How are you doing on creating a beautiful life?
A wonderful invitation for each day!
Month: March 2012
Core longings….
Tonight I found a new feature in Word Press Blog Site….it now identifies for me the location of those who visit my blog.
In my volunteering with Open Hearts Ministry, I have learned that all people, regardless of where we may live, what our social status, economic status, weight, gender, age, or family design….all of us are created with the same core longings. The core longings for people who breathe are: love, security, understanding, purpose, significance and belonging. I do believe that how we act may differ and how free we are to ask for what we need, may differ, but for me to understand you and you to understand me, I want to be curious about how I can touch on those core longings. If I can speak to your value, I touch your longing for significance. If I can speak to your impact or ability to provide, I speak to your l longing for purpose and/or significance. If I listen to your struggles or high points or your story, I touch your longing to be understood.
And so as I think about my desire to journey to my heart, and write about it, I am fascinated by the statistics that tell me where my readers are from. And I believe that if I continue to write about what is real in my heart, we will relate to one another, no matter where we call home, because we share the same core longings. I love this truth and am hopeful my writings offer you hope and encouragement to live well with yourself and be bold in how you reach out to others! I invite each of you to comment and represent your home country!
Living Stones Academy
The Video I wrote about Friday night and wanted to share about a group of people living on the edge….and finding GREAT reward!
The Video I wrote about Friday night and wanted to share about a group of people living on the edge….and finding GREAT reward!
Living on the edge…
Tonight I went to a great event hosted by Living Stones Academy. 
Living Stones Academay is a new school in the Grand Rapids area.
This school is started by a brave group of families who desire more….
I am eager to share the video with you (in the coming days) so you can hear, see and understand more fully the mission and purpose of Living Stones Academy.
But tonight, as I walk away, I am most impacted by how a small group of families set out with a big vision. They wanted more in education, more in community, more in relationships, more in their faith and more in what they wanted for their children.
Tonight I listened to parents who longed for a Christian School Community that was affordable, honest, loving, accepting and committed to empowering children to make a difference in the community and the world.
Tonight I caught a glimpse of children who are living out the vision of their school: We are living stones called by God to restore and renew our community and world by nurturing excellence, partnering in service and radiating hope.
Tonight I listened to stories from those who have found a life-giving community in the day-to-day of Living Stones Academy. I heard authentic heart testimonies of the love, commitment and passion….
I committed to support only ministries that evidence life transformation…I am honored to support Living Stones Academy!
In the midst of jet lag….
I am struck by the power of jet lag. There is a block of time each day when I feel very much myself, but on either end of the day I am either wide awake (when I wish I was sleeping) or very very sleepy when I wish I had some life in me yet for the day!
And so, as my day wraps up tonight, I find myself falling asleep (and snoring) while reviewing second grade spelling words with my nephew. Just now, I have woken up numerous time while I try to get a few profound thoughts onto my blog from the day.
I believe I will leave you with this thought tonight and plan to blog tomorrow in the daylight, trusting that someday very soon, I will sleep till six am and stay awake until 1030 pm!
“Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your
friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and make mistakes! You’re going to anyway,
so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes:
find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent
example of being human.” Anthony Robbins
I enjoy this thought so much. I hope my example of being human invites others to live more fully!
Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”
It was a day….
Today was a wild and crazy day.
It was a day where the phone rang often and many of the calls were people inquiring about care…
It was a day where I wondered if everything would be completed for our evening meeting….
It was a day when time flew by and everything felt half done….
It was a day when people came by to visit and say hello and I had to make myself choose to delight in the moment, or my mind would have wandered away quickly…
It was a day when my heart was with a friend who is waiting, waiting, waiting….
It was a day when my heart swelled with joy as Janneke, my oldest niece returned home from a six month Youth With a Mission assignment…
It was a day when I felt deep gratitude for each caregiver God has blessed Visiting Angels with…
It was a day of laughter and delight, honest conversation and sweet moments with friends…
It was a day when I realize my need to recommit to my wellness plan as I feel my routine slipping through my fingers…
It was a day of business conversation and dreaming big….
It was a day:
…full of activity
…full of conversations
…full of laughter
…full of hope!
Thank you Jesus for days filled with good things…
Let’s do it all again tomorrow!
Living in love…
”Living in love requires intentional, thoughtful, courageous choices – choices that are lived out in the practical moments of everyday life.” Sharon Hersh
Now isn’t that just a power packed thought!
