Where have I been?

How is your summer going?

(Photo – Creative Commons)

I apologize that I have been relatively quiet with my posts lately.

The main reason for this is that I am in the process of updating my blog. I am moving to a self-hosted site, which has been incredibly eye-opening and frustrating, to say the least.

Have you ever gone through this?

If so, you can probably understand my pain and irritation.

I am getting very close to having it the way that I want. However, I would love your patience as I work through all of the details. It’s not quite there yet. I know all of the headaches will be worth it in the end!

I will update you more as I move forward, but I will no longer be posting regularly from this site. I would love for you to follow my new posts at www.tammyhelfrich.com. I am having a special guest visit the blog tomorrow.

I have also had the honor of posting at fellow writer friends’ sites, and will be continuing to visit others in the months to come. I am very excited about the community of really great writers that I have around me right now. They are doing some amazing things, and I am thankful to know them and be able to learn from them.

You can check out the recent posts here:

Why Parents Matter – at Tor Constantino’s blog

Can’t Find a Roadmap – at Jim Woods’ blog

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you!

Tammy

Mercy vs. Compassion

We are in the middle of a series at church called Be. It’s based on the Beatitudes, and it has been really good. Two weeks ago, the message was about mercy. How Jamey Johnson described it has really impacted me. Here’s what he said.

Jesus is saying this: I will give mercy TO you, when I can get mercy THROUGH you.

He talked about the difference between compassion and mercy.

Compassion is: bringing justice to the innocent

Mercy is: God’s ministry to the guilty

That really hit home. How many times have we mixed up these two words? Compassion is easy. It’s an emotional response to the needs of others. But, mercy? That is just plain hard! Mercy is showing love to the people that you are justified in giving the verdict “guilty” to. Many times, these are the people who are closest to you that have hurt you deeply.

He told an incredible story about his life growing up and how hard his relationship was with his Dad was. It was very powerful. While I can’t relate to the way his Father treated him, I think we can all identify at least one person in our life that needs mercy. It is one of the most difficult things we do in life.

His message really resonated with so many people. He has an incredibly raw, authentic way of speaking and relating to people. I would highly encourage you to listen to the podcast here (titled Jamey Johnson 6/24/12).

I also recently read an incredible book by my author friend Mary DeMuth. It is her memoir, and describes how incredibly difficult her childhood was. Many of us may not have made it through what she endured. But, she did. And she has shown incredible courage by sharing her story and showing mercy to her family and the people who hurt her. You can check out her book, titled Thin Places, here.

As I said, I can’t relate to the horrible things that people have endured in their childhoods. But, I can certainly relate to having someone close to me hurt me. I think we all can.

Jamey’s question at the end of his message was this:

What would it look like to show mercy to the person who has hurt you the most?

For me, it looks like getting over myself and my hurt feelings, and showing the love and grace of God to others.

What do you think about mercy? Have you had a hard time showing it to someone close to you?