Our summer challenge in Weight Watchers is to get more active. I love a good challenge and decided to “walk” the distance between my home and Avon, North Carolina, home of the Outer Banks. This is our destination for our next trip the middle of September. So my Fitbit and I are going for a walk. I am tracking the distance – 846 miles! I need to walk about 9 miles a day from June 1 to mid September. That will give me some leeway for the weeks we have company or times I don’t get or can’t get the miles done. Stepwise – this is around 21000 steps a day for me. I know I sound crazy but I usually do accomplish 15000-20000 so this is pushing myself just a little more. Why I am telling you this? (And all the while praying you don’t stop reading or unsubscribe since now you think I am looney) Two reasons: Please hold me accountable and in your prayers. I promise to report later on in the summer how I am progressing but also promise not to bore you with frequent accounts. The … [Read more...]
Defining Discernment
I met with a new client last week who was seeking a spiritual director. I always schedule one meeting when starting with a new person just to talk about spiritual direction and clarify expectations. I mentioned one reason people seek spiritual direction is in the time of discernment. He asked me to define discernment. I told him I thought discernment was discovering and articulating how God is moving in our lives. We listen deeply together to identify how the spirit is guiding us in live. Once home I was curious how others define discernment. Here are some definitions I found. Discernment is a spiritual understanding and an experiential knowledge of how God is active in daily life…Discernment is faith living and listening to God’s love and direction so that we can fulfill our individual calling and shared mission…The purpose of discern is to know God’s will, that is , to find accept and affirm the unique way in which God’s love is manifest in our life. Henri Nouwen. “The … [Read more...]
And How’s That Workin’ For You?
My Weight Watcher leader asked us to think about our journey to eating and living healthier. I have struggle with my weight all my life – I entered the world more than nine pounds and at one point just a few years ago topped 260#. Though I have lost quite a bit of weight, my long-term goal still taunts me from afar. “And how’s that workin’ for you?” Karey asked as I thought about how I like to snack graze all day long, sipped an occasional wine (Weight Watchers does allow that!!) and skip my exercise. With my recent weight plateau, obviously, my current pattern of weight loss is NOT working at all. I found this question invaded other aspects of my life. My writing goals sit dormant and untouched since April. “How’s that workin’ for you?” My morning time of deepening contemplative prayer? Only occasionally. “How’s that workin’ for you?” Those long-term projects to complete by March, April, May – ha! “How’s that workin’ for you?” “How’s that workin’ for you?” dwells … [Read more...]
Do You Have a Yearly Focus?
Do you have a topic or issue you focus on each year? Something you want to learn more about. Maybe an organization you wanted to explore and get involved with. Possibly a theme, book or subject shimmers in your spirit and invites you in. Some of us choose a word for the year to frame our year (or at times the word chooses us). My word this year is STILLNESS and it continues to surround and enhance my spiritual walk in 2015. But I also have two topics that have arisen to read about, learn more about and explore this year: The Desert Mothers and Fathers and Discernment. I have been gathering some books and articles about each topic. I have listened to a couple of webinars about these subjects and attended a retreat addressing one. My pile of head knowledge and books have grown, but now it is time to digest and sit with them. I need time and silence to let their stories and wisdom sink into my roots and nourish my soul. I looked at my weekly calendar today and intentionally … [Read more...]
Trusting God
How can we learn to better trust in God? When I conducted a survey of many of you last year this was one topic that came up in many of the responses. Trusting God is a common struggle and one I think we all deeply would like to improve. I have two prayers lately I have brought to God – over and over again. I repeat them constantly during the day – just in case he didn’t hear them the first (second and third and so on) times. I beat on heaven’s door with these requests and stick them on with permanent, if not eternal, gorilla glue. My heart to God’s heart type of deep desire. The other day my prayer became a mantra: I will trust in you. I WILL trust in you. Please help me trust in you. Trusting God isn’t a “I can do this myself” self accomplishment. Ironic isn’t it? I need to trust God to help me better trust in him. What does trusting in God mean anyway? Trusting in God means clinging to the knowledge we are his beloved children and he knows what is best for us. He … [Read more...]
A Fresh Perspective to Prayer
I threw the windows open and unlocked the front door last week and invited the crisp spring air inside my house and my heart. Deep breathe, Jeanie. Feel the life in the atmosphere. Time to refresh and shake out that old dust. Don’t you love gaining a new perspective to old routines? Rearranging the furniture. Cleaning out the bedlam buried in a kitchen drawer. Learning a new way to thinking or doing something This is how I feel about a book I am reading by Kelly O’Dell Stanley called Praying Upside Down – a Creative Prayer Experience to Transform Your Time with God. Kelly tackles prayer from an artist point of view, giving me new insight and ways to pray. I love how she weaves in her own story, humbly sharing her ups and downs and inviting us no matter what our faith background is or our history with prayer to join her. The book is one of the most creative books I have read on prayer and I have read a ton of books on this topic. Quotes to share: “Praying upside down is a … [Read more...]
Naming Your Inner Critic
I’m not good enough. I’m not smart enough. I’ll never make it. I’m not worthy. What’s wrong with me? Too often I allow my insecurities and imperfections to get the best of me and this can greatly affect any chances of achieving the dreams and desires God has for me in this life. On Wednesday I listened to an interview with the author Julie Cameron. She talked about ideas in her classic book, The Artist’s Way. I was fascinated with her friend, Nigel. This what she said: I have an inner critic, a sensor, whom I call Nigel. Nigel in my imagination is a gay interior decorator, who is British. Nothing I ever do is good enough for Nigel. I think all of us have our Nigels and sometimes people come to me and they want me to eradicate their censor. The censor never goes away, unfortunately. But we can learn how to work with it. Julia Cameron I never considered giving my negative thoughts a name before. Reminded me of something I learned last spring when I heard the expression … [Read more...]
Silent Listening
I love words so spending multiple days at a silent retreat draws me out of my comfort zone. But I have learned to value my annual silent retreats as deepening experience and nourishment to my soul. What are some of the benefits of entering into a grand silence to hear the whispers of God? Silent is a wonderful, yet challenging word. Mother Teresa said, “We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” Use the word silent as an anagram. An anagram rearranges or unscrambles the letters of one word to create a new word. The result is: SILENT = LISTEN. Like an anagram, silent listening rearranges, unscrambles, reorganizes and reorders my spirit: Silent listening rearranges my thoughts, providing clarity and a new sense of direction and meaning. Silent listening … [Read more...]