An Interview with Kat Lee {A Crazy Obedience Post}

This week for the Crazy Obedience series, I get to share a few real life stories from real life people who are living real lives of Crazy Obedience.

A few weeks back I attempted to calm some stomach-in-my-throat nerves, took a big gulp, and emailed Kat Lee. God so put her on my heart as someone I wanted to interview and ask about her life and what Crazy Obedience means to her. She emailed me back in less than 15 minutes.


I met Kat Lee at the Allume conference. I had no idea who she was until some of my fellow small bloggers used very hushed tones to inform me who that blogger was that I kept running into, "That's Kat Lee of Hello Mornings and InspiredToAction!" I replied with a very cool, "Oh," as though I knew exactly what all that was (I didn't).

I ended up taking her break out session at Allume, "How to Change the World during Naptime." I was inspired by her passion for Jesus and for empowering women to change their corner of the planet. I will never forget sitting in the break-out when someone asked her about earning an income blogging or with e-books. Kat Lee responded with a very meek, "I do it all for free. I do it because I love it and I believe in it and it's what God is asking me to do." This woman is the real deal! (And by the way, you can check out her FREE ebooks at her blog, InspiredToAction. They might just change you and your mornings ;)


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1. Would you tell us a little bit about your family? 

My husband Jimmy and I have been married for almost 14 years. Wow. I don't quite feel old enough for that to be true but it is. He is amazing. Strong, steady, wise - just what a man should be. I'm so thankful for him.

We have three kids. Two girls and a boy. We joke that he has three mothers.

My oldest girl is 10 and she is passionate. That is an immense challenge and profound blessing all wrapped up into one. I feel as though I've been given a superhero to raise and sometimes I'm not quite sure I'm doing her justice. But God is good and gracious, and I trust he will fill in all my gaps and use her incredible gifts for His glory. I love the deep conversations we are able to have about life and faith.

My youngest daughter is 8 and I think she is more responsible than I am. She is sweet and steady like her father. Her hugs are like Kryptonite against my ability to get her to bed on time. She is snuggly and adorable - with an inner strength that is not to be messed with.

My little boy is 5 and he is a handful of awesomeness. He has every female in our home wrapped around his little finger. He wants to be a doctor so that he can fund is race car driving career. 


2.  If, say, your parents took the kids for an hour, your husband was away working, and you had no obligations… how would you spend that hour of time?

If I was home alone…I'd play my favorite songs really loudly and play along on my guitar. Since my husband works from home, I'm rarely ever anywhere by myself. Not that I'm complaining. I LOVE that he is at home with us, but those rare occasions when I can turn music up loudly and be entirely by myself - those are quite the treat.


3.  What is the one “mom-job” you totally stink at or strongly dislike?

Cleaning. Particularly maintenance cleaning. If I'm going to clean, I'd rather clean up a disaster area that gives me a before and after transformation feeling of satisfaction. It's hard for me to clean…just to keep it clean. Weird, I know.


4.  What are your top 2 biggest fears?

Heights and throwing up. Consequently, I don't do carnival rides.


5.  Why do you do what you do online?

I love, love, love to encourage people. I love the idea of God using my simple words to ignite something in peoples' hearts that fuels change in their lives and their homes.


6.  Would you be willing to give us a glimpse into your walk with God? How does He speak to you? How do you “stay fresh?”

Honestly, I feel I hear Him best when I'm running or doing dishes. I can be a "Doer" - an energizer bunny that just keeps going and thinking. But when I'm running or doing dishes, my brain is quiet enough to listen.

I also love music and connect with God in the midst of worship.

I think the key for me, is just to take time to be still and listen for Him. He is always speaking.


7.  I would love to hear you define Crazy Obedience in your own words. What does it mean to you?

I think Crazy Obedience is doing something that doesn't make sense apart from God. It's doing something that can only be seen clearly through a lens of faith.


8. Can you think of a time when God asked you to do something that didn’t make sense to you?? Would you share what He asked of you? How did it turn out?

Actually, starting InspiredToAction was a step of crazy obedience for me. I knew God wanted me to focus the site on motherhood - helping and encouraging moms. But I never even knew my mom, and there are few things I know less about than motherhood. I had no idea what I was doing. But God knew I was passionate about it, and He has used it powerfully.

