Learning Along The Way

Thankful Thursdays

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I’ve been reading a pre-release copy of a friend’s new book and its gotten me thinking about words we use without giving them much thought or the weight they deserve. I’ll be writing more about the book itself later; for today the word I’ve been pondering is

I don’t know about you but if I pay attention during my day I have so many things to be thankful for. Most of the time they’re not things; a driver who waves me to go first in a parking lot, the smile of a stranger, the singing of birds in early morning light.

Practicing thankfulness isn’t hard if we’ve learned to slow down and pay attention in our moments.

That’s the hard thing isn’t it? We get so busy with our to-do lists we forget to look around at what’s happening when all goes smoothly. We don’t have a problem noticing when something isn’t going our way; or maybe that’s just me?

In any case, I’m challenging myself this month to show up in areas I’ve taken for granted.

Practicing thankfulness is one.

I spent the day today with our 3 year-old grand-daughter. We went to her local library to participate in the summer family events offered each week; both free and fun. I said YES to both of those. We had a fabulous time doing a red, white & blue craft, looking for books, participating in the Creation Station and attending the outdoor story hour with puppet show. Every step of the way I was present, enjoying following her lead, joining in with the play and picking books to read at home. She is a creative child with a fabulous imagination. She told stories in the car on the way home that had us both laughing. What’s not to be thankful for?

I don’t spend all my days with children anymore; between my education career, years of being an SAHM, and a homeschooling mom, I grew accustomed to all the joy & laughter children bring. I hadn’t realized how much I miss regular time with children. Spending time with the Grands is double fun; in a not so distant way, they are part of me.

Thankful.

In the 55 days I’m not visiting the Grands, I have a long list of thankful items too. I’ve discovered God loves to give me love gifts; reminders of His watching, considerate love for me. These love gifts often come in two very personal forms: hummingbirds and random hearts in nature. I’ve written about hummingbirds in the past; the sweet, tender mercy of God brings tears to my eyes when I recount the many times He has gifted me with eyes to see His abiding love for me.

Here along the trail

 or here in the sand

Years ago I was challenged to count the gifts after reading Ann Voskamp’s great book One Thousand Gifts. Give thanks is plopped in the middle of a list of to-dos that Paul penned to the church in Thessalonica. Here’s a part of that list:

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I love to think about ways to give thanks, to express gratitude for the many gifts I’ve been given; especially the gifts I didn’t call gifts when they arrived. Click To Tweet

As a coach I’ve worked a lot on my own growth mindset; working to see possibilities, rather than allowing the weight of hard things to bring me down.

I’ve learned the best method is to admit something is hard, acknowledge the challenge to grow through the hard stuff, and look for the potential benefits from walking through the hard times.

The most important aspect? Talk to a trusted person who listens without trying to fix what’s wrong.

I have learned to give thanks for little things that I used to gloss over. I’ve learned to capture photos of light through trees, random hearts discovered in nature, and most of all learning to speak words of thanks out loud to anyone who has gifted me in some way.

How have you learned to give thanks? How do you practice thankfulness?

Join me on Thursdays this month to capture a thankful. Use the hashtag #ThankfulThursday . We can count together! Who knows, maybe we’ll grow into thankful people?!

Letting Go of the Land of Not Enough

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I’m feeling small today. Like Alice who drank a potion and became small, I am feeling small in my own life. And I don’t like it.

You see I dared to put myself out there in two different arenas: one in a corporate way and the other in ministry. And in both arenas I have fallen. As if I am too small to be of value or to be heard.

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So like Alice, I have fallen down, down into an unfortunate locale; I call it The Land of Not Enough.  In this Land every where I turn I see reminders, signs that say What Isn’t:  You don’t have a real job, Lisa. You are too old to be of value. You used to be…  No one cares about your experiences.  You are a has been.  Not relevant.

I just want to stop and say this hurts.

These reminders of What Isn’t touch up against the message I have lived under most of my life: your value is in what you produce/achieve. The rut in my brain is deep with that repeated familiar thought. So the Land of Not Enough has a familiar feel like an old pair of shoes…and it’s time to throw them away!

Have you felt like this? In the Land of Not Enough? Sometimes it feels like the Land of Not Enough is where we live All. The. Time.  The signs are all around us: you need to buy this to be relevant. You need to own this car, live in this area, shop at these stores. Your kids need to be in this school or this activity or you need to parent in this way…

In the Land of Not Enough I see evidences of What Isn’t, but I don’t see a single Truth about What Is.  I can focus on all of What Isn’t or I can hunt for the Truth of What Is and speak it to myself.  Author Ann Voskamp writes about her journey out of depression in her bestseller One Thousand Gifts.  (Depression is a real medical term for a serious condition but what I also think of as The Land of Not Enough. It helps me gain perspective on my struggle)   Ann learned the exceedingly abundant practice of counting the Gifts that are daily given; the practice of looking at What Is, and ultimately Who Is.

One of the pastors at the church we left when we moved to this new area spoke of the important difference between a gaze and a glance.  When we gaze at something we are focusing our attention on it.  When we glance at something we briefly acknowledge it’s existence. He said we often gaze at our circumstances and glance at God. How much better for us to gaze at God and glance at our circumstances.

