Learning Along The Way

Summer Fun!

By

I’ve been quiet on the blog for quite awhile. I’m such a word nerd; I love using quiet and quite in the same sentence. They gave me fits as a student, but I digress.

There was a protracted season of my life that was very hard (think grief, loss, ugly crying) whose good intent was to develop stillness. Like a child on a time out chair or one who has a secret, I didn’t sit still well. The season necessarily was extended until the stillness settled down, seeping into my soul. This became my way of being. A beautiful gift that was uninvited, undeserved and definitely rejected before being accepted.

I grew so enamored with the stillness that I withdrew from people in order to be quiet, to read, pray, and reflect. But like the Dead Sea which is dead because there is no outflow of water, I was stagnating in my own stillness. Not a pretty picture.

I sought outlets to serve; places to encourage, engage, uplift. There were glimmers of response but nothing shone bright enough to hold my attention. I was used to being alone now, had I lost how to be with people? Not this extrovert! I had lost my sense of place. I got quiet outside of myself because I began to believe a lie: I was not needed. My age & stage was sidelining me. Somehow I began to believe I was to grow content with looking at life in the review mirror rather than out ahead through the forward facing windshield.

I tell you these things that have made me sigh for months to set the stage for why I’m speaking up now.

As I’ve turned my face forward I’ve realized that I have a lot of ideas. I have a lot of connection points I’ve seen through this season, connections that are meant for others, not just me. I’m eager to share, to encourage, to point out resources, to create!

My raison d’être will be revealed through my words. I want you to be a part of the fun of discovery!

Here are my plans for the next 31 days.

Share

Have fun

Observe the World

Write Daily

Unpack big ideas

Post fun and engaging stuff here.

In other words: SHOW UP

 

I invite you to engage here and all the Social Media places. We’re going to have fun learning along the Way.

Back & Forth Living

By

Some days are easier than others to live life joyfully.

Great things happen. A friend comes to visit. Lots of laughter & deep conversation. Lots of considering it all joy when we encounter various trials.

Wait! What?

ladder in front of 1312Yep. Consider it all joy.  ALL JOY.

This was my view in our front yard last year.

When I look back too longingly I can get mired in melancholy.  Woe is me don’t you feel sorry for me?

Well don’t.  And neither do I.  Yes this year has been a series of challenges that sometimes have challenged me just past what I thought I would ever be able to tolerate but I didn’t break.  Or shrivel up & die.  I certainly don’t want to be a tasteless pillar; immovable and unwilling to let go like Lot’s wife.  I didn’t quit moving forward.  And I’m here to tell you you can carry on too.

This life is hard.  So many things don’t go the way we planned.  There are disappointments. There are losses. And the very real pain that comes along with both.  I truly believe we benefit greatly by being real with our pain.  But even more important is that we get real with God and ask Him to use this pain for others’ good and His glory.

current ladderThis is my new view.  Same ladder.  It was my grandfather’s.  A connection with the past that I look back on with great joy and thankfulness in many ways.  It’s also a bridge into moving forward; gardening is something that I HAVE to do.  I must play in the dirt or I will shrivel up and die. (Not really but it sounds nice and dramatic. I’m the only girl around here…)

Moving forward, taking action, planting to grow are all symbolic of change.  There is really only One that doesn’t change.  All the rest of this existence changes.  So getting to spend time with Him in whatever Way helps you connect with Him best is vital for your soul to thrive.  Hanging out with God is vital for my soul too.  My time of deep connection is in the outdoors.  I am a Naturalist.

I still read the Word. Daily. I study and memorize passages.  I love to share with others what connections I see.  I am reminded of what I am passionate about: pouring into the lives of those who are younger than me.

That’s what back & forth living is really about for me.  Looking back at what God has done; through history and my history.  Looking forward to what He will do as He has promised. But also connecting the dots in the here and now while He is very present in our lives.