He used the blog to orchestrate my spot a Compassion bloggers trip to the Philippines so that I could meet my mother's family for the first time.

I love how He took my place of weakness and fear and used it as a story of His redeeming grace and goodness.


9.  I know you are a stay at home mom, as am I and many of my readers. We have talked about how crazy obedience can also be found in being intentional in each opportunity. Sometimes as a mom, it feels like our opportunities are few. How do you share Jesus and make disciples with kiddos and school and sports and dinner and cleaning and everything else a mom does in her day?? Is there anything you do (or don’t do) that you are very intentional about?

I'm in a season right now where I am very intentional about relationships. I want my children to see my relationship with God as I read the Word each morning. I want to bring them alongside and show them what walking with God throughout the day looks like (as best I can).

I also want to make sure that I always surround myself with a Paul, Barnabas and Timothy - people I'm learning from, walking with and investing in.

All the knowledge and books will never replace the value of one on one investment. By focusing on my daily connection with God, my kids and others I'm weaving accountability and mentoring into my day to day life. It's not always simple and it often requires me to step outside of my comfort zone, but the return on this simple investment has been profound.

It's not exactly wild, bold, move-across-the-world crazy obedience but I believe it's what God has called me to in this season of life. I want to intentional show my children how to lay the foundation to hear God and cultivate relationships that push us closer to Him.
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I loved how Kat defined Crazy Obedience. I also loved the story she shares in #8. Did you catch that? Talk about God using something that didn't make sense at the time and turning it around for His Glory and as a means of blessing!

What stood out to you as you read the interview??


By the way, um... if you haven't checked out HelloMornings or InspiredToAction... Do.That.Now. :)


By Grace,
Amanda Conquers


To read all the posts in the series, click the graphic.

I Jumped...

As a child I was painfully shy and had a hard time making friends. I remember one time in kindergarten; I got this idea that would change my friendless future. I would make a club!

I told all the girls in my class, “I am starting a club and it’s going to be super fun. No boys are allowed.” 

Girls from my class began flocking to me. “What are we going to do, Amanda?”

My response came out hesitantly; I really hadn’t thought it out that far. “We are… are… going to play jump rope!” And after a few minutes of jump rope, I declared, “Now we are going to… to… play link arms and take turns being the leader!”

After a few minutes of the follow-the-leader game one of the girls looked at me and said, “This game is stupid. What else can we do in your club?”

I couldn’t think. I was out of ideas. I stood there dumbfounded until another girl piped up, “Your club is boring. I’m going to start a way better and cooler club.” And just like that my 10 minutes in the sun ended. Every single girl left my club for the better and cooler club, and I was right back where I started, all alone.
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I think somewhere deep down in my heart of hearts, I worry my whole life will be like this. Trying and failing. I worry I will step out on one of the ideas that God’s placed in my heart, and He won’t meet me there. I worry someone will discover how flawed I am, how I don’t have all the answers, how I really don’t have any clue what I am doing other than that I think I am following Christ.

Perhaps even more difficult than the listening, than the obeying, is the now-what part of following Christ. “I did it, God. I heard You. I obeyed You. Now where are You? You are going to show up, right? You are going to catch me, right?”

I think of Peter who, upon seeing Jesus walking on the water, zealously asks if he can join Him. Peter gets out of the boat, he walks on water (WALKS on WATER!)… and then he sees the wind. Peter’s faith wavers. He wonders what he’s doing. He wonders what will happen. The what-ifs have a chance to catch up with him.

I got out of the boat. Now what?

Peter begins sinking, and as Jesus lifts him out of the water he asks, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Why do I doubt?

I’ve heard God. I’ve obeyed. And I worry He won’t see it through. I worry I will fail. I worry the storms of life will consume me or my family.

Jesus is in front of Peter. With him. And Jesus is before me. With me.

I am still the insecure girl worried that I am going to get left alone, that I am going to fail, that God won’t do what He promised.

I am like Peter, scared of wind.

