Lean-To Living: Doing This Thing Called Life Fully Dependent on God

By Crystal Vance

Our lives often feel precarious, leaving us worried that any new challenge might tip us off-balance. With so many tasks and responsibilities coming our way, we struggle to handle life in our own strength. But what if we didn’t have to? What if we saw our fragility not as a failure but as an invitation?

In Lean-to Living, Crystal Vance reminds us that self-sufficiency is not our goal. Instead, we’re called to rely on God and His all-sufficient strength. Just as a traditional lean-to structure can’t stand up on its own but must rest against a building with a strong foundation, we can only thrive in this constantly shifting life by resting on our strong, unchanging God.

Filled with stories from everyday life, this weekly devotional will encourage you to turn to God throughout the year. Each week’s devotional includes a key Scripture verse as well as suggested activities to help you apply the material. You’ll write out Scripture, consider areas of your life that need to be surrendered to God, and be challenged to grow in faith.

Come along on this weekly journey toward dependence on God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973673996

Crystal Vance

Crystal Vance is a wife and retired homeschooling mother of four children. She blogs at Lean-to Living and has authored The Teacher’s Lunchbox: Learning to Enjoy the Home School Journey. She leads local Bible studies and speaks at women’s events at churches in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Raised in the city, she now finds herself living on a small farm in Mooresville, Indiana, where God is teaching her countless lessons through the simple pleasures of everyday life and the constant demands of raising a family. Crystal and her husband, Mike, bought an 1800’s farmhouse that was in need of considerable attention. In their spare time, they are gradually restoring this beautiful piece of history and learning many life lessons along the way. For fun, Crystal enjoys reading, hiking, and Green Bay Packers football.

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Copyright © 2019 Crystal Vance.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ESV: Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7400-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7399-6 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/16/2019

Contents

Special Thanks To …

Introduction

Week 1 I’m Not, but I AM

Week 2 I’ll Take a Mulligan

Week 3 A Rain Dance

Week 4 What’s Hiding in Your Tent?

Week 5 Stand Still

Week 6 Registering Complaints

Week 7 Belly Up to the Buffet

Week 8 No More Regulation Hurdles

Week 9 Take a Hike

Week 10 Waiting on Monday

Week 11 The Familiar

Week 12 Around the Table

Week 13 Show Some Love

Week 14 Time in the Laundry Room

Week 15 Home

Week 16 A Trip to the Orchard

Week 17 Hidden Treasures

Week 18 A Sacrifice of Praise

Week 19 Sunny Storms

Week 20 Put Another Log on the Fire

Week 21 Discarded Chains

Week 22 Transformations

Week 23 Learning to Wait

Week 24 Stump Removal

Week 25 Face to Face

Week 26 Limited Battery Life

Week 27 Reaching the Summit

Week 28 Lessons in Dating

Week 29 A Long Weekend

Week 30 Spring Cleaning

Week 31 The Sifting

Week 32 Wrinkled Gift Wrap

Week 33 Shout It From the Roof

Week 34 Picking Dandelions

Week 35 Just a Walk in the Park

Week 36 New Year, New Word

Week 37 The Journey to Nineveh

Week 38 Cleaning Out the Crevices

Week 39 Elevated Expectations

Week 40 Everybody Loves a Good Book

Week 41 Do You Have a Virus?

Week 42 Position with a Purpose

Week 43 List Maker

Week 44 A Tattered Card

Week 45 Clear Vision

Week 46 Dressed for Success

Week 47 The Anonymous Servant

Week 48 Count Your Blessings

Week 49 Encouragement

Week 50 Prayer

Week 51 Run Your Race

Week 52 What’s Your Motivation?

This book is lovingly

dedicated to all those fellow lean-tos out there who are in need of some structural repair. We’re in this together.

Relying on God has to start all over everyday, as if nothing has yet been done.

C. S. Lewis

Special Thanks To …

M ike, who encouraged me to pick up pen and paper again and compile my thoughts into a book that might serve to encourage others. Thank you for allowing me time to work and for all the gentle nudgings you offered when I grew weary. You are such a great encourager and my greatest cheerleader. God blessed me in a big way the day He brought you into my life. I love you.

Maddy, who gave me so much fodder for this book. Your big heart and sheer determination make it easy to understand why you meet success at every turn. Your love of life is contagious and will serve to take you far. Thank you for approaching all that you do with such gusto and encouraging others to do the same. I love you.

Noah, who reminds me to always foster an attitude of compassion. Your concern for others developed at an early age and continues to rest in the deepest corners of your heart. Thank you for not just pulling for the underdog with your words, but for doing your part to make a difference in the world. I love you.

Eli, who teaches me the value of a positive attitude. Your warm smile and happy-go-lucky personality remind me that life is too short not to enjoy every moment. Thank you for always being the light anytime gloom tries to set up camp. You are a pleasure and encouraged me on this journey more than you’ll ever know. I love you.

Chloe, who sat side-by-side with me for much of the writing of this book, asking questions and offering commentary. Your creativity is a breath of fresh air and makes you such a special young lady. Thank you for the many ways you use your gifts to bless others. It makes this momma’s heart smile. I love you.

