Doing versus Being: The Mary/Martha Question

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Distraction. 

This is a BIG problem for me. 

I turn on the computer to write and the next thing I know I am playing a game, watching a video on YouTube and checking my Facebook. 

Life is full of distractions. 

Kids, spouses, broken down cars, illness....I could go on, but you get the point. 

What is important? What is essential? 

Mary and Martha learned this lesson from Jesus himself. Martha was distracted. Martha was busy cooking, cleaning, preparing and in general serving her guests (Jesus and the crew) while Mary just wanted to spend time with her friend and Lord. Jesus said Mary got it right. Martha missed the mark. 

Been there. Done that. Didn't even get a T-shirt. 

Recently, talking to a friend, we discussed the "busy work" of ministry. He kept saying "I've seen more done with less." He meant that our bulletins, video productions, and other "stuff" of ministry are not the things that change lives, but Jesus is. An encounter with God is what grabs our attention and keeps it: not the stuff we get handed before a service starts. Sometimes the "production" of ministry can be a distraction. 

So why do we get caught up in the doing, when getting into God's presence the thing we should be seeking. 

I know I risk sounding a little too "zen", but we are humans and we need to be a little more "be"ing (human be-ing).  

We should be getting into His presence and just being ourselves. All that entails. The good, the bad and the ugly. Let God change us from the inside out. He knows when we are "faking" it for everyone else anyway, right? 

What people see, (the busy work- the distracting things) has nothing on the time we spend in our Father's presence. It has nothing on communing with God in spirit and in truth. It is putting on a show. Real life lived in God's presence is more important than living with the stuff you have or think you should have as a Christian. 

So let go of the distractions for a moment and really just be. Welcome God's presence and just sit there at his feet for a moment. Choose what is vital and important and let the busy work go. 

Now, how does that feel? 

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True Confessions of a Christian Blogger

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Let's Get Real

In the moments when I feel undone, when I am at the end of my self and feel unable to give anything else, I learn that God’s grace is truly sufficient.

By writing almost every day I have learned more of what I do believe and what I have yet to learn. I have reached the end of “me” many times since starting this blog. Every time that has happened, God has honored His word, and His grace was enough.

Writing is not glamorous. Sometimes, it isn’t even fun. Yet, when I do not write I feel like I have missed something; like dreaming you have no pants on at work, which is just weird.

The last nine months have stretched me like never before. I have worried about comma splices and I have worried about hacking up the Word. I have worked out my faith in front of you and I have struggled. I have shown you the world’s most unflattering picture of myself on this blog and I have been raw and open about my past and about my present.

Soon the year will be up. I have only a few more months to share with you and I wonder if I should continue doing this beyond that time.

I have written about marriage issues in the church, how to set priorities, finding your purpose, following your dreams, and my everyday foibles. Some posts have gotten wonderful responses, and some things have barely registered.

I have never “gone viral” but I have typed away while battling a virus. I have gotten up at five a.m. and I have prayed over this endeavor many times.

Now, I am sick of “I”.

How do I write stories that are effective? How do I reach more people? Should I keep doing more of the same or should I stop when the year is up?

When I read Jon Acuff’s Quitter I burned from within to get to the “next” thing. Then I read You are a Writer by Jeff Goins and I knew I am a writer, and this is what I was called to do. Next came Michael Hyatt and Platform. I began to focus on building an audience, on gathering a following, on publishing my name.

I am sorry. 

I am not enough. I never was and never will be. I am not the solution to any problem; I am not some all-knowing swami, and I am not some big time minister: I am just me, Dayna.

I struggle with my temper and my kids have their own set of issues and rebellions. I struggle with maintaining friendships and over the course of the last nine months I feel like I have turned into a whiney baby. You have been there through it all. Thanks for that.

If you have gotten anything out of this blog, and I hope you have, I want you to know, it has very little to do with me and everything to do with my Father.

He gave me a gift. I have struggled to use it correctly. He has given me favor where I deserved none. He has given me ideas when my mind was bogged down by emotional clutter.

Ultimately, He will be the one that says keep going forward or stop. For now, we have three more months together, and I will keep plugging away to bring you content that hopefully speaks to you.

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The Journey From the Bottom of the Totem Pole to Living Your High Calling

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What is your “High calling”?

I say it is this: To live your best life for Jesus out loud wherever you may be.

Are you a busy business professional? Then live your best life out loud for all the other busy professionals to see.

This may mean praying over your lunch in the break room, or choosing not to pass the buck when you make a mistake, or giving credit where credit is due, even if doing otherwise would advance your career.

Are you a mom and home maker? Then speak life into your kids. Pray over them. Teach them to love Christ. Show them they are valued and lead them to a greater relationship with our Father. This is your high calling.

Are you an artist? A Musician? A Singer? A Writer? Then live out loud! Use your talent as an amplifier of God’s love and purpose for you.

