Learning Along The Way

What’s the Difference?

By

 

Life can be so, well, daily.

Routines help get tasks completed. Planning gets more tasks accomplished. Schedules make order of the day. (thanks to ebby for his photo)

That sounds fabulous if you are a do-er.

But what if you’re a feel-er?

 

You get up when you wake up. You look in the cupboards and fridge for what looks good to eat. You don’t feel like doing the laundry because it’s sunny and you’d rather be outside.

Do-ers read that and respond with the Nike slogan: Just Do It

Feel-ers sense judgment for not being like Do-ers

Do-ers may experience an emptiness, a drudgery to the daily routine.

Feel-ers may experience overwhelm from all that isn’t yet done and not knowing how to get started.

What’s the Difference?

In these examples both Do-ers and Feel-ers have moved away from the balance point.

But what if…

Do-ers schedule “free time” to enjoy a bit of unstructured play?

Feel-ers commit to one regular 10 minute activity every hour; like starting a load of laundry?

What’s the Difference?

Intention

If we look at the reality of our day, make one intention for change and take action, then life could slowly come to the balance point of work and play.

Jesus invites us to be intentional in relating with Him. Sharing the stress of the schedule or the frustration with not getting something accomplished is part of that relating with Him.

Learning to lean on Jesus throughout our day is what makes all the difference.

It’s a process of learning along the Way.  Are you in process?

 

 

 

Dr. King & Tuning Forks

By

 

Midway through the school year, the year of fifth grade, I came running in the house from playing outside after school to find my mother seated at the table, television on and tears streaming down her face.

She couldn’t speak, just pointed to the TV when I asked what was wrong.  There I saw the news: Martin Luther King Jr was shot on the balcony of his hotel.  This was a horrible tragedy.  My mother, the English teacher in a multi-racial school, was very clear with us that all people are created equal.  She valued and espoused the ideals Dr. King spoke. His famous “I have a Dream speech”, spoken on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963, was a speech my mom referenced in her English classes alongside President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

MLK Jr.’s death was a tuning fork in our family.  Why a tuning fork? A tuning fork uses resonance to find the common tone in a piano, a guitar, as well as the human voice; thus allowing pitches to be matched to the common resonant frequency.  How was his death a tuning fork?

The resonant frequency was loss; my mother’s only brother was killed in Vietnam in Dec 1967;  only 4 months earlier.  The sudden loss of my uncle tore my family apart; grandparents, aunt, cousins, mom, all losing a very significant person in a tragic way.  Now the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr resonated in our family at a far deeper level than just a piece on the nightly news.

I remember standing there staring at the TV, and then in a childlike innocence, going to my mom and patting her on the back, again and again.

How do we offer comfort at a time of deep loss?  Jesus modeled this well: He wept.  He didn’t say ‘don’t worry everything’s going to be okay’; He didn’t say ‘why are you crying?’  ‘Don’t you have faith?’  No.  He wept with His friends who were suffering the loss of their loved brother Lazarus.

We can do well to follow that precious, simple model.  Be with those who are suffering.  Weep with them.  Sit silently with them.  Hug them.

Then in their rebuilding process, listen to them speak their memories.  Laugh when they laugh.  Help them honor the memories.  Do something alongside them to commemorate their loved one’s life in some way.

This national holiday was established to honor the memory of Dr Martin Luther King Jr but also to commemorate his life through service.  Serve your family, your neighbors, your community.  Just don’t focus on yourself.  His life was spent in the betterment of others.  We would do well to follow suit.

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

 

 

Skin in the Game

By

Interesting thought: to be really invested in something requires at least a piece of yourself. Skin in the game.

This morning as I read through the devotional entries and the Advent devotionals (yes plural) I saw something I had not put together before.  You may have already made this connection but I didn’t see it this way until today.

Way back, at the beginning of the Story, when our great-grandparents, Adam & Eve, made the choice to believe Satan’s lie, God came looking for them and asked “Where are you?”

It’s not like God didn’t know where Adam & Eve were.  He knew.  He questioned to allow them to confess.  When they did, God sacrificed a piece of Himself, His creation, and made coverings for them.

Fast forward to the Cross.  Jesus, the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God, sacrificed Himself for ALL humanity so that we can come home; home in the Presence of God. Wearing the covering He made through the sacrifice of Himself.

