Month: December 2023

hide it under a bushel….NO

I read a lot about darkness today. After all, we know it is the shortest day of the year! We know it may be dark, but lighter days are ahead!

But as we end the 2023 year, we can name so many events of darkness: heartache, war, pain, grief, loss, violence, and so much more.

With all of this true,  how are we supposed to follow the words: “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.”

Perhaps in 2024 we can all focus a bit on bringing light into the darkness~

Do Justly now…

Love mercy now…

Walk humbly now…

May we all think this week about what Justice, Mercy, and humble living will require of us and how it will impact our world for the better!

You are not obligated to complete the work, nor are you free to abandon it!

May we all be active participants in bringing light into the darkness!

Hide it under a bushel….NO!

Trish

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joy Ride…

I find myself watching this and wondering.

What words do you use in this commercial to tell the story?

What does this provoke in your being?

As you watch this dear and tender joy ride, pay attention to what you think, wonder, or feel! Where are you in the commercial? Who do the people remind you of?

Commercials, especially at Christmas, have a powerful impact on our tender hearts!

Enjoy!

Thanks be to God….AND….

I grew up in the Church, understanding and believing in the phrase ” Thanks be to God. It is a true statement in almost every way! I think there are times when people offer it for others, and it doesn’t always feel appropriate, but when push comes to shove, it is hard to argue with Thanks be to God!

I will say that I have learned about a statement that resonates even more fully in my heart: Thanks be to God and his people. I have often experienced God through the people who believe in living out their faith. I have been encouraged, carried, supported, prayed for, and so much more by the people of God.

May be an image of 3 people

Here is a picture of my church and some of my people. People who know me and I know them. When I can not quite connect to or feel close to the God I know loves me with His whole being, I have learned to reach out to His people. In those relationships, I will often find a space to rest again in a loving father, God, savior, mother, friend…

I know that for as many of us who trust a loving God because of His people, we can also have experienced hurt by those people who claim to love God as their Lord and  Savior. Those are also authentic chapters of one’s story. I will touch on that sometime as well. But tonight, consider that both may be true…. some people harm our perception of God, and some invite us into a place of rest and renewal. I hope tonight you can envision someone to whom you can say…thanks be to God and his people!

In faith and with gratitude,

Trish

 

Make me a channel of your peace…

Tonight, my blog will be short. I have a bit of an anesthesia hangover and feel as if I may fall asleep at any moment. I am home after elective surgery, an Achilles debridement, and although it is categorized as elective, it did not feel elective. My compassion for people with chronic pain has grown by leaps and bounds over the last year! The hope of pain relief feels like the best Christmas gift ever. I have one more foot to fix and long for pain-free movement. My Dr assured my sister today in the post-surgical update that he is optimistic I will find relief!

And yet, I am aware of those who do not have the same promise of relief that I do. I will pray differently, more faithfully, and hold much more compassion and understanding for those who live with pain. Tonight, I am aware of the words, make me a channel of your peace…

May I bring intentional peace into the spaces I enter every day! I hope you will also pray to be a channel of peace and deliver peace with kindness and hope!

the little drummer boy…

I remember this record from my childhood…it had a green cover and was my favorite holiday album. It is one of the items with a body memory feeling held in my being. And I can remember the long brown record cabinet in my Dad’s home office, the way the record player would stack our holiday favorites and drop them down one record at a time.  One of our other favorites was John Denver and the Muppets. Oh, the nostalgia of the holidays

As we are in the last week before Christmas, if you would like some nostalgia from the 70s, I have included a Youtube video of the 12 Days of Christmas from John Denver and the Muppets. No one can sing it like Miss Piggy!

And then the beauty and the sacredness of the little drummer boy…Andrew Rieu and this six-year-old bring both simplicity and power.

As we enter the week before Christmas, may we all find this season’s joy, grace, and peace!

❤️ Trish

Life Is Amazing…

Tiny Buddha on X: ""Life is amazing. And then it's awful. And then it's amazing again. And in between the amazing and awful it's ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the

I find myself reading this regularly to remind me that life, on any given day, might swing the pendulum from awful to amazing or hit any of the marks in between. There is a phrase in here I have come to cling to: relax and exhale during the ordinary!

The older I get (I am 54 now), I enjoy the ordinary more than I ever used to. I am still all for the amazing, and I know life will occasionally bring the heartbreaking and awful sneaks up. But, in all, life brings. I thank God for the ordinary!