Whatever you are, wherever you may be there is ministry to be done: a high calling to live.

Everyone Has a High Calling! 

I am not saying "be obnoxious" when I say “live out loud”. I am saying be alive! Be a light on the hill. Shine where you are. If you think you have no real calling then you are mistaken.

You may never be an apostle, or a preacher. You may never preach to pigmies in another land, or have your songs heard by millions on the radio, but that does not count you out!

God has a purpose for you and it starts where you are.

When Jesus was preaching to the 5000 on the hillside that day, the disciples came to him and asked “How are we going to feed all these people?” Jesus replied, “Well, what have you got?” (Read it in context here)

He started with what they had: five loaves and two fish.

Start where you are. Live out your best life for Christ. As He blesses it, you will see multiplication like never before.

God Read my Mail!

Some years ago I was pretty angry about being the “low man on the totem pole” at the church where my husband was on staff. We had made plans as a family for an upcoming Saturday, but had been told during a Wednesday night service that we would be required to be at the church working all day, on his day off…for no extra pay. The attitude of my heart was horrible. I felt indignant. I felt used. I got upset.

When I walked forward to get prayed for (because I truly needed prayer in that moment) the visiting minister turned into a postman as he delivered the “mail” straight from God. He said this:

“God does not start anyone off at the bottom to work their way up. He starts us off at the top and our top expands outward.”

The minister did not know what we were just told. More importantly, he did not know my heart. But God did. That word was for me... directly from my Father. It is for you today.

If you feel like you have no “ministry” then stop and look around you. What have you got? 

That is what Jesus wants.

Live your high calling now, out loud, for the world to see.

Join the Conversation:

Have you ever felt like the low man on the totem pole? Leave your comments below. 

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How to be a Better Friend in 3 Steps

"Conversations" by Jason Schukltz Photo Creative Commons

Conversations in my life often inspire me. 

I was telling a couple of my friends I need a tee-shirt that says “Disclaimer: This conversation may be used later on my blog”. 

They laughed. Somewhat nervously. 

Nothing is Sacred

Life is about more than just our ministries or work, but sometimes I find myself looking around with one thought in mind: “How can I glean something here for the blog?” Since this blog is my ministry, it can become pretty all consuming. In the first days of MySpace and Facebook, this was a problem for some people too. Perhaps it still is for a few people. There is no filter on what people share on the internet these days. Nothing is sacred or private anymore. 

Take me for instance. My life is filled with fodder for the blog. I have 2 teenage girls who constantly do strange and wacky stuff I could turn into writing gold if I did not care about how they felt. I have considered it once or twice, but so far have abstained. I mean really- they have done some really funny stuff- it would be so easy. 

Then there are the ups and downs with friends, the ins and outs of marriage, and my life as a daughter-in-law whose mother-in-law lives two rooms over. Yet, I cannot take advantage of these relationships by constantly looking for antidotes for a blog. 

I cannot take advantage. 

I do not want to be that person. The one people have to be careful what they say or how they say it because they don’t want it on the internet for the world to see. I want to be the mother and the wife. I need to be the friend that anyone can talk to and that people feel safe with. 

I need to be this way because my peer to peer relationships are more important than written words on a page. I never want to be labeled as a “User”. 

Our friends and family should always feel like they got more poured into them than was taken out. This is what I strive for every time I am with other people. I do not always live up to this standard, but I try nonetheless. 

Be a Better Friend

You may not be a writer, but the principle is the same. It is, after all, more blessed to give than receive. 

Here are three steps to becoming a better friend. 

Step 1) Give- your time, your attention, your love, your service, your goods, and yes, sometimes your money. Give (not loan) to others without the expectation of receiving anything in return. When we hold out our hands to give and someone is blessed by that gift, then our hands and our hearts are open to receive. This is just how it works. 

Step 2) Leave them better than you found them. Speak into their lives with love and purpose. Always point the way back to Jesus. Do not worry whether they hear it all the time, but always speak the truth in love. 

Step 3) Communicate honestly. Transparency is paramount. When you make a mistake, own up to it. They will respect you more if you admit to being flawed. It also helps if Jesus is shining brighter than you. (That way we can see more of Him through the cracks in your pot) 

With these three things in mind, your peer to peer relationships will be more fruitful and satisfying and if by chance you get a funny story to tell along the way, then all the better to blog with…right? I kid, I kid. 

What do you look for in a friend?




 I always love to find new blogs. You can look for one by clicking on this icon! Have fun! 

For THIS Purpose

There is Something Brewing

Rolling around in me, bouncing over and over around in my mind and in my heart has been the phrase “for this purpose”. I think we all ask that question, why am I here, what am I supposed to do with my life? Webster defines purpose as this: 1) n. something set up as an object or end to be attained or 2) v. to aim oneself.

