A friend of mine took a picture drawn by her eight-year-old, put it in a frame, and hung it on a wall in their home. When her son saw his artwork framed and displayed, he was elated. His little heart inherently knew that the frame meant something. The four small pieces of wood communicated importance, and care, and love to him.

Frames do that: they draw attention and encourage us to notice things we usually might not. Frames prompt recollection and give significance to otherwise ordinary things. Frames communicate value.

Interestingly, God frames things too.

Once Jesus took His disciples to the temple. There He sat them down and asked them to notice the thing no one else was noticing, a widow giving from her heart all she had.

“And he sat down opposite the treasury
and watched the people putting money into the offering box.
Many rich people put in large sums.
And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.
And he called his disciples to him and said to them,
‘Truly, I say to you,
this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.
For they all contributed out of their abundance,
but she out of her poverty
has put in everything she had, all she had to live on’.”
Mark 12:41-44

Jesus saw what others did not. Jesus framed the widow. He asks us to do the same.

Children are amazing at this practice of framing. Just try going on a hike with a toddler — they notice everything. Every bug, stick, rock, and leaf is worthy of a pause. It’s important enough to share with you so you can join in their inspection.

Similarly, God notices us — Psalm 139 is a great example. He places us in His frame as He pays attention to every detail of our lives, communicating value, and care, and love for us.

Some questions to ponder:

What does it mean to be noticed and framed as beloved by God, and how might we notice Him in return?
Is the practice of noticing, of framing difficult for you? How might you develop it?
How has a time of being noticed by God, or by another affected you?

Jenni first published this article on Overflow, a ministry of Train-Develop-Care, The Navigators.
January 14, 2025

Kristen at her favorite place.

As a young girl of ten, I loved writing stories of romance and hard-fought love. Make no mistake: I knew nothing of such topics except from what I learned while watching television shows such as Dallas. (My parents had their strengths, but supervising my television viewing wasn’t one of them.) And in case you’ve never seen Dallas, let me assure you that ideas of love from its characters, like J.R. and Sue Ellen, weren’t exactly what you’d call healthy and wholesome. And it would be a couple of years before I fell in love with reading classic stories involving more age-appropriate sweethearts such as Anne and Gilbert, Laura and Almanzo, and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. One late afternoon, my daddy noticed me writing furiously in my pink journal under an oak tree at our Oklahoma home. He walked over to me, knelt down, and asked, “Whatcha writin’ about, honey?” I didn’t even look up as I told him dreamy plot lines of fascinating people in far-off places. After listening, he patted me on the back and said gently, “Wow, that sounds like an exciting story! You know, though, a lot of good writers write about the people and places they know.” “Uh-huh,” I said, waving my hand flippantly in the air. I thought, What could I possibly write about as a country girl in Oklahoma!? Boring to the max. In college, I put my love of writing on a shelf as my social life and schoolwork took center stage. At that time, I also met a good-lookin’ fella named David. A few years later, we married and had three beautiful babies together. When those babies were young and David was across an ocean from me, the evenings were mighty lonely. Remembering how writing often felt like a friend, I picked it back up from the shelf and began exercising that muscle after the kids fell asleep. Taking my dad’s advice, I started writing more about what I knew – or at least what I was learning – about marriage, motherhood, military life, and friendship. Why have I always loved writing? There are several reasons, but the one that stands out most is because I love stories. This love came from my dad, who used to tell bedtime stories to my sisters and me every night. As we snuggled under our Holly Hobbie bedspreads, he told us tales of growing up on the Oklahoma prairie with a large, loving family. He entertained us with stories of mischief involving his horse Smokey and his dog Queenie. By sharing those stories with me, my dad anchored and comforted me within my own story. There’s something about seeing our story within the Father’s that anchors and comforts us in the story we’re living today. Whether you’re a writer or not, your life is a story. You may have chapters that you’d like to cut out and throw away. At the very least, you’d like to rewrite some pages. Perhaps parts of your story read like a tragedy or maybe even something that could’ve worked as a script for Dallas. I get that because parts of my story read that way as well. I have chapters I’d like to change where the choices of others hurt me terribly. I’ve also made choices that I’d like to go back and change as they’ve negatively affected others. If this describes you, too, know that we’re both in good company. David from the Old Testament experienced terrifying plotlines because of the actions of others, like a king bent on trying to kill him (1 Samuel 18:11 – 1 Samuel 23). David himself made terrible choices that brought devastating consequences to others, too, like summoning a married woman to his bedroom and then having her husband killed (2 Samuel 11-12:23). David repented for his sins and even though his life’s story held heaps of heartache, he said that the Lord “…has redeemed my soul out of every adversity…” (1 Kings 1:29). You and I are no different: Our own broken and bewildering plotlines won’t end before reaching a redeeming conclusion, too. Recently, a portion of Colossians spoke a fresh message to my heart. Here, Paul prays for the people of Colossae to be “…strengthened with all power, according to [God’s] glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:11-12, emphasis mine). You have inherited a good story because you are written into His story, and the story He is writing is very good. No matter that it includes broken relationships, broken hearts, and broken people. In God’s hands, no story is past redemption. We have that assurance because God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross so every wrong could be made right. This is what I’ve come to know: No plot is too far gone, too hope-gone. If you can’t yet see the good in your story, take heart. Hope always dawns as God takes the most tangled mess of a tale and turns it into a tapestry of grace. May this truth about your story within the Father’s story anchor and comfort you today.

