Something’s Got Me Thinking

Hey, Girlfriends! It’s Sunday and I’m writing you from an airplane seat on my way home from Boise, Idaho, where God threw a party of His Presence for 5,000 of us gathered there. They were a phenomenal group and, for me, it was love at first sight. My whole team and I really dig serving off the beaten path, so we were very anxious to get there but wondered if we should prepare ourselves for a fairly quiet group. Let me be clear. That is not what we got. I named them Noisy Boise within the first five minutes. They wanted Jesus and were willing to practically jump out of their seats to grab a word out of thin air from Him. Oh, man, I am so grateful to God for allowing me to worship shoulder-to-shoulder with such an incredible group. I will remember them (you, if you were there) for a very long time.

This weekend I did something I almost never do. I stayed over on Saturday night to have a retreat with my LifeWay team. To tell you that I’m crazy about them is a gross understatement. Through the years we’ve become a team in every sense of the word from the guys that do the set-up, sound, lighting…to the computer technicians that do the graphics for praise and worship and the power point for the messages…to the event team that actually puts on the conference and mans (or womans) it…to the entire platform team who walks into a very well prepared-for environment. Everybody does their part and, incidentally, nobody’s part is for sissies. We work our tails off. As I told Noisy Boise, we aren’t very slick but we aren’t minimalists either. We don’t give a group the least we can get away with. We drag our nearly dead bodies out of that auditorium on Saturday afternoon. The members of the team are as different as our roles and, joyously (and even unexpectedly), everybody from the truck drivers to the artists have become family. The down side for me is that the most sanguine of the siblings, yours truly, is one of the very few who lives outside of Nashville. They get to spend a ton of travel time together while I go solo. They often send me texts and cell pics from the airport and it makes me so jealous I can hardly stand it. This time we decided we’d all stay after the event, eat pizza together, play games (Travis hosted a rousing round of Fish Bowl and the card game Pit) and, my personal request, learn to do the Cha-Cha Slide. Play that funky music, white girl. It was hilarious. (And modest. Don’t mess with me here. It was just plain fun.) We had the best time ever! I laughed myself silly and dropped in my hotel bed last night thoroughly exhausted and deliriously happy. Full. God is so good. So fun. I think He had a blast last night. Maybe even laughed out loud.

But now for the primary reason I’m writing to you. Early this morning I realized that I had an all-day plane trip (HOURS!) in front of me with no extra reading material for a poor, exhausted mind. For an obsessive reader like me, that’s not a flight. That’s a train wreck. I’d studied all the way up so I hadn’t thought about the oversight till it was time to go home. Adding to the annoyance was some excellent reading material sitting on my back porch that I’m in the happy middle of right now. (I think I’ve told you before that, at almost all times, I have two books going that are totally separate from my research books: a Christian inspirational book of some kind and a novel. Forgot both.) I resorted to the magazine rack, grabbed three decent looking selections, slapped a fortune on the counter, and headed for the plane. One was Time’s 40 Anniversary Special, another was a Vanity Fair edition that looked more interesting this time than inappropriate and the third was a magazine my personal assistant really loves. It’s kind of a health and fashion thing with an over-40 flair to it. The cover looked pretty hip so I pitched it in the mix with a “What the heck.” Thumbing through it, I happened on an article that was not only well written. It was one of the most thought provoking secular articles I’ve read in a good while. (“More,” May 2008 Issue, p.90)

In the article entitled “My So-Called Genius” author Laura Fraser recounts her remarkable journey from whiz-kid-dom to an adulthood of unmet expectations and fairly ordinary life. Don’t let my crude synopsis keep you from reading the article for yourself because I won’t do it justice. I’d like to recap enough, however, to explain why I found it significant. By the time she was five she’d already been labeled “precocious” and told repeatedly how special she was. The next years did not disappoint. She was brilliant and darling and surpassed her peers impressively, drawing the attention of adults who conveyed to her in a myriad of ways that she was destined for greatness. Then came college where she entered an academic world of peers who, not coincidentally, were told the same thing. By her late forties, she’d accomplished many good things but the expectation of greatness and the sense that she’d never quite achieved it (despite a best seller) haunted her with feelings of failure. All the well-meaning forecasts had done nothing but cast a pall of perfectionism upon her and, as her consultant so aptly pointed out, “Perfectionists always lose.” The consultant confronted her with a very important challenge that I’ll paraphrase: “Must you write a great book? How about writing a good book?” Fraser describes how age and time had become precious gifts and how she’d come to reconcile the unreasonable expectations with her reasonable success. In doing so she really made me think about some things. Here are a few:

