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Trisha Keehn

Writer

Trisha Keehn is a creative writer fueled by a lifetime of faith. She is part of the Life.Church and YouVersion Bible App creative writing team, and uses her broadcast news background to help companies choose their words wisely. Trisha is a wife, mom, coffee connoisseur, lover of libraries, and a savvy traveler.

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The One Thing That Lasts Forever

Bill Hybels quote, trishakeehn.com, see where God takes you, push the throttle, challenge to live, life wide open to GodWhat are you going to do with your life that will last forever? How will you outlive your earthly accomplishments? Here’s what I know: people are the only thing that makes it to the next life.

This is your one and only life. What are you going to do with it?

Some need to give up the chase for more money, more accomplishments, and more thrill-seeking tales. Others need to make the choice to just let go of control and self doubt. How much clearance does God really have to call the shots in your life?

Bill Hybels says, “I challenge you to push the throttle as far as you can push it, and live your life wide open to God. See where He takes you. I have a feeling you’ll never regret it.”

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Holding Space With People

We live in a ‘me too’ community. It feels good to connect with someone who shares our struggles and experiences life like us. But when we’re hurting, ‘me too’ isn’t what we want to hear. Good intentions may be behind the phrases we use with hurting people. However, in a place of excruciating pain, good intentions are not welcome.

A few weeks ago my younger sister came to me with her struggles. The sadness and frustration she was experiencing moved my tears and emotions to say things I thought would heal the wounds. Instead, it hurt her heart.

How often do you try to step in and speak while someone is sharing a story of sickness and strife?

In the midst of turmoil, words will do more damage to a vulnerable soul than your own silence.

No matter what you sprinkle into the content that comes out of your lips, a troubled heart can’t hear the humanity in it when their focus is on the heartache. And that’s where many of us go wrong with our words when we try to talk to hurting people.

“Healer” is not your job title.holding space, trishakeehn.com

Our desire to feel close and connect with people may even find a story to artificially join in with ‘me too’ experience here. This is merely a self-centered strategy to shift the focus and create a shared conversation.

The reality is we can never fully understand someone else’s pain. It is physically impossible for you to experience their story in it’s entirety, no matter how similar the situations may be.

We have to step out of this tendency to view someone else’s struggle through the lens of our own evaluation. We operate out of what we want versus understanding what a distressed heart needs.

Healing happens when we hold space with people.

Compassion helps us lean in with our ears and get comfortable with the dead air.

It’s difficult. Sometimes I don’t see the ‘right’ in it. Then Jesus gives a little nudge. This isn’t about me. This is about my friend. What does she need?

Let me squeeze into this crawl space with her and see the circumstances from where she sits. Instead of calling her out of this place, I just need to climb in.

As you read this, maybe a friend came to mind who has been struggling through some desperate times. Go there. Climb into the darkness with her instead of calling her out.

Perhaps there’s a sting in your soul where you have fallen short of being a compassionate friend, like me. The conclusion to this story is that I went back to that place with my sister and used my knees to find her. Using less words and more tears this time, I admitted my wrongs and asked if I could join her. “So with a final breath in this quiet space, I want you to know that I am comfortable with dead air,” I whispered.

This post, Holding Space With People by Trisha Keehn, appeared first on LiftUpYourDay.com

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We Still Hope

Lord, I thank you for the gift of today. I choose to focus on what’s right and not dwell on what’s wrong.

God, I know that you are bigger than anything that I’m facing and that you have me in the palm of your hand.

I believe that every chain trying to hold me down is being broken right now in the name of Jesus. Every stronghold trying to stop me is being loosened in the name of Jesus.against all odds, we still hope, against all logic, hope, trishakeehn.com

Lord, You said what was meant for my harm, You turn and use for my advantage. So I shake off the burdens and declare that I have victory in Jesus. I put my shoulders back and hold my head up high.

I thank you Lord for all you’ve done in the past and I boldly confess that my greatest victories are still out in front of me. I let go of the old and take the limits off of You, Jesus.

I live from a place of peace and rest knowing You, my God, are for me… who can be against me?

This is my declaration, Jesus. I speak of your strength and joy rising up from the inside as I place my trust and confidence in You, Almighty God.

So breathe in my direction, Jesus. Comfort me in the disappointments and loss. Give me beauty for ashes. Restore my health. Rebuild my relationships and make me brand new. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Make this your declaration if you too need to let the devil hear it loud and very clear: Against all odds… Against all logic… we still have H O P E!

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The Hope In Your Hardship

God is here, God is closer than your bones, a new song will be on your lips, it is a new day, His light has surely comeEven with tears streaming down your cheeks, lift up your eyes and see that Heaven is closer than you know. Beloved, open your ears to a new song. His love can’t be undone. And though this won’t take away the wreckage you’re sorting through. The pain will still sting. There may be consequences you have yet to face. But you’re not stuck here.