In the Land of Not Enough I have to hunt for What Is and focus on What Is instead of gazing at the signs in The Land of Not Enough; the reminders that litter the sides of the rut my mind travels.

Romans 12:1-2 reminds me of What Is true.

I urge you therefore brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship.

And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

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This is the path I am training my mind to walk when the signs come up from the Land of Not Enough. I don’t have to gaze at those signs even if they are true. They are NOT ALL of What Is. I am learning to let go of the worn out familiar and lean in toward the Land of More Than Enough because of Christ in me, the hope of glory.

What are you letting go of in this season of your life?

1,2,3 Deedle Deedle Dee (3 New Ideas for You)

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You may have noticed the name of my website; chosen specifically to fit the way I move through the world. Funny thing that still surprises my me-centered world: not everyone is like me! I forget we don’t all learn the same way, we don’t all care about the same things and we’re not motivated in the same ways.

So here I am, learning along the way. And I still get excited to share what I learn, like I am still an eager child in a classroom frantically waving my hand, hoping against hope that you’ll get excited too; that you’ll be encouraged or challenged as I was when I learned this new thing or read this new book or saw this new movie.

Maybe you get excited by some of things I share, and perhaps you’re not all interested. That’s okay really. I just hope you’ll keep stopping by to see if there might be something you are interested in hearing about. In my continued passion for learning I’ve gotten derailed lately from the sharing what I’ve learned; I’ve started telling myself no one cares but me, so why bother writing these things out anyway?

And then I tell myself truth: my story matters. And so does yours. How I see and think may resonate with you and give expression to a thought or feeling that you’ve held but hadn’t brought to the surface yet.

So I write again.

I learned there’s a name for what I really like to do; curate.

 Curator–a person who selects content for presentation, as on a website.

I love to curate information, distill, share and recommend. I’d rather point to others’ works and how they’ve impacted me; how I think you would benefit from reading/hearing/learning from them, too.

Today I learned three new things! This is a big day and it’s only midday!

#1 I learned that when you risk speaking about a fragile part of yourself, people respond gently and with grace; way differently than I imagine.

Then later in catching up with email I read what Michael Hyatt had to say about a new book, Scary Close by Donald Miller. I haven’t read it yet but from the post I’m intrigued. Eager to learn more…

 

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#2 When I let my fear of failure take the stage I don’t fully show up for myself or others. My fears cause me to veil myself, being somewhat myself but not fully myself. I heard last Sunday that the opposite of Faith isn’t Doubt. The opposite of Faith is Fear. So when any fear that I have is allowed to step forward and lead me then I am not believing God is big enough or strong enough or faithful enough or whatever enough. I don’t like that option. So I practiced #1 today. And I was encouraged. My brokenness isn’t pretty but God can bring His beauty out of it. He can do the same with you.

#3 Reading the words of others on the path to God’s Heart can shine light on my next step. True confession: I don’t read blogs daily. I make time for blog reading regularly but not daily. And yet, I am often blessed, encouraged or challenged by the words of fellow bloggers. Two days ago, over at A Holy Experience, Ann Voskamp wrote about failing at Lent. Kind of a funny thought really but true to her form of expression, I was caught off guard. This quote…

 It is an irrefutable law: One needs to be dispossessed of all the possessions that possess us — before one can be possessed of God.

Let the things of this world fall away so the soul can fall in love with God. 

I have learned the practice of spiritual habits is so important; during Lent I especially want to enter into what God is already doing. Being reminded again of how I cling to the familiar, to people and things of this world, being possessed by them, really took me by surprise today.

 #1 risk being vulnerable

#2 take fear down by building trust in God

#3 read to be encouraged to grow.

 

There you go! 1,2,3. Deedle deedle dee!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Band-Wagon of Thankfulness

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I don’t like to be thought of as a band-wagoner.  (one who jumps on the band wagon)

But it is the season of thankfulness and many bloggers are encouraging their readers to be thankful.  I want to do the same.  Yet it is a hard season for many.  Even me.

I was thumbing through our local magazine, SLO Journal, and came across the article by Claire Aagaard titled “Living with Grief and Loss During the Holidays”.

This is for me.  Still.  Five years later.

The article is 12 simple tips long.  You can read her full article here.  She gives credit to a book she read by James Miller titled How Will I Get Through the Holidays? (which also sounds good)

These tips are lessons I have been learning in the crucible of life while at the same time experiencing some of the greatest joys that this life has to offer.  How are these two opposites: joy & sorrow, able to coexist and not cancel one another out?

Perspective.

Well, is it half empty or half full?

Tip #9 ‘Search out and Count your Blessings’ from Aagaard’s article reminds me to mention the life transforming book that came to me two years ago: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

If you haven’t read One Thousand Gifts, you need to.  She poetically tells her journey out of the pit of depression and grief through accepting the challenge of a friend: Count your blessings.  Ann’s story is compelling.  Many agree.  Her website has great resources to encourage your counting. Check it out here.

Focusing on thankfulness is not denial of how hard, difficult, painful, depressing your circumstances really are.  It is simply adjusting the lens of your perspective to have a clear view on all that is also true. Even when you are grieving.

Start counting your reasons to be thankful.  I am.

 

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