Am I enough? Why do I continually feel like I am not enough? Do you struggle with inadequacy, lack of confidence, and feeling like you are always coming up short compared to others? When I listen to others in spiritual direction, this is a common topic. In our Sunday School small group, I hear others living out of scarcity, not abundance. I know I often see the world with the lens of not-enoughness. Many of us do. Not Enough Not feeling like you are enough appears in many formats: Thinking others are better than you. Striving to prove yourself all the time. Hearing your self-talk - “Why do I always.” “There you go again…” Difficulty in making the right decision, the best ones for yourself. People pleasing behaviors. Assuming others’ whispering or laughter is about you. Assessing your value in light of the world’s definition of success and achievement or by hardwood floor and granite countertops on Fixer Upper or your singing voice compared to the … [Read more...]
The Spiritual Practice of Community
Community – this was the surprise answer from many of you when I asked last year on my annual readers survey this question: What spiritual practice would you like to learn more about? I expected and did hear the answers such as prayer, slowing down to be with God and how to hear God. I never thought creating community would be checked off as often as it did. Let’s talk about this topic this month as August’s Tending the Holy Thursday series. Each month on my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore. Each month I also include a free download to accompany the month’s topic. Since I am an introvert and find creating, dealing, and being in community challenging at times, I created a one page “The Introvert’s Guide to Community,” with 15 ideas how to practice this spiritual discipline. This PDF is available at no cost by clicking the button at the end of this post. Be sure to sign up to get Healthy Spirituality in your inbox, so you don’t miss any of the … [Read more...]
Monthly Musings –What I Learned in July
July Monthly Musings July – Halfway through the summer, through the year, halfway through the longest, wonderful weather days in northwest Ohio. Halfway through a year of learning and listening. Halfway through growing both flowers and weeds in my backyard and probably in my soul. Halfway to fill my heart with fun memories and with time to collect a few more smiles along the way. July – finding my first red tomato from the garden and my first mosquito bite. "It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard Each month I pause and look back at what I am discovering, learning, and exploring in life – I call these my monthly musings. Living this reflective practice helps me slow down and savor this precious gift of life we’ve been given and all the gifts to be discovered given by such a loving, gracious God. Capturing these special moments gives meaning, depth, and delight to life. Let’s wake up to the wonders in … [Read more...]
The Spiritual Practice of Honoring Milestones
We have been planning for more than a year now. This coming Sunday our church is celebrating a major milestone: 150 years of worshipping God. The pews will be packed. Music sung. God praised. Friendship reconnected. Too much food consumed. Memories cherished. A moment to recognize, affirm and honor. Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead. Nelson Mandela Thinking about Milestones This celebration stirred my pondering about milestones. Milestones are significant markers in our life journey. We stop, name and hold that moment in a sacred way, then move onward into the future. Milestones offer us a chance to reflect, rest, and release. Many milestones are joyous times but they can also be times of sadness and loss. We say goodbye to the past and turn the page to a new chapter. The word milestone dates to the Romans. They built more than 53,000 miles of roads throughout their empire so every 1000 paces or about 4800 feet, a stone marker was … [Read more...]
Who are You? Getting to Know Yourself Through the Enneagram
Have you ever heard of the Enneagram? Think you know yourself? Each year I get to know myself at a deeper level and am slowly understanding how God wired me. I find as I journey through this life, I am accepting and being more compassion of this soul created by God. I’ll journal something and am shocked to reread the words as buried emotions drip from my pen and my heart. My spiritual director asks me a probing question that help me pause and see my actions and behavior in a new light. I quiet myself in the early morning and listen to God. His gentle wisdom guides my self- understanding as a child of God. I mentioned last week a self-assessment I recently completed. You can read that post here. After talking with several of you about that test and what we all learned and pondered, I remembered a book I recently purchased call The Complete Enneagram – 27 Paths to Greater Self Knowledge by Beatrice Chestnut. More light to the age-old question we all face: Who am I? The … [Read more...]
Simple Ideas for the Spiritual Practice of Simplicity
Many of us long to live more simply, but though it sounds easy, implementing this lifestyle is challenging. The spiritual practice of simplicity is this month’s Tending the Holy topic. Each month on my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore deeper. The last two Thursdays, I introduced simplicity, looking at its definition and insights and then listed 10 quotes to ponder and deeper your ideas about this topic. This final week I’m sharing ideas for putting this discipline into practice. Simple Foundation of Simplicity The foundational idea for putting simplicity into action in our daily lives starts with God. It is about God, not us. The central point to simplicity is to seek God first, then everything else will fall into proper order. A single undivided focus on God, a single-minded heart. I am beginning to form a concept about this practice. I identify what distracts me from God and the stuff, possessions, and attitudes I cling to due to fear, hurt, … [Read more...]
Watch What You Pray For
“Watch what you pray for” has been an expression that usually brings a smile of recognition to my face. I nod at its word of caution and crawl back into my safe arena of known predictability. God listens. Be careful, he loves to answer the prayers of his children. “Be careful what you pray for. You just might get it.” - Anonymous Praying can be dangerous business when you trust God and take those steps out of your comfort zone. I enter into prayer wanting the answer to be safe, easy, and clear. I may as well pray: “just fix the problem, Lord. Of course, on MY terms.” But God doesn’t work that way. We come into his presence, tell him our concerns, needs and desires, release them into his hands. He walks with us on this human journey providing times to learn, to be transformed, and to serve. I know this all too well and right now I’m not smiling pleasantly at power of prayer. I’ve taken the risk this summer and ventured into new risky prayers. God is answering me in … [Read more...]
10 Quotes to Ponder about Simplicity
The spiritual practice of simplicity is this month’s Tending the Holy topic. Each month on my Thursday posts, I pick one theme (or person of faith) to explore deeper. Last Thursday I introduced simplicity, looking at its definition and insights about this easy to talk about, but hard to do subject. Next week I will list some practices we can try to create more simple approaches in our living. Today though, I want to share with you some quotes to ponder and take you deeper into spiritual practice. 10 Quotes to Ponder about Simplicity Which one of the follow resonates most with you? Challenges you? Makes you want to copy it and put it in your journal? Take at least one of the quotes and “chew” on it more, allowing the words to open your heart to this practice. Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough. Charles Warner ****** Beware the barrenness of a busy life. Socrates Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast … [Read more...]