A Fresh, New Look

Hey, friend, I would love to invite you have a sneak peak at the brand new, fresh design on my website that just went live TODAY! We are announcing it publicly in my October newsletter tomorrow, but I couldn't wait for you to see it!  Here is the link:  http://www.dawnsmithjordan.com/
Sometimes a fresh, new look just makes you feel better. 
On Sunday I was in a church sharing in concert in Chester, SC, and had another concert in a different church in the same town that evening.  So that meant when I left early that morning to drive the hour+ over, what I had on would be what I had on for the day.
Having lost about 12 pounds since last fall, I failed to think about how much bigger my clothes from last fall would be this year.  And the blouse I had on just felt big, baggy, and ugly.  You know it is when you just feel ugly in what you put on that morning but you are stuck in it?
Well, not this girl.  Chester has a Cato, and I LOVE Cato.  ESPECIALLY their clearance rack.  So I proceeded to head to Cato, pick out a top, lace vest and jewelry, ALL on clearance, and changed in the car before the evening concert!  I felt SO much better in my new attire.
So it is with the new website design.  It was beautiful and had served its purposes for years, but it was time for a change.  And I am grateful to have a new look that introduces others to my ministry.
 Revelation 21:5 says, "He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
I'm grateful for new beginnings, and new "looks," even from the clearance rack!

Throw-back Thursday

As I sit here at my desk on this overcast, cool fall day, I just posted my #tbt picture on facebook and twitter.  It's a mug that has a picture of Hannah and Ross when they were little, a gift given to me one Mother's Day years ago.  It is my favorite coffee mug.  It makes me smile every time I see it in the cabinet and reach for it.
Last Sunday as I was a guest in a church in Kingsport, TN, they had an afternoon showing of the movie that was based on my family's story, "Nightmare in Columbia County" directly before I was to share a mini-concert.  I had not watched it literally since its original 1991 CBS airdate that I could recall, so I decided I would sit in the back and watch so that I could be aware of what the congregation had just seen before I got up to sing/share.  There were a few times that I had to leave the room, as there were just painful scenes I did not feel I needed to see again.
Sometimes it seems so strange that I actually lived through the horrific tragedy depicted in that movie, and the ones I share about almost weekly in the ministry to which the Lord has called me.  My beautiful sister Shari left this world at only 17 years old at the hands of a murderer. 
  Some memories are sweet, some are bittersweet, and some are just painful.  As I look in contrast at the precious faces of my children on this coffee mug sitting on my desk, it is bittersweet, but mostly sweet, knowing being their mom is the greatest calling of my life.  As they are now 21 and 18 and both in college, my home is a lot quieter, and I miss the noise many days.  Other days I embrace it, knowing it is just part of this new season, this new normal.  But I look back with gratitude. 
When I look at my sister's smiling face, I remember with gratitude the joy she brought into our family and into my life, and I choose not to dwell on what happened to her, but where she is, and that I will see her again.
And in both situations, there is grace.  Grace that is truly sufficient, and amazing.  Just last night a dear friend brought over an unexpected gift and it is now displayed on my fireplace, because it expresses it all for me so perfectly.  "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9)
So as we look back on these "throwback Thursdays," may we choose to see that it is truly all grace.  And it is perfect.
As John Newton wrote: "Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come, tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home!"
 

Be Still...yeah, right!

Well, I am finding it pretty ironic that last weekend I spoke for a women's conference on the theme "Pressing On...in the Midst of Whatever We Are in the Midst of" in NC, and this weekend for a women's conference in VA with the theme "Be Still."  Could they be anymore different?  The LAST thing I feel like I am doing right now is being still.  I am meeting myself coming and going.  Don't you feel that way most days?  Last Thurs.-Sun. I was "on the road" sharing 5 ministry presentations in the beautiful state of NC.  Today I sang/spoke for a church in town, and leave again tomorrow to head to VA and TN this weekend, again with 5 more ministry presentations ahead of me.  During the week I run the ministry office along with my assistant/Schedule Coordinator Jennifer Dale, whom I would be lost without, while also teaching 17 piano/voice lessons on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Then of course there is the preparing/writing/studying for each ministry event.  Oh, and laundry, groceries, bills, Zumba, college kids...Be still...the dictionary says it means "not moving or making a sound...deep silence and calm...even."  What I am learning, however, in the midst of non-stop activity is this...we can STILL be still in the midst of the daily demands of our lives, the necessary work that we must take care of.  Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God."

My kitten Zoey reminds me of myself, as she runs from one end of the house to the other, jumping from furniture to counter to my lap.  Yet there are those times when she is completely still, before it starts all over again.  Last night she snuggled up on my lap for almost 45 minutes sleeping soundly.  She is busy about the business of being a kitten, but she is also very serious about when it is time to rest.




And so it must be for you and me...we need to keep a "still"
mentality before the Lord in all that we are setting out to accomplish, knowing that He is God of it all.  Being...not doing.  A state of mind.  And in that knowledge, we can have a deep sense of calm, trusting He has got this.  All of it.  Now, back to packing and preparing. 

