As I continue to lean into written spiritual direction, I’ve been reading letters of spiritual direction from people of the past. Namely, Francis de Sales and Padre Pio.

Francis de Sales lived during the 17th century and served for a time as the bishop of Geneva. Padre Pio, meanwhile, was an Italian priest from the 20th century.

I have enjoyed learning how these two men—and more like them, I’m sure—wrote letters to others in spiritual direction. They are the forerunners of my more modern-day style of spiritual direction, in which we use email to write back and forth.

Today, I want to share a couple of excerpts from their letters to others specifically about facing temptation. This is something we all obviously experience, and thinking about how to approach such temptation or how to stand strong against it is both useful to us and a way for us to strengthen our faith and spiritual lives.

Kari

BIBLE VERSES & RESOURCES:

• “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11 NLT)
• “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NLT)
• “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. And when you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT)
• “But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:17 NLT)
• “A time for war and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:8b NLT)
• “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10 NLT)
• Letters of Spiritual Direction, Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal
• Padre Pio’s Spiritual Direction for Every Day, by Gianluigi Pasquale

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>> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

>> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God’s presence in your pain

http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection

While I’m thankful for having the Bible to read on my own, I also don’t want to forget the power of having God’s Word read over you. Have you ever sat and listened to someone read Scripture? Like, just read it over you, letting the Holy Spirit move and work in your heart?

Today, I wanted to offer that gift to you. I am going to read through three passages that speak of God as being our Good Shepherd. This is an image of Him that has spoken tremendously to me over the past several years, and the details and pictures the Bible gives us of being under His care… it’s just beautiful.

As I read, I invite you to picture in the eye of your heart Jesus as your Good Shepherd. And I’ll offer some prayer prompts at the end for you to hold before the Lord.

The three passages I’ll be reading from are Ezekiel 34, Psalm 23, and John 10. I encourage you to quiet your heart and mind, sit in the silence with God for a moment, and ask Him to show you how He is your Good Shepherd. After I am finished, I will keep the music playing a bit longer, but I invite you to sit in the silence with God as long as He leads you.

Kari

BIBLE VERSES:

• Ezekiel 34:11-16a NLT
• Psalm 23:1-4 NLT
• John 10:1-5, 11-15 NLT

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>> Free Journaling Workshop: 3 Ways to Encounter God on the Pages of Your Journal

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalingworkshop

>> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

>> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God’s presence in your pain

http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection

Do you ever have thoughts like these?

You’re not good enough.

You need to try harder.

Everything is fine.

I think we can all attest to moments when our thoughts are negative, unhelpful, and—worst of all—not true. But how do we even begin to turn things around?

Today, I’d like to introduce you to life coach and spiritual director Gem Fadling. Gem is one of the founding partners of an organization called Unhurried Living, where they train people to rest deeper, live fuller, and lead better. Gem just released a book entitled Hold That Thought, and it’s all about sorting through the thoughts and voices inside our heads and letting God transform our minds.

This conversation seriously flew by, and I know it will be such a blessing to you. Be sure to check the show notes for a coupon code to save 30% on Gem’s book and to connect with her on Instagram.

Without further ado, here is my chat with Gem.

Kari

MEET GEM:

Gem Fadling, CLC, is a founding partner of Unhurried Living, a non-profit that trains people to rest deeper, live fuller and lead better. She is a Certified Life Coach and a trained Spiritual Director who coaches women at the intersection of spiritual leadership and soul care. Gem is the host of the I Can Do That! Podcast as well as the co-author of What Does Your Soul Love? Eight Questions That Reveal God's Work in You, and author of Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads.

CONNECT WITH GEM:

• Website: Unhurried Living
• Instagram
• Save 30% and get free shipping through ivpress.com by using coupon code LDT22 within the next four weeks

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>> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

>> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God’s presence in your pain

http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection

Today, we are wrapping up a series about posturing our hearts to hear from God.

As women who are going through difficult seasons—or as those caring for those going through difficult seasons—we are constantly seeking God’s guidance and presence, aren’t we?

