Drought - yes it is a record year for hot, hot temps and dry, dry weather. I found this graph from the Weather Channel that summed up our desperate need for rain very well.The National Climatic Data Center reports that the 2012 drought disaster is now the largest in over 50 years, and among the ten largest of the past century. Only the extraordinary droughts of the 1930s and 1950s have covered more land area than the current drought. 55 percent of the contiguous United States was under moderate to extreme drought in June. I live in northwest Ohio. When you look at this map, yes my tiny neck of the woods is maroon colored - one of the worst hit areas. We are classified as extreme drought. And I know many of you are also suffering this summer. This severe weather will affect us all no matter where we live with higher costs such as in food. This could be one of the top ten most expensive weather disasters in the United States.(NOTE: I began writing this a post a few days ago and woke … [Read more...]
Three “Timely” Tips for Savoring Summer Spirituality
Dry and hot - that is the best way to describe the weather in northwest Ohio this summer. We have had more days over 90 degrees and too many over 100 than ever before on record. THEN add to it very little rain - the ground is cracked and parched and the poor plants withering.Sometimes summer drains our spiritual life too. We rush to kid’s ballgames, speed through vacations trying to see everything we can, and take on household projects like the Pharaoh trying to build the pyramids. I become my soul’s slave driver - “Work! Go! Do!”Reminds me of the story I once heard: A group of Americans made a trip with Brazilian natives down the Amazon River. The first day they rushed. The second day they rushed. The next day they rushed. One day, anxious to continue the trek, they were surprised to find the natives seated together in a circle.When asked the reason for the delay, a guide answered, "They are waiting. They cannot move further until their souls have caught up with their bodies."I have … [Read more...]
Ten Books That Feed my Mind and Spirit
I love books!Reading the words written by wiser, much more mature Christians nourishes my spiritual journey.I don’t just read books; I highlight words, dog-ear the corners, and rewrite quotes in my journal. I print out soul-refreshing lines and hang them around my desk or clip them into my blank books. Their prayers, often birthed centuries before me, send their roots deep into my heart and bubble up to my lips.I thought I would share with you today ten books that kindle my spiritual walk. Sigh, only ten?Now I could easily list more, but the Internet may crash from its weight and ten is such a nice number. So ten it is:1. NIV Study Bible - I have other Bibles and have looked at many more, but this torn, underlined, scribbled in the margin version is my treasure. The edges unravel under the tape and it is too bulky to skip easily into my purse, but how could I part from this long companion? 2. Something More by Catherine Marshall. I had trouble choosing which Catherine Marshall book to … [Read more...]
Prayers that Blessed my Retreat
Prayer opened the door of my heart during my recent retreat. I was surrounded and supportive with prayers from others from their own life journeys and prayers that bubbled up within me as I spent time with God.I am home now following this two-week retreat on the “Art of Guiding Individually Directed Retreats.” The setting was at the lovely St. Francis Retreat Center in Michigan and sponsored by the Dominican Center at Marywood. Our retreat leader was Sister Nancy Brousseau, my mentor and spiritual guide through my formation as a spiritual director. Nancy always invites us to go deeper, to let go and plunge into God. Knowing that should have prepared me for two weeks of not just learning with my head, but coming home with a new heart.I wanted to write a post today detailing the retreat about what I experienced and still am encountering with God. But I am lost to find the words to describe the intimacy and sacredness of these ongoing blessings.Instead I will share with you some of … [Read more...]
Be a Cloud Chaser – Looking Up
This is a third post of what I am learning about being a cloud chaser.Meteorologists tell us that every cloud contains a weather message. God sculpts all types of clouds as messengers of hope from Him to help us weather the storms in life.I have been exploring clouds for a possible book proposal and want to share with you over a series of posts some of the lessons I have discovered by becoming a Cloud Chaser. Join me: Become a child once again and capture the wonder as a cloud chaser. God’s canvas shows us surprises every day if we just take the time to look up, look inward, and look beyond our ordinary day-to-day drudgery.Looking up Cloud chasing involves looking up, a physical act of raising the chin which alone may be enough to life the spirit and provides a momentary pause by focusing on new possibilities instead of our problems.Here are lessons I am pondering when I look upward: 1. Clouds have been called “Billboards of Coming Attractions.” How do clouds forewarn us of … [Read more...]
How to Become a Cloud Chaser
Do you remember how when we were children we would watch clouds with an intense interest and imagination? We would rest on our backs on the cool grass on a warm summer day and examined God’s blue pallet. “Look, there is a giraffe.”“Over there, a speeding car.”“And if I squeeze my eyes till they are almost close, I think I see a marshmallow being stretched apart by two gorillas.”Meteorologists tell us that every cloud contains a weather message. God sculpts all types of clouds as messengers of hope from Him to help us weather the storms in life.I love looking up each day and seeking what God is telling me in his heaven. You see, I am a cloud chaser.· Cloud chasing involves looking up. This physical act of raising the chin lifts the spirit and provides a momentary pause by focusing on new possibilities instead of our problems.· Cloud chasing invites us to look inward and to indentify what is churning within our hearts. · Cloud chasing reminds us to look beyond our … [Read more...]
Five Lessons about Discernment
Each January I record in my journal a list of spiritual hopes, dreams and goals for the upcoming year. Then throughout the year I try to reread this entry and reflect on what is holding true, what is growing deeper within me, and what died on the vine and disappeared.Many times ideas on the list come from my ego driven self-centeredness. On January 1 this year I actually read a quote from Tozer that echoed this confession: “What a pity when we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.”So true. I wrote this quote in my journal. But it is the two next entries that have driven my year and shaped my plans.Right after I read and recorded that quote, I wrote “Lord I want to be open to God-sized dreams and impossibilities this year.” (Watch what you pray for, right?)Then I wrote one word. A word that dripped from my pen uninvited by my ego. A word that has continued to surprised me this year and has pursued me by popping up in unexpected places.Discernment.I pause this May morning and … [Read more...]
A Powerful Response to the Question: How Are You?
Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet. Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate. This fun meme has now progressed to the letter T. The letter T starts my answer to the question:How Are You?We all do it. We pass each other with the causal, not expecting an honest answer, to the question of “How are you?”I read recently some blog conversations challenging us to answer honestly. To stop and really listen. I wonder how many of us answer exactly how we feel. Do we in truth want to slow down and hear someone’s reply?Do we say?:To be honest, I am not feeling well. Or I feel alone and abandoned today and cried myself to sleep last night. Or even I can’t believe you are asking me when I know you really don’t care or … [Read more...]