How careful we need to be – as parents, teachers, relatives, leaders, or observers – about telling gifted children how great they are going to be. It is a trap and a forecast Fraser claims rarely pans out. She points out the monumental difference between talent and having a clue what to do with it and (again paraphrasing) how genius rarely exempts people from having to work hard just like everybody else who wants to make it. I’m a big believer in encouraging young people and imitating the Apostle Paul with Timothy by telling them that they are extraordinarily gifted. BUT, as we learned this weekend in Boise, every gift is a trust placed in human hands by a holy God and it is up to each individual to develop the integrity, humility, and work-ethic to know what on earth to do with it. A gift never guarantees success. In the long run as well as the routine day-in and day-out, those with the grit to just keep doing the hard thing will often prove more effective. Gift without grit is a dang waste.

How profoundly wise God’s way is. If we’re willing to follow His paradoxical path on the winding roadmap of Scripture, we have the joy of side-stepping this ankle-breaking trap. So will a few children we’re privileged to train. Living just to be great will prove at least empty and at most unbearable. Spending ourselves for something infinitely greater, however, still fans our parched souls with the God-given need to matter, but relieves us of the relentless pain of being the “It” Person at the center of it. To live for the greatness of God IS to live the great life. Oh, I know we’ve heard it before but what if something in us clicked all the sudden? What if we all at once awakened to what a dream-killer perfectionism is? And to how pitifully small and unworthy a goal personal greatness is? We were meant for so much more. Every one of us who embraces the glory of God as our lofty purpose for living will end up doing great things precisely because we end up doing God-things. His holy hand rested on the least act renders the ordinary extraordinary. Far from the least but sadly uncelebrated, spooning soup into the mouth of the weak and bed-bound or manning the church nursery so a tired mom can go to Sunday School are acts of highest worship when offered in the Name of Christ. Though the arrogant and ignorant minimize and miss it, Christ beholds the sight like a breathtaking work of art, tilting His head and squinting His eyes to study each subtle detail. “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:6).

Christ, the very One who called us to abundant, effective life and commanded us to splash in the cool springs of joy while living it, announced the secret to the great life without a hint of contradiction:

Pour it out lavishly, sacrificially for the glory of God and the good of man. Those with presence of mind and semblance of health are called to pour out the drink offering of their lives until the cup is turned completely over and every last drop of energy slips – perhaps unnoticed, uncelebrated – into the vast ocean of earthly need. The last imperceptible drop of your well-lived life will sound like a tidal wave hitting the floor of the Grand Canyon to the hosts of Heaven.

“I’m already great enough for both of us,” Christ says in effect, relieving the willing of their woeful burden. “Just follow Me.” For “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).

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200 Responses to “Something’s Got Me Thinking”

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  1. 51
    Peggy says:

    Beth,
    I so undertsand your thougths today about building up our children to a point that can not be obtained. I am a special education teacher and work with the other end of the spectrum. I work with students that feel that they can not obtain anything worthwhile. They are challenged on so many fronts of their lives. So often they see their more academically adept peers receiving the acollades of achievement while their achievements go unnoticed. Everyday I try to encourage my students to realize what they have accomplished and that as they struggle and contiune to meet their goals that they, too, are meeting the challenges of life and fulfilling their purpose on this earth. Being in a public high school setting, I have to bring God into the classroom through the mouths of the students. As I ask them to reflect on their lives, their goals and their achievements and failures, God leads me with the appropriate questions that allow the Christian students in my classes to voice their spiritual experiences. These students give a voice to God’s work in their lives. By their testimonies of faith other students experience the truth that God works in them and can open doors to wonderous blessings. You are so correct in your statements that we must show our children that it is God who blesses us in our achievements and our failures. We have to show them how to see Him and understand that we alone can do nothing–it is through Him that all things come. Thank you for a wonderful word today– God Bless

  2. 52
    Shelly says:

    Just gonna bow down under this one – gratefully…and I might take a snooze due to relief 🙂

  3. 53
    Michelle V says:

    Beth,

    I’m so glad that you got to have such a great “retreat” time! Thanks for sharing about the article! It is an important lesson to teach our kids and something we need to teach by example!

