31 Day Blogging Challenge

31 Days of Giving Permission . . . to LAUGH

October 4, 2013 By Diana

So . . . I have this really huge laugh.
It’s embarrassing – just ask my kids or my husband.
I love to laugh, I need to laugh,
but sometimes, I’m too inhibited to really let ‘er rip, you know?

When I’ve had too many days like that,
I need to find a child to be with.

Please bear in mind that I am not a ‘kid’ person.
I adore my children and their children.
And anybody’s baby is fair game, in my book.

But small kids?
I tend to smile benignly . . . from a distance.
When they get a little older,
I’m all in, fascinated by the conversations,
interested in what interests them,
delighted to know who they’re becoming.

And yet, I’ll say it again — it is the little ones
that I need to be with when I find I am
getting a little too full of myself,
or am a little too unwilling to play the fool.

Because the truth is this:
I AM a fool — in a very good way, I hope.
I’m not the fool that the book of Proverbs warns against,
the one who refuses to ‘fear the Lord.’

But I AM the fool who loves a good giggle,
who enjoys good jokes, good writing, good company.

Despite that truth, there are times when
I need to give myself permission to
really, truly LAUGH.

A few weeks ago, I went to Grandparent’s Day at our littlest girl’s school.
Dick had a meeting, so it was just Nana for this event,
which is a rare thing in and of itself.
Because my husband, you see, is a child’s dream come true.
He truly gets them,
he loves them, he volunteers to work
with Lilly’s class of 15 one full day each week.

The man is a saint, I tell you, a saint.

But this day, it was my turn.

And, my stars, did I have fun.

Because, this girl?

This girl — she knows how to have fun. Yes, she does.

All I had to do was be her shadow for a couple of hours,
and I felt better about myself, about the world, about life.

I even got on a swing, for the first time in years!
I didn’t stay on the swing for very long . . .
because, you know, there were all those adults around . . .
but I swung myself up and back a few times and leaned my head back,
and I laughed out loud.

I have written, and will write again in this very series,
about the need for lament, for tears, for letting
the fullness of our grief up to the surface and out.

But today, I want to encourage you to LAUGH.

To smile, giggle, chuckle, guffaw — to let the joy of life
seep through you and then leak out into the world
around you, wherever you may be.

Because laughter is good medicine,
it brings relief and release and joy.

Try it!! You’ll like it.

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Beauty, Blogging, daily devo, Encouragement, family, Fun, Grandparenting, hope, personal journey, The Grandkids, Uncategorized

Giving Permission . . . to LEAN

October 2, 2013 By Diana

So, right now,
these people (and a few others)
are saving my life.

These are sisters at the soul level,
and I find that I lean on them for all kinds of things
that are good and important and transformational.

It’s hard for me to lean on others.
I’ve always been the go-to girl,
the strong one, the leader, the loud-mouth.
It’s taken me . . . oh. . . about 40 years,
give or take a decade,
to understand that I am weakest when I try to go it alone,
that strength is truly found in numbers,
that I was never meant to carry the weight of the world
on these shoulders, even though they are b-r-o-a-d ones.

We are communal creatures, even when the community drives us batty.
We need one another to make it to the next Big Thing,
and we’re designed that way on purpose.

Nobody was ever meant to suffer life’s tragedies —
or celebrate life’s joys — all by themselves.
Yes, indeed, solitude is a good and necessary thing.
It helps us become quiet,
it centers us on the Center,
it encourages and nourishes and gentles and guides.

But the solitude and the silence,
the centering and the re-creating
come to fruition in the messes of everyday living,
in the intersections we have with others.

When we learn to lean,
we learn to grow, and even to flourish.

So, right now, this community is the one that
helps me find my way home in the dark,
the one that holds me accountable,
the one that teaches me new things about grace
every.single.day.

Have you found some leaning space?
If so, tell me a little about it.
If you’re working’ on it, let me pray for you.
I’d be honored to!

