Speak Life!

I think part of being alive is noticing. Perhaps noticing the life in others.  Lovers waiting to be seated at a restaurant with her slender frame leaning against the wall, head tilted and his bold and confident voice announcing to her that the table is ready.   Noticing a beautiful woman slightly overweight and filled with style, ease and fluidity of movement in her body as she strolls by.  Such a beautiful walk I am on, noticing the city with its people, colors and attitudes that influence my way of thinking and being in this world. 

Beauty is everywhere.  What is it that you notice as you walk through life?  What captures your attention?  What makes you want to sigh and take a deep breath and smile?

There are things in life that are highlighted just for you, that makes you want to stop and notice.  What do they speak to you?  Perhaps the life in you speaks to the life in others.  

Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.  Don’t forget to say thank you.  Don’t forget to tell someone else that they look beautiful.

These moments will pass by, but it’s what you do in them that can make all the difference.

Speak Life today!

Rhythm of the Ocean

Feeling the rhythm of life in the here and now!

Alive in the palm of His hands.

I dance with children.

I sit and write.

I move to the rhythm of the ocean.

I am alive.

God feels present in this rhythm,

It echos in my soul.

“It is well.  It is well, Thank God almighty,

 It is well with my soul.”

Trust

“Safe?”  Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”  C.S. Lewis (The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe)

One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been was right in the middle of the Indian Ocean, in a homemade boat trying to get to an Island.

I was so struck by how vast and beautiful the Ocean was that I was in, and how small I felt beside it.

It brought my attention to God.  Humorously I first thought, “Well if this boat goes down there is no coast guard coming to get us!”  But then my thoughts stumbled upon one word, Trust.

I had to trust God, especially when I was so far from home, stripped of the safety of my country and homeland.

It’s no wonder God promised Abraham so much when he left all that was familiar to him.  It’s a huge sacrifice to leave your safety net and go to a distant land. (Genesis 12)

God knows and He promises to be with you…

First Light

I feel a burning in my heart.  Usually when God is trying to tell me something.  Sometimes I listen.  Sometimes I ignore it.  It’s usually a sign of something for me. 

I long to listen to the voice that beckons me to come and sit at the feet of Jesus, like Mary.

He told her, it would not be taken from her. She had learned the secret to real living.  Sitting with Jesus, being near Jesus listening to him.  That’s where she would find her fulfillment and be able to live out from.  Her doing would come from simply being with him. (Luke 10:42)

I long for His voice.  Like the voice of the father speaking to my heart.  Directing me to move, dance, write.  Come alive by His word in my heart.

Being awake, present, alive, well.  To allow the difficulties to roll off me like water touching oil. 

He becomes the canvas I paint on.  All desiring color and light.  He creates through me.  He becomes my first light.

The water's edge

I was sitting at the water’s edge today, with a boat in the distance and I thought of Jesus.  The first time he called Peter was there at the water’s edge. (Luke 5:2)

Jesus saw him.  Peter had worked a hard late night, and had nothing to show for his efforts.  But Jesus knew that and had compassion on him.  “Let’s give him some hope!”

Peter didn’t know God would perform a miracle that day for him.  He just offered Jesus a place to sit and talk. 

Maybe morning’s dawn had just spoken.  Maybe, Peter who was tired and hungry was just being courteous to the good teacher.

But He listened to Jesus, and said a difficult yes to him, and it brought in more fish than he could ever catch during one late night shift.

No doubt Peter ate well that night, humbled by a man that saw his need and answered it in perfect timing.

Belonging

“I finally found where I belong.  It’s to be with you, to be with you…” Cory Asbury

I think I have always thought of belonging to be found solely in a community, a family, or a place in which you live, but what if belonging came out of simply being with another, wherever you are, or whomever you are with?  Being with was the place of belonging.  It was the homecoming.  It’s what you’ve always been looking for. 

In this day of technology, cell phones, texting and Facebook it makes it more and more difficult to be with someone.  We are easily distracted thinking of the past or the future.  But just sitting with someone, listening to them, encouraging them and inviting God in makes such a big difference.  Being with becomes the place of belonging…

Finding Joy (a poem)

Finding Joy is digging deeper than you think
soil dark, leaves crisp.
Tending, pruning, plucking hidden remains.
Light emerging, tender growth
Flowers blooming, seeds shooting!
Sharp, contrast...It sprouts Out!
And all the while the dirt is muddy,
Your hands are messy, but life
comes forth...Color scheme from
deepest green.
Wondering? Soar the elements!
Planting, watering from height and
depth, Feeling this life.  Living this death...
And the two emerging Joy from pain?
Comrades different, yet the same...
Lord of all creation!

The Gift

Every morning when you wake up, ask God where should my focus be? 

What do you want me to focus on today, Lord?  

My struggles or my blessings? 

There will always be struggles, but too often we are drawn to focus our attention there and we miss the gift that God wants to give us each and every day.  What will His gift be to you today?  How will it come packaged? 

Look for the gift, wait for the gift, and hope for the gift.  It’s never too far away.  Ask for eyes and ears to see and hear it... 

It may come in the form of good news, or time spent with a friend or family member.  

It may be a kind word, or a good book.  It may be a lunch or a dinner shared with someone.  Look for the gift.  

I can promise you it will be there if you are conscious to seek and find it. (Isaiah 55:6)

Titanic

I want so much to stand at the bow of a boat, arms spread open wide, sailing into the wind.  Screaming, “I’m alive!” Like the girl in the movie, Titanic.   Perhaps that’s where my desire is these days…To be filled with romance and adventure. 

Though, I mostly live in a quiet still place, listening for the voice of the Father to speak into my needy heart.

I still long for adventure.  For that bold and care-free girl who is out to conqueror the world, and yet finds out that part of her has been conquered by it.

She remains hidden.

Retreat/Forge ahead.  Retreat/Forge ahead.

Perhaps I find you somewhere in the tension of the two.  My hidden and Illustrious God.

Self-Acceptance

What if you left the harsh critiques of judgment, competition and comparison behind?

And came to the Love of the Father just as you are.

His Child.

Accepted in your strengths, weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and frailties.

Accepted for Who you are.

No need to be anyone else.

Finding self-acceptance in being the one.

The one He made you to be.

Simple and Free.

“Come to me” He says.  “Just as you are.”

Find my Truth hidden in you.

Even in the rush of doing your many projects, I can speak to you right where you are.

Feel the hush, the wind, the “still small voice” empowering you to Come to me in this moment.” 

Bride

I was tempted to judge myself about something, ok honestly I was judging myself about something I did and said, and then I heard a faint whisper in my soul that said, “Bride!”

It took me off guard, and it was as if God was saying to me, “Don’t sweat the small stuff!  I see the bigger picture.”  “Neither do I condemn you…Come to me.  Go and leave your sin behind!”(John 8:11)  I see you as my Bride!  Washed clean, in white, beautiful, vulnerable, pure hearted. 

This is the legacy I want to leave.  Did I know myself as Bride? Did I live it out in my daily walk?  Did I see the Bride and call it out in the faces of his people, church and community I walk, work, and live with?

Judging yourself (essentially condemning yourself) and others is never the answer.  Confession is. Be clear. Always confessing the struggle, the thoughts, the feelings, the disappointments, and even the short-comings.  And in giving it over to God, letting him breathe his simple, straight forward, life-giving and affirming Word into your heart.  “Bride!” Be still, be quiet, and wait for Him.

 Offer a simple prayer like, “Here I am God, waiting for you…At the altar of my life once again…”

Let the Bridegroom rejoice over you.  (Isaiah 62:5)