    Michelle

  4. 54
    wendymom says:

    Thanks again for another thought provoking post. Which I might add these days really helps to stimulate my brain, as I am in the throngs of raising “young uns” as you call it. Life is hard enough on its own, we dare not add the plight of perfectionism and “having it all” onto our children. Oh how I long that they will get “it”: that living in God’s glory and for HIM, will be more to them than any job, material item, or “it” position in society.

    Thanks for you insight, I so long to hear,
    wendy

  5. 55
    Kathy from Colorado says:

    Wow Beth…thanks for this. I am thankful you did not have anything to read because you have given me something to think about and ponder! I have 3 boys…one is gifted and talented, one has been diagnosed as MMR and the 3rd is very bright and full of energy…all so different and gifted by God in different ways. It is easy to get discouraged for my special needs son wondering what life has ahead for him but what a great reminder of the truth that he is God’s child created with a purpose and that he too will live the great life as he lives for the God he loves with his whole heart! Thank you for the blessing of your ponderings from the article!!!

  6. 56
    Kelley says:

    Thanks, Beth. Your post brought to mind two things. The first is the first stanza of Matheson’s hymn, “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.”

    “O Love that wilt not let me go,
    I rest my weary soul in thee;
    I give thee back the life I owe,
    That in thine ocean depths its flow
    May richer, fuller be.”

    The second is what I’ve recently started to say to my soul every morning when I look in the mirror. “Self,” I say, “drop dead! It’s not about you.” (1 Cor. 16:31; Rom. 6:11)

  7. 57
    Anonymous says:

    Thank you from many Cole Valley Christian teachers who were at the Boise Living Proof conference. The timing of your visit was perfect! As you mentioned the seven Xs on Friday night, we all looked at each other and sighed! Your reminder to take time to exhaul -to rest and take time away with God, and your reminder to strive for excellence in just a few things (rather than doing many things well) were both timely for us as teachers. It was a wonderful time in noisy Boise and we thank you! Many teachers on our staff have used your Bible studies to help us earn our Bible credits for teacher certification. I loved the message of this weekend – Paul passing on the faith to Timothy, just as we are passing on the faith to our students. Thank you! May God continue to bless you as you have been a blessing to so many!
    Becky Bertram

  8. 58
    Melana says:

    Well, first of all, I’m so glad you had fun this weekend! I’ve told you before, but I just worry (no not worry, I was at Omaha LPL a year ago)…..I am concerned that you have enough fun. So Yay, Beth!

    Our pastor talked about superficiality in our walk today. He said “Christians are good at discipling other Christians to look like them, but not so good in discipling them to look like Christ”.

    To be like Christ… He is perfect enough for both of us. Amen.

    God Bless You this week Beth!

    Melana in Wyoming
    p.s. With my daughter getting married in 6 days….I know what you mean now by “A Twirl in Tulle”!

  9. 59
    Momma-of-5 says:

    Beth,
    God put that all on your heart just for me! Today, I was at the end of my Mommy-Wife-Homemaker-Christian-Woman rope! I wasn’t suicidal or anything, but just done. Done with doing the mundane. Done with being “ordered” around.
    But I needed the reminder that EVERYTHING God’s given me to do is important!
    AND, on the other hand, I have this amazing son. He’s such a love. Such a schmooch. Such a cutie. And I needed to be reminded, that even though he’s four years old, never stepped a foot in a classroom and still doing 2nd grade math, spelling & reasoning…I need to challenge him to be God’s servant…not just a smartie pants!
    So thanks for being my church today! Thanks for bringing the message that I needed.

  10. 60
    Roanne LeRaine says:

    How interesting that I have wanted to respond to your visit to Boise ever since I left the convention center on Saturday with the six women I came with, yet, I did not find the opportunity, nor energy until late this afternoon.

    How wonderful, that I probably would not have read your entry if I had, and would not have seen God’s continued message to me through your post about being gifted.

