Amy Boucher Pye

Tag: Lynne Cole

  • ‘Meeting with God through the Bible’ by Lynne Cole: 7 Ways to Pray blog series

    What a moving post by Lynne! I love how she shares her experiment with one of the prayer exercises in 7 Ways to Pray, and the difference that it’s been making as she meets with God. Maybe you could give this practice a go?

    I’m a busy mum to 5 children – the youngest of which are twins who are nearly 3 years old. As well as being a wife and mother, I am also launching my own business. Finding time to breathe let alone finding time to be with God is almost impossible. So when I saw that Amy Boucher Pye had a launch team for a book she had written about different ways to pray, it stirred something inside me. Even though I didn’t really have the time I knew I needed to read the book … and I wasn’t disappointed.

    I read through the first chapter soaking up her words. Amy not only opened my mind, but she opened my eyes and my heart too. I received some wonderful ideas on how I could read through the Bible and pray at the same time. Amy writes about how we can meet God in a tangible way as we pray with the Bible.

    “God always makes himself known to us, and a primary way he reveals himself is through his Word. When we pray with the Bible, God infuses the experience with his Spirit.” 

    7 Ways to Pray, page 11

    How I met with God

    In using Amy’s suggestion of re-writing scripture, I decided to set myself a challenge. For the month of October I developed Bible based affirmations about how God saw me and what His heart was for me. My hope was to use these Bible affirmations to change a mindset I had which was doing me no good. I needed to see myself as God sees me.

    One of the affirmations I wrote was on being brave. I used the Bible verse Isaiah 41:10:

    “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

    Using Amy’s technique, I personalised it and re-wrote it in my own words what I believed God was saying to me:

    Lynne, do not be afraid for I am by your side. I am your God and you do not need to be scared. I will provide you with the strength you need and I will be here to help you. Lynne, you will no longer feel invalidated because I am here to encourage you and lift you up. You are not alone. You are brave.

    As a result of Amy’s suggestion on making the Bible verses personal to ourselves, it has really helped me to view God in a different way. Most importantly it is helping me to change my mindset on how I view myself.

    Why not have a go at personalising a Bible verse and re-write in your own words what you feel God is saying to you.

    Lynne Cole is a wife and a stay-at-home mother to 5 children. She is currently setting up a business in arts and craft called Lumina Creations. She also blogs in the (very little) free time that she has. She believes that a broken past does not mean a broken future and that we are all beautiful despite what we have been through. Through her creations and her writing, her desire is to bring hope and encouragement to others and shed some light into the darkness that is experienced.

    Come visit her at her blog for Beautifully Broke or Lumnia Creations and on Facebook for Beautifully Broke or Lumnia Creations.

    Order 7 Ways to Pray here, including in the US, UK, and Australia. You’ll also find lots of resources for small groups – videos and a leader’s guide – here.

  • Forgiveness Fridays: Forgiveness is Freeing by Lynne Cole

    When it comes to forgiveness, everyone is different. I love Lynne’s story for her honesty and how she tells the gradual nature of her becoming free from carrying someone else’s sins, as she puts it so aptly. I continue to be humbled and grateful for the bravery displayed by the contributors to this series, such as Lynne.

    There I was, standing in a spot where his grave might have been, and I’m griping tightly onto an A4 piece of paper. A piece of paper that held the truth of what actually happened to me during four years when I grew up too quickly.

    Looking around, all I see is green grass with very few markings of where graves could be. I expected to see at least a head stone with his name etched into it… something that would make it real. But there was nothing. Only little numbered markers dotted around declaring where each person is buried. With there being no grave stone or a recognisable grave, I concluded that he had no meaning to his life.

    Standing there, I remember clearly when my mother told me, 21 years earlier, that he had passed away. It was four months after he was arrested. He hadn’t even reached the first hearing of his trial.

    My memories of that day are vivid. I was so angry that he had “escaped” his prison sentence, and I felt betrayed because he was now “free”. I also remember feeling relieved. He was dead… and I was glad. I hoped that he had met God at the pearly gates of heaven and that he was sent straight to rot in hell.

    I know, I know and I know. This sounds very unchristian. I am fully aware of that. However, this was how I felt towards the man who had sexually abused me for four years. After all, he took away my childhood.

    I wanted him to suffer so much for the pain and hurt that he caused me. I wanted him to feel the pain that I felt…Not just in those four years, but the years afterwards that I had to endure I as tried to come to terms with what I went through.

    When I stood at the graveside with my mum on one side and my husband on the other, I held on to that piece of paper as though it was part of me. This piece of paper held all the truth of every single detail that he did to me.

    Every. Single. Detail.

    You see, when I was 11 I was too scared and too ashamed to voice what truly happened to me. No-one EVER got the full truth, and that truth had been inside me for 21 years. At the graveside, I finally let it all out… And then I burnt it. In that moment, the spirit of condemnation left my body and I was free.

    Four years later, I look back and I question myself if I have still forgiven my abuser – just in case my time at the grave was a passing moment. The honest answer is yes! I wouldn’t wish what I went through on anyone, but I wouldn’t change what I went through either. I no longer feel shame over what I had endured and I can honestly say, with my hand on my heart, that I have no regrets about my past.

    I am proud of who I am today.

    Forgiving my abuser did not mean what he did to me was right. It also does not mean that I would get my childhood back. Instead, forgiving him meant that I could move forward with my life. I have learnt that unforgiveness keeps us locked in to anger, resentment, bitterness and hurt. It keeps us apart from Jesus.

    I didn’t get to the point of forgiveness lightly and reaching it wasn’t one of these “aha” moments when something clicked into place. Rather it took me 21 years that lead to the moment at his grave, of sorting through a mountain of emotional mess, through counselling and reading various books, to reach the point where I wanted to be free from the chains of unforgiveness. I no longer wanted to carry the burden of someone else’s sin.

    Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)

    I believe that forgiveness is necessary in order to move forward, but it can only be done when you are ready to do so. No-one should be forced to forgive someone else if they are not ready. It doesn’t matter how long it takes either… 2 years or 21 years… but when it happens? Forgiveness is freeing.

    Lynne Cole is a full-time working, married mother to 3 gorgeous children…two girls (aged 8 and 7) and a little man (aged 5). She blogs in the free time that she has, which is very little! She believes that a broken past does not mean a broken future and that we are all beautiful despite what we have been through. Her desire is that she is able to give people a little encouragement and hope through what she writes. She writes from the heart, honestly, about anything… things that have happened in the past, what she is going through right now and what she hopes for the future.

    Come visit her at:
    Blog: www.beautifullybroke.org
    Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/beautifullybroke.org/
    Instagram: lynne.cole