The Call to Love: A Practical Guide to Loving and Serving God by Loving and Serving People

By Jillian McClendon

Do you struggle with the notion of loving people the way God has called you to? It is well known that God asks His children to love one another, yet living a life of love proves to be difficult in a society imbued with selfishness.

Theology on the topic of love is not lacking; even non-Christians will freely speak about love. Almost everyone in todays society speaks of love with great conviction, but their behavior speaks of selfishness. Why is it so hard to live in a loving way when we talk so freely about it? Why is it that we can say we love our neighbors, and yet our neighbors dont actually feel loved by us?

Jillian recognizes that there is a genuine need to have real-world advice on implementing Gods call to love. The Call to Love lays out practical steps that can help you make vital changes in your lifechanges that can help you shift your perspective and arrive at a place where you have more love to share. You may find yourself seeing others in a different light and feeling more able to love your neighbor with a true, godly loveand not just on Sunday morning!

You already know the theology. The Call to Love shows you how to live it! Take the plunge and go from talking about love to living a life of love. You can be the change that society is longing for. Get ready to change your life and your world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781490807645

Jillian McClendon

Jillian McClendon has come to appreciate a unique perspective on life through her daily struggle with chronic pain. She has a degree from Biola University and is a certified Montessori teacher. Jillian lives with her husband, Sam, and their two children in Silverdale, Washington.

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The Call to Love

A Practical Guide to Loving and Serving God by Loving and Serving People

Jillian McClendon

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Copyright © 2013 Jillian McClendon.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-0763-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-0762-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-0764-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013916315

WestBow Press rev. date: 9/13/2013

Contents

Preface

1.       A Higher Calling

2.       My Story

Step 1   -    Letting Go of Self

3.       Simplify Your Schedule

4.       Catch Your Breath

5.       Inward to Outward

6.       Love the Lord Your God

Step 2   -    Connecting with People

7.       It’s all Fun and Games (Mostly!)

8.       Growing in Friendships

9.       Out into the World

10.       Sometimes it’s Harder

11.       Maybe We’ll just Change the World

Appendix I.       Challenges

Appendix II.       The Extra Step

Dedication

T he Call to Love is dedicated to my children Zander and Daphne and their entire generation. It is my hope and prayer that the world will soon be a more loving place for you and that you will take part in making that happen.

With Love and Gratitude

T o my Lord God , who taught me how to see the good, even in hardships, and gave me the strength and wisdom to share these valuable lessons with others, I love you. Thank you for entrusting me with such an amazing task and giving me the strength to carry it out.

Sam, my love—you are my rock! Your strength shines in my weakness. I’d be nowhere without you.

Mom and Dad—you are the most incredible parents ever and I am blessed to have you!

Heidi—Your excitement and ever-amazing ideas were invaluable to this process!

Gretchen—Your spirit of love and optimism are truly an inspiration. Thank you for sharing it everywhere you go!

Many thanks to my amazing friends and family who make it easy to love others! Bob, Becki, Myrt, Joe, Jake, Ruthie, Debi, Keri, Kora, Jackie, Rob, Suzie, Fran, and the whole CK Montessori staff.

To my amazing team of specialists who help me manage my pain—Joe, Michelle, and Peggy. I couldn’t do it without you!

To my church family at CKPC, thank you for the love that spills over every time I enter the church doors. Special thanks to Pastors Lee, Adam, and John for your wisdom and guidance. To my small group and the choir, thank you for your friendship, prayers, love and support!

Thank you to Paul, Randy, and Kiran for your help with the publishing process. I knew nothing about publishing a book before I received help from you!

Preface

L et me start by saying that I am not a psychologist, a philosopher, or a theologian. In fact, some might say I’m a nobody. I am not much more than a stay-at-home mom from a smallish town. I do, however, love God with all of my heart and strive to serve Him in all that I do. He has taught me many valuable things through some painful struggles and has placed a burden on my heart to share them with others. I have written this book through prayer and with an earnest desire to help others learn what God has taught me. I want to change the world; I hope that’s not too much to ask…

You should also know that this is an action book. No, not the kind filled with stories of adventures: the kind where you have to be ready to take some action yourself. If you are simply interested in reading to gain some amount of knowledge but are not ready to change your life a bit (or a lot!) then don’t bother. The purpose of this book is to encourage you and give you tools to more effectively live out God’s call in your life to love the people around you.

It is my sincere hope that you will take plenty of time to get through this book. Take several weeks or months! I know, right now you are probably looking at the length of it and wondering what I could be thinking. In addition to being short, it should also be an easy read. This is quite intentional I assure you. As you read I want you to feel like we are sitting down and having a cup of coffee together (or in my case, chai!) What I want you to wrestle with is the content. I encourage you to read a chapter and then put the book down—seriously, I’ll wait! Deal with and live out each section before moving on. Otherwise it’s just another book for your bookshelf. If you must read it in a day (you know who you are) do so, but commit to taking the time to work through the steps.

For those of you who like to journal and sort through your thoughts on paper you will find some space to do just that at the end of each chapter. You will also find a few stimulating questions to get you started. In addition, the appendix section holds Challenges and The Extra Step. The Challenges are to encourage you to put what you have learned into action. In The Extra Step you will find some ideas of thoughtful gestures that go beyond the expected to help you communicate love to the people around you.

It is my prayer that as you read about what God has taught me, the Lord will work in your heart and help you to more effectively live out His call to love.

1

A Higher Calling

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

~ Philippians 2:3

W hat I have to say is nothing new; you have no doubt heard it before. You probably already know it is true. What is it?

God tells us to love our neighbor.

So, why am I bothering to tell you again? Because it’s easy to understand but hard to live. Well, live fully that is. We hear Love your neighbor over and over again from