It’s Fall – Let Go!

Today as I look out my window on this breezy fall day, I am feeling very connected to the beauty of creation.  I live in a beautiful location.  My house is surrounded by trees and at this time of year, the leaves are all different shades of red, orange, green and yellow.  When the sunlight hits them, which does happen occasionally in Western PA, they just glow with brilliance.  The leaves on the trees are stunning.  And, then, something magical happens when the wind blows.  The leaves come soaring to the ground.  Some of them spin in little circles with the stem down and seem to just dive to the earth.  Others actually tumble end over end until they slowly float to the earth.  Some start falling one direction and then the wind picks them up and carries them a different direction and then sometimes just before they hit the ground, it lifts them once again for a little glide across the yard.  All these leaves are on different journeys, and they travel at different speeds and in different ways.  They really remind me of life and its journey.  Though all the leaves can represent that journey, I realized today that I identified with a particular one. A medium sized yellow maple leaf halfway up a tree that is smaller than its Oak neighbor.  This little leaf on this smaller tree refuses to let go.  As I’ve watched hundreds, possibly thousands of leaves make their journey from limb to lawn, this stubborn Maple leaf clings on by a thread.  The wind is whipping it in every direction, and I marvel at its strength to hold on.  It reminds me of a child’s wiggly loose tooth that refuses to give up and fall out.  This leaf is hanging on.  For what?  Eventually, we all know it will let go and join the rest of the leaves in the yard, but until it does, it is taking a royal beating in an attempt to hang on.

I am like that Maple leaf many times.  I hang on to things way longer than I should.  I honestly know that if I would just let go, I would softly, beautifully float to new and better things, but I refuse and I hang on to what I know.  I stay in the place I have been for a long time.  I refuse to let go and declare a new season.  Just as I shake my head and wonder about that leaf and its motives, I shake my head and wonder about myself. As I have spent some time this afternoon thinking, dreaming and watching the fall leaves tumble, I think I am excited for the day I do let go. The day I do drift peacefully into the next exciting season. I mean, what are my options? I certainly don’t want to be that lone brown leaf that we’ve all seen during winter hanging on to the tree being pelted by snow and sleet. No.  That is not how I am going to go into the next season, and I hope you don’t either. Let Go!

18 But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I’m going to do! 19 For I’m going to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Don’t you see it? I will make a road through the wilderness of the world for my people to go home and create rivers for them in the desert! – Isaiah 43:18 & 19 The Living Bible

Pray for Mason

Mason Martin is a high school senior in our community who was seriously injured in a football accident a little over a week ago. His condition is still critical and the community is showing an outpouring of support. There have been prayer vigils, fundraisers, displays of purple and gold and his football number “2” stickers on helmets of multiple teams. There are signs all over town saying “Prayers for the Martin family,” “Pray for Mason” and “#Mason Strong.”

Our community is hurting because of this young man’s circumstances and we are at a loss for how to help this family, so we pray. It’s not only the only thing we can do, but it’s the most important thing we can do. So we do. But, today as I was driving, I found myself amazed as I read the signs posted on businesses and in lawns. Note the word, “read.” I was pleased by the amount of support shown to the Martin family with the signs, but I wasn’t praying for Mason, I was reading about him. Are you doing this too? Are you just marveling at the support or are you praying? Of course, you are doing both, but I encourage you to beef up your prayers as you recognize the community support. How? By challenging yourself to pray for Mason each time you see purple and gold, signs with his name on it, the #2 or any other post or article about him. Challenge yourself to create a simple prayer on his behalf. “Dear God, strengthen Mason.” “Dear Lord, bless his family as they journey through this challenge.” “Lord, thank you for the doctors and nurses who are caring for him.” “Dear God, let the family see something today that makes them smile.” Pray your simple prayer each time you pass a sign or pray a different one each time you drive by.