    I have come to grips with the fact that no matter how talented people have told me I am — it won’t matter a bit if I don’t use it for God, while seeking Him to give me the strength to keep going.

    Thank you for reminding me that no matter what, I need to make God my first priority each day. As I fill up on His Word, I trust His Spirit will guide me in the direction I need to go, and that one day, I will see the fruits of my labor.

  11. 61
    Anonymous says:

    funny how “gifts” have been on your mind of late!!!! This and your other post concerning them are so “money” to use a diners, drive-ins and dives adjective!!! and speaking of gifts…Keith sure has the engineering/visual talent…Big Kudos for the ice cream scoop…maybe he can sell the idea to his son-in-law’s co. for some kind of father’s days new flavored treat!!

  12. 62
    Little Steps Of Faith says:

    Beth,
    I have to say that the words God spoke through you in Jax are still echoeing in the back of my mind; I am so stubborn, but I heard Him through you.
    This part is really what got to me:

    ” The resurrection has power over our lives everyday-
    YET WE LIVE LIKE WE ARE DEAD!”

    I am no longer living in the suffering, though I share it with Christ, but I live in the resurrection!

    If you only knew where that has me right now….

    Its not easy, but also as you said,
    ” We are not just in the race to run it, but to WIN.”

    You should post that youtube.com post of the man helping his son with a broken ankle to the finish line, that was AMAZING!

    Who knows if I even kept on subject of your blog post at this point, I just felt like sharing.

    I guess something I just realized is there is a big difference in living for Christ, and following Him…

    Be Blessed:)
    Angie

  13. 63
    Bridgette says:

    My son is a gifted guitar player. He plays in the youth praise band at our church. But in March, we had to take him out due to his laziness! He kinda got the attitude that he was “so good”, he didn’t have to practice as much. He played his guitar all the time, however, he would not practice his praise music for that week until the day before! His grades dropped because everything was “easy”; he quit working hard to achieve. We pulled him out of the band, put him on restriction and he has not played his guitar since. The deal was, when school is out, if you have improved and done well, you can be back in the praise band. Since March, he has been working harder at school and pulled all of his grades up. He begged me about a month ago to please let him play his guitar, I wanted to let him so bad, but I didn’t. I explained to him what perserverence was and told him about finishing the race! I told him that he would thank me later! He has continued to do well and so on Mother’s Day, I let him play for about 45 mins. and today I let him for an hour. He has one week of school left. I think he has learned a valuable lesson and I pray it sticks for his next school year and his life! He will resume in the band June 4th! (Just in case your thinking that I may have been a little harsh, we had been trying to get his attention since Christmas and nothing else was working! So, we went to the heart of the matter!)

  14. 64
    lilscrapper says:

    Thank you Beth for a wonderful reminder. It came at the perfect time…on a day when I felt that I was not a good enough mother or wife. How often we strive in ourselves only to find ourselves more frustraed and tired. If only we would lay everything at HIS feet…the only One who can truly lift us up and help us be the women we desire to be. Only in Him is our true purpose and joy and destiny found!

  15. 65
    Elaine says:

    I just wanted to thank YOU for your service. Your teachings have helped me to grow so much stronger in my faith. So for all your sacrifices of personal time to be there for me and others like me, the hours spent writing, researching, traveling, filming, and all the other things unnamed…sincerely I thank you!

  16. 66
    Big Mama says:

    “Gift without grit is a dang waste”

    I’d like to put that on a t-shirt.

    Thanks for the encouraging word.

  17. 67
    Anonymous says:

    Beth, I really needed these words right now. I was one of those children that was always told how “special” I was and that I was bound for greatness. I feel I have done nothing but failed all these years. I will be 39 in a few weeks and have finally realized that I am “special” in the eyes of God and that is all that really matters. Yes, my family sees me as a failure because I dropped out of college, I live in a double-wide mobile home, drive an older vehicle and I do not have a lot of money in the bank. I consider myself very much not a failure because I have God on my side and I know one day I will get my mansion and I will see my savior face to face and then I will have true peace. I constantly worry about what my family thinks about me but I am trying really hard not to let that get me down. I am destined for greatness…..when I reach those streets of gold I will be in His greatness. Praise God for all His blessings on me and my family. And praise God for you Beth and for everything you do for Him. One day we will be in His greatness and what a day that will be.