In those moments I see the way I haven’t really surrendered myself. Because if I had surrendered my life, placed it fully in Christ’s hands, I wouldn’t doubt. I wouldn’t try to pick my life back out of Christ’s hands. I would allow Christ to have His timing, His way, His outcome. My eyes would stay set on Him.

Not only do you need to believe that God can… but you have to believe that God can in YOU, and through YOU.

Crazy obedience is releasing control. It’s letting go of past failures, mistakes and heartaches.

I give God my life.

And then it’s His.

“It is not I who lives but Christ who lives in me.”

As I think of this idea of taking a leap of faith, I think of the phrase “falling in love.” Faith is jumping even when you aren’t 100% sure of the outcome. Faith is trusting that God will catch you. And the more times I free-fall from my will into His, the deeper I fall in love with Jesus.

He. Has. Always. Been. With. Me.

And I am fallingin love with Him.

Amen.

By Grace,

Amanda

Photo Credit

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Five Ways to Leave a Legacy

 
I have this desire inside me to leave behind something that endures. Passing on to my children something that they can pass on to their kids that their kids can pass on to their kids. (I think you get it.) Legacy is a passing-it-on that keeps on getting passed on.

I think of all the ways God has been faithful, the way God rescued me, showered me in the riches of His love and mercy. I want my kids to know that they know that God is good, that He loves them, that He is faithful, that He is the greatest place to put all their hopes. I want that to be passed on.

I don’t just want the idea that God is faithful to get passed on, I want the specific times and places and ways too. God is writing my story, and my story is a part of their story.
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Join me over here where I am sharing a little of my own family history and 5 ways I am intentionally leaving a legacy that points to Christ. I would love to see you there!

A few weeks back Becky from Daye by Daye asked for guest posts on leaving a legacy. I knew God wanted me to share. I met Becky at the Allume conference when I was having one of my introverted moments. She plopped down next me and started a conversation. True to introvert form, we skipped the small talk and were instantly talking of life and trials and God. She was an instant friend and such a kindred spirit. I am so glad she decided to sit next to this occasional loner!  

When Everything You Do Feels Really Small...

I am a part of a discipleship group. We meet about once a week. There are 11 of us (5 couples and one young man whose love is away at school). A few weeks ago we talked about ways we can make disciples. We talked about intentional conversations and when and where to have them. We all took a one week challenge to try to have at least one of these conversations (you know, like the grocery clerk tells you her son is sick and you take the opportunity to insert Jesus into that conversation and pray with her.)

I didn’t have a single one of those conversations that week.

And I began to feel guilty. You’re going to do this series called crazy obedience and you can’t have one conversation about Jesus, Amanda?!

Can I just say this? It seems really hard to be a crazy-obedient, disciple-making, Jesus-follower when you are a stay-at-home mom in the thick of cheerios, don’t talk with your mouth full, please don’t climb the bookshelf son, yes I will take you to the park, dishes, dinner, and bedtime… the part of motherhood that is so full of joy and kisses but also full of busy-at-home work.

So before hurdling myself headfirst into the throws of you’re-not-good-enough, you’ll-never-get-it-right… I made a list. I began thinking of every intentional and obedient thing I had done that week, no matter how small it might have looked. 

• When my kids and I drove by a home with an ambulance and we saw a stretcher going into the home, we prayed out loud for that family and the EMT’s.
• I sat and listened instead of rushing off when someone clearly needed to share their troubles...even though I was already late.
• I took a coffee to a friend and we spent time fellowshipping and encouraging each other.
• I took my kids on a few walks to the park. One time, we invited a new friend to join.
• I extended grace and spoke kindly to a slow grocer clearly having a rough day.
• I asked my husband for a few hours away so I could spend time with God.
• I made sure I text a reminder to a girl who had reached out to me and wanted to go to church.
• I scheduled help in the preschool class at church even though it was my week because I just really needed to be in service.
• I asked two teenage girls to sit by me at church.
• I looked people in the eyes and smiled at them when I was about my weekly errands.
• I brought my husband into my struggles and decisions. I allowed him to be the head of this family.

Let’s not compare lists, my gifts are different than yours, my life, my call… but do you see it? Little things done with intention.  Little things that could become big things… if God wills it.

