How You Live: Lessons Learned from Point of Grace

HELLO FRIEND

No matter the situation, experience, or transition we go through in life, one thing is certain: we all learn lessons along the way. Seasons change, and hopefully, as we grow and learn, we change with them.

For you, perhaps the season right now is one of beginnings—a new job, a new school, a new baby, or a new home might be on the horizon. Or, maybe your current season is one of reflection, as you think on your marriage, your parenting, your struggles, your work, or your friendships. Perhaps, instead, it’s a period of endings you find yourself in—soaking up the final days with a child about to head to college, closing the chapter to a job you’ve had for years, or saying good-bye to a beloved community as you move to another city.

Or, maybe this book isn’t in your hands for you at all, but for someone else. Perhaps you have a loved one in mind—someone who is approaching a certain event, season, or change in life that you want to commemorate. Maybe you simply want a way to say, We’ve all braved this kind of thing before, in some way or another, and we’ve all come out on the other side of it with valuable lessons learned. You are not alone.

Now, we don’t pretend to have all the wisdom or knowledge or answers in the world. There’s no way we could. Truth be told, we’ve gotten life wrong a lot more times than we’ve gotten it right! But through it all—the ups and the downs, the seasons on the road and at home, the failures and the successes—God has taught us some things along the way, and we can’t thank Him enough for it.

Our prayer is this: that you’d look beyond the lessons we’ve learned in various seasons of life, toward the One who taught them to us. . . . He will always be exactly what you need.

As you read through this book, our prayer is this: that you’d look beyond the lessons we’ve learned in various seasons of life, toward the One who taught them to us. No matter what you face, no matter who you might be trying to walk beside right now as they brave the next few steps in their journey, no matter what the particular season of life may be, God will meet you, keep you, and teach you. Whether you learn it the hard way or the easy way, He will always be exactly what you need.

And the best part? The back of this book offers a tangible way for you to move beyond our stories and record what really matters: your own lessons learned. Use this as a dedicated place to document what God has taught you over the years, so you can remind yourself of His great grace in the future, or perhaps even pass on these insights as a gift to a loved one who might need your wisdom right about now.

With love,

Denise, Leigh, and Shelley

CONSISTENCY

Have you ever had a moment so impactful, that even though it happened long ago, you can remember every detail in your mind’s eye?

It was probably 1992—as Point of Grace was just ramping up—that we spent a lot of time in the city of Houston. A man named Steve Seelig was the singles pastor at First Baptist Church there, and he was working hard on our behalf to make sure the entire world knew about us and our music. We loved Steve with all our hearts; he was a true fan from day one, who eventually became our first booking agent, and ultimately a father figure to us. He introduced us to a wonderful woman from the church who was teaching Sunday school and also beginning her own speaking and teaching ministry for women. Her name was Beth Moore.

Even in Beth’s beginnings as a women’s Bible teacher, she was so full of wisdom, and you naturally wanted to push the godly insights she gleaned from the Word straight into your soul. I remember so vividly sitting down in Steve’s office with Beth one hot Houston day to talk about where things were headed with our group. She told us we were no doubt on the brink of beginning a long career in Christian music. I’ll never forget Beth looking us straight in the eye and asking, What do you want people to say about you when your ministry is complete?

We all had trouble figuring out what to say—is there even a right answer, we wondered? After we stumbled around for a bit, Beth prodded us in the right direction: I think the greatest thing you will want to be said of you is that you were faithful. Truer words were never spoken, and I remember thinking that on one hand that sounded so simple, but being faithful to the Lord’s work would come to hold so many complexities throughout our career. In the end, that’s exactly what each of us wanted to be said of us and our ministry—that we were steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, as 1 Corinthians 15:58 puts it.

Faithful. Steadfast. Excelling. I think these culminate in the word consistency. Whether we are on tour, in our homes, or making everyday little decisions, we wanted to be consistently faithful to do the next right thing that came our way. While we certainly stumble every day, we are ever-aiming to be women who consistently get back up and walk in the faithful direction. We want to know and live out a secret truth: small but consistent and faithful decisions we make to the glory of God over the long haul are the ultimate freedom! Consistency, as it turns out, is the abundant and good life. That’s been true for us over the course of our ministry, and it’s true for you too. ◆

"Years ago, as new parents, my husband and I were visiting some friends who had a son who was probably three. After a long day of playing, his mother told David to go and take a bath. There was no screaming, yelling, kicking, or crying. David immediately got up from the floor and went to take a bath. She only asked him once. I was stunned, and as a new mother I asked her, ‘How did you get him to do that? How did you get him to take a bath without a fight?’ His mother shared her secret. Consistency. She said, ‘I knew I needed to be consistent in everything I asked him to do, and follow through with discipline if needed. It only took a few times for him to realize who was lovingly the boss.’ My husband and I followed our friends’ example of being consistent as parents, and that rewarded us with many happy days with our kids. We enjoyed every minute, every age, and every phase of life with our kids. They were a joy . . . and that made us joyful!"

BONITA SEELIG

wife of Steve, mother, and good friend

GOD’S TONE OF VOICE

My youngest son informed me the other day that I have rude texting etiquette. I had no idea what he was talking about. Apparently, when you put a period at the end of the word, the receiver assumes you are saying something with a sarcastic tone. For example:

See, when I read that text, I think I was simply saying Alright. Sounds great. But to Price? In his mind, my text reads this way instead: "*Sigh.* Okay, if you HAVE to." He read my words and assumed I was frustrated by ending the whole ordeal with, you know, a period.

Again, I had no intention of saying it that way. I was just saying, Okay. I might have been in the middle of something that didn’t allow for the extra smiley face, thumbs up, or thanks for letting me know!

This texting debacle sent me into deep thought. OH DEAR . . . How many other people have I been rude to over texts because I had no idea of the rules?

The sad part is I would love it if my children automatically assumed my tone would be sweet because that’s what they are used to hearing. But to be honest, sometimes it’s not. I get why they can wonder which sort of tone is showing up in their messages back and forth to