  18. 68
    Fran says:

    WOW! WOW! I’m having to digest this one slowly and will study this one again this week.

    We love ya Ms. Beth. We love your wisdom, your heart, and your passion. Jesus is beautiful through you. May He be that way through us all.

    Glory to God for Noisy Boise!
    Hugs~
    Fran

  19. 69
    ruth in north idaho says:

    I loved your blog today, Beth…it was the ‘icing on the cake’ from the Wonder in Boise!

    Thank you for coming to Boise and being given to us! A young friend and I drove 8 hours from North Idaho, and it was worth every minute of the drive to stand in the Presence of the Lord alongside you! Travis and the team was great, and wasn’t Our Great God truly wonderful?!

    Can you please post the commission from the end on the blog, or give directions for obtaining it? A Timothy and Paul need it for a reminder!

    Bless you, Reading Girl!

  20. 70
    Anonymous says:

    I’m not sure this went through, so I’ll try it a second time:
    1. Please come to my son’s next parent-teacher conference. That way, when they talk about how he reads 2 years ahead of grade level, you can repeat this to me in love.
    2. When the same teacher talks about how my son has trouble finishing a task-or sometimes even beginning a task-you can remind me that God can and does use all types of folks.
    Right now, we are camped out in David VS. Goliath. Almost daily I remind my son that when Saul’s armour didn’t fit, he had to:
    1. Trust GOD.
    2. Be himself.
    3. Use his own skills.
    Peace,(and pardon if this gets posted x 2)
    Kim in Apex, NC

  21. 71
    mburkum says:

    Thank you, Beth. As a school teacher, I saw so many children just driven to the edge of nervousness by parents who “only wanted my kid to be his/her best”. These kids were smart and kind and talented, but many of them didn’t enjoy learning or doing whatever their talent was because it became an obligation. How sad it made me that they couldn’t love learning for learning’s sake or playing just for playing – they always had to be the best to feel successful and, I’m afraid, loved. There’s was always the question, “What do I win?” What a tough rope to walk during some of these parent-teacher conferences.

    Thanks for your encouragement! I’m glad your team was able to let your hair down and enjoy each other over the weekend.

  22. 72
    Kimberly says:

    Beth,
    What a powerful word. Yesterday Grace took six of her friends to see Prince Caspian for her birthday. I took them all to the concession stand to get snacks and one by one they ordered and went back to the theater. At the end of the line was Alex, one of the most precious boys you’ll ever find. He is sweeter than anything and just so incredibly kind. He made the comment to my friend that he must have been really bad since he was last in line. Nancy assured him that was not at all true, that the others just ended up ahead of him. He then said to me, “I’m always last.” I bent down and got eye level with him and said, “Alex, do you know what Jesus says about being last.” He shook his head no. I said, “Alex, Jesus says the last will be first and the first will be last.” His eyes got so big and a smile crept across his face. I think a seed was planted right then and there. It doesn’t take a genius to change the world…just a willing heart.

    Kimberly

  23. 73
    Debbie says:

    “Everyone of us who embrace the glory of God as our lofty purpose for living will end up doing great things precisely because we end up doing God-things.” Amen, thank you for your true and wise words. I agree with my siesta, lots of quotes for my desk from this teaching.

    Love and Blessings, Debbie in Tennessee

  24. 74
    Anonymous says:

    WOW, I wish I could glean from magazines like you do Beth!!!
    You have written so beautifully about how God sees it when we choose to be His vessel.
    Thank you for sharing…sorry you forgot your books, I feel your pain, love to read when I can, but I have a feeling God wanted you to read the magazines.
    I get great inspiration when I pull weeds from my garden….what a word picture when Jesus used this in the book of John!
    Love you Beth…
    angela in nc

  25. 75
    Anonymous says:

    Hello from Boise, Idaho where I was 1 of those 5000 women who was filled with wonderful encouragement from you, Beth. Thank you so much for your (God’s!)words this weekend; even if at times you felt you didn’t get to say what you wanted to say. (you mentioned on Saturday that you thought Friday night wasn’t taught how you had planned….) My goodness, I soaked up every word God gave you and needed every piece of it! It will take me a few weeks to digest all that was taught and to go through all the notes I took!!! My husband asked me yesterday, “How was your retreat?” and I replied “It was amazing but I’ll have to tell you what I learned throughout the next few weeks my head is still spinning!” ha ha ha
    I had a rough week last week (along with everyone else it seemed!) and now I feel refreshed and ready to see what God has in store for me. Being 8 1/2 months pregnant and having an almost 2 & 1/2 year old has really made me tired these past few weeks. Thank you for all you do for the Lord and God Bless!