Like many students in the area, my daughter wore a purple ribbon in her hair for a volleyball game though her school colors are blue and white. The team prayed for Mason prior to their game. The next day, the ribbon was on the table, so I put it in my pocket and every time I put my hand in my pocket I was reminded to offer up a prayer. Let’s make sure our kids and students know to do the same when they wear their Mason Strong T-Shirts, bracelets and purple and gold or when they see the #2 on a sign. I am so grateful for all the reminders in the area that I see daily. They are prompting me to pray. We need to remember, that the signs and reminders can’t pray, but we can and so we should!

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

– Jeremiah 29:11

My Mom

I can say that not only was I blessed by having a good mother, but I was doubly blessed by having her 93 years.  I had the honor and privilege to be the daughter of someone that I never heard anyone say an unkind word of. When her name came up, it was always in reference to a kind deed she did, a kind word she said or simply to comment on her beautiful smile and kind heart.

When I would describe my mom to people who didn’t know her, I would say she was a saint.  Then I would emphasize, “no, I mean she was a real saint.” She didn’t talk badly about people, she didn’t complain and she truly could find the good in every situation and if she couldn’t, she certainly wouldn’t let anyone know.

I explain her belief in the God given scriptural proof of positive and hopeful thinking to others by sharing the story of her receiving a call when Dan was in college.  We were hearing her side of a phone conversation, “Oh, that’s so good. What a blessing. That’s wonderful to hear.”  She hung up the phone and said to my Dad, “Bob, we need to go to Penn State because Dan was hit by a ricochet in rifle class and the bullet grazed his nose.”  My Dad asked what was so good about that and she replied, “The bullet hit his nose, it could’ve been his eye.” She lived her life just that way.  If something bad happened, she’d be grateful something  worse didn’t. These past couple of weeks, she has continued to remind us all how lucky we are, how many good things we have and how blessed we’ve been.

My Dad died suddenly when I was 16 and I remember immediately thanking God that he took my Dad and not my Mom.  I knew in that moment that I was on good terms with my Dad and I had no regrets.  I also knew as a teenage girl, that if God had taken my Mom that evening, I would’ve had regrets in my last words and my last actions towards her.  At that age, I didn’t recognize how much I would need my mom in the days ahead in a different way than I needed my Dad. That night, I was able to see my Mom in a different light and what I used to see as weakness in her, I saw as strength.  My Mom handled losing her husband at age 50 in a manner that displayed heartache and strength with a grace that was unbelievable.  We all knew where her strength came from and where she expected us to go for our strength without preaching the importance in having faith but in just living it out.

When Pastor Bev visited last week, I began to tell her that I felt that Mom might want to talk to her because I knew that Mom was worried about us during this time.  I no sooner got the word “worried” out of my mouth that she interrupted me and said, “I’m not worried.”  She didn’t worry.  She prayed. She recited her version of Philippians 4:6 to us many times. “Don’t worry about anything, pray about everything, tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers.

In the last few years, she would express that she was ready to go home and be with the Lord.  She would see a photo of a group of her friends, family or coworkers and comment on how most of them were gone now and she wondered why she was still here. She hated being a burden and needing help and as she became less able to serve others, she often said she felt “weary.”  We would tell her the Lord would take her when she finished her work and he obviously still had work for her to do. She said that the only thing she was physically able to do to help others was to pray. I figured that she was still here because we all still required her prayers.  My Mom spent her last days praying about everything and everyone. Even when she wasn’t really “with us” she was mumbling names and asking God to bless them.

One of the biggest lessons she ever taught me occurred one time when I was really struggling with a situation with my kids.  I felt overwhelmed by parenting and I was sitting on the couch crying uncontrollably and I said, “I Can’t Do This!”  She sat beside me and said quietly, “oh but you are.”  She expected me to do the best with what had been given me and she knew it would take strength and faith for me to do that well.

After my Dad’s funeral, my Mom said matter of factly, “On Monday morning, I will go back to work and you will go back to school and we will do our best.”   And now, as we leave here lost and not sure where we will go, we will have to find some of that strength and faith to go on without her. I’m sure each of you know what she would say specifically to you in this situation if you were sitting across her kitchen table with her, so just do that.  She left this world with nothing left unsaid or untaught.  She did her part, so now I believe she’d expect us to do ours. She got her work done.