Let these words wipe away a few tears; He’s closer right now than your skin and bones. He’s breathing deep into the broken parts and resurrecting a new life. Know that He will never leave you and His love won’t let you go. He is here.

Open your mouth and let your voice carry a new song. It is a new day. His light has surely come.

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The God of a Con-Artist

God is not just the God of good people. He is a God over all the failures and mess ups in humanity and He’s asking you to be something you think you cannot be and He wants you to do something you think you cannot do.

In Exodus 3, Moses was tending sheep when an angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Moses looked up and saw the bush burning, yet the brush was not consumed.

God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” God instructed Moses to take off his sandals on the holy ground. And then God shared this, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Wait, Wait, Wait… the God of Jacob?

Abraham was a friend of God. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him as righteousness.

Isaac was the promised miracle child. Isaac was a holy birth to a dead womb and the consequences of his father’s faith. Isaac was the culmination of Abraham’s faith.

But Jacob? Jacob’s name means trickster. Jacob was a con-artist and the black sheep of the family. Jacob was a disgrace to the holy dynasty.

It is shocking that God would be the God of Jacob. It is the anti-thesis of religion and an embarrassment to the church. Jacob was a mess. Jacob had a chaotic past and lived some questionable situations. Jacob didn’t always tell the truth. He was a result of a long line of con-artists.

Why would God associate himself with the character of Jacob? Maybe because there is a little Jacob in all of us.

In this place in the bible, God was trying to convince Moses that he could be used. Moses had murdered a man in Egypt and had been living as an outlaw for 40 years. Moses was stuck on his stutter. Moses didn’t think he could be used by God to speak to kings because he couldn’t talk right.

God is not just the God of those who live righteous all the days of their life and are virgins on their wedding day. He’s not just the God of the people who don’t smoke or get drunk.

There may be something you think disqualifies you from being used by God, but God is reminding you that He is the God of the Jacob too. He is the God of anyone who has made mistakes, been to jail, had an abortion, gone through bankruptcy, went through divorce, or was addicted to drugs and drinking. God is a God of rejected people, not just the pure and prestigious.

God called you and equipped you. God is going to use you with your deficiencies, your vulnerabilities and those insecurities. If you’ve been wounded, hurt, ostracized, and rejected, none of this will keep you from being used by God. You don’t need to try to fit in with people. God can use you right where you’re at. This is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

This is your time to step up, and take back what the enemy stole from you. Take back your joy, your peace, your spirit, and your confidence. Your eyes have not seen nor have your ears heard how the Lord is going to use you. God is getting ready to take you into another dimension of your destination.

If you have a story stocked with years of mistakes, mishaps, setbacks, rejection, and pain, I want you to know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is your God too. You are a recipient of God’s mercy and saving grace. Things in your life may have been delayed, but I want you to know that you haven’t been denied!

This post, The God of Jacob by Trisha Keehn, appeared first on LiftUpYourDay.com

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Don’t Let This Day Get Away

awaken your dreams, rediscover your passion, live today, reconnect with what is importantIn the rush of things spinning in your mind, my hope is that you have a chance to ‘live’ today. To be inspired to stop and look around with fresh eyes. To break out of the routine. To reconnect with all the things that are truly important to you. And to savor the joy and beauty around you.

My prayer is that you have an opportunity to reawaken your dreams, and rediscover your passion. God has exciting things for you in the future; don’t miss out on the wonderful gifts He has for you today.

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Slowing Down Saves Time

What I’m learning is how to live for longer stretches in the sweet seasons. Some hard choices have cleared a path for this space, like the bittersweet disconnect with a temptation to get twisted up in the minute by minute updates.

quiet place, rest, solitude, nevadaIt’s easy for me to get busy with my desires, someone else’s needs and the rest of the world’s suggestions. The fallout of that is a stressed out mind and a painfully stretched heart. My relationships work better when there’s carved out space to listen and laugh unbridled for hours.

We can save everyone some time by slowing down. When we live out of this sanctuary in our soul, we are more careful with conversations. We pause in places that a hurried life rushes past. We yield when there are question marks.

Mostly though, it’s the inner dialogue that consumes me the most. The endless chatter of my own thoughts. Which is why I must pump the brakes from time to time.

You can’t lead the world around you if you can’t harness your own soul. The core of your life incorporates your mind, your capacity to think, your emotions, your capacity to feel and even your capacity to choose. This is what makes our life so unique. The soul is the distinctness God gave us.

We work hard to take care of the framework on our house; the parts people can see. What are we doing for the gears that keep the lights on?