Go Ahead and Laugh!

As I sat on the front row of that Baptist Church in North Carolina, about to get up and share a concert on that Sunday morning, I opened the bulletin. I scrolled through the usual information, and then I saw it. "We welcome today Dawn Smith Jordan, Miss South Carolina and 2nd-runner-up to Miss America 1886." Did you catch that last part? 1886?! I literally almost busted out loud laughing right there in the church. So of course I could not help but make reference to the fact that if I were Miss SC 1886, I was surely lookin' good. The pastor was great to play along, and at the end of the service, he told everyone that I would be at my book and CD table, also selling my amazing wrinkle cream!

Sometimes it is just plain good to laugh. In the midst of the hard. In the midst of broken hearts. To just take a break from the reality of whatever it is that is weighing down your head and heart, and laugh. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, and a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Oh how true that is.

I love to laugh, and I do it quite often. My children, my brother, my family and friends all say that 2 things help them pick me out in a crowd...my blonde, curly hair (or "fro" as it is affectionately called by my kids and brother), and my laugh. I love that my laugh is that recognizable! So in the midst of the tears, the hardships, the struggles and stress, won't you take a moment to find something that truly delights you, just in that moment, and laugh. Out loud. You will feel so much better.

And as this week is Miss America week, here is a picture for you. Maybe this will help. It's me, Miss SC 1986, NOT 1886! Have a good laugh on me today. Usuaslly it's the hair that gets everyone.  It's my pleasure.

Tears

Sometimes there's nothing left to do but cry. Cry out to the One who sees, hears, knows every reason for every tear, and holds you while they must fall. In I Samuel 30:1-6, David and his men "wept aloud until they had no strength to weep." David's wives had been captured. He was in distress because the captors were talking of stoning him, and it says he was "greatly distressed." But, listen to this..."But David found strength in the Lord His God." But...

Are you there, where you feel you have no more tears left in you cry? That you are all dried up? Or that you do not even have the emotional energy it takes to cry anymore. Oh how I know where that place is. I have been there more times than I care to recall. But...if David found strength in the Lord his God, then so can you and I.

And if you must cry, cry out to Him. He hears. He holds us. He holds every tear in His bottle. You truly can cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.

Zoey

I love how God is so intricately involved in our lives.  He even cares about little things like kittens.  This past summer was a first for me...the first time neither of my children would be home for summer break.  Hannah stayed in Clemson to do summer school and work.  Ross was living with his dad and preparing to move out and start college. It felt like the summer that never was.  And in the midst of it, personal heartache due to circumstances that have now dragged on for much longer than I had ever imagined, our beloved cat/family member of 10 years Skunk passed away.  And all that was left was our 10-year-old dog Cookie and me. 

 

So the very next week, I went to get a kitten.  I fell in love with one, but by the time I went back to get her, she was gone.  And then I saw this tiny, pitiful 6-week-old black and white kitten, born in the wild, blind for the first 6 weeks of her life, temporarily named "Hope" by the adoption agency.  I felt she needed me, and brought her home.  Now her name is Zoey, which means "life."  She is a bundle of energy at 5 months old.  In the midst of the beginning of this single mama's empty nest season, on top of a personal situation that threatens to knock the very wind out of me most days, oh what life this little girl has brought into my home.  Cookie is smitten, as am I.  She is into EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING from my shower, to my coffee cup, to the pantry, to my bubble baths, to the refrigerator, to the dishwasher, on top of my desk, to riding the Swiffer!  Oh how fun it is to laugh and love all over again with this little gift from God in the midst of my empty home and heart on many days.  Jesus came, "that they may have life and have it to the full." (John 10:10)  How grateful I am that He saw me right where I was and sent me new life in the form of a precious kitten that I thought I was rescuing, but who has actually rescued me in so many ways.  God knew.  And He knows right you are today, as well, my friend.   

W.E.A.R.Y.

W.E.A.R.Y.  I will admit it.  I am.  Anybody else?  This is an offer we can't refuse.  When what you thought was only a season refuses to change, and now appears to be the way it will be for a while and your heart is literally breaking.  "Come," He says.  When the to-do list is longer than you have energy to even look at, much less tackle.  "Come."  When the demands are so much greater than you feel you are or ever will be.  When the heartache has now become heartsick...when the storm continues to rage.  "Come."  No matter what your particular circumstances are today, causing you to feel weary, or as my SC mama would say, "worn out," Jesus wants us to remember that we can come to Him with it all.  "Come to Me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  Rest in knowing that it is not a burden you have to bear alone.  Rest in knowing He has got this, He already knows from beginning to end, and He promises it is all going to be okay within His grace.
As the world is a frightening place to live...as my heart is so heavy over personal heartache that many days I feel I can hardly bear for one more minute...I come to Him.  And He meets me right where I am, takes me in His arms, and I rest.  Just for those few moments, I don't look at the burden, I look to Him in the midst of it.  And there is peace in the midst of a world at war, and a heart that hurts.  Won't you rest in Him today, just for a moment?  He says, "Come."