From Stepping Heavenward by   Mrs. E. Prentiss   Copyright 1869

My steadfast aim now is to follow in my mother’s footsteps; to imitate her cheerfulness, her benevolence, her bright, inspiring ways and never to rest till in place of my selfish nature I become as full of Christ’s love as she became.  I am glad she is at last relieved from the knowledge of all my cares; and though I often and often yearn to throw myself into her arms and pour out my cares and trials into her sympathizing ears.  I would not have her back for all the world.  She has got away from all the turmoil and suffering of life; let her stay!

A Somersault Summer

So, you will need the back story for this post to make any sense, so bear with me while I explain. 

Last year I was invited to a friend’s house on the evening that her daughter attended prom. We took some photos and then sent the formally clad teens off for their evening of dinner and dance. After they left, we just talked in the living room and sipped wine. As we reminisced about our teen years conversations went to how we “used to do this” and we “used to do that.” I was the oldest individual in the room by 1 – 2 decades so I easily admitted that I used to be able to do a cartwheel, but I now have conceded that those days are behind me. I vividly remembered the last time I did one when the reality that my arms can no longer support the weight of my body made me declare that it was my last one. While sharing my story, I could see the wheels turning (while the wine was draining from her cup) in a friend’s mind. She is about 12 years younger than me and she was certain she could still lead with her arms and follow with her feet in a cartwheel. She did, indeed, prove to us that she could and she pulled a hamstring in the process. We got a good laugh out of the evening’s stunts and conversation and said we’d practice before the next prom rolled around.

Eleven Months Later: Knowing prom would be coming up and while reading Aging with Grace for book club, I decided that I should probably try to train for a stunt for prom night. I knew a Cartwheel would never happen, but maybe I could do a front roll, aka Somersault, with flare. In my mind, I was going to make this roll crisp, clean, and worthy of an Olympic score of at least a 9.4. I had hopes of performing this stunt while these younger moms sat on the couch holding up their dry erase boards with their scores of 9.2, 8.7, and maybe even a generous 9.8! However, I knew to accomplish these scores, I would need to practice at home. 

With a great attitude, I headed to my carpeted living room floor. I crouched down and put my body in a tight ball. I pondered. I paused. I was surprised that I was apprehensive about actually putting my head to the floor and rolling. I had not considered that my body would stop and seriously consider how this would go. Head down, a kick-off the couch and I flopped to my back. The room spun, I felt nauseous and I started sweating. Wow. I hadn’t expected that! Apparently, the heart medication I had taken lowered my blood pressure enough to make me feel as dizzy as if I had been hung by my feet on one of those flying swing rides at an amusement park and swung around and around. UGH! “I can’t do a front roll?!?! When did this happen?” Being too old to do a front roll did not sit well with me. BUT, I had to accept the fact that that day was not the day to prove it. I waited and a few days later (without heart medication) I did my second attempt. Back to the living room, crouched down, ready to roll. Head to the floor, push off the couch, crack, crack, crack. The neck cracking sounds were audible to my 15-year-old daughter even above her laughter. Flat on my back, I lay wondering if I had done any permanent damage or if I indeed might still be able to walk after this attempt. Slowly, I arose and went about my day doing what people my age are supposed to do with their day. (Apparently not a front roll.) The following day, my chiropractor assured me that a front roll is not a life skill that I need and that I should probably not do it again. I lamented that I was certain that women older than me could still perform this fete and while shaking his head, he just said he didn’t think it was something I needed. Keep in mind he’s interested in my physical health more than my mental health! There is a part of me that still feels I need to do this.

At the time of this writing, I have stuck with only the two attempts. My friend’s daughter didn’t go to prom this year, so we didn’t gather at her house and I didn’t have to feel old or left out when they tried their stunts. We’ve joked about training for next year and I shared the story of my failed attempts and we laughed and laughed.