There is so much here that is good to reflect on and embrace….
Living in love…I want that in my life. I am committed to a loving God, myself and others in as many creative and wonderful ways as I can! 
Intentional, thoughtful, courageous choices…those words bring a smile to my face and a sense of adrenaline to my heart. When I think about living intentional, thoughtful and courageous, it feels as if I am living fully alive. What an invitation to explore. What a way to make an impact!
And to realize and embrace that these choices, that reflect and offer love are lived out every day in practical ways. I believe that makes every day an adventure of love. I enjoy considering how love impacts people and to be intentional about that impact every day feels very meaningful.
I hope that you might join me in living in love….it really is a wonderful way to experience God, be kind to yourself and enrich your relationships with others!
Live and Love Well!
I beg you to have patience…
I have a favorite card I received from my Mom many years ago.
I still read it often and as I transition back from one culture into my own, I find the words a good reminder again…
Tonight I share this with you and trust it may also speak to some of you!
I beg you…To have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer… -Rainer Maria Rilke
I am blessed…
Today is a reflective kind of day…
A day when I am struck by all I am blessed with…
It is a day where my home, worship, my food choices, my utensils, my govt, my family, my costs of transportation and my freedom all remind me of how blessed I am…
It is a day where I realize that even though there are aspects to each of the above areas that I could choose to complain or even cry out to God, I have been reminded about a very oppressive culture where people have chosen to trust God’s sovereignty. I spent time with some of those people in China this week and they are beautiful and gracious. They are filled with perspective and gratitude. They know the bitter taste of loss and the sweet dance which comes from surrender!
It is a day when I realize that tomorrow is Monday again and my normal routines will resume.
I will face a choice of how I will live as a result of my China trip…
I will face a choice of how tender my heart will be as a result of hearing painful stories and experiencing God in very real ways ~ in my life and the life of others.
I will face a choice of how I will live this week and how I will embrace my high points, my normal activities and my moments I wish did not exist.
I learned last week about trusting God in big ways; during intense emotion, during every day conversation and during long silences.
I learned last week about choosing hope over fear and trusting God even when I feel lost and uncertain….
I would guess that much of what I took from China can be translated into my day-to-day, if I choose to apply it. I want to live trusting God fully this week.
I invite you to join me there. In those moments when you want to choose fear, worry, sarcasm,criticism, food, alcohol (or any form of addiction) consider taking a deep breath, stoppiing the behavior you easily turn to, and trusting that God has a plan for your life and trusting that it is good!
Home again
I am back at my computer in my home and amazed at all one day can hold. Hard to imagine in a week’s time, my life is changed, my heart is fuller and I have experienced China in so many wonderful ways. I managed to stay awake until 7 pm and then slept deeply for 15+ hours. Experiencing life fully is tiring and benefiting from deep sleep is a true gift. I face today with a deep appreciation for tap water, scent free plumbing and pedestrian right away. I am marveling at language, deep connection and love!
On the plane I tried to sleep and yet kept hearing the voices of my Chinese friends. I was listening for what I was hearing and whose voice was I listening to. There was not clarity in my sleep. I hold the memory in that dream close to my heart. The distance begins as we all return to our day-to-day routines and yet, I carry a piece of each woman with me. I have heard their stories and I have embraced their pain. Together we shared the ache of unmet longings and yet realized even in the ache there is hope.
We shared much during the week and experienced that when we speak of our shame, we often feel exposed and even naked as did Adam and Eve. God reached out to Adam and Eve in their shame and clothed them. This is a teaching lesson for each of us to cover one another in our shame, not with leaves but with kind words full of truth and grace. It is evil that wants us to believe the lies of our heart and minds that we are unworthy or unloveable. It is in God’s love that he offers us truth.
We shared truth with one another this past week. Truth of our stories which invited us to sorrow and to recognize that in sorrow we open our hearts to joy and hope again. As we parted ways, we wrote words of truth and grace on a hand-held mirror. A mirror which each woman takes home and can choose to look at their beauty through the words of truth and grace offered by friends who have been with them in their struggles and know often some of their deepest shame. The moments are sweet and life giving…the hope this brings is deep….the invitation to be loved by God whose love is unconditional and eternal is life changing!
I have much to share and likely a number of blogs will unfold in the coming days. I missed writing and a steady internet connection will allow me to share some of my many thoughts upon returning home…
May you find friends who speak life-giving hopeful words of truth to you today!