Biases and Jesus Yesterday I found myself in Philippians 4 for my Bible reading. Two small verses caught me. In verses 2 and 3, we find Paul pleading with two women in the fledgling church at Philippi, to “be of the same mind in the Lord.” These two women had “contended for the Gospel” alongside Paul – laboring and struggling to make the Good News known. They loved Jesus. And yet, now they found themselves in a place where they could not see eye to eye.  At odds.  In conflict. How easily we can find ourselves in a similar place. At least, I can. Especially when I have a strong opinion about something. Something I believe in, or believe is right. I can step into a conversation or decision-making process unaware of the bias quietly shaping my perspective. When that happens, I may push for my own agenda or become so attached to a certain outcome that I stop truly listening to others…and Jesus. This creates division between me and a brother or sister. I begin to dismiss their views, silently writing them off in my heart…discounting their perspective. Recently, I read a suggestion that challenged me: “Pray for indifference.” Not the apathy kind of indifference, but a posture of surrender—where I become indifferent to my own ego, position, comfort, or need to be right. Instead, my heart is fully set on what God wants. His will. His purposes. His agenda. A question that helps me is: “What must I surrender within myself for God’s will to be fully realized in and among us?” Paul urges the same mindset when he calls the two women in his letter to resolve their conflict—not by one overpowering the other, but by each choosing to think with the mind of Christ. To agree because they are both in the Lord. Agree. Hold my hands open. Loosen my grip on my agenda, and seek His instead. It’s about surrender—offering up my opinions and submitting my idea of what is “right” to the One who truly is. The only way I can do this is to stay close to Jesus. Stay so close to Him, so yielded to Him, that I have the same attitude Jesus did. “He humbled Himself. He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. He laid aside His mighty power and glory, He became a servant…” In Philippians 4:5, Paul urges the women to “let your graciousness be known to everyone.” Oh, that is what I want to be true of me! Not insisting on my way, but yielding, gentle, kind…gracious. My “graciousness evident to all.”  May it be true of all of us. Thank you, Amy!

This Cat’s Meow shelf-sitter, a gift from my very musical friend Kathy, stands on my desk, a testimony to God bringing together the plot and the theme of my life.

The Plot: the different chapters, the events, the story-line.
The Theme: the message communicated throughout the story-line.

“He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.”
Psalm 40:3

For many years this is one of the scriptures that has caught my attention. It is recorded in my purpose section of my journal. Each time I review it, it reminds me that God wrote, and is continuing to write, a song in my heart and that He’s going to use it to attract others to Himself.

Really? My song? Now that is a miracle!

I am NOT musical! I laugh even thinking that a scripture that speaks of a song, of music would capture my attention. Yes, God has a sense of humor.

But God indeed has personally encouraged me with the promise of Psalm 40:3.

When I think through the plot of my life, I see the theme of Psalm 40:3.

From the stumbling, bumbling early days of my toddler faith, to the insecure days of my teen-age faith, to the loooooong quarter century of comparison in ministry, to who I am becoming now, the theme is consistent.

God did do something in my heart. He gave me a new song, a song based on His character, not the plot lines of my life. He is developing His theme. Others are hearing the theme, the new song, and are attracted and invited.

The more clearly I see this theme in my various plot lines, the more humbled I am. Only in Jesus do our plot lines and our theme coalesce.

The plot is reality.
The plot has purpose.
The plot bows to the theme.