Each time I’ve shared the story, though, I’ve posed the question, “Do you think you can still do a front roll?” Everyone believes they can and maybe they can. I have received two videos of friends proving they can. However, I also think many people think they can and then they are as surprised as I was to realize that at some point in our adult lives, we’ve lost the muscle memory of how to do that simple gymnastic stunt. We don’t know when it happened, but it did. This experience has made me curious about what else I might not be able to do. What have I forgotten or what am I incapable of doing simply because at some point I stopped doing it? Can I still hula hoop? What about playing Jacks? Can I recite the alphabet backward? How long can I freeze during freeze tag?

I’m declaring this a somersault summer. I am going to try to do some things that I’ve forgotten even existed and I challenge you to do the same. What would you like to see if you could still do? I have a sneaky suspicion that like my book club attendees, you will now quietly sneak into your empty living room, crouch down, and roll. Feel free to send me pictures or let me know how it goes. As for me, I may heed my chiropractor’s advice and not attempt a roll again. Thank goodness my kids got me a flaming baton for my birthday a couple of years ago, so I will have something safer to attempt!

Hopefully Hopeful

Credit goes to Rick Warren who presented a sermon on the topic of “Hope is my Anchor” and gave me a starting point and content for this little devotional. In our previous discussions, we have focused on Love, Grace and now we will tackle Hope, the least discussed of the three, I believe.

It is critically important that we understand hope since scripture says:

 …those who forget God have no hope. They are like rushes without any mire to grow in; or grass without water to keep it alive. Suddenly it begins to wither, even before it is cut. — Job 8:11-13 TLB

But what is hope? I found two definitions. In the dictionary, hope means a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. And, in a Bible dictionary, I found a very similar meaning of to trust in, wait for, or desire something; or to expect something beneficial in the future. Is that the way we use the word “hope?” Are we using the word “hope” in the right way or is it optimism (hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something) we are meaning? What is the difference? Here’s an example: It’s springtime regardless of what the weather looks like outside. So, I can say “I hope it is sunny every day this spring.” We are hopeful of that, but it isn’t a certain hope, it isn’t based in reality, it is optimistic. And, optimism is better than pessimism where we would say, “It’s spring and it will probably be gloomy and cold all season” which is definitely not hopeful. However, we truly do have the hope of spring. It is spring. Optimism only works for things you can control. When something bad happens, optimism says, “It’s not as bad as you think,” but hope would say, “It’s bad, it’s really bad, BUT I still believe it will get better.” Optimism is Psychological and Hope is Theological.

There are three kinds of hope. The first is wishful hope, which is what I described above and what most of us use the word “hope’ for. “I hope the light turns green.” This is worthless hope. It is a false hope. There is nothing that will change the light by your hoping.

The second kind of hope is expectant hope. This hope has some basis in reality. For example, if you plant seeds, you can hope they grow. (Wishful hope would be hoping your garden grew without planting any seeds.) So, you can have expectant hope, you planted seeds and you hope they grow, but will they grow for certain? They may or may not.

Lastly, there is CERTAIN HOPE and this is the Biblical use of the word hope. Hebrews 6:19a says:

This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God… (TLB)

Real hope is based on God’s word and NOT my wishes. There is no doubt in certain hope. You can count on God’s promises because they are sure things and you will want to build your life on this type of hope. The above verse tells us the three things that certain hope is. It is strong, trustworthy and it’s an anchor.

Using the anchor illustration, let’s explore what an anchor is used for. It is used to keep a ship from drifting and it adds stability in a storm. Doesn’t God’s word do that for us? Without an anchor, it is easy to drift downstream and without being connected to God and His word, it is easy for us to drift too. We also need this certain hope for stability. The bigger the ship, the bigger the anchor needed. So in our lives, what does that look like? If you want to live a little life and stay uninvolved and not do a mighty work for God, then you can get away with a teeny tiny anchor, however, if your life involves others and you want to live a big, full, abundant life, you are going to need a big anchor. A big anchor for your soul.

We get this certain hope, aka “anchor” from God’s word. Certain hope is based on God’s promises in the Bible. As Rick Warren stated,

“Certain hope is not based on what is sensed, but what is said. Not based on my emotions but what is spoken and it is not based on my Imagination, but on God’s obligation to do what he says he will do.” 

