Journal
Just say no. I hear this a lot from leadership coaches. Know when to say yes and when to say no. Is your NO— really NO? Will leaving the door cracked lead to compromise and a warped journey? Do you fear that the exit sign will lead to emptiness and abandonment?
Be careful who and what you are listening to and how you’re being manipulated!
When I was growing up, I was taught the song, “Be careful little ears, feet, hands what you hear, for the Father up above is looking down in love, (His grace is unending) so be careful little (ears, tongue, feet) what you hear, say, do.” Maybe we should add “mind” to the song?
Your mind and thoughts affect your heart and passions, and your passions affect your choices (a.k.a. your hands and feet). Subversive messaging seeps into subconscious minds and affects choices. We often listen to the people who are telling us what we “want” to hear and not what we “need” to hear. Our ears hear the message, but are we discerning the right message? I give my family instructions daily that never seem to get carried out correctly because they often hear something different, or, frequently, only what they want to hear. The greatest mistake we make is the assumption that communication has been acted on correctly. Cultural influences send us thousands of media messages daily on multiple platforms, and in our 24/7 overbooked lives, we get beaten down and manipulated by the constant noise affecting our choices. Often it comes in first with a dribble – a slow drip – until we realize we have been overcome with a flood and been “hooked, line, and sinker.”
Exit. Get off the hamster wheel, put down your screen, and get off social media.
In artistic careers, it’s not easy to let go of what we set out to do creatively. Passions blind us to messages and signals we should be paying attention to, and we often push relentlessly harder, not willing to give up our dreams. Slammed doors, scripts unsold, auditions never booked, or projects never made create insecurity and depression, leading to desperation. And no one wants to hire or be around desperate artists. Could we have truly heard God’s voice? Is He listening to our prayers, laments, and wails? Could it be that we need to stop and listen to what we need to hear, rather than what just sounds good? The “NO’s” we face are perhaps a place where we can consider exiting the hamster wheel of striving. Are we listening to God’s voice and fishing on the right side of the boat? In Peter’s moment of insufficiency, Jesus told him to cast his net to the other side of the boat. Peter listened, trusted Jesus, and was rewarded not only with physical fish for that moment, but with a whole new direction for his life. (more…)
Journal
“I just wanted someone to hug me.” This was the comment I had from one of our Influence Women members on a Zoom webinar as the pandemic was coming to an end. We had been discussing why relationships matter and why Influence Women is essential. She was single and, during the pandemic, had been left for weeks without much outside conversation or actual physical touch – a hug. “It was one of the most difficult times I have ever had to experience in her life,” she said.
Touch is essential to humans.
Many studies have been done on the effects of babies left and never touched or picked up, of people who were left untouched in nursing or care homes, or even for long periods on deserted islands. The result is often irreversible trauma emotionally, physically, and sadly even spiritually. God created us to be in relationships. Jesus touched the people He healed. Thomas required Jesus to show him his hands and feet after He had been resurrected. Jesus said to him, “… “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” John 20:27 (NIV). The reason God sent Jesus to our broken, sinful world was so that we could touch, see, and hear God physically through the flesh of Jesus. In today’s 24/7 access to information and emerging AI technology, physical touch is becoming more important than ever to knowing and experiencing real truth and love.
I’ve been blessed to be married for many years (more than I was ever single) to a loving husband who likes to touch things. I do too. He sometimes laughs at me when I shop because I touch things. But I have had to stop him from time to time when he talks to someone he doesn’t know because he, with his caring manner, will lightly touch their elbow or back when he stops to talk to them. People today don’t like to be touched because they aren’t touched anymore. It can unfortunately feel offensive instead of caring. My children and grandchildren don’t live near me, and I miss their physical touch, and not being able to squeeze them regularly makes my heart ache. “Facetime” is great, but it’s just not the same as hugging their necks.
We can still feel God’s touch on us today.
God wants us to touch Him and longs for our engagement with knowing Him intimately. He doesn’t require anything of us but to love Him and spend time with Him. He is love – perfect love. We feel His touch through our personal encounters. It’s a mystery to me still, but I feel God in my prayers and meditations when I read the Bible. I feel Him through the arms and hugs of other believers. Sometimes it is just the squeeze of a hand in a prayer circle or a pat on the shoulder, or a high five. Sometimes I feel God in a crisp Autumn breeze or in the sound of ocean waves pounding. Sometimes it is the aroma of flowers or pine trees or the smell of a baby’s cheek. I sense God’s joy in the sound of children giggling, a dog’s wet nose-nudges, or in the expressions of praise, song, music, and worship as believers gather together.
God touches you when you touch each other.
My heart leaps for joy at Influence Women’s gatherings when you come together at events, and I see you touch others’ lives. When you hug each other, the room explodes in a deafening noise of love. It’s why the Influence Women community of women touching each other needs to grow more. We need to gather others so that we can touch the world with our stories, projects, music and art, and ultimately share God’s loving touch with a depressed and lonely world. Our culture needs to touch each other through our artistic and creative work. When we collaborate and intimately connect, the darkness in our world is changed by the Light of the World.
I hope you will make an effort to schedule the Influence Women event dates in your calendars when they are announced and show up to touch others. Join the relationship-building INspire gatherings and bring a friend to the larger professional events. Register for the online Bible study or a mentorship series. Come and volunteer. Your touch matters to someone, even if it’s just a smile on a screen, a caring prayer you give, or an encouraging word about something you’ve learned. We grow stronger and more powerful when we touch each other. You have touched me, and I am forever grateful. Keep touching others – they need you. We need you.
Register for the in-person Hollywood Chapter Professional Brunch, and bring a friend – We want to see you there and hug your neck!