“For this purpose” sounds like a mission statement if there ever was one. Jesus had an opening mission statement and a closing mission statement. His opening mission statement was this:

Luke 4:18 (KJV) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 

There are so many things I want to say about this verse, and I think in the coming days we might explore this closer, but right now, let’s just look at the statement overall. Jesus was anointed, chosen by the Spirit of God to preach, to heal, to free, to recover, and to mend even the deepest emotional hurts, and He knew that the time for this was NOW!

John 14:12 says "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” 

You see, God has always followed the spiritual law of sowing and reaping. He sowed His son, planted Him on a cross, and reaped, gathered Him to heaven so that He could replicate the same in us. 

That same mission, that desire to preach, to teach, to heal, and to restore: when we receive Christ, we receive not only His life, but His mission. As we grow in Christ, the more we look like Him, after all, we are made in his image. (First physically after the image of Adam, who was made in God’s image, but now spiritually as well, because we are new creatures - II Corinthians 5:17) Being re-made into His likeness, we take on not only His character, but His purpose.


Now we come to the second mission statement of Jesus, and this came at the end of His ministry here on earth. 

John 18:37 (KJV) "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered; Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."


The truth is that Jesus had been bearing witness, or proving the reality of God’s love for man for the last three years and this was the culmination of his testimony. That before mankind He, the Son of God, (Luke 3, the lineage of Christ) would lay down His life for us. That His sacrifice was not in vain, or circumstance of politics or conspiracy, (Luke 23:12) but He laid down His physical life so that we might have an eternal one. (John 5:39, I John 1:2) His temporary pain and suffering was the price for our permanence in the Kingdom of God (Isaiah 53:5).


So with this in mind, what is our purpose? To lay down our life (to give up our right to make our own decisions and to give up choosing our way over God’s way) a living sacrifice, to follow after Christ with all our heart loving Him above all others, to TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH, that Jesus is the way, and God’s heart cries out for us, and He wants relationship with all, not just a few. 

Christ is not exclusive, but inclusive, because God doesn't want any to perish. 

As I write this I think, OK  so how do I apply this to my life of cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring, shopping and everything else mundane I do as a wife and mom? I don’t have a big ministry; I am not a huge evangelist or preacher. I mean, right now I am unemployed! But I know how: by being faithful in the small things, by laying my hand to the plow and not looking back. I need to continually search myself, to seek God, to pursue Him with all I am, and the rest will work itself out.


Matthew 6:33 says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Join the Conversation: 

For this purpose. Can you write a mission statement for your life? Can you say FOR THIS PURPOSE I WAS MADE: and then fill in the blank? Leave your comment below!


Live with purpose, live on purpose, and remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I. Be blessed and BE a blessing.

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Giving is Worship

People Just Don't Understand

I want to talk about giving. Have I lost half of you already? It is a touchy subject, but I believe it is because people often don’t understand the principle behind it. 

One of the reasons I started this blog is because I want to give more to other ministries than I have monetarily. I felt like I could give more, but knew that what I did have wasn’t a lot of money. I had an ability to write and a love of words. I had a background in journalism, a geeky fascination with the internet and a list of ministries that I would love to tell more people about because I believe in what they do, and how they do it. 

I believe this is one of the reasons that God gave me this idea, to give what I could: my time and talent. 

You see, giving isn’t just about money. Giving is about your time, your talent and your money. As a girl I grew up in a church program that taught me to be “a faithful steward of my time, money, and talent”. Here is that lesson I learned as a girl in action. 

Luke 6:38 says Give to others, and you will receive. You will be given much. It will be poured into your hands—more than you can hold. You will be given so much that it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you. (ERV)

God uses men and women on earth to carry out His work. When I give, whether that is my time, talent, goods, service, or money, I am being used by God. Give and you shall receive. 

This is a spiritual law. 

The key to which is found in the second part of the verse, which focuses on the attitude of the giver. “The way you give”, some translations say “whatever measure you give”. 

I have always thought of this scripture like this: if I were romancing someone and I wanted them to return my affection, I would give them my time. I would share with them gifts; I may even buy them a thing or two. 

Romance God. 

When I give it is not to man, but to God. When I serve at church, I give to God. When I put money in an offering plate, I give to God. When I write a check to a family that is struggling because dad is out of work and the wife is battling cancer, I give to God. When I sing it is not so people are blessed, that is a by-product of my gift, it is a gift to God. I am in essence, romancing God. This is an expression of my love. 

But why do we give? Because giving is a form of worship. When God has done so much for us, it is a natural extension of our gratitude and love for Him to give. 

Luke 8:2-3 talks about some of the women that served Jesus while He ministered to the masses. “(They) ministered unto him of their substance.” What they had, their possessions, they gave to him. This was their worship. 

Do you worship God by giving? Do you give with a good attitude? Whether you have a little or a lot, 5 talents, 2 talents, or one talent (Matthew 25) give what you can, and let God take care of the rest. 

Remember, worship is a verb.

What is one way you can give to God this week?