I am a techie. I love gadgets. The Internet lures me away for hours playing with history, trivia, fascinating conversation. I admit my struggle with dealing with emails and can tell you all the tips about time management with electronic devices. Okay one more confession. I am one who has been known to read USAToday app on her IPhone in the middle of the night. Yes I have read all about how the white light from the phone interferes with sleep and about the girl whose pillow caught fire from putting her phone there. What drives this? A fear of missing out on something? An ego urge to know the most up to date info? Insomnia? Why am I fearful of letting go? Guess I have to ponder this a bit more. I am not into many games, but a good round of Angry Birds is a great stress reducer. When we go out with friends, we do put the phones away during dinner, but have this unspoken competition about who can look up some table conversation question on Google the quickest. The truth is: … [Read more...]
Rejoice in the Lord – Lectio Divina
Rejoice in the Lord always; Again I say rejoice. Philippians 4: 4 Lord, I can’t help but sing that silly children song whenever I read these words. I am nodding my head as it beats in my head today and I smile. I hope you smile too. But Lord it is so hard at times to rejoice. The world seems to be falling apart – beheadings, epidemics, wars, bombings. My stomach churns with fear, doubts, uncertainties. My restless nights haunted with anxieties, helplessness and vulnerability. Yet you say rejoice. Rejoice? Really? Yes, rejoice. Maybe that is why we have to say rejoice again. Again I say rejoice. To convince my quivering soul. To remind me of your promises. To yield my insecurities into your open and waiting arms. We do know that you are victorious in the end. You defeated death and will never abandon us. You ultimately are in control and in charge. I can let the world take over my heart or I can choose to keep my eyes on you and rejoice. Rejoice. Again I … [Read more...]
Love as a Frame – Quote of the Week
If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in. Frederick Buechner … [Read more...]
Five Ways to Find Balance Spiritually
As I sat at the table at the blogging conference I attended in September, our initial enthusiasm waned. How would we get all these great ideas implemented? One of my new friends sighed, “Really, how do we balance all the demands of writing, family, faith, working and the world?” I hear this all the time in our conversations with others. Most of us do struggle with juggling all the wanted and needed obligations in life – demands from the outside and expectations from others and even self-imposed mandates. We give and give our time and energy to others, then wonder if and when we can carve out a moment or two to work on our dreams. And where does God fit into this? I have every good intention of starting my day with him in prayer, silence and study and many times do meet him early. But way too often I find myself not even thinking of God until late afternoon, or with a quick prayer in the car or as I crash into the bed at night. When I do practice centering prayer or … [Read more...]
Playdates with God – Book Review
I, God, am your playmate! I will lead the child in you in wonderful ways for I have chosen you. Beloved child, come swiftly to Me for I am truly in you. Then I shall leap into love. Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207-1282) My daughter, Katie, arranges playdates for her kids with other children. They spend joy filled hours together, playing, learning and building relationships. Creating memories is perhaps one of the best gifts from playdates. Do you ever have a playdate with God? I tend to approach my time with God with a serious adult face (mask?) or an attempt at being more spiritual and filled with worship or occasionally with genuine humbleness seeking comfort and maybe forgiveness. After all this is God – our creator, the Almighty, the One and Only, the Savior. But I also think God loves the joy and delight of just being with us too. I love the quote above by Mechthild of Magdeburg – what an image – God as a playmate! I am enjoying reading a new book by Laura … [Read more...]
What is Success, Lord? – Lectio Divina
“Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3: 13b-14. What is success, Lord? You know I struggle with this concept. I drive toward accomplishment. To reach favorable outcomes that feed my ego. Getting things done and crossed off some eternal list of to do’s. I see success in completion and achievement, not in you, Lord. Crossing the finish line without you won’t ever happen. I am incomplete without you, Lord. Please forgive me. I seem deeply wired towards my motivation, but want to renovate this desire. I turn over to you my heart, my goals, my purpose. I surrender my entire self into your hands, forgetting what lies behind me and turning forward only towards you. You are my aim. You are my goal. You are my very reason to breath, to write, to live. My relationship with … [Read more...]
Soften Us – Prayer – Edwina Gateley
O living God, soften us! Let the fire of your love thaw the frost within us. Let the light of your justice sear away our blindness, Let the grace of your compassion heal our hardened spirits. O living God, soften us! That, flowing with your grace, we be impelled to face the world in bold compassion, that, driven to justice, we may dare to cry aloud for the little ones, the raped, the beaten the imprisoned, and the hungry. O living God, soften us! Sweep us forward in a Mighty Wave of Mercy to heal our darkened world. Edwina Gateley … [Read more...]
My War with Weeds
I love the rainbow of colors in my backyard garden – red and yellow roses, black eyed Susans, grape tomatoes, and pink things I can’t remember what they are called – sparkle and dance for my pleasure. Flowers bring joy and beauty to my day and remind me there is more to life than everyday grind of work and bad news. BUT I don’t like weeding. Weeding the flowerbeds is a necessity though, to keep the garden blooming and thriving. Little did I know weeding would also teach me an important lesson this fall. I noticed a few weeks ago a gangly green vine entwining itself among the Black eyed Susans. I yanked that weed out. More appeared the next day. I yanked that weed out again. I told that green stringy nuisance that I am the master of this garden and it better skedaddle out of here. Then we left for a weekend. Guess who came back with vengeful reinforcements. Yep - while we were gone that creeper multiplied and spread its tendrils up and around the trellis. A … [Read more...]