Ann – Page 13

4 Ways to Practice Sabbath This Year… (or, 4 Ways to Be More Thankful)

January 6, 2016 by Ann Leave a Comment

This is the start of my newest piece for RELEVANT Magazine.
You can read the full article here.

Many of us have just finished a busy year, full of work, obligations, relationships, and opportunities.

These things are good and meaningful, and we wouldn’t want to live our lives without them. But a lot of us are also intensely busy much more than we should be. We assume that we should be busy or that a busy life is inevitable.

But while there will always be seasons of our lives that are necessarily more demanding than others, they should be just that—seasons that come and go, not indefinite periods of time.

Why? Because chronic busyness can inhibit our ability to live attentively, and attentiveness is one of the clearest ways we have to acknowledge and encounter God’s presence in our daily lives. When we’re too busy to slow down, it becomes very easy to miss what God is doing in the regular, hum-drum monotony of our lives. And really, that’s the only place we can actually encounter God: here and now, today.

Chronic busyness can inhibit our ability to live attentively and encounter God's presence in our lives. Share on X

Here are four ways to slow down and pay attention to God’s work in the middle of our normal lives—ways that can strengthen our faith in God’s goodness and love every day.

Pay Attention to What You Have

If you’re like me, then you assume you’re thankful for what you have. But when I actually make the time to slow down and think about what I have—and then speak my gratitude out loud, in prayer or praise, I often find myself overwhelmed with what God has given to me.

Yes, I am thankful for the heat in our apartment. Yes, I am thankful for the gas in my car. Yes, I am thankful for the water that runs like a river from my sink. Yes, I am thankful for eyes that see and for glasses that help me. Yes, I am thankful for my work and my family. Yes, I am thankful for a salvation I could never earn, a Love I can never outrun. Yes, yes, yes.

I am thankful for a salvation I could never earn, a Love I can never outrun. Share on X

Paying attention to all I have—already—turns my heart toward Jesus in thankfulness. I may not have all I want, but I have so much more than I deserve, all because of God’s love and mercy to me. Paying attention helps me encounter Him afresh.

Read the rest of the article here, at RELEVANT!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Ann Swindell, eucharisto, how to sabbath, I'm overwhelmed, living with thankfulness, pay attention to my life, paying attention, Relevant Magazine, Sabbath, thankful for God, thankfulness, what is a sabbath, where is God in my life, writing for Relevant

Embracing Change: The Pearl of Joy

January 4, 2016 by Ann Leave a Comment

This is the start of my newest article for (in)courage.
You can read the entire article here!

This last year was a whirlwind of change for me. Our family uprooted from the city we had lived in for over a decade—the city where my husband and I fell in love, the city where we found our first jobs, the city where we figured out life as newlyweds, the city where we navigated serious sickness and struggle, the city where our daughter was born. We had a home there, and not just a physical one. Our community, our church, our jobs—we had a place that we knew, and people who knew us. We were settled.

And then, God.

God opened a new door for us, one that we knew we were meant walk through. My husband had the opportunity to go to graduate school, and that meant moving to a new state, finding a new home, and starting a new life where we hardly knew anyone. It meant, essentially, change.

For me, change has always felt gut-wrenching, difficult, gear-grinding tight. I have never loved change; I have usually avoided it.

But this past year felt like a gift unwrapped for me, given by my heavenly father. Because I found, for the first time in my life, that I was not terrified of the unknown. What I experienced this past year, as I prayed for help to accept and embrace the changes we were facing, was grace.

Read the rest of the article over at (in)courage!

And sign up here to receive free daily encouragement from the writers of (in)courage, right in your inbox!

Filed Under: God, Guest Post, Life, Marriage Tagged With: Ann Swindell, change, embracing change, guest post, how do I deal with change, incourage, incourage writer, joy, my soul is tired, obedience, obedience leads to joy, where is God in hard times, writing for incourage

Seeing the Year with Thankful Eyes: 2015 Highlights

December 29, 2015 by Ann 2 Comments

‘Tis the season for year-end round ups, lists of favorites, and reflecting on the last year. I love this time of reflection between Christmas and New Year’s Day–it’s a short window in which many of us take time to think about what’s happened in the last twelve months and start to dream about what’s ahead.

And I love this week. Why? Because before we set our sights on the new year, it is very important to thank God for all that has passed–for his presence, his goodness, and his faithfulness to us for another year. We need to do this, not because God needs it, but because our souls need to recount all that has done.

