Friends, bear with me. I feel like I’m sliding in here at the end. I’m a little behind what with all this Christmas wonder 🙂
Today we’re on Chapters 14 and 15 of The Best Yes study, and we’re moving from how to say no to how to know when to say YES! Wahoo – the yeses!
This wisdom laid the foundation for the insight to come: “We want big directional signs from God. God wants us to pay attention.” (p. 170)
It’s true, right? We often seek out some big clear signal that the right yes is staring us in the face when often the answer is more subtle, but the answer can be just as clear if we’re centered and willing to pick out the indications along the way.
Lysa quotes the optimistic and insightful Bob Goff from Love Does, “The brand of love Jesus offers is more about presence than undertaking a project.” (p. 172)
What should you say yes to because it requires you, uniquely you? Your presence. What should you say no to because it requires you to add to your ever growing to do list and any human could be substituted for the job? It’s a project. Think about the things that require your presence. Being a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend, a colleague, a whatever it is, fill in the blank. Doesn’t that help you get a little clarity over your best yes?
Be present with a heart bent toward love and daring to look at what’s been placed right in front of you…Refuse to get tangled up and held back by what you don’t know. And most of all, know who you want to be and take the next step that points you in the direction of that character quality.
I close with some of the beauty from Chapter 15, The Thrill of An Unrushed Yes. I don’t know if you welled up reading Lysa’s reminiscing over moments with those she loves most and her unrushed yes, but I did. She’s right. Sometimes it is the smallest yes that can make the most impact. Tonight my kid’s exclaimed, “this is the best day ever!” because I served crackers and cheese and apple slices with our cowboy stew. Y’all, I just made dinner and a pretty basic one. I came home early and didn’t even have time to make cornbread to go with our stew because I was baking for the school Christmas party. But we sat there to the simplest meals and talked about our days, and it was the best yes I’d offered this week. I had a competing offer. I could have been elsewhere. I would have missed that. One more of their “best days!”
Lord knows I do miss plenty of that. I didn’t miss it tonight. As a Type A planner girl, I’m actively changing my focus these days to build space in my life for the unrushed yes. The best yes.
Lysa sums it up like this, “This isn’t natural to me. I’m a task girl. I like accomplishing things. I like the thrill of moving forward, creating momentum, and getting stuff done. But the more I choose to pause and talk and really connect, the more I discover the thrill in the sacred spaces of relationships. Leaving room in my life for the unrushed yes strengthens the fabric of my relationships so they can better withstand the wear and tear of everyday life.” (p. 181)
What about you? What best yes can you offer in this season that is all too often filled with frenzy and lists of things to do?
Leave a Reply