  26. 76
    Denise says:

    Don’t stop thinking … it inspires us! Oh, how I love Jesus! All for His glory! Praying that you will continue to have “fresh oil” and His divine annointing.

    Love you!

  27. 77
    Amy Newberry says:

    Wow! this post is so incredible inspiring.

  28. 78
    Victoria says:

    I have been a “perfectionist” most of my life….I thought that it was just my nature but the Lord began about 2 and a half years ago to change that thought process….I was battling anorexia/bulemia during that time and was at my wits end but the word of God began to set me free….I have just completed the Believing God” study at my church and I am rejoicing and doing spiritual cartwheels (I am almost 50 so real cartwheels are out of the question)…I finally believe that I am who God says I am….I am so excited about this captive being set free…so the quote “perfectionists always lose” is so true….I am no longer a loser but a winner in Christ and free to follow Him and to rest in Him and not in my own strengths but in the strength of the Lord…

  29. 79
    Ang baylis says:

    I love you, Beth Moore! You give every ounce of energy you have! You blessed me again… and it’s always ALL about Him!
    Your siesta in Michigan,
    Angie xoxo

  30. 80
    Bev Brandon says:

    We live in such a “celebrity society.” You’re great if you are somebody is what the world says. But it has been an age old problem that we all want something more than the love of Christ…reminds me of the mother of the sons of Zebedee asking for greatness for her two sons James & John—wanting to edge out Peter and make sure it was her two sons that sat on either side and maybe not Peter. What is my ruling passion? Success, significance, special to someone—what rules my heart? What do I want more than the love of my beautiful Christ? It will come out and leave us empty. Thanks for living humbly before your God and longing passionately to advance His Kingdom.

  31. 81
    Valarie says:

    Oh land sakes sweet siesta!! These words are anointed!! What an on time God we serve! This is the 2nd time this week I’ve heard this very thing! I’m going to start teaching a high school girls Sunday school class this fall – my FIRST TIME EVER UGH! – and God has been giving me so much info the last couple of weeks it’s blowing my mind! Thanks
    Val
    NC

  32. 82
    Anonymous says:

    *How wonderful that you and your team had time to spend together after the conference. Sounds like a blast to me. (We brought our cards to J’ville – got there early enough to sit on the pavement at the door and play Hand and Foot.)

    *How “right-on” you are about living for God’s glory alone. That is my prayer for my grandchildren, especially the oldest (almost 11) who has been gifted with a sharp mind and a beautiful voice.

    *How wonderful that you are taking LPL outside of the Bible Belt, but please tell me you will be closer than 600+mi.from central MS in 2009! Managed to sneak away with only 2 friends to J’ville in March. Just couldn’t bring myself to open this one to my church. Age 66 is too old to be organizing and driving a bunch of Miss Daisys that far!

    *How I have been blessed over the past 10 yrs. with your contagious love of God’s Word. Praise Him – I caught it!!!Can’t wait to see the wonderful ways He will use your precious girls!

    Thanking our Lord for you.

  33. 83
    Anonymous says:

    Check out this video on YouTube. It proves Christ is in us.
    Go to YouTube.com and put in the video search Louie Giglio laminin
    He is preaching and it is amazing!

  34. 84
    freedrn says:

    Beth,
    I was one of those 5,000 noisy women with you this weekend in Boise, ID. As I was there in the arena, it was as though the whole weekend was geared towards what I needed to hear, must of been why God made it possible for me to attend. I learned so much insight about myself and insight from II Timothy, that I don’t think I will ever be the same. After this weekend I know now what God has been trying to tell me, He has been wanting me to become a Paul to a Timothy, use the gift that He has given me to its fullest potential and not how I have been using it, to get back into the Word daily and lastly to take on my addiction and overcome it and not be afraid to ask for help. I was so blessed by your message and the music of the worship team, that words can not express my gradatude. I pray that you will come back to Noisy Boise sometime in the future and I can’t wait to start the online Bible study with you that I just purchased.
    Until we meet again,
    Freda

  35. 85
    Kristib says:

    I teach college women about the evils of the perfectionist trap and yet I fall into it and get hung up more than anyone.

