Lent begins this week. Are you ready? Is your heart prepared for Lent? I used to jump in at the last minute in my preparation for this solemn time of year pondering the time before Easter we call Lent. To be honest, often it would be two weeks into the season before I would think – “Wow, Easter seems early this year? Am I ready?” Of course, getting ready meant buying spring outfits for the kids and new shoes. Maybe decorating with rabbits and coloring Easter eggs. Ham for the big meal? Sunrise or regular services that morning? Don’t tell anyone, but often I would want to just skip the sad readings in my devotionals, the dreary February weather skies and hop right into green spring in Ohio. But now I prepare my heart for Lent differently. Perhaps because I am older and closer to death myself. Maybe the truth we call God’s love is finally sinking to my dry soul. I am more intentional about my Lenten practices now and dare I say, look forward to spending in-depth time … [Read more...]
Finding Your Purpose – Lessons Learned – Tending the Holy Thursdays
Finding Your Purpose - Lessons Learned In January on Tending the Holy Thursdays, we have been exploring finding your purpose. I encourage you to reread the first three blog posts about this topic and if you haven’t already, download the Spiritual Autobiography Resource Guide to complete to help you in your search. (See button at end of this post) This week the focus is on the lessons learned and I invite you in the comments to reflect on what you learned. Have you received any insights into your purpose or what new ideas appeals to you as you continue to distill this longing within your heart? Lessons Learned – Finding your Purpose God first – I will never have all the answers and can’t even find the next step without focusing on God first. The whole process of finding meaning in my life begins with him. He planted this hunger within me and I truly believe he sows the seeds of desire in my heart. As I dig and listen and seek for answers, prayer soaks the whole experience. … [Read more...]
Finding Your Purpose – Quotes to Ponder – Tending the Holy Thursdays
Finding Your Purpose – Quotes to Ponder In January on Tending the Holy Thursdays, we have been exploring finding your purpose. I encourage you to reread the first two blog posts about this topic and if you haven’t already and download the Spiritual Autobiography Resource Guide to complete to help you in your search. (See button at end of this post) Next week I will summarize this topic and add some of my lessons learned and will invite you in the comments to reflect on what you learned. Today I am going to simply list thoughts/quotes what others have written about finding your purpose. It is my hope these words guide you to clarity, stimulate your imagination of what could be and motivate you to keep searching. “Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.” Rumi ******** “Decide upon your major definite purpose in life and then organize all your activities around it.” Brian Tracy ******** “Uncovering purpose helps to refine passion, … [Read more...]
Ten Tips for Finding your Purpose – A Spiritual Practice – Tending the Holy Thursdays
Ten Tips for Finding Your Purpose – A Spiritual Practice Who am I? Why am I here? What is my spiritual contribution to this world? Three very deep questions that if we are honest, every human at one time or another faces. Finding your purpose is an ongoing, ever-evolving spiritual practice and one we will be exploring together on Tending the Holy Thursdays in January. Today let’s look at tips to consider when finding your purpose and ways you might explore to identify your deepest desire. Next week I will share some quotes to ponder then finish the month with some lessons learned as we grow with this practice in our spiritual journey. The Spiritual Practice of Finding Your Purpose – Ten Tips to Test Story: What is your story? If you were to write your life so far, what would you title each chapter? Who are the characters, the settings, the plot, tensions, transitions, turning points, and resolutions? How do you want your story to end? Disney would have the story visualize … [Read more...]
The Church Calendar – What is the Liturgical Year?
The Church Calendar The church I attend follows the church year calendar or the liturgical year. This way of looking at the seasons is a bit different from the January through December block we normally use. What is the Liturgical Year? The church year calendar forms around the events in Jesus’ life. Then we too can center our lives, our worship, our spiritual formation around the lessons learned from walking and talking with Him. I love seeing the colors in worship change with each season of the liturgical year. Purple, white, green, black, red, pink, gold and others decorate the pulpit and altar creating a reflective atmosphere and setting the stage for pondering our God. Happy New Year begins not on January 1st, but on the first Sunday of Advent – the four Sundays before Christmas. Seeing the flow of time through the readings and observances from the Bible creates a powerful environment for worship. The seasons moved from Advent, through Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, … [Read more...]
Tending the Holy Thursdays – The Spiritual Practice of Finding your Purpose
Finding your Purpose “Do you know your purpose?” The clinical psychologist who asked me that question didn’t wait for me to answer. “I think deep down you do.” When I felt the call from God to become an Associate in Ministry (AiM) in our church, one of the many requirements in the early first steps was to participate in a three-day psychological evaluation. My family joked that I would go to Columbus for the test and never return. They laughed that I would be locked up in a mental hospital for the rest of my life. Some days as a mother of three teens and a workaholic hubby, I already felt like my home was the asylum. Love my crazy family, but I digress… In the very helpful discussions with psychologist, I recognized that the work I was doing then at the local health department no longer aligned with what I deeply felt God was inviting me into. What used to match up with my purpose in a previous season, no longer fit. I passed the church’s mental evaluation but left … [Read more...]
Tending the Holy Thursdays –The Spiritual Practice of Reflection –The Yearly Examen
Tending the Holy Thursdays –The Spiritual Practice of Reflection –The Yearly Examen In December, we have explored the spiritual practice of reflection and how that tends the holy within us. You can read the other December posts on Thursdays and how we used reflection on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. Today, being the last day of the year, is very appropriate to ponder the spiritual practice of reflection using the yearly Examen. Remember the spiritual practice of reflection gives meaning to our lives, helps us see God’s presence in the details, grounds us with landmarks on our journey and enables us to let go of what holds us back in life. It’s like hitting the pause button at regular intervals. The Spiritual Practice of Reflection I heard from my doctor this week by email of all things, reminding me it is time for my annual physical checkup. Then I felt the nudge from my heavenly Physician that it was time to examine the past 12 months before I stepped into the … [Read more...]
Questions to Ponder at Year End
Questions to Ponder at Year End This time of year I sit with questions to ponder as one year ends. I ask my soul. I talk with God. I reread and write in my journal. I allow space in my time and my heart to wonder. To listen. To savor and reflect. To allow whispers of possibilities to bubble up. “The key to wisdom is knowing all the right questions.” – John Simone Here are some of the questions I am pondering at year end: What is my why? Why is the deepest core meaning God is inviting me to live into? Why does the word “Joy” (or any word that appears to you for next year) attract me so and how I can live in that word in 2016? How will God stretch me in 2016? And how will I react to his invitation? What do I want to look back upon in one year with a sense of accomplishment and joy? What do I want to learn/see/discover and explore in 2016? What words are calling me to write? If I were to die in the next year, what would be my legacy? How do I want to spend the … [Read more...]