There are approximately (because who can truly count them?) 8,810 promises and 7,487 of them are made by God to us! One thing we are certain of is that God can’t lie, so these promises are what we should stand on. When we put our hope in His promises we can be certain of them. 

One big ah-ha moment I got when I was studying this topic was that we can be certain of God’s promises, but the thing that I sometimes don’t take into account is that God has all of eternity to make his promises come true. He is not limited to our life here on earth. So when we hope for something, and we check it against His word, He has until eternity to fulfill his promise, but we can be filled with hope because we know that he will!

The more we know his promises, the closer we will be to him, and the closer we are to Him, the more hopeful we will be. I read that hope gives the motivation and courage needed to succeed. It’s been said that a person can live forty days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but only four seconds without hope. I think that is a major incentive for us to look for the certain hope that we know is available to us!

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound! We all know the beloved hymn Amazing Grace and God’s grace is just that…amazing, but, are we as good at grace as He is?

When you look up grace in a dictionary, you will find at least 7 explanations of it as a noun. It can mean simple elegance or refinement of movement, for example, a ballerina is graceful. Grace, the second definition is: Courteous goodwill (friendly, helpful, or cooperative feelings or attitude.) And, then we get to the Christian definition which is: A spontaneous gift from God to people – generous, free, and unexpected and undeserved. As the hymn explains God’s grace is amazing. He can give us undeserved gifts easily and he does. He has amazing grace because He is amazing!

But the word grace is not just to be looked at as a noun. The word is also a verb. God graces us daily with his goodwill. He does it easily because he is God, but just like he expects us to love as he has loved us, I think he expects us to show grace to others as he has shown grace to us. (This is harder for us because we aren’t quite as amazing as he is!)

So, how can we practice God’s grace in our lives?

Before we dive in we need to recognize where grace comes from. Grace is the unmerited, unearned love and favor of God. So we have grace from God and if we have that, we should be able to share it, right?

2 Corinthians 9:8 states: 

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

You are equipped to practice God’s grace with others.

2 Timothy 1:9 even tells us that grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

He has saved us and called us to a holy life-not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

We’ve had it since the beginning of time, so we need to share it! So how can we go about that? The following are some ideas:

• Just like we learned with our love lesson, we have to love ourselves before we can share love with others, and grace is the same way. You need to start practicing grace by giving yourself grace. How many times have you told someone else to give themselves grace but you find it hard to do for yourself? Treat yourself with Kindness – If you practice grace with yourself it will be easier to extend it to others.
• Learn to Let Go – many things are out of our control so to practice grace we need to let go. However, if there is something in your control that you need to do to let it go, you must. If you are holding on to anger or bitterness, you need to forgive. And if something is nagging at you, you may need to apologize. Forgiveness and apologies allow everyone to move on.
• Practice Gratitude – I thought this was a no-brainer since I was raised with this discipline, but I was surprised a few years ago when I attended a workshop and the speaker suggested attendees begin writing down 3 things they were thankful for daily and one person questioned what to do if you didn’t have 3. We ALWAYS have things to be thankful for. Be mindful of them. It is easy to act with grace when you recognize all you have been given and are thankful for.
• Have Compassion & Speak Kindly – You never know what someone is going through. Compassion means “sympathetic pity & concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others” CONCERN for the misfortune of others. That person who is having a bad day needs compassion even if their bad day is causing them to behave in a way that is hard to be compassionate to. Proverbs 15:1-2 says “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.” Speak kindly & compassionately. The phrase “Bless her heart” comes to mind. It sincerely means fondness or sympathy for someone but it has turned into an underhanded insult sometimes in the south. I’ve never really used it, but I like it and even if I started to say it as an insult, the sincere meaning could be found. Seriously, if I used it because I felt like someone did something I thought was stupid and didn’t know any better, I might say “Bless her heart” but maybe I should be expressing compassion – sincere pity or concern that the person didn’t have the same ability to understanding as I did. Wink wink. (OK, the next lesson should be on humility!!) Regardless – Bless her heart!! Which moves us to the next way to practice grace..,…
• Accept People for who they are. You cannot change others, you can only change how you interact with them. Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. You will be practicing grace when you accept others as they are and deal with them using compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience & love. 
• Lastly, Have a sense of humor – I had a conversation the other morning in which I was sharing all my aches and pains and troubles of the day and my friend was commiserating and sharing all of hers from back pain & a cold to a flooded basement, & broken wrist. I ended the conversation by saying she would turn it all into a funny story…eventually. When times are tough, show yourself grace and learn to laugh about it. There is an emoji for SMH (Shaking my head. ) The open palmed hand on the face. I use that one maybe a little too often to express my frustration with myself or others and maybe I need to simply follow that up with a smiling emoji and laugh. The next time I use that palm in the face emoji I may have to use it as an alert that I need to show myself or someone else some grace.