    Thank you for the reminder that “all I ever have to be, is what He made me to be.” (one of my favorite Amy Grant tunes)

    I am your servant Lord. May I be less so You can be seen more!

    Much love
    Kristi B.

  36. 86
    Katie says:

    I like your thoughts. You said a lot that I have been attempting to articulate for quite sometime. Thanks for finally giving me the words! I’m so quoting you!

  37. 87
    Debbie in CA says:

    Whew! I needed this both for my sake and my childrens sakes, thank you Lord! and thank you Beth!

  38. 88
    Anonymous says:

    Beth, I was looking for a Bible Study on this very topic just last week!! Couldn’t find one, and sensed God nudging me to do the work myself–that it would mean more to me…I have been studying, but you cannot possibly know how timely this post is for me.

    I hid school papers behind my toybox in first grade if they didn’t earn perfect stars. I paced the floor in the middle of the night in third grade–my parents never knew it. Had my first panic attack in 6th grade at the thought of not getting an A on an open book test. Perfectionism has tortured me all of my life. Rather, I have tortured myself all of my life. Now, 32 years old, a wife and mother of a two year old–I’ve had enough (did I mention I’m a pastor’s wife, and a pastor’s granddaughter)? I want so much to be myself (complete with all my flaws), and know that I am still loved. But when you have been told all your life that you are talented, or have lots of potential, it’s easy to develop a fear of falling short of everyone’s expectations. You think that when they find out you’re not who they thought you were…they won’t love you anymore. Or if you don’t accomplish all that they thought you could, they’ll be utterly disappointed in you.

    Anyone reading this, please pray that God will continue to free me from this. It’s only in the last year that He has opened my eyes to the hold perfectionism has had on me. I’m ready to come out from under this yoke!

  39. 89
    Anonymous says:

    Beth: Thanks for the insight. Sounds like something out of a good book I read recently: “Do Hard Things” by nineteen-year-old twin brothers, Alex and Brett Harris.

  40. 90
    sburlin says:

    Hey there Miss Beth–this is one of the Noisy Boise girlfriends speaking here–can I tell you what a blessing to have your teaching on fear and where it comes from–there was so much there my hand could barely keep up with the important teaching you had for us here!! I soooo needed a word from God and I thank him for using your gifts and talents to minister to us–Noisy Boise can’t wait for your return–make it soon,and by the way, the worship team you have were awesome too!

  41. 91
    Karen says:

    This weekend in Boise with you was all that I had prayed it would be. Thank you so much for allowing yourself to be used so tirelessly for God’s work. You were a blessing in my life this weekend.

    Have a great week.

  42. 92
    April says:

    Thank you for coming to Boise, Beth. I walked out of the arena feeling as if a light from Heaven were radiating me with a glow – I couldn’t stop smiling. I’m certain passerbys thought my wide-grin an odd one, but hey – it was Jesus smiling at them through me!

    I remember you in 2001 when you were in Nampa and saw you again in Salt Lake in ’06. God is assuredly using you as a vessel despite the enemy’s attack. Be encouraged. You ARE extraordinarily gifted at ‘Talk’! 🙂

  43. 93
    Ceffie Haught in WV says:

    Love hearing how you spend your down time. It really let’s us know that you get to have time for you. I’m sure everyone is drained from the adreneline that is pumping while God is working through the entire team and you. There is no place like home though especially when your man and dogs are waiting for you.

