Meet Guest Blogger Bren Culbertson …

I first met Bren through Michelle Viscuse, and we connected instantly. I knew she was a sister in Christ and would be a member of the Boundless Sisterhood Community. Brenda Culbertson is a teacher, speaker, and writer. She blogs at Captivated Living. She is the co-founder of SmartGirl Ministries, who desire to equip ladies of all ages to make wise choices based on the truth of God’s word and His redeeming love. Bren will be speaking at our upcoming Arise women’s conference on September 25, 2021, at Life Springs church on Garrett Road. We look forward to seeing you there! You can register for the conference by visiting our website at boundlesssisterhood.com. Please read Bren’s post below.

Have you ever felt like your life resembled a construction zone?

The sand on the beach was soft and made my run a bit more difficult this morning. I needed a more stable foundation. So, I decided to take the pier back to the main street and finish the run back to the hotel on the sidewalk instead. Up ahead, I noticed that the sidewalk was covered with scaffolding beside a tall, concrete building. My eyes caught the sign that warned, “Do not enter the construction area.” The scene was an array with a cold, concrete building; warning signs; orange cones; and more scaffoldings. I immediately stopped and snapped the photo that you see below.

When I took a good look at the hotel under construction, I was reminded of Germany Kent’s quote, “Be kind. We may never know what people are going through. Give grace and mercy because one day your circumstances could change, and you may need it.” Hmm. I knew that I needed some grace. And no doubt, others around me were also in need of the same grace and kindness.

Under construction

This photo caused me to think about the parallel of this construction zone and our life. There are seasons in life that feel much like a construction zone! What if, during those seasons, we had a sign over our head that said, “Be patient. I am under construction?” The rebuilding process for hotels can be costly, tedious, and can often messy. The same can be true for our lives, too. Do you think it is easier to overlook the mess of a physical construction site or the rebuilding of someone’s life? Have you ever been terse with someone only to find out later about their back story? Maybe they experienced the loss of a loved one, a significant health issue, a financial crisis, or some other life-altering situation. Unfortunately, there are no such warning signs to post over our lives when we are in the middle of debris and try to rebuild from the inside. We would all do much better if we used the “universal precaution” and treated EVERYONE with kindness and patience as if each person we saw were in the middle of a construction zone.

Building Blocks

Kindness can also be the key component to help someone else in their rebuilding. Our words are like building blocks. “Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you were doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV) As a daughter, a sister, a mother, a friend, a spouse, and a physical therapist, I sometimes have placed terrible building blocks in the hands of others for them to add to the construction site of their personal lives. My destructive words were not helping to build them up! In fact, the discouraging blocks I have handed others made rising nearly impossible. Likewise, I have picked up poor building blocks that others have given me and tried to add them to my own construction site as if they truly belonged to me. Sometimes, I add the negative blocks to my own process. These blocks prove unsteady, destructive, and damaging to the whole process.

Foundation

The foundation of any building site is the key. Build a hotel on a sinkhole, and it is only a matter of time before the whole building may collapse. The same is true of our very life. The foundation upon which we choose to build our life is vital to living an abundant life truly. There is only one secure foundation – Christ Jesus! Want to know more? Please put on your construction hat and attend the Arise 2021 conference with us!

JOIN US!

Join us at the Arise women’s conference on September 25^th at Life Church in Durham! Open your eyes and heart as we explore more about how to ARISE to the fullness of life that God has planned for each one of us. Do not miss out on this opportunity to rise together in worship, to hear inspirational stories about standing firm, and to discover practical tools about rising out of the debris of the construction zones of our own lives. Life under construction can be a lot like a building at the beach that is under renovation. May we spur one another on to build on the foundation of Christ, to grow in Christ, and to live the abundant life even amid the current circumstances we may find ourselves in today.

Grab a friend and join us on September 25, 2021! See you there!

Be loved, then be love,

Bren