Day: June 22, 2023

Posted in Moments and Musings

Doubting Thomas

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Our story begins in John 20: 24-27 NLT

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

I remember as a child reading these verses in school and thinking how bad Thomas was for not believing. Actually, that’s how it was taught to me. The nuns would stand over us with their pointer sticks telling us not to be anything like “Doubting Thomas” or else…..

So, I judged Thomas, just as I was taught to do, for his imperfections. I boasted within myself saying, “I wouldn’t have acted like that. I’d have been better. Done better. Acted better.” I spent years sitting on my self-righteous throne, tarnished crown on my head wondering if we’ll meet Thomas in Heaven someday.

But I wasn’t there over 2000 years ago. I didn’t see the one I called Teacher and Messiah die a violent and cruel death. I don’t know what it’s like to walk away from that experience filled with fear and doubt, possibly running and hiding for my life. I don’t know the confusion of seeing him alive only 8 days later.  

I’ve been studying this recently and found myself focusing more on Jesus’ reaction to Thomas’s doubts. Jesus didn’t judge Thomas. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t disappointed. He wasn’t discouraged. Others in that room might have. And I sure did for a very long time.

Jesus didn’t. He loved him. And I imagine Jesus knew Thomas would give him the side-eye treatment. It was no surprise to Him so He was prepared. He responded as a only a Savior would – excited for Thomas to believe and wanting him to know beyond all knowing, deep in his heart of hearts, that Jesus was real and He was alive. 

So, unlike how I was taught, when Jesus tells Thomas to feel his hands, feet and side, it wasn’t an admonishment; it was an invitation. Full of love. Full of forgiveness. Full of faith enough to cover Thomas’s unbelief. 

I believe Jesus was so full of joy that He welcomed showing Himself to Thomas. And He was thrilled when Thomas accepted His invitation and believed. 

What a wonderful, loving, faithful Savior we have!

Photo by Jackson David via Unsplash

Posted in Moments and Musings

The Work From Home Deliberation

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Late last year, my company moved to permanent work from home after three years of being remote which started during the pandemic.

As excited as I was for this decision, I was also instantly sad. I’m going to miss it. I DO miss it! There’s something to be said for going into an office, bouncing ideas off one another, seeing people outside of your home and feeling like you’re connecting with humanity. (Ya know, if you like humanity.)

So I decided to make my own pro-con list on the whole work-from-home subject. Keep in mind, these are just my opinions comparing 23 years of in-office experience to 3 years remote experience.

Let’s get the cons out of the way first:

  1. Training is harder remotely – I’m a smart girl and can definitely learn via online. However, there’s something to be said for someone being live, in front of me and being able to see exactly where I’m pointing to when I have a question. Quite often, my folks will come to be for help because something went wrong only I’m not physically seeing how they got there in the first place.
  2. Supervising is harder – Being confined to an office sure makes it easier to find that one person who always seems to be missing from their desk. Usually, Mr. or Ms. Roam-A-Around can be found either in a bathroom or the breakroom. Now, I have no clue where people are at.
  3. Lack of team work – Not being in an office means it’s harder to promote a team atmosphere and easier for folks to develop a “every person for themselves” attitude. Being face to face can often product a sense of compassion, empathy and comradery that is otherwise lost when one is secluded.
  4. Distractions are abundant – I’ve sat in countless meetings and trainings where someone’s dog was barked, someone’s child needed immediate help, a baby’s diaper needed immediate changing (yes, it actually happened along with the commentary from Mom on how bad it smelled), the UPS or Amazon person came to the door…just to name a few. Distractions often make it hard to stay on task and harder still when new concepts are being developed or discussed.
  5. No immediate feedback – When we were back in the office and I needed help from a peer, I would go to them and get help. Now I instant message or email…wait…and sometimes wait some more….and then I wait again. Rarely is any situation quickly resolved that involves more than one person.
  6. Communication can be misconstrued – Without seeing my face and hearing my voice, it’s all too easy to misinterpret an instant message or email. This happens all the time. I give information and in my head, I sound sweet. However, if someone is having a low self-esteem day, they’re reading it in a completely different voice and before you know it, the checkered flag has dropped and the argument has started.
  7. Missing celebrations – Celebrating a birthday or special event virtually isn’t the same as getting everyone together in a breakroom for a slice of cake and taking a moment for some fun. I’ll miss the office parties the most.

