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Nancy Reece

Leading from a reservoir of calm

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Choosing Calm in a Season of Sheltering

Nancy Reece · Mar 27, 2020 · 5 Comments

I went for a walk yesterday and was singing Raise A Hallelujah at the top of my lungs.  The words of the song – I raise a hallelujah, with everything inside of me; I raise a hallelujah, I will watch the darkness flee, I raise a hallelujah, fear you lost your hold on me – brought peace and calm in the middle of this season of fear and panic in our world.  

Choosing Praise over Fear

About two weeks ago, I wasn’t exactly experiencing calm.  On Thursday March 12th, when we were aware of the virus and a couple of days before things went crazy at the grocery stores, I came home and told my husband I had a spirit of heaviness.  His response surprised me:  “Good, the Lord has a word for you”.  I knew there was a verse about the spirit of heaviness in the Bible and found Isaiah 61:3. God tells us to exchange the spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise.  The Lord did indeed have a word for me and I had a choice to make.

Choosing Time with Jesus

I went to my “Battle Songs” playlist – Surrounded, Waymaker, God of Angel Armies, Victor’s Crown, and Raise a Hallelujah (just a few) – and experienced a time of praise and worship that displaced that spirit of heaviness.  As I chose praise, worship, prayer, and joy, I experienced the sheltering garment of praise.  I know I also have to choose time with Jesus in solitude, stillness and silence.  Solitude is one of the ways we abide in Him; his promise is to produce fruit when we abide.  That fruit is peace, patience, faithfulness and a spirit of power, love and self-discipline…Galatians 5:22-23 & 2 Tim 1:7.  

Choosing Connection

The Lord also had a second word for me on that day as well.  When God created man, He said it was not good for man to be alone.(Gen 2:18) Yet we find ourselves sheltering in place and the enemy of our souls will use this to produce loneliness, isolation, fear, and despair.  It is important for us to reach out to one another and stay connected – via phone calls, video calls, facetime – any way we can see and encourage one another.  Staying home doesn’t mean we have to disconnect.

Choosing Joy

In this season of sheltering at home, I don’t have any excuses to not spend time at Jesus’ feet.  As you walk out your days in these times of sacrifice and struggle, here are some choices you can make to help yourself and others – and to experience calm and peace.  

  • Spend time each day in quiet with Jesus.  List things you are grateful for in this time of trial.  Praise him for those things. 
  • Limit your exposure to 24/7 news. 
  • Really stay home.  It will make a difference.
  • Listen for the Spirit’s wisdom and ask him who you should connect with today. Connect purposefully.  Allow time for an in-depth conversation should it emerge.
  • Create and listen to a “battle songs” playlist that will encourage you and sooth your soul.
  • Claim God’s promises.  2 Peter 1:4
  • Choose joy – 1 Peter 1:6
  • Above all, pray for repentance, realignment and restoration for our broken world. 
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Only in Quiet

Nancy Reece · Apr 8, 2019 · Leave a Comment

woman beside quiet lake

Dan Webster taught me that there are things God does in the heart of a leader that only get done in quiet.   I’ve learned the value of getting away to experience solitude and quiet.  A few years ago, I went to Penuel Ridge with my friend, Sandra.  I wrote this in my journal just after I arrived.

O Lord, I am back where your spring flowers called to my soul. Now the gentle sunshine in a crisp fall afternoon falls on my face, bringing warmth and light. While I’m here please: 

  • Pour into me 
  • Soak into my heart
  • Seep into my being 
  • Penetrate my soul 
  • Drown my fears 
  • Illuminate my dark places
  • Mark my path 
[Read more…] about Only in Quiet
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Accomplish More by Doing Less – Part 2

Nancy Reece · May 20, 2015 · Leave a Comment

When I wrote about my struggle to accomplish more by doing less last month, I struck a cord for a lot of you. One reader shared this: “I travel almost weekly. To catch flights I’m up many mornings around 4 am. Last night I arrived home at 10:30 pm. The easiest thing to give up is my “quiet time” for prayer, reading or meditation or exercise…all of which I need to stay healthy and productive.”

It is a hard struggle to shut down the years of a performance driven life and to willfully choose to live your life in a way that has greater benefits – for both yourself and for those you lead. So, if you’d like to accomplish more by doing less – here are the 4 choices I made that enabled me to live with margin in my life. [Read more…] about Accomplish More by Doing Less – Part 2

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Unethical “Ladder Climbing” in the Workplace

Nancy Reece · Apr 15, 2011 · Leave a Comment

This is a guest blog from a colleague I met at National SPeaker Association UNconference.  Bonnie’s discussion is about a person who takes the ideas of others and promotes them as her own.  In my next blog, we’ll be discussing people who lead out of mutual fear vs. mutual trust.  Nancy

Fear, concern and even intimidation are very real feelings that develop in many work groups.  It’s not uncommon to see a group in which “ladder climbing”, striving, and metaphorically speaking, scratching, is done in order to put one’s needs and desires ahead of others’. I saw this recently in a group where I was consulting.  The operations manager was determined to be seen and heard above all others, to the point of bypassing her co-workers and staff members to achieve her goals. She was known to take others’ ideas and present them to leadership as her own.  What drives this type of unethical behavior?  [Read more…] about Unethical “Ladder Climbing” in the Workplace

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