These are all practical ways you can practice grace simply and daily, but none of them will ever be as amazing as the amazing grace our amazing God has given us. How sweet the sound!

Loving Life?

Valentine’s Day is coming and all minds turn to LOVE.  While planning a Ladies’ Craft Night for church, I was asked to present a talk/lesson with the theme of love.  There are many scriptures that mention the word “love.”  Depending on the translation you are using, Love is mentioned between 310 and 898 times in the Bible!  However, not every meaning of the word love is the same.  I know you don’t love french fries in the same way you love your spouse!  With so many different ways to go with the theme of love, I decided to focus on living a life you love!  I read a book by Joyce Meyer (Living a Life you Love) that helped me come up with ideas and examples of what can be done to live a life you love.

In a nutshell, to live a life you love, you need to love God, love yourself, and love others.  Easy peasy….or is it.  How do we do that?

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ — Matthew 22:37

Some practical ways to love God? First off, you need to spend time with Him, talk to Him, ask Him what He wants.  Then you can show you love Him by obeying what He tells you, serving others in His name, and choosing to do everything out of love for Him. This may mean setting your alarm early to spend time in prayer and Bible study or it may mean serving in a soup kitchen. It may be as simple as obeying His prompt to keep your mouth shut or as complex as creating a ministry to serve folks in your community.  Keep asking Him what He wants you to do and you will show your love by doing it.

We love because he first loved us. –1 John 4:19

Secondly, love yourself. If you have ever heard the acronym JOY to mean Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last, the order of the steps needed in living a life you love seems to contradict that because before you focus your love on others, you need to recognize how much you are loved and learn to love yourself.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. –John 15:12

We are to love others as we are loved by God.  That’s a big ask because God loves us so much.  But oftentimes, we forget that we are loved and we forget that we are lovable.  We think about our flaws, our mistakes, and our struggles and we forget about who we are in Christ.  We need to take action steps to love ourselves.  

There are many ways to love yourself.  You can begin by saying something nice about yourself.  The Bible gives us many examples and says we are blessed, loved, precious, understood, forgiven, and free.  We are complete, chosen, wonderfully made, and strong.  We are children of God and we are redeemed.  Scripture says we are loved and we should love ourselves so we can love others.  You can’t pour from an empty cup and so you need to fill your cup with the truth that you are loved so you can pour that love on others.

Another way to love yourself is to do something for yourself.  Like taking a craft class, learning something new, sipping a special cup of tea, or just relaxing.  Treat yourself the way you wish others would treat you…with loving-kindness.

 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. –Matt 22:39

When you are firmly grounded and aware of the love of God and you love yourself, you are in the proper place to love others. The more you love others, the happier you will be. As you explore living a life you love, you need to recognize that scripture says that God is Love (1 John 4:8) so when you make love the primary focus of your life, you are making God your number one priority. 

When dealing with others you need to make a decision to love.  It’s easy to love some people and a little harder to love others, but you can make a decision to do just that.  You can’t change others and their annoying habits but you can turn your focus from the things they do that you don’t like and you can choose to demonstrate love to them every day.  The more you love others the happier you will be. Every time you make a decision to love someone who mistreats you, it will give you joy because Jesus loved those who mistreated him and if we respond similarly in our situations, we are acting like Jesus and that is the goal…to be more like Him. This kind of love will require sacrifice, but sacrifice doesn’t have to feel like a bad thing.  We often think of sacrifice as not getting something we want or doing without, but really when we sacrifice for others we are actually receiving more than we are giving because the Lord will bless our efforts.  You will never regret loving someone if you recognize that by loving them you are loving God. 

