Archives for September 2011

Saturday Evening Blog Post: July & August

Joining with Elizabeth Esther for her monthly invitation to post a favorite post for the month.  This time she’s invited us to submit TWO, as she was in Bolivia with World Vision at the first of July. Here is what it’s about:

SATURDAY EVENING BLOG POST


Welcome to THE SATURDAY EVENING BLOG POST!

This is where bloggers gather on the first Saturday of each month to share their favorite post from the previous month! Today we’re sharing our favorite post from JULY & AUGUST 2011!

As I read over my posts from the last two months, 
 I was surprised to discover that I like quite a few of them! 
Maybe, just maybe, over time and with practice – 
I’ll get a little better at this whole writing-it-all-out thing 
I’m called to do at this point in my journey.
So for July’s favorite, 
I chose to highlight some thoughts 
about how hard it is to concentrate on the writing itself,
when everything I find out there in blogland is pushing me 
to think about things like ‘platform’ 
and ‘building my audience.’
It came out in the wee hours of the morning 
and is a bit angst-driven, 
but it’s what I’m feeling and working through just now. 
And, as an added bonus, 
it’s just about the first time I figured out 
how to put a link in the middle of anything! 
As an incredibly techie-challenged person, 
it is always delightful 
and infinitely self-satisfying to figure out 
one blessed thing 
having to do with the workings of computers or cyber space.
Here’s the ink for July:
 

         http://drgtjustwondering.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-to-do-when-you-cant-sleep.html

And for August – I picked one from this last weekend, 
springing from a powerful sermon 
on the questions God asks in scripture.
This will be a wonderful series to post about each week 
and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s message.

Here is the link for August:

August selection: http://drgtjustwondering.blogspot.com/2011/08/when-god-asks-question-where-are-you.html

Five Minute Friday: Rest


Holy crap – is it Friday again ALREADY?? Whoosh, that week just flew by. Must be what happens when you spend five minutes reflecting on the word OLDER, like we did last week. Because one thing is for certain sure about that whole word/idea/process/ugly reality: time goes faster as we age.

So, here we are. Once again invited to set our timers and see how the mind that lives in our fingers responds to a prompt.  This week, it’s a good one – so good, that even Lisa-Jo, the originator of this divine series, admits that it took her longer than 5 minutes to say what she wanted to say. So, I’ll give it a whirl.






Because watching beautiful fish swimming is one of the most restful things I can think of, here is a shot from our recent family vacation – a tropical tank at the Monterey Bay
Aquarium.
 

REST  

GO:

For far too much of my life, I have believed that ‘rest’ is something I earn. If I work hard enough, if I count off accomplishments on some cosmic scorecard, if I make sure that all the people in my universe are feeling cared for and understood, if I DO what I need to do, if I am making ever-forward progress toward becoming who I’ve decided I’m supposed to be –  then, THEN I can rest. And I will have earned that privilege by virtue of all that I have done.

What it took me a long time to unfold and appreciate is the beauteous truth that rest is not a prize to be sought, a reward for good behavior. Instead, rest – beautiful, life-giving, spirit-savoring rest – is two things, neither of which has one blamed thing to do with what I do. 

First of all, rest is a built-in design necessity. It is part of the created order, it is part of what it means to be human, created in the divine image. It is necessary, life-giving and central to being/becoming fully me. Rest needs to be part of my self-understanding, it is that important.

Secondly, rest is a gift – promised and delivered in Jesus. He didn’t say, “Come to me after you’ve done everything your obsessive personality tells you have to do, when you’re completely spun out and spent, after you’ve made sure that all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed – and then maybe I’ll give you a chart and you can mark off your rest in 5 minute increments until you reach your allotted max.”

No. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are heavy-laden” – and that means right in the middle of all that mess you surround yourself with, all that ‘required’ behavior you’re so dang worried about – “and I will give you rest.” 

Yeah, GIVE you rest. Give, gift – receive with gratitude – that kind of thing. Rest is a person, a relationship, a spiritual space inside that provides a center that IS rest. Amazing. 

And I thought it was up to me.

STOP:

Oh, yeah – this was more than five. I had to stop the timer at 2 when our baby arrived at the door for Friday care-giving, earlier than usual.  And when I came back to what I had? I hated it. So I started over and just kept typing without looking at the timer.  Probably about 10 minutes, truth be told. Interesting topic – one I continue to learn about, day after ding-dong day.

How to Know You Are Really Home

Time away from home is a gift, especially when it’s shared with people you love. 

But coming home brings a joy all its own. A sense of place, of personal space, of familiarity and comfort. 

Sometimes it takes a bit to really step back into that space. A day or two – to do laundry, to sort through mail and newspapers, to answer messages, deadhead the garden, settle right down in again. 

And … there is always the pantry and the refrigerator to re-stock, meals to think through, appointments to be kept, news to catch up on. 

Yes, sometimes coming home is full of busy-work. Necessary work, but … 

Somewhere along the line during those first 48 hours of re-entry, something inside begins to niggle and naggle, something (or someOne) seems to say, 

“Home means more than this.” 

And you know you need to step away from the busy. 

You have to fly like a homing pigeon to center, 
the place where spirit and flesh feel most closely allied and aligned. 
You have to breathe deeply and move intentionally and … you have to smile.
A slow, quiet smile – one that says, “Oh, yes! This is the place. This is the space that speaks my name.”

So I got in my car and drove the two miles down the hill to Butterfly Beach, just as the sun was ringing the sky with its farewell song.

As I rounded the bend on Channel Drive, I saw that the yucca had bloomed while we were away. Their silhouettes against the softly coral sky took my breath away.

I parked the car, got out, carrying my tiny point-and-shoot, and began to walk the sidewalk lining the beach. With each breath, I felt myself saying, “Thank you.” With each step, I praised the Creator for this place, for legs that move, for lungs that work, for eyes that see and ears that hear the glories of sea and shore and sand and setting sun.

As I counted my laps, back and forth, ticking off the tenths of a mile, I counted the joys of this life I live. The gifts and the grit, the people and the places, the words and the wonder.

 And I knew. 

I knew that I was really, 

finally,

home.


Joining in late with Laura and Laura at TheWellspring (Playdates with God) – and at SeedlingsinStone (On, In and Around Mondays).  Also sending this over to Bonnie’s invitation to talk about ‘whitespace’ this week at the Faith Barista and to Emily’s Imperfect Prose congregation at CanvasChild.
FaithBarista_FreshJamBadgeGOn In Around button