In the short 4 chapter Ruth narrative, Naomi didn’t begin to understand the theme of her story until the end of the second chapter. In her mind, the plot line was pretty negative: a heathen culture, being widowed, both her grown sons dying, Ruth’s insistence of returning with her to Bethlehem. Naomi re-named herself Mara “for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” Ruth 1:20. Although she acknowledged God, she didn’t see His theme at work.

“Blessed is the man who took notice of you.” Ruth 2:19. Now Naomi is beginning to get a glimpse of God’s theme in her life. As her story unfolds, God’s theme is revealed, to her and to us. She experiences the theme song God is writing through her story.

Recognizing the theme, is recognizing God’s love in action. It provides hope and confidence for the future. The plot will continue to unfold. Sometimes it will be a joyful plot; other times it might be a difficult plot. But the theme, the promises of God will remain constant.

Only in Jesus do our plot lines and our theme coalesce!

What is the theme God is writing in your life?

1) “I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2) He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3) He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.”
Psalm 40:1-3 (italics mine)

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, May 2025

 

 

TWO BIG MINISTRY TRUTHS …

“And he said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter see on the ground.
He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.‘”
Mark 4:26, 17 (italics & underline mine)

First:  You know, I have no idea how God plans to use one of the gals in my Bible Studies I facilitate in significant ways in His kingdom, for His glory.

Patricia was in the very first Bible study I led as a one year old college student believer. I’m awed by the ministry she and her husband have had over the years in the states and Eastern Europe. Patricia has been involved in the English language camps developing programs, writing Bible studies, and training the small group leaders to study the Bible for themselves while improving their English at the same time.

I think of Linda, a neighbor during our Illinois days. We met one day as I was praying  while pushing our son in his stroller. As I passed Linda’s home, I noticed her Swing-o-matic in her front window. We both had sons named David about the same age. We started reading the Bible together. Linda’s heart for God shines as she is involved with the women in her local Catholic church.

 

And then there is Paula. We landed in the same Bible study in our local church and she and I connected deeply. She calls me her mentor. In reality we mentored each other. Paula has had amazing influence in her family, her church, and through the ministry of TrueFace. She calls herself a visionary connector and she lives that out well! I’m honored to call her my friend.

This week, Bill and I had breakfast with Erin, a recent college grad. She shared some struggles and we were so encouraged by her vulnerability and her desire for spiritual growth. We’re excited for how God will use Erin. We know not how.

Because I have no idea how God will use my friendships for His kingdom and His glory, I’m very motivated to be generous with affirmations, to notice God’s work in the lives of others and to verbalize it to them.

“The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.”
Psalm 138:8

Secondly:  It’s not about me and my friendships. It’s not about my ministry. It’s not about what I do. God is the one who is at work!

“I planted,
Apollos watered,
but God gave the growth.”
I Corinthians 3:6

God offers me the privilege of planting. God sometimes allows me to water. But God is the one who takes my planting and watering efforts and brings the growth. And God is able to do far more abundantly than all that I ask or think! Ephesians 3:20.

And this leads to a third truth: I may never know what God is up to in my friendships; and that’s okay. Jeremiah 29: 11 is still true, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Brandon said it well, “As the dance floor thrummed and the people mingled, I had a striking realization. This wedding, these people, would not be here if we had not followed the Lord’s leading to move to the Northeast.” Bill and I are very thankful for Brandon and Ashley and the amazing influence they have had among college students and others because they moved from Iowa to Connecticut.

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, May 2025

In His wisdom, God has created us with needs — needs, not weaknesses!
Love is the process of meeting needs.
Affirmation is love.

I desire to be generous and intentional with affirmation.

A while ago I attended a two-day conference where we were asked to do an affirmation exercise.  We were divided into groups of two and given of list of over 150 affirming words.***  We were asked to circle all the words that would affirm our partner and then choose five to verbally share with stories to back up our choices.

I learned three big lessons about affirmation that day.

Josey (not her real name) was my partner.  She and I had a fairly new friendship having met only three months previous.  There are many of those new friendship details that I didn’t know about her.  However, I found it easy to affirm her.  What a delight.  First affirmation lesson, I don’t need to know a person well to affirm them. 

Josey’s choice to attend the conference demonstrated her heart for God, the heart to grow as a Christian, and her desire to continue to build our friendship. These qualities allowed me to verbalize to her who God created her to be, affirmation. 