 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. — Hebrews 13:16

When I mentioned the 3 things you needed to do to live a life you love, it seemed like a step-by-step approach with 3 distinct steps.  But as I studied it more, I realized that they all flow together and the lines are blurry.  Is it step number 3, loving others when you bake them a cake or is that step number 2, loving you because you will get to feel so good when you bless them?  Or is delivering the cake, step number 1, loving God, by loving others?  See how this all goes together? Since God is love if you want to live a life you love you simply need to make love the central theme of it.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. –John 15:12

Write? Speak? Read?

Twenty-four days into a new year I finally realized how much I’ve missed writing.  I pretty much took last year off from writing for my blog and I guess now it’s time to get “Beck to basics!”  As I finally cleaned the room where I typically write after making the room Christmas Central for wrapping and packaging, I noticed the painting on the wall. 

Write to be understood, Speak to be heard and Read to grow. A Lawrence Clark Powell quote. I had no idea who Lawrence Clark Powell was (I do now, I googled it) but I appreciated the sentiments as painted by my daughter.  I love it, but do I do it?  Do I write to be understood? I write.  And though I haven’t written publicly for over a year, I write daily in a journal and I often wonder if I’m writing to be understood.  Will anyone ever read these journals posthumously?  Will it bring clarity to my children?  Will they be able to understand that most days my ramblings and struggles are just that? Ramblings and struggles that have no meaning.  Or will they better understand that I was a work in progress their entire lives?  I came across a journal yesterday from 2004 and it listed my goals and desires.  It made me laugh as most of them could’ve been written yesterday (except for the one about owning a swimming pool..I no longer desire that.)  I think whoever reads these ramblings will wonder why I never lost those 5 pounds and never stopped worrying about things that didn’t matter.

Do I speak to be heard?  Not mostly.  I love to do public speaking where I can share a story and then the lesson I learned from the story, but in general, I don’t think I speak my opinions very openly or very confidently.  I may “speak” my opinions by my actions, so watch my body language…sometimes I can’t hide that even if I can bite my tongue.

Read to grow?  Oh, now this is an area I enjoy.  Wait.  I read.  Do I read to grow?  I certainly try.  Since the new year, I have read 4 non-fiction books and I’ve learned about gas wells and Marcellus Shale, how to trust more, some African culture, and how to live a life I love.  I may have grown with each of those.  My vocabulary has grown a bit (when I’ve bothered to look up the word I didn’t know.) I’ve grown with those titles but currently am enjoying not necessarily learning and not necessarily growing with a fiction book!  Reading is always a good idea & the potential for growth is there…even in fiction!

Twenty-four days into the new year and now…with this post…I can say I’ve addressed the prompts on my painting.  I write, I speak, I read.  I’m Beck to basics!

 

 

 

 

Twenty four days into a new year and I finally realized how much I’ve missed writing.  I pretty much took last year off from writing for my blog and I guess now it’s time to get “Beck to basics!”  As I finally cleaned the room where I typically write after making the room Christmas Central for wrapping and packaging, I noticed the painting on the wall. 

Write to be understood, Speak to be heard and Read to grow. A Lawrence Clark Powell quote. I had no idea who Lawrence Clark Powell was (I do now, I googled it) but I appreciated the sentiments as painted by my daughter.  I love it, but do I do it?  Do I write to be understood? I write.  And though I haven’t written publicly for over a year, I write daily in a journal and I often wonder if I’m writing to be understood.  Will anyone ever read these journals posthumously?  Will it bring clarity to my children?  Will they be able to understand that most days my ramblings and struggles are just that? Ramblings and struggles that have no meaning.  Or will they better understand that I was a work in progress their entire lives?  I came across a journal yesterday from 2004 and it listed my goals and desires.  It made me laugh as most of them could’ve been written yesterday (except for the one about owning a swimming pool..I no longer desire that.)  I think whoever reads these ramblings will wonder why I never lost those 5 pounds and never stopped worrying about things that didn’t matter.

