Month: December 2012

This picture shows you the highlight of my day….

It wasn’t about the depth of conversation….(actually very few words were exchanged)

It wasn’t about the length of relationship….(actually they had just met)

It wasn’t about skills or knowledge….(neither seemed to care what the other knew)

It was just a very sweet moment of connection….

One is not quite 1 ( 3 months shy) and one is not quite 90 (3 years shy).

It was a moment that was birthed because they took time to show an interest in each other…

May I take this lesson with me into each day….

May I take the time to be interested and connect…

May I take delight in the very sweet moments that result…♥

 

 

 

I remember when I used to wonder if other people struggled….

I have embraced the reality that we all struggle…

I believe some people are more honest and open about their struggles while others simply keep their struggles more silent…

But vocal or silent, visible or hidden, shared or private, we all encounter struggles every day!

Consider embracing this as your philosophy to overcome….

Tonight we ended our evening service in the dark with candles lit…

The singing was beautiful and there is something so powerful to the candlelight moments…

It was fun to sit next to Isaiah and Johanna who were fascinated by the candles….

Isaiah wanted to know if I would let him hold it and he did ever so carefully….

The candlelight reflected the sparkle in their eyes and they both were awed…

I was struck by their innocence and their intrigue…

And as I looked behind me (since we were in the front row), I was struck by the candles in the darkness and I was reminded again of the pain in our world (in the darkness) and the beautiful light that brings us hope….

As we sang, there was something in me that wanted to freeze that moment…

Truly He taught us to love one another;His law is love and His gospel is peace.Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;And in His name all oppression shall cease.Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we. Let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord!  Their name forever praise we  Noel, Noel   O night, O night divine

And I am reminded, as much as Isaiah and Johanna are captivated with the actual candle and flame, may I allow my heart to be captivated by the truth that Jesus is the light and may I have the courage to shine brightly in a dark world….

It seems like life paused last night…

There was a tragic event in Connecticut…

There was senseless deaths of children and adults…

I heard people say:

they took time to hug their children longer…

they took time to listen to their every word…

and without a doubt to almost if not all of us,  life seems oddly fragile and precious….

 

There are many people who wonder how they will go on….

Today the names and faces were released of those who lost their life….

I was captivated by the smiles and the eyes, the stories  of each life taken…

I hope I don’t only pause when there is a tragedy….

I want to ensure I pause and embrace all who are dear to me often…

I began to think of the eyes and the smiles of those I love…

I am reminded in these days that life can change quickly, by tragedy,  illness or other unknowns….

Join me in taking a valuable lesson from this painful weekend….love deeply, generously and honestly every day!

There are no words…

The ache is deep as the story is told…

The voices of children who describe what they heard and saw…

The reason will never be clear…

The pain will never be gone…

Tonight I remember each child,who was shot in their classroom…

My prayers are offered for the parents, families, friends, churches and community that wonders how they will go on…

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” -Corrie ten Boom

 

 

 

 

 

I was having a conversation with a friend this morning and I spoke the words….

Remember to be careful to not react to her reaction…

And then I started thinking about the words I had spoken…

I wonder how often we lose the intent of a conversation because we get sidetracked, reacting to a reaction…

I know of times when the conversation that began is very different than the conversation that ends. I can often pinpoint it back to a shift in the conversation when one of us reacted and the other reacted to the reaction…

It is a funny thing to write about….

It seems so obvious…

And yet, it is almost impulsive to react…

I am learning to hit my internal pause button when I feel myself reacting or reacting to a reaction…

I am learning that I can quickly pause and return my focus to the conversation as it was intended…

I have found it helpful to acknowledge that my reaction has taken us to a place we didn’t intend….can we back up and take a different road….

I want to be a good listener in the conversations I enter…

I want to listen with my whole being….

I have a business card by my phone that says….

Listen hard, it is an excellent gift…..

Go and listen well today….to your heart and the hearts of others! 

It is advice often given….

They are words easily spoken

And yet I wonder how often we lose ourselves in a given day…

Maybe we lose ourselves in silence or shame, or maybe in busyness or addiction..

Maybe we lose ourselves because it is hard to know what it looks like to be ourselves…

I find it to be a fascinating process to continue to know myself…

I find that I am in a process of change and sometimes I surprise myself at where I change and where I stay the same…

And so, I hope that each day you take time to intentionally be yourself…

Be yourself in your joy and sorrow, in your giving and receiving, in your words and in your silence, in your laughter and your tears…

It is my hope that the best part of every day is when you are living boldly as the you you want to be!

Tonight I am very aware that healing takes time…

I am dealing with Achilles tendon issues. My tendon is starting to tear away from my heel…

I have struggled with almost four months of increasing pain when walking…

Today I was told that healing from this type of injury could take six to nine months….

I am planning to participate in a mission trip to the Dominican in mid January, so pain-free walking feels critical….

And so, today I chose to put my foot in an immobilizer and try to shorten the amount of time that healing might take…

I am hoping this choice might speed up healing and prevent any need for surgical repair…

And so I enter into a season of waiting…

Waiting for healing…

Time will tell and I trust that no matter what the outcome….waiting will bring growth!

I wonder what you are waiting on during this holiday season…

I wonder how you might be invited to grow in the waiting….

Time will tell…..

I love words…

I love to speak them, write them, hang them and ponder on them…

Words are powerful and have incredible ability to bless or harm…

I am a word critic and want to make sure that the words I choose carry the meaning I intend….

And so when I saw this recently, it felt like a perfect something to hang in my house…

When I walk by this every day, I read the words and think of each word and what I am needing as I face the day

Hope

Courage

Forgiveness

Love

Laughter

Peace of Mind

Faith

Tenderness

Beauty

Strength

Rest

Passion

I wonder what you would need each day as you leave home and face everything your day holds. I find that when I claim a word (tear it off and tuck it in my pocket) and keep my heart open, I am awed by how many times Hope or Courage, Forgiveness or Love, Laughter. Peace of Mind or Faith, Tenderness or Beauty, Strength, Rest or Passion show up in my day.

I invite you to consider each morning what you need and ask God to give you an abundance of exactly that.

Be ready to be amazed….

 

Tonight was our first round of Christmas….

It was a few hours long and we had a delightful time….

As my sister’s kids have gotten older, the joy is expressed differently!

It is not as much in the volume of noise or shriek of delight….

It is not in the number of gifts or the comparison of who gets what….

It is often simply in the expressions that cross their faces….

Can you feel the joy….