Later in the day on one of our breaks I was visiting with a young wife.  Her words were, “my husband is not good at affirming me”.  I felt sad that that was her experience.  And I also wondered if she was missing some of her husband’s affirming ways.

I have experienced words of affirmation voiced by my husband Bill. And often I experience his written words of affirmation.  I love the cards he chooses for me and personalizes. Often those cards stand on my dresser for months!  I wish I had saved those early letters he wrote when we were just beginning to know each other.  I need to be more of a romantic!

Second affirmation lesson, affirmation takes many different forms, like …

Serving another, they are seen and affirmed.
A hug can communicate affirmation. I remember one day … I.WAS.MAD! I was stomping around the kitchen. I looked at Bill and said, “Do you even believe I love Jesus?” He smiled and wrapped me in his arms and said, “Of course I do.” I melted with his physical affirmation and words.
Stories communicate affirmation. Especially those stories we are unaware of. Twice in the last 7 months, my husband heard stories from long-lost friends sharing how his ministry has resulted in the transformation of hundreds. He never knew!
Affirmation can be shared ahead of time — and understood later. Our son makes it a habit to write liturgies for the family on their special days. I’m quite sure 4-year old Leah didn’t understand her Dad’s words when he noted how her actions affirmed who God created her to be.
As I spend time with God in His word, I often hear His affirmations. I call this, affirmation by meditation.

A third lesson on affirmation is a hard one and also displayed itself during the weekend.  Another friend was sharing about her experience with the affirmation exercise over a meal. The affirming words had ignited her shame. She shared when her friend affirmed her artistic bent, she heard that as “I’m not organized”.  Every word used to affirm her, she had a “not” for.

I can be guilty of that as well.  Many times others have recognized my strength in hospitality.  Often I have put their down with this sentence, “No big deal, that’s easy for me”.  How dishonoring to God who created me to be hospitable and is delighted when I use my home to minister to others. Third affirmation lesson, even a positive thing like affirmation can ignite shame and feelings of unworthiness.

 I’m learning to not let the response of others affect my affirmations.

I enjoy affirmation. I need affirmation to help me live out who God created me to be. God is the ultimate affirmer and He often uses others to communicate His love. Because I desire to grow in godliness, I need to grow in affirming the good things I see in others, and to humbly receive the good others see in me.

Could it be that affirmations are God’s messages to me?
Could it be that affirmations are something I need to trust and develop?

I desire to be generous and intentional with affirmation!

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well”.
Psalm 139:14

“It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ,
and all for your upbuilding, beloved.”
II Corinthians 12:19

*** I have copies of this affirmation exercise. Would you like one? Respond in the comments.

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, May 2025

 

 

 

 

Choking on My Tears is the original name of the article I wrote for Praying Through Loneliness. 

Although a totally different application, these words spoke the truth my heart needed to hear. Thank you Janine. Your words continue to minister. Please read on. Are you identifying?

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18

I was brokenhearted and feeling very alone.

The speaker finished. The pews were emptying; the ladies smiling and chatting with each other as they walked from the sanctuary – except me. I sat glued to the pew, my head in my hands, my tears flowing.

Janine waited patiently. She didn’t ask. She didn’t hold my jacket and nudge me into leaving. She recognized God at work.

I felt so alone. Why were they so upbeat? Am I the only one using Kleenex after Kleenex? It seemed so.

But I wasn’t alone. Not only was the Lord close, my friend Janine was too.

Choking on my tears, I began to gulp out my story.

She listened quietly.
She didn’t ask questions.
She didn’t share a scripture.
She didn’t try and coax me out of my reality.
She allowed me to be me.
She responded, “Awareness is huge!”

Awareness is huge. How did that help?

I wiped my eyes once again as I pondered her words.  

And I heard from God. Janine’s words were the encouragement I needed; they offered hope.

Through the message from the speaker, I heard again of God’s great love for me. I also realized I had been trying to prove my worth to God by my doings. That night, I became aware. Awareness is huge. The message and Janine’s words set the stage for transformation.

I was brokenhearted in a good way. I’m so thankful I invited Janine to come with me.

I dried my tears, my loneliness dissipating. My next steps of spiritual growth were showing themselves. I was aware. Grace!

Lord, thank You that you use our friends to speak encouragement and truth. Thank You for the speaker that night. Thank You for Janine. Thank You for Your great love that opens the door for transformation. Thank You that You meet us in our aloneness.  Amen.

Sue Tell

Awareness is the first step towards transformation.

God uses His family to transform feelings of loneliness.