Do i speak to be heard?  Not mostly.  I love to do public speaking where I can share a story and then the lesson I learned from the story, but in general, I don’t think I speak my opinions very openly or very confidently.  I may “speak” my opinions by my actions, so watch my body language…sometimes I can’t hide that even if I can bite my tongue.

Read to grow?  Oh, now this is an area I enjoy.  Wait.  I read.  Do I read to grow?  I certainly try.  Since the new year, I have read 4 non fiction books and I’ve learned about gas wells and Marcellus Shale, how to trust more, some African culture and how to live a life I love.  I may have grown with each of those.  My vocabulary has grown a bit (when I’ve bothered to look up the word I didn’t know.) I’ve grown with those titles but currently am enjoying not learning and not necessarily growing with a fiction book!  Reading is always a good idea & the potential for growth is there…even in fiction!

Twenty four days into the new year and now…with this post…I can say I’ve addressed the prompts on my painting.  I write, I speak, I read.  I’m Beck to basics!

Mosaics Make a Difference!

Mosaics make a difference! Who knew? Artists know that any kind of art makes a difference, but who knew what a difference mosaics would make for my husband and me or the small village of Mombin Crochu, Haiti. It all began for us, about 3 years ago when our daughter and son-in-law invited us to their house for a mosaic party. She invited some friends over and everyone was to create a mosaic for their mother for Mother’s Day. She had some frames and some bits of glass and she told us to simply glue some pretty glass to the glass frame. My husband chose to make a sailboat and I chose to pick some pretty colors and glue them in rows. Both of us were so proud of our work and our mothers were pleased with their gifts.

Though art is not…or should I say was not…our passion, Mombin Crochu, Haiti is. We have visited there and we help support a clinic there through Hearts 4 Haiti. That day in Richmond, VA when we were creating mosaics and laughing with friends we decided to turn mosaic making into money-making for Hearts 4 Haiti. With generous donations of glass and frames and minimal personal investments in some tools, we decided to host mosaic workshops at our home and give 100% of the proceeds to our friends in Haiti.

Since our first mosaic, we have created many more and better yet, we have helped others create and be proud of their work! In just a couple of hours, we can help others create a piece of art they can display in their homes while raising money for healthcare and food for the poorest of the poor. Mosaics do make a difference in more ways than one! Join us sometime!

Your Before May Be My After

I belong to a Facebook group called Power Purge Peeps.  It is a group of people who want to de-clutter their homes one small area at a time.  So far, I’ve cleared out my fridge and my pantry and I’m about to tackle my bakeware.  Since I’m the administrator of this group, I love to share my before and after pictures.  This is very motivating to me and I think others like to see that someone else is actually doing these tasks with them.  I really enjoy seeing other peoples’ accomplishments and progress too.  However, today, when I was sharing a picture of my pantry as a collage of a before and after photo, I remembered a time when a friend set me straight on something.

At the time, I was grumbling about my weight (which is something I do about as often as I complain about the clutter in my house.) I grumble about it, but I don’t always do something about it.  Anyhow, as I was complaining to her one day about needing to wear my “fat jeans” she said, “You do realize that your fat jeans are my skinny jeans, right?”  Ouch. That was probably very true, but it didn’t make me feel any better about my “fat jeans.” The thing it did make me realize is that we are all striving for different things.  Whether it’s a different size of jeans or a more orderly pantry, progress in our own situation is what will make us feel good. It does no good to compare our situation to the situation of others.  We all start somewhere and then improvement from that starting point is what matters.

So as I share these photos, I realize that my Before photo may look like someone’s After photo and my After photo may look like someone’s Before photo and that is okay.  I’ll just be pleased that I made progress and I hope you are too!

PS – If you struggle with comparison, check out What you Make It to find 10 Bible verses for when you play the comparison game.