God has had skin in the game of Life since the beginning.  His plan is for us to be with Him.  Being in the game of Life with Him will cost you something: pride.

Are you in?

Family Flashback Friday

By

Alliteration is fun.  Having words start with the same letter can be helpful for memory’s sake.  If you use Instagram with your smart phone or tablet, you may have seen friends posting older pictures.  It’s fun to see younger versions of my friends.  There’s Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday.  I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon sort of, by putting this particular photo both here and on Insta.

I am in this picture.  If you know me, you know which one is me.  If you don’t yet know me, look on my website to see a recent portrait of me and you’ll know which one is me right away.  This has always been a favorite picture for me; my grandparents holding my brother and two cousins at Christmas in 1962.  That’s right, 50 years ago.

That’s a flashback.

By no means would I take the time here to flash forward through all of life that has been lived; that would be a volume not a blog post!  Suffice it to say, there are lots of joys and sorrows that have been lived in each of the lives represented in this photo.

At the center of it all, the girl with the big smile has hung on…to Hope.

I am happy to say that gift of Hope is one thing that has helped me, like a beacon of light for a storm tossed boat; there is a grounding, a solid place that the storms cannot destroy.  My Hope.

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”  The Solid Rock.  He has been in this with me and for me even when I wasn’t in it for myself.

“I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”  People let you down.  People who say they love you can hurt you, intentionally.  Knowing full well they’re hurting you.

“When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.”  When terrible things happen, where do you turn?

“His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.”  When the bottom falls out of life, where is your grounding?

I didn’t work at this Hope.  I didn’t muscle through tough things with a dogged determination to be hopeful.  It is a gift I have received from the Generous Giver of all good gifts.  Even as a child when I didn’t fully understand, He was hovering and protecting me and giving me Hope.

He longs for you to receive His Gift.  We have been practicing Thankfulness for a season and now it is the season of giving and receiving gifts.  This is a Gift for which you can be eternally thankful!  Won’t you receive the Gift of Hope today?

Life is a Journey

By

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I had Pandora playing. A song I’d not heard came on; a song whose lyrics really expressed my heart. 

It’s not a new song, so some of you may already be familiar with both the song and its composer/performer, Ginny Owens.  The lyrics of her song, “If You Want Me To” are words I would write if I were a songwriter.

I know that life is full of challenges, Jesus told us it would be this way.  “In this world you will have troubles.”  That may sound pretty bleak.  But He also gives us a great encouragement: “Take heart!  I have overcome the world!” 

Jesus has already won the fight for our eternal destiny.  He fought that for each of us because of Love.  Love for the Father and Love for each of us.  In spite of  whatever we’ve done that we might think wouldn’t be deserving of Love. 

He willingly fought for you and me.  Because of Jesus’ battle for our souls and His righteousness alone, you and I can be accepted into that Love.

This priceless Love makes this journey worth taking.  The journey here is a journey toward God’s heart.  We are changed along the Way by the challenges.  Even though life is full of challenges, heartaches, losses, in the middle of it all there is the security of His Presence.  The best part of this journey is that Jesus wants to walk through it all with us! 

Because He Loves You.  Because He Loves Me.  The difficulties give us the chance to grow closer to the One Who Loves us.

This song reminds me that because of this a.ma.zing Love,  I am willing to journey through tough things.  Not alone.  Not forgotten.

Be encouraged. Listen here: If You Want Me To

Life Lesson #3 Keep On

By

I have been under the pile.  Things to do.  You know, the usual: laundry, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, cooking. Add in relationships with family and friends, don’t forget work, and then fit in hobbies like gardening, reading, learning music, sewing.  Now add some major life events: college graduation for one son, college planning for the other, wedding planning for the firstborn and just to make life more interesting: The Change has come upon me.

I had all but abandoned my writing when, in the middle of the craziest busiest week this month, I looked out the window and saw this sight

I was immediately reminded of my unfinished blog series on Life Lessons.  So here it is.

Keep On.

The sunflower that had fallen is the tall one on the left.  If you don’t know sunflowers, it’s the tall skinny plant in the top row, directly above the garden arch in the picture.  It only slightly leans forward from the others. Hardly noticeable in its difference.  The brokenness that could have killed it now has become a testimony of perseverance.  Keep On.

I have been slowed down in my life by circumstances.  Or at least that’s the excuse I am clinging to right now.  But my circumstances are my life.  So how am I slowed down?  By my attitude about the circumstances.