  44. 94
    Mama Bev says:

    Beth,
    I’m going to read and read again this great post; as a recovering perfectionist, I was completely rabid about not passing on the addiction to my children! Praise God, though they all are “extraordinarily gifted” they are so aware that everything they have and are is because of God’s grace and is for His glory to be used for His purpose.
    My FOO and my FOF looked like a wide angle lens! It meant so much to me to hear you say that my ministry impact could be that wide as well. That has turned out to be true. I am nicknamed “mamabev” at church, and the girls just flock to me! God brings them because I am truly a miracle — a miracle of His grace and His mercy to entrust His gift to one so messed up and broken. He puts the pieces back together again, and makes a masterpiece, and I just can’t praise Him enough!
    We drove 8 hours from Oregon to be in Boise. I brought my youngest daughter (married 18 months now) and my “adopted” daughter (the youth pastor’s wife. They are truly my Timothys. We (and some other 20-somethings) have been meeting once a week for almost 2 years, studying, talking, just being together. They can ask me any questions, and I get to share my life and how special they are because of Jesus. They are serving, they are godly women, and so much smarter than I was at that age! How I longed for a Paul in my life! How humbled I am that He has entrusted me with these precious lives.
    Just keep serving Jesus, Beth; He has entrusted you with an extraordinary gift!
    Love,
    an Oregon siesta (yes, we should have worn t-shirts in Boise!)

  45. 95
    CrownLaidDown says:

    One of our favorite movies quotes is from The Incredibles, “They keep finding new ways to celebrate mediocrity.” Either we build our children up to celebrate something that isn’t really all that wonderful or we put the world upon their shoulders, because they are “gifted.”

    I think that the most important thing we can do for our children and for others is to speak truth over their lives–with blessing and hope and prayer.

    I am the child of a perfectionist/ super-mom and was frequently called “gifted” by parents and teachers.

    But you know what I do? I am a mom and a wife–and that is enough. I thank God for those, who spoke into my life at a young age in ways that have marked me to not try to be perfect or remarkable, just simply being what He made me to be, His very own treasure.

    I’m so thankful for the wonderful weekend you had dear Beth–thank you Jesus for answering prayers!
    Love,
    holly

    PS Have you read the new Mitford book? Did you like it??

  46. 96
    Anonymous says:

    I love the “I’m already great enough for both of us” that Jesus offers. Thanks for reminding us. His yoke is easy and His burden is light – and life.

    I am,
    Really Warm in Colorado (down here visiting my sister who just had a darling baby girl yesterday!!) but in a few days I’ll be back to my normal mantra of

    Warm in Alaska.

  47. 97
    InthemiddleofLIFE says:

    Thank you, thank you Beth for being faithful to say whatever God places in your heart after you process it with your head. I had just skipped right over that article in More (prob because I was racing to do the next thing on my list!) and needed to hear those words about getting detox’d from perfectionism.
    Especially at our age, I think, it is so easy to continually measure our years of sand in the hourglass against that fabricated goal instead of what He calls us to be: faithful. Keep teaching us!

  48. 98
    Anonymous says:

    Dear Mama Beth,
    Thank you for your post = it was a wonderful wrap up to the Noisy Boise event this weekend. I am going to have to print it out – it kind of tied up a few loose ends for me. Thank you! I came from Scappoose, OR. As it turns out, both the plane ride there AND back was half full of women from OR coming to see you.

    I had to chuckle at your need for magazine selections. Imagine my surprise on Thursday, when I opened my mailbox to a magazine called “BEER.” (no kidding!) Not only do I not drink beer, but I hate the taste and had never even heard of it before, and yet there it was with a tag with my name on it and everything. I have to say that I don’t think there are any profound articles with something great to share in it, but I did think it was funny. And no, I did not bring it on the plane with me to read = I didn’t think it would be quite appropriate!

    And by the way, I don’t think I will ever forget you “vacuuming” the stage…would you like to come vacuum my house – you look like a pro…just be sure to leave the guns at home…I laughed until I cried…

  49. 99
    Anonymous says:

    Mama Beth,
    Please, please, please post the commissioning from Boise. It was so emotional for me, that I can’t remember a single word. looking someone in the eye and saying those words was profound, yet I desperately need to remember them. Looking into my own eyes in the mirror will be even harder, and yet it is definitely something I need to do…along with getting some fibers up my nose…will you please post it? Thank you again for a wonderful weekend!

  50. 100
    Leslie says:

    “Gift without grit is a dang waste”
    Just the perfect message for me, (although I know we aren’t gonna do that perfection thing till we get to heaven, but it sure as heck was timely for this utah siesta).
    So thank you for pouring out that last bit of what you had to give into your blog so that once again God could use you to speak to us in the cyber siestahood!

    Leslie

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