Back & Forth.  So good.  Join me?

Mystery

By

Mystery.

Life is not completely any one thing. Life is aspects of variety: tangible 3D stuff paired with intangible, illusive, unexplainable mystery.

Some are uncomfortable with the unknown, the Mystery. They fear that which is unexplainable with their senses, denying existence.

Others are completely bored with the rational, concrete, clearly defined and confined.

I think life is in between.

That’s where I want to live and work. In between. Being respectful of both sides and yet living in the tension between the two extremes. I think that is where I meet with God the best. In between.

I love to walk barefoot on the shore. Not the loose sand beyond the reach of repeated pounding waves but the vulnerable and exposed two times a day shore of low tide. It’s saturated sand is cold packed yet soft; if you stand still you start to settle into it like slow moving quicksand. Along the shore of low tide are the hidden from view finds: sea glass and heart shaped rocks that are my treasures.

Walking in silence, listening to the call of birds, the lapping of waves before the turn of the tide, gives my heart freedom to speak from deep to deep. I see the vast gray blue of the water in early light and see the connection of tangible and intangible. God is vast as the sea is vast.

The metaphors come with each new wave along the shore. The gifts from the sea are His love gifts to me; treasures I seek in time spent alone with Him, walking in His creation, crying, laughing, sighing, reflecting. Alert to His whispers, listening deep, listening long.

The rhythm of the waves lapping as the tide changes gives me a connection; my internal rhythm starts to keep pace with the ebb and flow of the waves. Without looking I know when to step out of the way of an incoming wave threatening to wet my bare feet.
I don’t mind getting wet, but the listening trains my movement, my dance along the shore with Him.

The cool of the sand that never sees enough light to dry is somehow comforting to my steps. I stop to gaze at the collection of tumbled items and my feet start to settle into the sand saturated by ocean left behind; it oozes up between my toes. The rocks and shells mixed together make finding gifts a challenge. Another metaphor emerges: treasures from Him must be sought, sifting through the distractions, softening the gaze to see past the myriad of clutter to find the one piece of sustenance to take away from the shore, the reminder of His love. A piece of glass, the uniquely heart- shaped rock are the tangible treasures that speak of the Mystery that is relationship with the One Who created all things.

What’s one thing that helps you connect with The Mystery?

20130924-092151.jpg

20130924-092310.jpg

Less Really is More

By

Yesterday I didn’t post, I experienced.

This week of Lent the focus has been the spiritual discipline of fasting. This discipline challenges me. I don’t remember a time when I truly fasted for spiritual reasons. I remember lots of attempts and just as many failures. Medical fasts yes, spiritual, no.

I think I was afraid. Not sure of what, but fear is something that I felt as I read the first entry in my Lenten devotional, Less is More. Maybe i feared failure again? As the week went on I faced the unknown fear head on; fasting differently each day ( one meal, a couple of days and then two meals). Thursday night I purposed to fast through until dinner Friday.

The devotional question on Friday was a contemplative one: How does fasting connect us with the life of God, the lives of others?

It’s a great question.

Being invited into the Life of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is an invitation open to all Christ followers, but how much do I treasure the invitation? Am I so constantly busy that I can’t slow down enough to hear or see?

Yesterday I slowed. The day was fairly routine; I walked the dog, pulled weeds, did laundry, cleaned a portion of the house, did dishes. Nothing spectacular. But it was different. God was in it with me in a new way.

Every time I try to write what the day was like, words escape. Here’s one: Joy-filled. Peaceful. Good. Self-control. Yes, I experienced the Fruit of the Spirit in new ways. It was definitely worth it.

When hunger rumbled, I thought about Haiti. I thought about Sri Lanka. India. Inner city LA. The homeless in our community. Children around the world. My hunger was temporary; theirs often ending only when they see the Face of God.

This experience was blessed. I will endeavor a fast again.

What have been your experiences with fasting?

Follow Me…

Categories