Crazy obedience isn’t just Abraham’s moment, “Get you to a land that I will show you…” It was the daily walking it out too, the little steps in his journey. When we tell God, “Anything,” I can just about guarantee that at some point you will have a big moment, a moment that will terrify you, that won’t make much sense, a moment where you fully need God to show up because whatever it is is far too big for just you… and then there are the little daily moments. Moments that might feel insignificant,  but moments where you have the chance to practiceobedience. 

{I do believe obedience is a practice.}

Each one of those little moments with your kids help grow them into a disciple and future disciple maker.

Each one of those little conversations with the people in the grocery line has the potential for God to enter it and alter you both.

Each one of those enjoyable conversations with a friend encourages and fills you both up.

Crazy obedience is living with your life open to God, living each moment as though God could show up... and, really, He is here with me, with you. And God doesn't look at the size of the obedience... He looks at the heart. It isn't about having something to prove that you really are a follower of Christ, it's about walking in-step with Christ and trusting Him each step of the journey. Sometimes the craziest thing you can do is know that God wants you and is proud of you even when you feel like everything you do is so small. (Remember grace isn't earned.) Little acts of obedience done with God grow into big things.

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…” Zechariah 4:10

Do you ever feel insignificant or like you just do a small thing? Have you read some of this series and wondered if you could ever really be “crazy obedient?” Maybe consider writing your own list of everything you do with intention this week?

By Grace,

Amanda

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The One Thing That Will Always Get in the Way of Crazy Obedience

What if I get it wrong? 

This question often plagues me as I raise my children, as I write my blog posts, as I share the gospel following a prompting to bring God into my conversation. I worry that something I think God is asking me to do will end in a whole lot of laughter on the other person’s part, “Seriously, you thought God would heal me? I’m not even sick. You don’t hear God at all!”

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I was 18 years old, a freshman in college. I was serving as a leader in the youth ministry and co-leading a girl’s Bible study. I really, really, really wanted to find “the one” and get married. One night, after leaving a college-age Bible study, I was driving home, and the thought crossed my mind, “What if Jake is God’s will for my life?” In fact, I thought God told me that Jake was the man I would marry. 

That revelation was followed by a year-long rocky relationship that was stopped 6 months before our would-be wedding. 

I remember trying to force that relationship. I remember thinking something was wrong with me when I didn’t find Jake attractive. I must struggle with lust or something. Or what if I’m some kind of prude? I really thought I was following God’s plan for my life.

I thought Jake believed I was the one. I thought my pastor’s believed we were supposed to be together. I thought that since I had once been told I would marry a minister that surely that meant Jake was it—he was a youth pastor after all. 

I remember when I broke it off. I can’t describe the sense of freedom that I felt, the clarity after all that confusion. Jake thought I was cold and heartless, I felt like I had just been released from prison.

As sure as I was that I was not supposed to marry Jake, I had once been so sure that God wanted me to marry him. I really thought I heard God. Inside me, this lurking underlying question plagued me: If I thought I heard God tell me Jake was “the one,” and Jake really isn’t, then how can I know whether I am hearing God’s voice or not? What if I don’t really hear Him? What if I keep getting it wrong?

It felt like my faith had been shattered.

It felt like the ground I had been standing on was shaking beneath my feet.

Besides the way that God shaped my perception about this elusive “the one” that I had been seeking after so desperately (I do believe that’s a conversation for another time), God did a work in my heart. I might have felt like my faith was shattered, but it was really my pride. I learned so much in the aftermath of the collision of my pride with God’s Ways.

• I got to see the way God can work all things together for His glory, even my missteps. God IS that Big. God used this painful place in my life to work a miracle. (You can read about it here.)
• God never left me. In fact, the closer I got to my wedding day, the louder God’s warnings were. Somehow, it solidified in me just how much I can trust God. Even if I get it wrong, His love does not fail. He is relentless in His pursuit of me.  
• I got to see the way my pride stood in the way of me and God. I wanted to trust in my own ability to hear God. I wanted to be able to make sense of what I thought God told me. Deep down, I wanted to be in control.I wanted everything to appear nice on the surface, more than I wanted the deep-down, soul-touching-spirit part of me to be okay.
• I saw just how flawed and imperfect I am. And with that I saw God wrap me up in the everlasting arms of His Grace.
• I learned God's Will isn’t something you need to prove to God, but rather something He will prove to You.
• I learned to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling.
• Knowing what it's like to walk out-of-step with God makes it a whole lot easier to know what it is to walk in-step with God.