Now let’s talk about the pros:

  1. No traffic – This is an obvious one. Less wear and tear on my car. No more white-knuckle driving through blinding snow storms or bad rain. No scraping ice from my car at 5am or hour-long drives home.
  2. More budget-friendly – No more eating out for breakfast or lunch. (Yes, I know it’s possible to bring these things to save money but I’m including it anyway.) No more Starbucks runs for a $6 or $7 cup of coffee. No paying for gas traveling back and forth to work.
  3. Opportunity for greater concentration – If you’re able to have a space away from family and any distractions, being able to control your office space can produce greater concentration for better productivity. For me, I am able to have my home office at the temperature I like and play some classical music. And no smelly cologne from Ms. Cigarette Smoker Who Likes to Wear Heavy Perfume to Cover Up the Fact That She Smokes!!! Ugh! I will not miss gagging on someone’s perfume or cologne. My sinuses won’t miss it either.
  4. More family time – Without having long commutes to and from work, you get to spend more time with your family. I’ve had more dinners at the dinner table working from home that I ever had driving back and forth. Even getting an extra 30 minutes each evening matters where family is concerned.
  5. It’s a healthier lifestyle – Working from home allows for more control over what you eat, more time for exercise and some important self-care. Your office day is literally only 8 hours which means there’s more “day” for you. I’m more apt to take a long walk on my lunch. Or after a hectic, stressful meeting, take a stress break and spend some time with my dog. Or, every once in a great while, have a good 5 minute cry out before the next meeting starts.
  6. It’s a healthier environment – We can’t ignore the fact that working from home means less exposure to germs and illness. No more offices with poor ventilation systems turning them into one huge Petrie dish nurturing sickness and disease. I don’t miss the cacophony of coughing, nose-blowing or sneezing. I don’t miss germs flying around from folks who cannot or will not stay home when they’re sick.
  7. Less absentee-ism – This is another one that cannot be ignored. Honestly, when I was sick, I hated going into the office. Being sick was more about not wanting to be around other people and just wanting to be home than the illness itself. So when Covid did catch up with me, I actually still felt able to put in a few hours of work and save my PTO for something fun. Don’t get me wrong – if you’re sick, it’s best practice to do what you need to do to get well. For me personally, however, I’m now apt to work through a migraine that would have kept me out of the office (bright lights, icy cold temps, perfumes clogging my sinuses, loud buzzing of office life) in the warmth and quiet of my own home office.

My list is pretty much neck-in-neck as far as pros and cons go. But one pro I didn’t list has become very important to me – I get to choose to live anywhere I want. Next year, I’ll be buying a house with my sister and it’s so nice not to have to worry about the commute to work – at least for me. There is a certain freedom that comes with working remotely that I didn’t expect. I’ll always miss the office. And I hate that I find myself more a homebody with each passing moment. It’s harder and harder to get me out of the house to socialize. I would imagine I’m not alone in that.

So work from home or go back to the office – which do you prefer?

Last look at office life….

Home office!

Posted in Moments and Musings

Everything is New

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Cor 5:17

Can I make a confession? This is a verse I have often discarded as “well, that’s great but I’ve been born again for a while now so…..this only applies to new Christians”.

However, today I was looking for verses that deal with starting a new season and this popped up in my search. I was about to swipe left on it when the Spirit stopped me and said, “wait! This IS for you. I’m doing something new in you right now. And five minutes from now, I’ll still be doing something new. And tomorrow, I’ll still be doing something new.”

