"Brave Faces" By Kristan Dooley

An excerpt from Bigger: Rebuilding the Broken:

I made a decision the other day to take off my brave face. I didn’t just take it off, I took it off and threw it away. I don’t want to live with my brave face on any longer. I want the reality of the pain happening in my life to show for what it really is: pain.

The struggle is real and I want to acknowledge it openly. No more living with the mirage of having it all together. He won’t fix what we won’t admit is broken.

What would it look like to live in a world where people openly acknowledge the brokenness in their lives rather than suppressing it, in hopes no one notices? From a young age we are taught to tough it out, don’t show the world our pain, don’t let them see you weak. “Living out of the false self creates a compulsive desire to present a perfect image to the public so that everybody will admire us and nobody will know us.” (Brennen Manning, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat, 13.) 


The truth is that we are better off because of our pain, and it is only in our weakness we are made strong.  “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,” 2 Corinthians 12:9.  God does not claim to be strong in our strength (although He is); He claims to be strong in our weakness.  Our weakness is attractive to His strength.  We were never meant to be the only ones holding ourselves together.  We were meant to let it fall, to let it break, and to invite Him in.

God is not the Redeemer of all things fixed.  He is the Redeemer of all things broken.

What happens when we allow ourselves to break and we invite Him in to do what we can never do on our own?  What happens when the world sees how weak we really are but, on the other side of our perceived weakness, they actually encounter His strength?

Healing doesn’t happen in the dark.  Keeping it together only keeps you away from the very thing you were created to encounter.  Don’t settle for what you can do with your pain.  Hand it over to Him and watch Him to the impossible. 

Kristan has worked in ministry for over a decade. Having recently served as a student pastor with the Vineyard Cincinnati, Kristan is transitioning into a full-time speaking/writing ministry. Equipped with a master’s degree in educational ministry from Cincinnati Christian Seminary, Kristan is passionate about taking people to a deeper place in their relationship with Christ.

Experiencing a life call that can be summed up in one word, Kristan has spent the last year writing and publishing her first book titled after her calling, “Bigger.”  God doesn’t put a band-aid over what's broken. He rebuilds it to be more than we ever asked or imagined possible. We can trust Him with what's broken, knowing He is the Master Rebuilder. 

She and her husband Dave, who is the elementary pastor at Vineyard Cincinnati, have two daughters, Ella (9) and Addilyn (7).  When Kristan isn’t speaking or writing,can find her spending time with her family on a boat, reading, spending time with close friends, and enjoying “no makeup Mondays” (her personal Sabbath day).

Firm Foundations By Kristan Dooley

Only a few days into summer and I’m convinced my kids forgot the sound of my voice. As their overheated, lifeless, little bodies lay all over my couch they have an all too natural ability to tune me out.

“Addy, put your dishes up.”

“Addy, put your dishes up.”

“Addy, put your dishes up…”

“ADDILYN FAITH, put your dishes up now!”

Finally, I see proof of life. She moves, she responds. She’s really there. I sometimes wonder if they think not acknowledging me will cause me to change my mind. That if they ignore me long enough, I will move on to the next thing, the next victim.

Not true. I will not forget. I will not move on. I will wait for them to do the thing I’ve asked of them because they need to know, it’s not just what I say, it’s what they do with what I say. They can’t just hear me. Hearing me does little. They must hear and respond to me. After a response we can move on to the next thing.

It’s the same way with our faith.

46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

(Luke 6:46-49 NLT)

Even back in the day people had a hard time listening. When it was convenient for them they would call out on the name of the Lord, but when the Lord called out on them, they failed to respond. I’ll be the first to admit, Jesus has told me a thing or two and I’ve failed to respond. I wasn’t interested in hearing what He was saying. My response reflected that of my girls. I’ve  sat idly by and pretended not to hear, hoping He’d move on to something else.

We are builders, building a house, building a life, building a marriage, a family, a future. What we build upon makes a difference. We can heed to His Word over our lives and build on His firm foundation or we can stubbornly build upon the foundation of our own choosing. He is a patient God and He allows us to build upon the foundation of our choosing.

He is faithfully committed to the invitation in front of us and will not frantically make His way through invitations in hopes of finding one we will respond to.

What is it He is saying to you today? What actions have you taken? What foundation are you building upon?

  

Father, please help me hear your Words. Teach me to walk in your ways, oh Lord, so I can build my life upon Your Rock. Open my eyes to see where you are working. Open my ears to hear what you are saying. Open my mind to understand what you are teaching.

Kristan has worked in ministry for over a decade. Having recently served as a student pastor with the Vineyard Cincinnati, Kristan is transitioning into a full-time speaking/writing ministry. Equipped with a master’s degree in educational ministry from Cincinnati Christian Seminary, Kristan is passionate about taking people to a deeper place in their relationship with Christ.

Experiencing a life call that can be summed up in one word, Kristan has spent the last year writing and publishing her first book titled after her calling, “Bigger.”  God doesn’t put a band-aid over what's broken. He rebuilds it to be more than we ever asked or imagined possible. We can trust Him with what's broken, knowing He is the Master Rebuilder. 

She and her husband Dave, who is the elementary pastor at Vineyard Cincinnati, have two daughters, Ella (9) and Addilyn (7).  When Kristan isn’t speaking or writing, can find her spending time with her family on a boat, reading, spending time with close friends, and enjoying “no makeup Mondays” (her personal Sabbath day).