 

 

This is me and our pastor’s wife, Karen Hodge, a few years ago after enjoying coffee at the Glen Eyrie castle. They were new to our church and we were getting to know each other. In the process of Karen sharing her story, she called herself “a hinge”. As a door is connected to its frame by a hinge (or three); Karen’s heart is to be a hinge connecting others to opportunities that fit them. Note the hinge in the above photo.

I appreciated her analogy that day, but didn’t internalize it.

Sometimes you just need to hear something more than once for it to click.

Last month Bill and I were part of a retreat for the Navigator collegiate staff from our Central Plains region that includes campuses from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

The Sunday morning speaker called our staff team on those campuses hinges. They were the key, the hinge to college students hearing about Jesus. This time I internalized it.

In this chapter of my journey, I don’t often connect with college students. But I do often connect with women who do connect with students. And I too am a hinge as I steward my calling.

I am a hinge for them connecting them to Jesus as affirm them in their calling.
I am a hinge for them connecting them to Jesus as I connect them to the Word.
I am a hinge for them connecting them to Jesus as I encourage them in their journeys.
I am a hinge for them connecting them to Jesus as I share pieces of my story.
I am a hinge for them connecting them to Jesus as I steward my calling.

I’m a hinge as I facilitate Bible studies for ladies in our church.
I’m a hinge on our cul-de-sac as I live and share the gospel with our neighbors.

Karen has been a hinge for me several times. I’m so thankful for the opportunities she has opened for me.

We are all hinges. As we all walk with Jesus, as we steward who God created us to be, we have opportunities to influence others for the sake of the kingdom, to be a hinge.

Perhaps it’s in our churches. Perhaps it’s in our neighborhoods. Maybe it’s in the workplace or at the gym or book club. Maybe it’s in our families with siblings or with grandchildren.

Another phrase my pastor’s wife uses is we’ve been entrusted to invest. God has placed us in relationships, opportunities to invest or be a hinge for that person. They NEED you!

“You then, my child, be strengthened
by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,
and what you have heard from me …
entrust to faithful men
who will be able to teach others also.”
II Timothy 2:1 & 2

Timothy was Paul’s hinge!

Where are you living your hinge responsibilities?

 

Copyright:  Sue Tell, April 2025

 

“Do not lie to one another,
seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed in knowledge
after the image of its creator.”
Colossians 3:9 and 10

My resurrection journey has been a journey of ongoing transformation by continually putting on my new self. 

A friend once said to me, Sue, stop being so hard on yourself. One area I tended to be hard on myself was in my doubts. I too often identified with the father of the of the young boy with the unclean spirit in Mark 9. In his desperation the father pleads with Jesus to heal his son. You hear his heart in his words, if you can do anything … have compassion … help us. Mark 9:22.

The man’s belief and his doubt coexisted and collided. He was human. He was honest. I get that. I’m glad in his honest humility, belief won out. “I believe, help my unbelief!” Mark 9:24. Jesus healed his son.

Like the father in Mark 9, I have doubts.
Like the father, I’m growing in faith.
Both can coexist and collide

I am hard on myself when I let my feelings run wild, override truth, and corrupt my beliefs. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself.”

The disciples struggled as well. When Jesus appeared to them after the resurrection, he said, “These are my words that I spoke to you … He opened their minds to understand the scriptures … Thus it is written …” Luke 24: 44, 45, 46 (Italics mine). Jesus was reminding the disciples to remember and to trust what they’ve seen and heard.

I believe in the resurrection. I always have. I love celebrating it every Easter. The resurrection is the key to the gospel! Without the resurrection, there is no life!

And like those first disciples, I need to continually remind myself of what Jesus has said, of the scriptures, of what was written. I need to remind myself of gospel truth.

Paul Tripp said it this way, “No-one is more influential in your life than you are, because no-one talks to you more than you do.”

In my humanity, I can often listen to my doubts instead of talking truth to myself. God reminds me of my need to listen to him, to listen to and trust truth. “It is impossible for God to lie,” Hebrews 6:18.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13

The scriptures are full of promises, of hope. God has offered us the privilege of trust.

I’m experiencing new peace, new joy, new hope, and a new steadfast anchor for my soul. I’m listening to and trusting the truth recorded for me, for us.

“The Resurrection is the victory of love.”
Pope Francis

One of my favorite Easter songs is Rise My Soul; The Lord is Risen. You might want to check it out.

 

Copyright: Sue Tell, April 2025