Isn’t that just THE BEST news ever?

Lately, I feel like everything wrong with me has been highlighted, underlines and bolded in my brain. It’s a cruel voice circling around and around saying:

You’re not good enough.

You’re not pretty enough.

You’re too old.

You’re too dumb.

You’re not like everyone else.

You’re too fat.

You’re a failure.

This is quickly followed up by another voice, full of condemnation that says, “and what’s worse, you know better but you don’t read the Word enough, don’t pray enough and so God isn’t/can’t use you.” . And before long, if you listen enough to these voices, you stop believe the encouragement being spoken into your life every day by people who love you and know better.

It’s no secret that the devil lies. It’s no secret he wants you to feel isolated, depressed and lonely. It’s no secret that he uses comparison to accomplish all of this. HOWEVER, it’s also no secret that God has overcome evil. It’s no secret that our Heavenly Father knows when we’re feeling low and unloved and worthless. It’s no secret that He’s a very present help in a time of need and He uses His people to remind us who we are in Him.

I’ve spent a lifetime battling being a perfectionist and a lifetime failing at being perfect. (Imagine that!) Very recently, during a walk with my dog, God shouted to me to stop being so hard on myself. He already died for me. He already approves of me. He already loves me and nothing can stop that. Furthermore, He’s not done with me. And until Jesus comes, He never will be. And all I need to do is accept and receive. Easier said than done somedays but, like billions of other people on this planet, I’m a work in progress.

So why write this blog? And why does this verse suddenly mean so much?

Because Jesus. Plain and simple. The old is gone and the new is here because of Jesus. I used to look at this verse in a very linear way – as a one and done type of thing. You’re born again and BOOM, you’re new….end scene. Figure it out. Read your Bible. Pray….lather, rinse, repeat.

In Revelations 21:5. Jesus said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” The word behold means “to see or observe especially something remarkable” (Oxford Dictionary). The word making is “the process of producing something” but more importantly, it’s an action word in the verse.

So let’s answer my above questions –

Why write this blog? Because I know I’m not the only one experiencing this. I know there are others, like me, who are wanting something new so desperately we can taste it but our perfectionist, process-driven brains are frustrated because there is no such thing as a one-size fits all perfect process and it haunts us. Jesus died once for all but we are not a one size fits all species. Thankfully, God is not a one size fits all God.

Why this verse? Because it’s critical for us to know the old things are gone and the new things are here. It’s a process that happens over and over again. God is the King of removing the old and making the new. We need help daily to remove the old and refill with something new.

Jesus is the new. He’s here. Now. And He is enough.

Photo by Aaron Burden via Unsplash

Posted in Moments and Musings

Mrs. Emilie Schubert

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Several years ago, while praying for my girls, God impressed on my heart to start praying for their future husbands. I was obedient and began praying for young men I didn’t yet know. Two years ago, Ben Schubert walked into Emilie’s life.

He is everything I prayed for; a man after God’s own heart, a man who shares her vision for home and family; a man who will take the time to find out how her brain works; a man who will encourage her and validate her intelligence, a man who knows how to handle money; a man who values his own family and who values Emilie’s family as his own.

They both worked together to create a wedding day to remember. Unlike many young couples, they kept their focus more on planning for a marriage instead of just a wedding day. The end result was a lovely day full of family, fun and – most importantly – Jesus. They did everything themselves from flowers to charcuterie cups to cupcakes and centerpieces. Friends and family helped with photography and music and the church Ben grew up in provided the venue.

It was a simple and charming wedding.

So now, Emilie Sorensen is now Emilie Schubert. She’s moved out and is busy creating her new life, settling into her new job and her new role as a wife. I love her and my new son-in-law so much and love the life they’re building. I pray Jesus continue to guide them and strengthen their relationship as they keep Him in the center of everything they do.