Allowing my focus to be on the hurry and worry, rather on the acceptance of what is; the lack of seeking wisdom of what to let slide; neglecting the need to reach out to others for help; not speaking a very short word that is a step to freedom: “No”, have all contributed to a dry, distracted, unfocused life.   This is not the way to Keep On.

The sunflower shows me.  Keep seeking life.  Be renewed.  Keep On.

He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Mindset adjustment: abundant does not mean DOING MORE!

Abundant means life giving: Jesus in us, for us and to others.  Overflowing life.  Strengthening life. Joyful life.  Even in really tough circumstances.

My circumstances are NOT tough right now.  But I have had them.  You might be having them now.

Where do you seek life that changes you, that strengthens you?

I look to Jesus.  He lifts my head.  Through the Word. In the garden. In the chirping of birds. Through music. Laughter.  Oh that we might have eyes to see and ears to hear!

Friends, don’t let the busy-ness of your circumstances distract you from seeking life!

I made myself take time to read this morning instead of “getting right to work”.  I finished a terrific book, Beautiful Outlaw, by John Eldredge.  He ends the book with this:

“But this Jesus—this Beautiful Outlaw—if his exquisite life were to invade ours…oh, my.  It would change everything.”

Seek life.  Keep On.

His prayer at the end of his book was my prayer this morning.  It can be for you as well:

“Jesus, invade my life.  Cleanse this temple. Produce your Cana in me.  I give my humanity to you, to be restored by your humanity.  I give my life to you to live your life.”

 

Keep On.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunflower Life Lesson #2–Develop Strong Roots

By

When I first talked about the amazing gardening experience, I briefly mentioned that, although the sunflower was lying down among its neighbors the cantaloupe and watermelon plants, it was not uprooted.  The sunflower was already 5 feet tall when it fell.  That means there was a deep, strong root system already in place so that the plant didn’t die when this trauma hit.

 

What life lesson is here for us?  Develop Strong Roots.

 

The question is: How does one do that exactly?

 

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you already know that I have weathered some really difficult seasons. I would guess you have too since life is not easy!  It’s funny that we think it should be; if we do all the right things then the result will be a good healthy life, great kids, a spouse who treasures us, a house with a white picket fence and a garden without weeds or gophers.  Ideal perhaps, but not reality.

 

How do we develop strength to withstand trauma that comes out of nowhere?

 

Develop Strong Roots.

 

Strong Roots take time, nourishing soil and water.

 

Time—a regular habit of spending time reading, hearing, and thinking about God’s Word.  Investing in your soul takes your time.

 

Nourishing soil—Jesus taught about soil. The soil of our heart can be nourished by praying for God’s work in our lives; memorizing Scripture; humbly surrendering to growth and change that He leads us to make that results in a changed heart more like His.

 

Water—Jesus told the Samaritan Woman “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”  Jesus is the Gift of God Himself to each of us.  He lived the life we should live, died the death we deserve, and was raised from the dead so that we may have hope knowing that our physical death has no lasting victory. His Spirit will live in you, to strengthen, guide and empower you when you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

 

Life Lesson #2: Develop Strong Roots to be able to be lifted up by the Master Gardener when the difficulties of life knock you down.

“ Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.”

Know that I am praying for you, dear reader: that you call on the name of the Lord; that you nourish the soil of your heart in Him.

 

Loss

By

I just learned of the passing of a young man from eternity present to eternity future. He had turned 21 a month ago.

The details of his death are not as important as the loss of his life here. I cannot fully comprehend the depth of grief a mother feels at the death of a child; that path has not been mine to walk as yet. I have learned several truths about grief that I’ve experienced:

“We do not grieve as those without hope…” (1 Thess. 4:13)

Those who know Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord will be with Him in Paradise

“For to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8)

So we are with Him face to face!

God will not waste our grief no matter how deep and how long we grieve.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Cor. 1:3-4)

And that the mystery of this following passage will make sense in a way that it may not yet have:

“Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” (James 1:2-3)

I am still learning the depth of the truths the Apostle Paul conveyed in his letter to the Philippians (for us it’s referred to as Phil. 3:8-14)

But for now, I have tears. Momma tears, imagining never getting a hug and kiss from this son again. Imagining the empty chair at the holidays. Grieving as only One can fully comprehend.

“Jesus wept.” Shortest verse with greatest depth.

Follow Me…

Categories