These four heart postures, each beginning with the letter R, help us to hear from God.

The first R was about getting ready to meet with God.

The second R was about recognizing God’s voice and movement in our lives.

The third R was about receiving what it was God had for us, whether it was a promise from His Word or an invitation to trust or rest or forgive.

The fourth R, which we’ll talk about today, is respond. We are called to respond to whatever it was God shared with us.

So not only are we accepting it, believing it, but we are willing to take action in regard to it. In most cases, this looks like good old-fashioned obedience.

Kari

BIBLE VERSES & RESOURCES:

• “If you love me, obey my commands.” (John 14:15 NLT)
• “Those who accept my commands and obey them are the ones who love me.” (John 14:21 NLT)
• “Those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him.” (1 John 2:5 NLT)
• “The father instantly cried out, ‘I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:24 NLT)
• Podcast episodes about discernment

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>> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

>> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God’s presence in your pain

http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection

We are on week 3 of a series about posturing our hearts to hear from God. Because as women who care for others, or as women who are going through a difficult season of our own, we are desperate to hear from God. We want to know that He’s with us. We want to know what He wants us to do in this specific situation. We bring our questions and doubts to Him and wait for Him to answer.

And so we come to Him. We meet with Him.

The first R was about getting ready to meet with God. We want to prepare our physical space—getting rid of distractions and creating a sacred space that lends itself to being aware of God’s presence—but we also want to prepare our inner space, our hearts. We want to look at our beliefs to see if we even believe God will speak to us or not, or look at our spirit to see if we’re ready to hear whatever it is what He has to say to us—whether it’s what we are wanting to hear or not.

The second R was about recognizing God’s voice and movement in our lives. We want to be familiar with how He shows up. We want to distinguish His voice from the others. We want to sense His presence and invitations to us throughout the different seasons. This involves slowing down and paying attention to what is going on around us and inside of you.

So ready, recognize. Today we are going to talk about the third R: receive. We want to posture our hearts to receive whatever God has for us. What does that look like? How do we do that?

Kari

RESOURCES:

• Episode 61: Perceiving God's Presence and Love with Spiritual Director and Author Sharon Garlough Brown

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>> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

>> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God’s presence in your pain

http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection

Last week, we started a series all about posturing our hearts to hear from God. Specifically, we talked about the first R—ready—and how we can get both our physical space and our inner space, our hearts, ready to meet with God. In essence, we are preparing ourselves to hear from Him, especially in those moments when we are trying to discern a specific question or issue.

Today, we are going to talk about the second heart posture: recognize.

Recognize is all about learning how to recognize God’s voice and movement in our lives. And it’s a heart posture because it’s about slowing down and paying attention to what God is doing and saying.

And this is probably one of the things that people question themselves on the most. How do I know this is God speaking to me? How do I know it’s not just coincidence or someone else influencing me? How do I know it’s not just my own thoughts and feelings? Or even the enemy?

Join me as I share a practical exercise and some basic principles on recognizing God’s voice and movement in your life.

Kari

QUOTES, RESOURCES, + BIBLE VERSES:

• John 10:1-16: The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
• “When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.” (John 12:29 NLT)
• “Scripture is the written form of special revelation, providing God’s people with an enduring witness to the work of God in Christ.” (The Gospel Coalition)

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>> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

>> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God’s presence in your pain

http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection

Welcome back to Let’s Encourage One Another. My name is Kari Bartkus and I work as a spiritual director to women who are going through difficult seasons like grief, depression, fear, or anxiety. And I do so through a modern-day, letter writing style of spiritual direction, so we use email to write back and forth, sharing our questions, insights, and reflections with one another.

One of the tools I use as I serve these women is… well, I don’t have a fancy name for it, but it consists of 4 R’s to hearing from God. This is something that I’ve created as a sort of framework that helps me remember different things I want to check within my own heart and spirit as I’m meeting with the Lord, and they are also things I can talk about with women who are bringing their questions to Him about what to do or how to move forward in a certain area of their lives.