Here is hoping that you have a healthy dose of ordinary in the days ahead. May your ordinary be sprinkled with amazing, and may life as it comes to you be breathtakingly beautiful!

Living one day at a time,

Trish

The Circle of Life

This past week, I have had the gift of spending time with my great-niece and 3 great-nephews. I also love sharing time in our office with my co-worker’s granddaughter, who comes to work with her one to two days a week. Observing how a little one’s personality develops in the first four months of life is fantastic! It is so delightful to engage the different ages and witness all that transpires in their hearts and minds!

I also have the privilege of answering the phone and engaging our clients, many of whom range between 75 and 95 years old. Conversations can be matter-of-fact, full of stories, provoke tears, or you might find us laughing together before we say goodbye. Most often, what is most important is that our client/caller feels heard and cared for. It’s pretty similar to what impacts all of us, regardless of age.

There are so many differences and so many similarities. As you gather with families and friends in the coming weeks, consider your similarities. Consider ensuring that anyone who engages with you feels heard and cared for. No matter the age, something is always shared in the circle of life!

 

lessons from hide and seek

Last night, I enjoyed a few hours with a 5, 4, 2, and 1-year-old. My Mom and I were on kid duty, and one of the first things they wanted to do was play hide and seek. Now, playing hide and seek with a one-year-old is pretty simple. He has a favorite hiding place. We find him since he crawled into the closet right before us, and he squeals out… Let’s hide and seek again!

Now, his bigger brother, age 5, is delightful and plays hide and seek differently. He works harder to ensure he is hidden. This scene had me smiling, but I reflected on it personally today, and it felt more profound.

He was convinced he was hidden here, and we would not be able to see him. He worked hard to find the right cover and spot to hide.

It made me think about my life and the many stories I have heard from others. For many, we hold beliefs that keep us from living into our whole selves. Often, it is lies we have chosen to believe about our personality, how we are gifted, our body shape and size, or maybe our skin color, gender identity, or socio-economic status. Lies convince us that hiding is safer than taking the basket off and being seen.

Consider giving yourself the gift of truth this Christmas. Embrace the truth, accept your dignity and let your whole self be known. It will be a gift for yourself and others.

Be courageous and kind,

Trish

Will i eat a sandwich less?

I am drawn to the opportunities to support those who need a boost this Christmas. It might be the ringing of the bell that draws me towards the Salvation Army red kettle or the tip line for the waitress or nail tech. I have seen children’s names and ages on Angel Trees, and I wonder about families living paycheck to paycheck and don’t have enough to make it a special time of year for those they love.

I know I can’t give to every need, and I am reminded that not only gifts or material things make Christmas special. I am reminded of something my Dad would say when he and my Mom were raising five kids, and they didn’t know if ends would always meet.

Tuna sandwich | RecipeTin Eats When they were met with an opportunity, he would ask, “Will we eat a sandwich less if we do this?”

Over the years, we have often repeated this question to remind us that the choice to be generous often has a minimal cost impact on how we live our day-to-day lives. I invite you to be generous this Christmas and into 2024. Make it a part of who you are. Be generous with your giving, words of affirmation, kindness, shared spaces, and the grace you offer others!

May we give and receive with open hearts,

Trish

 

 

Companioning (Dr Alan Wolfelt)

I used to be a Hospice social worker. It was profoundly meaningful work. To journey with a family who are honoring a loved one in their living and their dying is a sacred place to bear witness. To speak words of blessing and farewell requires finding courage deep within their being.

It was during my work with Hospice that I began to understand companioning.  The word “companion,” when broken down into its original Latin roots, means “messmate.” I was first drawn to the words and then the practice…

I invite you to consider where you are companioning someone in your life or where you have been companioned. Consider expressing gratitude to someone who has journeyed with you very courageously. I do not believe that you can be a companion and not be changed for good.

COMPANIONING IS ABOUT…..

Honoring the spirit ~

it is not about focusing on the intellect

Curiosity ~
not about expertise
Learning from others ~
it is not about teaching them
Walking alongside ~
it is not about leading
Being still ~

it is not about frantic movement forward
Discovering the gift of sacred silence ~

it is not about filling every painful moment with words

Listening with the heart ~

it is not about analyzing with the head
Bearing witness to the struggles of others ~
it is not about directing those struggles
Being present to another person’s pain ~
it is not about taking away the pain
Respecting disorder and confusion ~
it is not about imposing order and logic

Going to the wilderness of the soul with another human being ~
it is not thinking you are responsible for finding the way out