Month: April 2011

I have really enjoyed the show Parenthood this season. It is a show that deals with family  life and all the varying dynamics that come along with the personalities in a family. If you are looking for a DVD series or something on Hulu.com, check out Parenthood….

Now the song they open with each week is one that I often now hum throughout the week. I want to share it tonight. Listen to the music and reflect on the words and enjoy…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUr5v2aWijw

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
May you stay forever young.

Let us remember with devotion this entry which began His saving work . . . and let us follow Him with a lively faith.

I was struck by the quote…”We reveal to ourselves and others what is important to us by the way we prepare/celebrate.” I added the word prepare here because I believe this also is a way we reveal to ourselves and others…

And so here we are in the days of Holy Week. I realize that it could be another week where all of a sudden it is Good Friday and Easter. I don’t want the week to slip by me without proper reflection and preparation on my part. And I don’t want to just fall into line with a prescribed plan that  should prepare my heart.

As I move through Holy Week, I am less concerned about what I reveal to others and more interested in grasping again, the reality of the depth of my sin, the incredible sacrifice of  Jesus death on the Cross and the magnitude of hope and new life that results from Christ’s Resurrection.

I do hope that this week I will understand in even a deeper way which will allow me to live an even more lively faith.

Today I had the opportunity to serve in the four-year old classroom for Crossroads Bible Church. I have never attended this church, but today I was honored to be a part of a community coming together. Volunteers from a variety of churches staffed the children’s ministry today so this congregation could spend the morning together honoring and remembering their youth pastor and his infant son. It was an amazing experience to walk into a community of people I have never been with and to experience the unity of being in the presence of the community of believers.

I wonder why it often takes a tragedy for us to gather as a community of believers and fully lean on one another. I find myself reflecting on that tonight and wondering if there are places in my day-to-day that I can live more fully in community. I believe that God has given us the gift of community. A community that will grieve together when one member is grieving and celebrate together when one member celebrates. I will be praying this week for the community of Crossroads Bible Church. I will also be praying that each of us will choose to experience the community of believers that surrounds each of us. Let us consider living honestly about our joys AND our struggles….and marvel at the gift God gives us in one another!

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/04/crossroads_bible_church_mourns.html

I am going to take one of these each day and apply it to my daily living.

Anyone care to join me?

Act Assertively

Be Brave

Clear out Clutter

Delight in Daisies

Explore Everything

Feed Friendships

Grow Gracefully

Harvest Happiness

Invest in Ice Cream

Jump for Joy

Keep Kissing

Laugh Lots

Make Miracles

Nurture Nature

Opt for Optimism

Praise People

Quit Quibbling

Relax Regularly

Seek Simplicity

Take Time

Use an Umbrella

Value Veggies

Welcome Wisdom

Xceed Xpectations

Yell Yes

Zzzzzz’s (get plenty of them!)

It has been one of those days. I am keenly aware of how quickly life can change. My life is the same (for the most part) as when I woke up this morning, but a local youth pastor and his six month old son died in a fire last night. I have read many posts on Face Book by those who knew him. It breaks my heart that two little girls now will grow up without their daddy. I wonder how a wife survives the gut wrenching sorrow of losing her husband and her baby boy. When I look at the faces of this young father and his young son and realize the tragedy that occurred….I feel vulnerable

I follow a few CaringBridge journals regularly of people I don’t know. Stories that I have learned of and in the tragic reality of cancer, I have committed to pray daily for Kate and all who love her. Kate has battled cancer since June 2009. She is a vibrant young girl who has a family who understands in a very real way what it means to fight for her life. Kate’s cancer has returned and her prognosis is bleak. And yet the appeal from Kate’s parents is to plead before God for a miracle and complete healing. I join them in every prayer I offer. I see her innocence and her beauty and I hope with them and for them….and yet I must be honest, when I see the way this disease take’s it’s toll….I feel vulnerable.

I have to say that today I realize that the price of gas and the cold and windy weather we are having and even my own struggle to lose weight, all seem quite trivial as I observe the struggles of those who are sorrowing over life and death issues. I am sad for my friend Deanna who is waking up in the morning to attend her mother’s memorial service and my friend Lori says good-bye to her Dad at his memorial service.

