Lisa Whittle - Jesus Over Everything: Uncomplicating the Daily Struggle to Put Jesus First

2020 Lisa Whittle

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Whittle, Lisa. author.

Title: Jesus over everything : uncomplicating the daily struggle to put Jesus first / Lisa Whittle.

Description: Nashville : W Publishing an imprint of Thomas Nelson, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: "Author, speaker, and Bible teacher Lisa Whittle is passionate about helping people pursue Jesus for life, grow deep roots of faith, and walk strong in a world that so often seems to have gone crazy. In Jesus Over Everything, Lisa shares eight statements of choice to help us grow in our understanding of what it means to put Jesus first"-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019046956 (print) | LCCN 2019046957 (ebook) | ISBN 9780785231981 (paperback) | ISBN 9780785231998 ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Christian life.

Classification: LCC BV4501.3 .W485 2020 (print) | LCC BV4501.3 (ebook) | DDC 248.4--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046956

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046957

Printed in the United States of America

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For my Truest Love since I was six

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CONTENTS

WE ARE BORN HOMESICK, EVERY ONE OF US.

LORE WILBERT

As long as I can remember, Ive been hungry for a simpler life.

Enter Enid, Oklahoma, the home of my splintery tree fort, brown paneled-wall country home, venison Crock-Pot cook-offs, and the last place I remember life not feeling like a raging list of to-dos. I was about six, maybe seven. I ran in the grass and held stray kittens for a living, without knowing about catching the dreaded ringworm. (I eventually found out.) Daddy preached in the big church in town, and Mom did basically everything else, so far as I could see.

Its not that the years that followed brought monumental snags. Its that those years of holding kittens are the last I can remember feeling completely carefree. Preteen angst shortly took over. Awareness of people not keeping their word. And the life juggle in general that requires priority lists. Ive always been a list queen, with the hopes of keeping it all straight. Interesting how people I know who live by these lists claim they bring us the sanity that they secretly steal from us.

And then theres Jesus.

Hes a large part of my simpler life story and my list story too: the fifth member of the Reimer family, woven in between Daddy, Mom, older brother Mark, and me during those blessed early years. (The deer carcasses hanging in the garage dont count since they contributed only to the cook-offs, and my little sister wasnt born yet.) Unlike my brother and me, with our personalized rooms, Jesus got free rein over every room in the house but lived especially in the big white Bible on the coffee table and, since I was six, inside of me. I grasped this concept because my parents explained it to me, and I believed it for myself since it was something I accepted, received, and, subsequently, felt. Our family loved Himboth my parents, in their own way, made sure. I loved Him. My whole life I have.

But I also love me. Sometimes I love me more. This is where things get complicated.

Forty years later and it remains the story of my life.

ME OVER JESUS

A few years ago I did something long overdue: I went on a one-year shopping fast.

I wish I could say I did it because I wanted to. I would prefer to spin this with me looking spiritual and disciplined. But the truth is I did it because one day God nudged me into it by good old-fashioned embarrassment.

Ill tell you about that. But first, lets go back.

My expression through clothes came early for me as a little girlmy mom told me so, and Ive seen it myself in pictures: the cool, strapless clogs with striped, mismatched Dorrie-esque socks (yes, that Dorrie from the library books) with the floral, off-the-shoulder dress for an attempt at eclecticism (close but no cigar). Then came those wide teenage belts and funky MC Hammer pants and all that unapologetic 80s flair as I got older. I found no suitable prom dresses to fit my style, so I had my mom make them.

Clothes, even to this day, make me feel like my most authentic me. Putting them together: an art. Wearing what I want no matter the rules: a rebellion. I find particular pleasure in buying clothes on a budgetlooking like I pay far more for things than I actually have. It has become a bit of a game to me in my adulthoodfrom my clothes to my home dcorfeeling joy over how many times I can secure wide-eyed compliments like