The part where I am prone to getting it wrong makes me lean all that much closer into Jesus. With each misstep, my pride shrinks. I know how much I need my Savior. I cling to Him.

I can’t save the world. I didn’t come with that power. Only Jesus.

I might get it wrong and feel like a complete idiot, but this is where I lay it down and say, “Not for my glory, but for His Glory.”

This girl who really likes to be right is learning to release that need and just stay low. Stay willing. Stay close.

I am but as Heidi Baker says, “just His vessel in the dirt.” I am but earth and clay and it is when I am low and humble that I can shine for Him. I have to pick up my cross daily and follow Him. I have to battle my pride daily. Pride will always get in the way of crazy obedience.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves." 1 Corinthians 4:7

"If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm." Psalm 37:23

"The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights."
Habakkuk 3:19

By Grace,

Amanda Conquers

Photo Credit

To read all the posts in the series, click the graphic.

On Listening

We live in a fast-paced world. So many things demand our attention: our kids, the husband, the facebook notifications, the phone call from a friend, the messy house, the full calendar, the stack of books on the nightstand that you promised yourself you would read this year, the 124 pinned projects you want to do and the 301 pinned recipes you want to try… It’s so easy to never slow down, to never stop. Life is loud. Life can easily be lived in a hurry.

And hurry will thwart your ability to listen. 

Hurry shouts over God’s still quiet voice.

Hurry actually believes that everything on the list of things to do is more important than stopping to listen. If God really wanted my attention, He wouldn’t give me so much to do. 

Hurry is self-centered. Hurry worries about appearances. 

Hurry shines the vase, but leaves the inside dusty.

I love the story of Mary and Martha. Martha toils and she does and she hurries and she thinks she’s doing something important. And yet, there is Mary… sitting, fellowshipping, knowing and being known by Jesus. And Mary chooses the better thing. Lunch wouldn’t have been prepared, the table wouldn’t be set, the house would be a mess, and Mary chose the better thing.

Martha treated Jesus like an honored guest in her home. Mary treated Jesus like a long lost friend, someone she just wanted spend time with before she did a single other preparation. And Jesus so clearly tells Martha how He wants to be treated: not as guest, but as friend.

Jesus wants to be known.

I am such a doer. I am task-oriented and a little type-a. I try to earn my Grace that was freely given to me. I tire myself out. But God beckons me, “Come and sit at my feet. Be refreshed. Know me. Let me be apart. Would you stop doing for me and start doing with me?”

This morning, I spent my time reading my Bible and praying. I sat down at the computer to begin writing, and I heard that still small voice, "Will you spend more time with me?" For a second, I wanted to protest: what if I don't get anything written? I have things to do. And God's gentle reminder, "Is it more important than me?" That extra time with God allowed me to see the glowing red orb of the the rising sun piercing through barren winter trees. I sensed His presense. I heard Him speak. I have learned I can do so much more with so much less, when I set aside for the Lord.

Listening is a waiting. Listening is tuning-in, it may even require that you change your location. Listening is a setting aside. 

Listening is stepping away from the hurry, from the noise of life. Listening is choosing the better thing.

A woman who listens is a woman who truly loves and desires God above all else.

Maybe today is the day to start choosing the longest line at the grocery store, to take that walk just because you long to hear God, to close the door to your bedroom and then the closet door and sit in the quiet and cry out for God to meet you where you are even if for but a few minutes. Maybe today is the day to pull over on the side of the road when you are already running late because you hear God beckoning to you thru the wild beauty of His creation.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew 13:44

Would you chime in? Are you more of a Mary or a Martha?

By Grace,

Amanda

Photo Credit 


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On Spaghetti-Noodle Minds and 7 Ways a Woman Can Maximize Her Time with God

It is said that men are waffles and women are spaghetti. Men have compartments for everything, a time and a space for work, for family, for fun, and even for nothing.

