Several years ago, my family and I got to raise a tiny caterpillar. For weeks, we hunted down milkweed to feed it. We watched it grow. And we saw it create its little chrysalis.

We even got the blessing of watching it come out of the chrysalis, and caught most of it on video. It was such a beautiful moment.

While our little pet didn’t have any major trouble, we’ve all heard, I’m sure, that if you try to help a struggling butterfly out of its chrysalis, its wings will never be strong enough to fly.

Well, there are times when that happens for us humans, too.

When we see someone who is struggling, our first instinct is often to jump in and help, but sometimes we do this to the other person’s detriment. It seems only a seasoned encourager knows when NOT to help. In other words, they know when to let the person do it for themselves.

While it appears heartless, selfish, or insensitive, it is really a deeper love than one might imagine.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” It’s followed by several examples. Perhaps the most relevant verses here are: “A time to embrace and a time to turn away… A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak.”

These things are all good–in their own time.

So, when is it a time to help and when is it a time to refrain from helping?

Let’s explore that together here on the podcast today.

Kari

>> Grab your copy of my Courageous Care book

http://lovedoesthat.org/care

RELATED RESOURCES + EPISODES:

· Jay Holland article/episode: Boulders, Backpacks, and Boundaries

· Book: Being There, by Dave Furman (Amazon affiliate link)

· Episode 43: When Helping Hurts: Establishing Boundaries When Caring for Others with Counselor Nicole Fryling

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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

Music by DappyTKeys

A new app popped up on my phone with one of the latest updates, and it's a journaling app! Did you get it, too? Did you try it? What do you think?

I confess, even though I do some digital journaling (which I’ll talk about later in the episode), I haven’t tried any sort of journaling app yet. But I know there are several journaling apps out there.

Have you wanted to check them out? Are you worried about the confidentiality of any of these apps? Do you think it might be cool to categorize your journal entries so you can find connected topics?

Let’s take a look at some questions you can ask yourself to discern if a digital journaling app might be a good fit for you, and if so, which one you might want to try.

Kari

RELATED EPISODES:

· Episode 137: 3 Easy Ways to Journal When You Don't Know What to Write About

· Episode 146: Introduction to Journaling: Creating Your Own Journaling Routine

· Episode 153: Can 5 Minutes Journaling Really Make a Difference?

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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

>> Grab your copy of my Courageous Care book

http://lovedoesthat.org/care

Music by DappyTKeys

In preparation for homeschool next year, I’ve been pre-reading some missionary biographies that we’ll be using for our history curriculum. And in the one on Amy Carmichael, it shared several times when she would spend the day in prayer, seeking the Lord on one question or another.

For example, should she build a house for the Bible study she led with the “shawlies”? Should she and her group of children move to this city or stay where they were? Was it time to build a nursery for the babies?

There are times when we might feel called to spend the day in prayer, too—seeking an answer for a specific question, like Amy Carmichael did, or interceding for a friend of ours, or even just wanting to be in God’s presence in preparation for a difficult season ahead.

But what does it really mean to spend the day of prayer? How do you go about it? Where do you go? What do you do? What does it look like?

It is my hope to offer you some practical tips and suggestions today so that you, too, might spend a day in prayer with the Lord.

Kari

RELATED EPISODES:

· Episode 56: How to Create a Personal Spiritual Retreat (And Reflections on My Own)

· Episode 83: Posturing Your Heart to Hear from God, Part 2: Recognize

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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

>> Grab your copy of my Courageous Care book

http://lovedoesthat.org/care

Music by DappyTKeys