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. [Psalm 9:1]

When we recount the Lord’s goodness, it moves our soul to thank him–fitting praise for our Creator!

When we recount the Lord's goodness, it moves our soul to thank him. Share on X

For me, this blog post is one of the ways I am recounting his wonderful deeds to me and our family this year. We have to much to praise him for!

The past year was a year of change for our family, and it was hard in many ways. But it was also very good–and I am thankful for all of it, because it drew us to Jesus.

We moved to another state for my husband’s graduate work.

I left my teaching job at Wheaton College.

We endured serious sickness but emerged healthy.

Michael and I celebrated nine years of marriage!

God provided for our family in miraculous ways.

I signed my first book contract with Tyndale House!

I launched my online writing course, Writing with Grace (class starts in January!).
I also had some writing highlights that I’d love to share!

One of my pieces for RELEVANT reached a very wide audience and was their most-read article the week it was published.

My honest piece about parenting was named as one of Today’s Christian Woman’s top articles for 2015.

I got to write for the Redbud Post–the publication of the Redbud Writers Guild that I’m honored to belong to.

I wrote one of the pieces I’m most proud of for Today’s Christian Woman, about how I’m learning to accept my own body by teaching my daughter to love hers.

I was able to write for (in)courage a couple of times and always love sharing my words there.

Thank you for joining me here in this space. I’m grateful for all God has done and I look ahead to all that he will do in this coming year! What are you thanking him for?

Filed Under: About, God, Life, Marriage Tagged With: Ann Swindell, author, choosing gratefulness, eyes of gratitude, Writing

How to Let Winter Revive the Soul

December 18, 2015 by Ann Leave a Comment

[This is the start of my newest article for Darling Magazine.
Click here to read the whole piece!]

Winter is upon us, now. The air hollows itself out, offering only cold and wind. The ground is freezing, slowing, and stalling its growth. Grass browns, trees harden. Earth, it seems, pauses.

Perhaps we would be wise to do the same.

Winter arrives, for many of us, in a bustle of activity: Holidays and more holidays, parties and more parties, gifts, clothes, decorations, busyness. Much of this is fun and exciting, but the reality is that after these holidays are over, we often find ourselves more exhausted than we were before.

What if, instead of getting caught up in the rhythms of everyone around us this year, we intentionally approached this winter with a decision to pause? To rest? To hibernate? What if we sought to take a cue from nature and slowed down this winter, instead of pushing ahead?

While we can’t exactly hibernate and sleep for most of the winter (although at times we might wish that we could!), we can take a lesson from the pause of nature and the hibernation of bears to reconsider how we might approach the winter season through both rest and rejuvenation.

We need seasons of rest every year — pushing too hard can hurt our creativity and our health. Share on X

REST

Trees: In nature, we see that trees stop flowering. They are in a state of dormancy; their growth slows and even stops in some cases. This dormancy is actually a good sign for the tree, as it is a normal part of its life cycle and important for the tree’s overall health.

The same is true with us. We need seasons of rest every year — pushing too hard can hurt our creativity and our health. This winter, we can allow ourselves to press pause on our continual pace of productivity and rest. Consider a “staycation” or a couple long weekends where you intentionally let your mind and body rest, rather than work. This will set us up well to leave the winter season rested and ready for the creativity and life that comes in the spring.

Read the rest of the article here, at Darling Magazine!

Image via Madison Holmlund.

Filed Under: Guest Post, Life Tagged With: hibernation, how do i revive my soul, i want to hibernate, life in winter, my soul is heavy, rejuvenating in winter, soul, winter

Five Ways to Keep Jesus Central this Holiday Season

December 8, 2015 by Ann 1 Comment

Life doesn’t stop in any season, especially during the busy Christmas season full of t0-do lists, parties, shopping, and, (hopefully!) worship opportunities. So how can we still try to focus our hearts in a deeper way on the presence of God in our lives, especially during Advent? How can we attend to how he is moving and how we are (or are not) responding to his love?

Here are some simple steps that I’ve found are helpful to stay close to Jesus in the busy days of Advent:

1. Start with Scripture. It sounds simple, but it can also be very hard to read the Word regularly. I have found, for me, that when I start my day in the Bible, my heart and mind are better prepared to respond to God’s presence throughout the rest of the day. Aligning my mind and heart with his Word in the morning is like tying up my shoelaces before going out the door—it’s much easier to keep from slipping as I walk through the day. If this isn’t a normal part of your life, that’s ok! Start by reading just a few verses at a time, and ask God to speak to your heart with his truth.