Women are completely different. Everything is connected to everything. We long for quiet time and space. We do not understand when our husbands tell us they are thinking about nothing. We clean our houses while we worry about the problem our friend told us about earlier that day while our kids ram their push toy into our vacuum. We sit down and talk with a friend. We start off talking about the vacation she just had, which leads the vacation we wish we had, which leads to the discipline we think our children might need, which leads to the mess in our houses, which leads to the in-laws, which leads to what we have started eating for breakfast… (I think you get it).

When everything flows into everything how does one set aside time for listening? How does one quiet her mind? How does one meet with God?

Because really, how can one be crazy obedient without the words of God to guide?

I came up with a list of ways to set up your time with God that will maximize that time and draw you closer to Him.

1. Allow God to flow into everything
   Realizing that because I am a woman and everything flows into everything, God can flow into everything. Sacred time and space is important, but who says time with God can’t be in the dishes, or the vacuuming, or the errands I am running. I make it a practice to invite God into every part of my day… because the beautiful gift we have in being a women—when everything relates to everything—we can connect God to every part of our lives relatively easy. We can take God WITH us.
    
2. Pray where your mind wanders.
   I suffer from a wandering mind. For example, I might be praying but all of a sudden my mind wanders to my friend’s troubles and I am thinking of what I can say to her and no longer having a conversation with God. I am learning that God can go with my thoughts. Instead of feeling less spiritual for being a day-dreamer during my prayer time, I invite God into my dreams. I pray for whatever it is I catch myself thinking or worrying about.
      
3. Keep a notebook with you
   If you are anything like me, when you sit down to pray and read your Bible, everything you have to do for the day pops into your mind. If you don’t write it down, you worry you will forget and so you keep it in your thoughts. Keeping a notebook allows you to write your thought down so you can address it later. It helps keep the space cleared and sacred for you and God.
    
4. Pair Time with God with something you enjoy
   The BEST advice I ever got for how to set aside time with God, is to pair that time with something I already enjoy. I can’t tell you how easy it is for me to wake up earlier and spend time with God when I pair it with an iced latte with a tiny bit of chocolate added. I love that coffee. I look forward to that coffee. Because of this, my time with God has become favorite part of my day. It is not some kind of Christian chore to check off my list. It is easy for me to get up early and give God the first part of my day. (It should be noted: I am not naturally a morning person... at all.)
    
5. Connect with God where you connect easiest with God
   My mom has a special chair. I love being outside or behind the lens of a camera. I have heard of runners that connect with God through the pressing-thru of a run. I have a friend that needs a room flooded with worship music. I have a hard time connecting with God in my living room… I see the toys, I worry about waking up my kids, I worry my husband is going to walk in. Sitting outside in the cool of morning is where I most easily connect with God. Driving on back country roads, noticing beauty and pulling my car over to snap a picture is a way I naturally connect with God.
    
6. Don’t just pray, read the Word.
   The Bible is full of His words, so not only can God speak to you through the Bible, but you learn to recognize the sound of His voice. Study the Bible in a way that works for you and your attention span. Meditate on a verse at a time, read a chapter a day, the Bible in a year plan… I often use the inductive method. I read a book at a time, a bunch of times, however much I can a day (anywhere from a few verses to 5 chapters). I learn the history, the author, find the key phrases and words, notice themes, take notes all over the page. If I set myself to read a chapter a day, I fail because my brain wanders. I love history and analyzing… I was a literature major in college. This way of study works for me. I enjoy it.
    
7. Make it a Habit.
   I have heard it said that it takes 21 days to make something a habit. So, every year for the last 3 years I have set aside 21 days for prayer and fasting. I get up earlier. I give God a very intentional and focused hour of my day. This 21 day reboot digs me out of the rut my routine with God has become. It replaces the bad habits I may have acquired over the past year with good ones. So I guess my challenge to you would be to set your prayer time exactly how you would want it to go and do that for 21 days straight, and maybe even consider a fast to go along with it. Every year the 21 days is challenging, but I grow in my relationship with God by leaps. I come out of it refreshed, recharged, and able to easily give God space in my life everyday.

Is there anything from this list that you would like to implement?

What would you add to this list?


By Grace,
Amanda

Photo Credit 

Just click the graphic to see all the posts in this series.