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:26)

Often we equate slowing down as missing out. But truthfully, when we merge into a slower lane, there is margin to savor the simple moments, like the sun throwing back the clouds at dawn and the crackle of a good campfire. This is grace. Grace with ourselves and grace with all those around us.

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Finish The Race

strength, you are strong to show up, you are fearless to finish, finish the race, trishakeehn.com

Michael Randolph, NAMI 5k run, winners circle

It was a bitter 38 degrees and though this was a 5k run we were about to tackle, runners were bundled up like we were about to build a snowman. With the wind and moisture, thermometers told us the ‘real feel’ was 29.

We were here to celebrate physical wellness and mental wellness and I brought 167 of my friends to run with me; there was no way I could back out.

Some didn’t show up to brave the chilly temps and others wrestled with their decision to even be at the start line. As the vicious air took a bite at my cheeks, I felt their pain. We were dressed in layers, including gloves, and the wind wasn’t letting up. Cold blasts clawed at the back of my throat and deflated the lungs more than anything. Tennessee’s pollen had noses all stuffed up. The odds were not favorable for a finish.

In the midst of the suffering pain, there was an unending persistence in my mind to get out of the ‘giving up’ head space and refocus on how my legs run without the resistance.

When that didn’t work… I started a conversation with Jesus about strength and encouragement to press through. He played back the words I told my teammates at the start line, “just focus on finishing. Walk it. Jog it. Run it. Whatever you need to do to finish. Not for a medal, but for you.”

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)strength, you are strong to show up, you are fearless to finish, finish the race, trishakeehn.com

Friend, you came to finish this race. That’s the goal. Don’t think about who’s way out in front or focus on the pain too long. This is between you today and you yesterday.

Fix your eyes on Jesus. 

Be kind to your soul. We can be our greatest enemy or our most encouraging friend.

When you catch your breath after digging into that finish line, you’ll probably be surprised by the stats at how well you actually did in this race. ‪#‎lifelesson‬

You’re doing better than you think. This physical endurance is building a mental perseverance. Keep going.

With each steady step, the end is one day closer. You’re almost there, Friend. Keep your head up, chest out and your shoulders pulled back.

In your faith. And fitness. With your family. As well as friends. At your job. And in the places that keep you leaning on Jesus.

You are strong to show up. You are fearless to finish.

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Even When…

Jesus is still there

In the story of those two men heading to Emmaus (Luke 24), Jesus walks up behind them on that dusty road and asks what the two are discussing.

“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” one of them says.

“What things?” Jesus asks. 

The men didn’t recognize this guest and go on to tell him about Jesus of Nazareth; his teaching and the powerful miracles he performed, the crucifixion three days ago and the wild stories about an empty tomb, though no one has seen Jesus.

Even when you walk away to wherever Emmaus is for you, a nightclub, the bar, another city, or in the middle of ‘nowhere’, Jesus isn’t far from you. He will meet you on that dusty road in the midst of your troubled heart and ask questions to help you sort out what doesn’t make sense.

We might look for Jesus in a moment of tragedy, an existential experience or at the crossroads in life but often don’t recognize His presence in the midst of our struggles. So you take a walk along a dusty road or have dinner with friends. Maybe you go back to work. When Jesus showed up after His resurrection, it was in these very common places for people.

where will this road lead you, dusty roads in life, our escape in life, Jesus asks us the tough questions, trishakeehn.com, will this satisfy youWe spend most of our lives escaping. We throw our hands up at our jobs, hurtful friends, and even our families. We run or keep it stuffed inside.

Eventually there will be questions. Jesus will ask you about where this road is leading and whether it’s enough to keep you satisfied. 

Consider it all joy when you go through trials of many kinds. (James 1:4)

Disappointment and defeat are the tools God uses to show you the way. Your difficulties are designed to produce perseverance and build up your faith.

Often we let the trials tear us down, though God means them for our good. Your trials grow you by developing character. We need to have enough courage to live in the struggles.

We’re not going to get to our destination any quicker by worrying, complaining or being frustrated.

When you place your joy in the source of your strength, Jesus, and not in the circumstance. you will survive and even thrive in the struggle. Even in the pain, these conflicts will be counted as your joy for what it is increasing in you, not decreasing.

Don’t let the defeat tear you down. God created you to go from strength to strength in these situations, not a mindset of struggle to struggle. 

Lastly, pay attention to your life, to the people, to the things that happen to you. This is how to experience Jesus. Don’t force it by reading into situations too much. Maybe just lean in with your ears when your thoughts want to speak. Or linger a little longer in a place of rest when reminders of the undone pull at your attention.

Here in the hard parts of life, beautiful and terrible things will happen. It’s easier to escape it, but don’t be afraid. Jesus is right there in your midst.