowan jumping into a lake in the Minnesota Boundary Waters. Clearly he doesn’t have the same reservations about leaping that I do.

“It shouldn’t be hagiography,” I hear him say on the other end of the line, and I nod, replying, “Oh right, of course. Yeah, that totally makes sense.”

That’s what I say to my brand-new editor during our very first telephone conversation to discuss the 50 Women book. But what I’m thinking is this: “Hagi-wha-wha-what??!!! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh I have no idea what he’s talking about. How in the world am I going to write a book when I can’t even understand the vocabulary my editor is using?! This is not going to work, this is totally not going to work, I’m not cut out for this. I can’t do this. I am. In. Over. My. Head.”

After we hang up I sit on the floor, staring at my notebook. I’d scrawled hageography in the middle of the white page (I spelled it wrong, of course), with about sixteen questions marks after it. Should I quit, I wonder? Should I email Rachelle and tell her they’d better find someone else to write the book, someone who knows what hagiography means for crying out loud? I mean clearly I’m not the right person to write this book. Clearly I’m not smart enough. I had to fake intelligence in my very first conversation with my editor for heaven’s sake. Surely that can’t be a good sign.

I didn’t email Rachelle that day. I didn’t quit the book before I’d even begun. Instead, I Googled hagiography (hagiography: biography of saints or venerated persons), and then I prayed desperately for wisdom and guidance and took a leap into a project I felt hugely unqualified to tackle.

I know I’ve said it here before, but it bears repeating: God expects us to leap – to step outside of our comfort zone, to get uncomfortable, unsure of ourselves, afraid.

Because you know what? When we leap, we trust.

When I’m all comfortable and cozy in my routine, I can tell you six ways to Sunday that I trust God, but that’s because it’s easy. Real trust happens when I take a leap of faith. When I’m insecure, doubtful, hesitant, afraid, awkward. When I don’t know what in the world I’m doing.

Real trust happens when we’re not in control.

That day on the phone, when my editor dropped the word hagiography into our conversation all casual like he was talking about the ham and cheese Subway sandwich he’d eaten for lunch, I was not in control. I had a decision to make right then and there. I could retreat into my comfortable status quo where nothing was threatening or foreign and I felt sufficiently smart. Or I could take a leap of faith into the uncomfortable unknown.

I leaped. And so far I have no regrets.

So what about you? When have you taken a leap of faith when you felt way out of your league?

 

Filed Under: comfort, control, trust, writing and faith Tagged With: 50 Women Every Christian Should Know, taking a leap of faith, trusting God

The God of All Comfort {and a giveaway!}

September 5, 2012 By Michelle

I am thrilled to introduce you to Donna Pyle today. I first “met” Donna through Books & Such Literary Agency (Rachelle is her agent, too). Since then, though, Donna has become a faithful reader and commenter here, and I am so grateful for her encouragement and support. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite so positive and affirming as Donna, and I know you will see that, too, when you read her new Bible study, The God of All Comfort.

That’s right…Beth Moore isn’t the only one who can write a stellar Bible study that will transform you and grow your faith! Donna’s book is beautifully written, full of real stories about real people and the ways in which God has brought comfort, security and joy to even the most desperate situations.

Be sure to visit Donna at her blog, Hydrated Living, check out the website for her ministry, Artesian Ministries and follow her on Twitter. Her Bible study, The God of All Comfort, is available for purchase at Amazon and Concordia Publishing House.

Donna is also graciously doing a giveaway for Graceful readers. See details at the bottom of this post. We’ll announce the winner here on Monday, September 10.

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Michelle, thanks so much for hosting me to wrap up the launch blog tour for my new Bible study, The God of All Comfort. 

When I first wrote this study about five years ago, I was happily married and life was going along just fine. Life was comfortable. God was blessing and growing my ministry in incredible ways.

Then on December 1, 2009, everything changed forever. My marriage abruptly ended after heartbreaking secrets came out, and I felt as if I’d been blindsided by a train. I share more of that story in this Bible study as we dig into the issue of forgiveness.

A year ago, Concordia Publishing House approached me to expand this study into a full-blown, 8-week small group study geared toward women. But this study would be very different than anything God had led me to write before.

This Bible study is story driven from the lives of Christians who have been blindsided, received God’s ultimate comfort, and go on today to live productive lives in His grace, love, and forgiveness. From stories of abuse, divorce, loss, betrayal, spiritually mismatched marriage, anger, cancer, children serving in the military, alcoholism, and much more, chances are many women will find themselves or someone they love in these stories.

And as these stories unfold, so does God’s amazing comfort as we see in real time how God spoke His ultimate comfort into heartbreaking situations to redeem what was lost. I pray women dig deep into this study and share those life-changing truths with others.

If you have suffered, this study is for you. It’s such a privilege to serve you and dig in the Word with you. I pray God outrageously blesses everyone who works through this study and brings them His comfort.
 
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Donna would love to give this gift basket to one Graceful reader (we’ll announce the winner on Monday). The gift basket contains:
  • A signed copy of The God of All Comfort
  • $50 Visa Gift card
  • $15 iTunes Gift card
  • Starbucks coffee
  • mug with book logo

To enter: Subscribe to this blog (if you already subscribe, even better!) and leave a comment below to enter the drawing. For extra entries, please share this on Facebook and Twitter. Let us know you did, so we can give you credit!



Click here to get Graceful in your email in-box. Click here to “like” my Facebook Writer page. Thank you!

Filed Under: Bible study, comfort, Donna Pyle, guest posts

Graceful Summer: Papa Day

July 20, 2012 By Michelle


Last February just after my father-in-law Jon died, Brad and the boys came up with an idea: every year on June 23, Jon’s birthday, we’d celebrate Papa Day.

While my personal childrearing philosophy has always revolved around the “one activity per day” theory, Jon’s was the opposite. His sole ambition when the grandkids were in town was to pack in as much fun as possible, from dawn till dusk…and beyond.

And so that’s exactly what the four of us did on June 23. We golfed. We ate junk food. We watched movies. We ate more junk food. We hiked and lit sparklers and went out for burgers and fries. We told stories in the blanket fort and tickled and chased and wrestled to exhaustion.

I won’t say Jon’s birthday this year wasn’t a hard day. The hours unfolded bittersweet, with a heart heaviness none of us could quite shake. But yet, as we played miniature golf, sipped root beer floats and tucked into the blanket fort with flashlights in hand, there was comfort in celebrating the Papa we love and miss so much.
Do you have any special ways of celebrating your loved ones? I’d love to hear.

Click here to get Graceful in your email in-box.
Click here to “like” my Facebook Writer page. Thank you!
Welcome to Graceful Summer, a link-up community here on Fridays through the end of August. We’re sharing stories about the smaller, quieter moments of summer – will you share yours, too?
1. Write a post about a quiet summer moment and link it up here on Fridays.
2. Visit at least one other participant and leave a little comment love.
3. Please include the Graceful Summer button or a link in your post, so people can find us if they want to join in.

Filed Under: comfort, graceful summer, grandparents, grief, joy, small moments

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Triple Type A, “make it happen” (my dad’s favorite mantra) striver and achiever (I’m a 3 on the Enneagram, which tells you everything you need to know), but these days my striving looks more like sitting in silence on a park bench, my dog at my feet, as I slowly learn to let go of the false selves that have formed my identity for decades and lean toward uncovering who God created me to be.

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