2. Pray as you go. It is important to have regular time set aside to pray, but as in any relationship, ongoing communication is important. I often pray in shorter bursts while I’m driving, or while I’m walking across campus to my classroom, or while I’m picking up toys in the house. I had a professor in college who prayed for a particular person each time he turned on a light switch, and I love that idea of partnering normal, daily actions with intentional prayer. Prayer doesn’t need to be fancy or long—just honest communication with God.

3. Pause when you feel overwhelmed. This is an important one for me. There are often multiple times every day where I can feel overwhelmed, anxious, or concerned—usually about things that are outside of my control. If I take time to pause and turn to God when these moments come, rather than letting fear or anxiety overtake me, I find that he has never left my side, and He is always offering me his peace, which is bigger than any fear (Phil. 4:6-7). The time it takes me to pause and pray is always shorter than the time it takes me to be worried about something for another five minutes—or five days!

4. Listen to Truth. In our home and in our cars, Michael and I play music that reminds us of God’s presence in our lives. Music seeps into my mind more easily (and mindlessly) than most things, so if I find myself humming a tune unintentionally, it helps my soul if it’s a song that reminds me of who God is and how he loves me. If you don’t love listening to music, find a radio station or audio book that declares the truth of who God is and listen to it in your car or while you’re working out.

5. Place reminders of God’s love and presence in your home. I am a visual learner, and it helps my heart when I have visual reminders of God’s heart in my house, my office, and even in my car! You can go the fancy route and buy (or paint) a representation of a Scripture and hang it up in your kitchen or bedroom, or you can write a favorite verse on a sticky note and put it by the radio dial in your car. Choose a Scripture verse that is meaningful to you and let it remind you of God’s particular love for you and attention to your life.

How do you keep your heart close to Christ during Advent? I’d love for you to share your insights!

This post is a holiday version of a previously published blog post on my site.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Ann Swindell, Christmas, faith, Focusing on Jesus, God, how do I stay close to Jesus, how do I stay close to Jesus during Advent, I feel anxious, I feel overwhelmed, Jesus, Keeping Christ in Christmas, my soul is tired, Praying as you go, Scripture on my walls, spiritual practices for Advent, Writing with grace

Writing with Grace: One Day Left!

December 1, 2015 by Ann 1 Comment

If you’ve been thinking about signing up for Writing with Grace, now’s the time!

Registration for the Writing with Grace course is only open for one more day. Just one! Take a moment and consider about how your life–and the lives of those around you–could be impacted if you invested in your writing.

If you’re struggling in your calling as a writer, it might be because you haven’t given yourself time to grow as a writer. It becomes too easy for us to push our dreams and callings into the margin of our lives, telling ourselves that “the timing isn’t right” or that “we can’t spend too much on ourselves.” We will willingly pour our time, resources, and energy into others–and that’s a good thing.

But it’s also a good thing to invest in your gifts and in your calling.

Writing is a gift that the Lord has given to you so that you can impact others in His name–with his love and his truth. It’s not selfish or self-seeking to pour time and resources into your calling as a writer. I truly believe that when our hearts are centered on Christ, writing with and for Him is a deeply important Kingdom assignment.

This is why I care so much about this course, and why I believe in it so deeply–because I know that when we grow as writers who are focused on Jesus, it will impact the world with the love of Christ. That’s worth investing in.

Join me and head over to Writing with Grace to read about the course schedule–and imagine how you might grow as a writer this winter.

Photo by Ann White Photography

You can watch the classes live, re-watch them late at night or during nap times, and hear from editors at (in)courage, RELEVANT, and Darling Magazine.

We’re going to have a wonderful, powerful time together this January through February. It’s worth it to invest in your calling as a writer–because your words and your story matter in the Kingdom.

Head over to www.writingwithgrace.com and secure your spot for class.

There’s only one day left to sign up, so don’t put this off!

I can’t wait to see you there.

[If you know of a friend or family member who might be interested in Writing with Grace, pass it along today and don’t let them miss out on this course. Or, give the class as a gift–and make someone’s Christmas that much richer!]

Filed Under: God, Life, Writing Tagged With: Ann Swindell, Christian writing, faith, how do I write as a Christian, online writing class, writing class, writing for Jesus, Writing with grace