If you are either in a season of hurt yourself, or if you are caring for someone else who is hurting, you are likely seeking God in a particular matter, too. Do you move forward with the treatment or not? Do you keep serving in this volunteer role or do you step down to focus on your family? Do you bring anyone else onto your support team besides your counselor? Why can’t you move forward from past trauma you’ve experienced?

These are all valid questions and they are all things that we need to bring before the Lord and seek His guidance on.

So over the next four episodes, I want to share each of those four heart postures so that, when you are seeking God, you can be mindful of things that might be getting in the way, and you can also take perhaps a more proactive and intentional approach to hearing from God.

The four heart postures are: Ready, Recognize, Receive, and Respond. Today, we are going to talk about the first heart posture: being ready.

Kari

QUOTES, RESOURCES, + BIBLE VERSES:

• “Never stop praying.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT)
• “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” (Brother Lawrence, Practicing the Presence of God)
• Bonus Episode 7: Getting Ready to Meet With God

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>> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

>> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God’s presence in your pain

http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection

Imagine this scenario with me. There’s a lady from church who recently lost her husband. She used to teach your Sunday school class, so you have developed a relationship with her through that, even though it has been a while since you’ve had much of a conversation with her. God has laid it on your heart to encourage her, but you’re just not sure how.

You’re quiet.

You don’t know what to say or how to approach her.

You don’t know what she needs, and you’re nervous to ask.

You don’t even know if she remembers you.

You tell yourself that the ministry leaders or her friends are much better equipped to care for her in this season.

While some of those obstacles might be things we all struggle with, I bet they are especially true of introverts.

Last week, we spoke about 5 creative ways to encourage an introvert, but today, we are turning the tables a little bit and talking about how to encourage and care for others as an introvert. In other words, if you resonate with being quiet or needing time alone or not liking larger crowds of people, then what are some good ways for you to reach out to them when they are hurting?

Kari

RESOURCES:

• Courageous Care Masterclass: A 4-session audio class that walks you through the C.A.R.E. framework.

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>> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

>> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God’s presence in your pain

http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection

With it being fall, I know it is a natural season for change. Summer is coming to an end, kids are starting school, and some students are heading off to college. Routines are getting adjusted and Bible studies might be starting back up. The relaxed pace of summer is giving way to a more structured lifestyle, with more responsibilities—or at least different ones.

But there are other kinds of transition, too. Maybe you are starting to care for a family member who can no longer care for themselves. Maybe someone you love just moved to a nursing home. Maybe you moved to a new house, or a new city, or a new country.

Perhaps you’ve stepped down from a volunteer role at your church, or lost your job, or are dealing with a new health concern. Or maybe, you’re just facing the fact that you are getting older and your body isn’t quite what it used to be.

So here are 13 journal prompts for any season of change or transition.

Kari

>> JOURNAL PROMPTS FOR SEASONS OF CHANGE

http://lovedoesthat.org/seasonsofchange

>> SIGN UP FOR JOURNAL GENTLY

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

If you have been listening to the podcast for any length of time, it is probably no surprise to you that I am an introvert. A pretty big introvert, at that. And I know that either you relate to me, or perhaps you are an extravert but have a close friend who is an introvert, and maybe there’s a lot about them that you don’t quite understand.

Today, I wanted to share 5 creative ways that you can encourage an introvert in your life—whether they are going through a difficult season or if you just wanted to show them some care.

Now, please realize that even though I'm an introvert and your friend/colleague/family member is also an introvert, it doesn't mean we're exactly alike. What might be encouraging to me might be frustrating for him or her. So consider my ideas and maybe use them as a springboard to brainstorm other ideas, but prayerfully discern how you can be an encouragement to them personally.

Okay, here we go!

Kari

RESOURCES + BIBLE VERSES:

• 92 Ways to Encourage and Support Others (blog article)

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>> Journal Gently: An 8-week program designed to help you process grief and trauma with God

http://lovedoesthat.org/journalgently

>> Written Spiritual Direction: Recognize God’s presence in your pain

http://lovedoesthat.org/spiritualdirection