My heavenly Father, the Giver of all good things. Thank You for the work You are doing on this less-than-perfect lean-to. You continue to shore up those areas that are weak and reinforce those things that are showing wear and tear. Who else but the Master Carpenter could take such a dilapidated structure as myself and refurbish the splintering pieces into something to be used by You? Thank You for the lessons You teach me every single day of my life. May I never become so preoccupied that I fail to sense Your leading, and may I never become so sure of myself that I fail to lean on You. You’re my sure foundation. I love you.

Introduction

O ne warm fall day in October our family moved into a charming farmhouse, built in 1879. We spent the long winter months working indoors, refurbishing the house to make it our own. However, with spring just around the corner, we were chomping at the bit to get our hands dirty in the great outdoors. Honestly, there was just as much outside work to do as there had been inside, but we were anxious to roll up our sleeves and get started. One of the many things that drew us to this home was the beautiful barn that sits on the property. It’s an old dairy barn with loads of character and, I’m sure, endless stories of days gone by. Built to one side of the barn is a lean-to. You know, one of those simple structures added to an existing building. The rafters of the lean-to rest against the wall of the barn. Back in the day, these leaning structures were oftentimes used as temporary shelters.

For whatever reason, I became intrigued with that lean-to. I would stand and stare, wondering what stories it had to tell and questioning why I was so drawn to it. One day, it occurred to me that I could relate to that old, leaning structure. This body, this life for that matter, is just a temporary existence. It won’t last forever, and it’s a bit shaky at times, much like that lean-to. However, I find much comfort in knowing that I’m not called to rely on my own strength. I’m not expected to weather the storms of life on my own. You see, I have a slanted roof, just like any good lean-to. It’s one that leans into the side of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My rafters of fear, insecurity, and failure lean on the all-powerful, never-changing foundation of the great I Am.

That’s just what this book is about. It’s about finding God in the mundane, ordinary events of life. It’s about learning lessons in His faithfulness, His sovereignty, and His goodness. He’s always speaking to us, urging us to continually make strides toward the finish line in our faith walks. Our job is to lean in and listen.

I so appreciate the repairs that God is continually making to this less-than-perfect lean-to. I’m a work in progress, to be sure, but I’m learning that there’s much strength to be found in the leaning. My prayer is that you’re blessed by something you read in the pages that follow. This book is designed to be used as a weekly devotional. Take time to read a new chapter each week, meditate on the Scripture found there, and complete the LEANING ON GOD section found at the end of each chapter. As you do, I pray that you, too, would be strengthened as you learn to lean on your heavenly Father.

I’m Not, but I AM

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:10

I don’t know about you, but I love starting off the new year with a revamped Bible reading plan spread before me. Every January offers an opportunity to kick off a new approach to studying the Word of God. Some years it may be an approach that combines reading selected passages from both the Old and New Testaments each day. Other years the reading plan may focus on a slower, more methodical read through the Gospels or the New Testament letters to the early church. Mixing up the reading plan can help keep us engaged in the Word and anxiously anticipating the uncovering of buried treasures found in the pages of Scripture. One year, in particular, I found myself on the most basic of all reading plans. I started in Genesis on January 1 st and was aiming to work my way through Revelation by the time a new year rolled around.

As the month of January came to a close, I had just walked with the children of Israel as they left Egyptian slavery, under the leadership of Moses. I’d heard the story of the Exodus all my life. I’d read about it, and I’d even studied it in a fair amount of detail. However, this particular time through, it felt as if I was seeing parts of it for the very first time. God was showing me things that, in the past, I’d read and never really stopped to think about. He was reminding me that reading through His Word wasn’t just an exercise in checking something else off of my to-do list. His Word was applicable to my everyday life. Yes, even those passages from the pages of the Old Testament. They still had meaning for me today. The rich history of the Old Testament was vital to my ability to put one foot in front of the other some days. There were still lessons God wanted to teach me from the lives of Moses and the children of Israel, and one such lesson came to life for me in the third chapter of Exodus. God was addressing Moses from the burning bush, convincing him that he was, indeed, God’s instrument of choice for freeing the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Feeling a bit under-qualified for the task at hand, Moses began asking lots of questions and offering a series of excuses for why he wasn’t the man for the job.

In Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God, Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them? I love God’s response to Moses. I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ Without question, God was reiterating His sovereignty, His supremacy, His dominion, His commanding authority over all things. In other words, Moses didn’t have to have it all figured out before he went. He didn’t have to meet a long list of requirements to be God’s chosen mouthpiece. Moses didn’t have to have all the answers. He only needed to know Who sent him. The God of the universe, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Alpha and the Omega. That’s who was sending Moses!

Oh, how I needed to be reminded that He is Lord of all. Like Moses, I was guilty of asking for all the answers upfront. I needed to know how things were going to play out and exactly how I was supposed to respond to the myriad of circumstances life threw my way. I wanted to be able to plan and prepare for whatever came my way. However, the truth of the matter was that all I really needed to know was Whose I was. I needed to know Who I belonged to, and I needed to trust in His complete sovereignty and unfailing love.

As I read those few verses in Exodus, God reminded me that He is who He says He is. I don’t have to have it all together, as long as I have Him. Paul says in