Life is a mystery in so many ways. I am grateful that at times such as these, I am able to remember words that resonate through the ache, confusion and vulnerability…truths such as “Be still and know that I am God” or Because He Lives I can face tomorrow. As the days come closer to Good Friday and Easter, may I remember that this world is temporary and there will be a day when “we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise then when we’ve first begun!”

It was after Christmas and I was walking through the clearance aisles…

I walked by this bowl once, picked it up, put it down, kept walking, came back, picked it up again and saw it was marked way down.

How could I pass it up….

And so I bought a BELIEVE bowl for FIFTY CENTS…

Now this bowl has become a very interesting part of my mornings. I use it for my fruit or cereal or whatever is on the menu. I think about the word

BELIEVE in light of my day and wonder each morning what will I need to

BELIEVE for the day that lies ahead. Will I need to

BELIEVE in the goodness of humankind or perhaps

BELIEVE in God in a new way. Maybe I will be called to

BELIEVE in God’s provision or

BELIEVE in myself…I find that focusing on the word

BELIEVE has been a very beneficial process every morning.I

BELIEVE  it is the best 50 cents I have ever spent….

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”

— Henri J.M. Nouwen (The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey)

I really like Henri Nouwen and appreciate his perspective and wisdom on how to love people well. I am also a strong believer that real connection happens for us when we are sharing in our struggles more than sharing about where we celebrate success. I wonder what comes to mind when you read the quote by Henri Nouwen?

I am committed again to pay close attention to when I may be someone who is “giving advice, solutions, or cures” and missing the invitation to simply listen and be present in the midst of someone’s struggle.

I want to be a friend who is able to “tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness…”

I want to be a friend who cares!

Today I was talking to my friend Lori as she was driving to work. Our conversation focused around that reality that Hospice had said her Dad may only have hours to days to live. We talked honestly and shared some tears. We both agreed that saying good-bye to our fathers would be (and is) a very difficult thing to do.

I was touched by Lori’s insight into the needs of her siblings and her sense of peace within her own heart. She was able to live in the space today that was both the sadness of saying good-bye and the choice of not clinging to her Dad but fully entrusting him to the timing of God’s plan. In our conversation Lori also shared it was her daughter’s birthday and tomorrow is the anniversary of her daughter’s death.

My friend Lori had a heart full of emotion as we talked on her way to work. And within an hour she had gotten the call and made it to her Dad’s bedside to say good-bye.

I am praying for my friend Lori tonight.

Praying for comfort and peace in the days ahead as they celebrate and remember her Dad.

Praying for her as she remembers the many sweet moments they had with their daughter Jill.

Praying for her as she says good-bye….

Whatif by Shel Silverstein

Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I’m dumb in school?
Whatif they’ve closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there’s poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don’t grow taller?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won’t bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don’t grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

Have you ever been plagued by the what if thoughts. Yesterday I had a great bike ride. Today I started wondering what if I can’t make it up the hill by my house? I started to realize how quickly the what if’s strike and how they affect my confidence. I am working on planning a party and the what if is what if no one rsvp’s with a yes. In my logical thinking, I know that won’t occur, but somehow the what if’s have a way of sneaking into my thinking.

I was talking about this with Peter (age eight) today and he quickly affirmed that he fully understands. He said for his poem party his what if was what if he didn’t remember all his words….oh yes, the haunting what if...i am thinking it plagues us one and all, young and old….do you know where your what if thoughts creep in?

I plan to replace those what if thoughts with a statement of confidence and remove any power the what if has to paralyze me from moving confidently towards my goals and dreams!

When I arrived in Ann Arbor today to work out with Demond, I was this elementary in my bike information. I had a bike and that was about as far as it went. I have to admit, I never really understood what a good workout biking can be.  And so Demond, Darrel, Mike and I set out on a bike ride. I had no clue what I was in for.

I learned that you should pedal the entire time. I was a bit alarmed since I enjoy coasting. I learned about finding my rhythm and then using my gears to keep that rhythm. I learned never to stop on the way UP a hill and I learned  that once you get to the river in Ann Arbor, getting back is a lot of up hill….

I also learned that biking for 90 minutes kept my heart rate in a good fat burning range and the feeling of completion brings with it a desire to do more on my own this week.

I started as an elementary bike for sure. I ended a bit more as represented in this picture!