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, community, Encouragement, friendship. personal journey, Uncategorized

Giving Permission . . . to LEARN

October 2, 2013 By Diana

These words speak to me today,

“Come to me, all you that are weary . . .
take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and humble in heart
and you will find rest for your souls. . .”

I consider myself a ‘life-long learner.’
I enjoy learning new things, re-learning old things,
challenging myself with new ideas and difficult concepts.

But some things . . .
well, some things, I never seem to learn deeply enough.

And these lovely words from Jesus tell me that
THIS is one of those things:

resting in Jesus.

Oh, my. I say I love to learn,
that I’m eager to try new things.
But this one?
This kind of learning?

I am a slow student in this school,
plodding through life on my own strength,
adding responsibilities,
accumulating too much stuff,
making too many commitments.

There is a drivenness in me that
pushes me to jump on that merry-go-round,
the one that spins on my insecurities
and overweening ego,
the one that makes me dizzy and tired.

So today, I am going back to school.
I want to learn from Jesus about gentleness,
about humility,
about rest.

What about you?
Is it time to rest from the spinning,
to let a plate or two drop,
to admit that you aren’t a super-powered human being?

Because the good news is that Jesus wants us to be life-long learners.
As long as this lesson is on the top of the to-do stack:

“. . .take my yoke upon you, and learn from me . . .”

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Aging, Blogging, community, Encouragement, friendship. personal journey, God's gifts, prayer, Words

The 31 Day Challenge!

September 30, 2013 By Diana

. . . to disconnect

It’s been quiet here the last week or so.
And there’s a good reason for that.

I’m traveling right now,
a combination of business, pleasure,
and commitment.
There was no room for writing in this space,
not any way I sliced it,
so I gave myself permission to . . .

disconnect

for a few days.
Not forever, and not from everything,
but from here, for now.

And you know what?
That simple act sparked something in me,
something which I’m going to be talking about
for the next 31 days, right here.

I’ll be talking about giving permission to . . .

ourselves.

Permission to do new things,
familiar things,
scary things,
easy things,
unusual things,
usual things,
startling things,
ordinary things,
things that we too often either
forget,
delay,
ignore,
hide,
or deny.

Things that move us out of our rut,
or snap us out of our mood,
or force us out of hiding.
Things that add dimension to life,
that bring fullness,
variety,
intrigue,
maybe even transformation.

Are you interested?

Well then, just check in each day of October.
There will be a new topic everyday.
Some days there will be a lot of words,
some, not so many.
There will usually be a photo or two,
there will be room to laugh, cry,
sing, dance, doubt, lament, rejoice.

Because that’s who we are,
who we’re designed to be,
who we’re meant to be.

Whole.
Interesting and interested.
Curious and open,
attentive, inventive,
creative and responsive.

So let’s start with disconnecting, shall we?

Take a break from one thing this week.
I don’t care what it is – something that gives you
just a squinch more breathing room in your day,
something that opens up a crack for fresh air,
fresh thinking, maybe even soul searching.

Are you up for it?

Tell me your one thing – put it in the comments.
Maybe that way, you’ll actually make that space in your day,
that tiny space. . . just to breathe in, to breathe deep.

Signing on with The Nester for the 2nd year in a row. Come on over and see the hundreds of others who will be enjoying this fun (and challenging) experiment.

Every day? For 31 days in a row?
I must be nuts
But you knew that, right?

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, community, Confession, Encouragement, friendship. personal journey, God's gifts, personal journey, Uncategorized

31 Days in which I Am Saved by Beauty – Day 31

October 31, 2012 By Diana

We’re at the end of the month,

All Hallow’s Eve,

and fall is definitely in the air.

We lose the light this next weekend

and I, for one, will miss the longer afternoons.

Living in a Mediterranean climate,

the signs of fall are more subtle than

in many parts of this great country.

You see it in the changing angle of the light,

you see it on country drives,

as hay is harvested and rolled.

You see it in the bigness of sky,

the sharp horizon line, unmuddied by summer fog

lying just off shore.

Around our home, you see fall in some of our trees.

The birches, just outside the front door,

turn golden,

shimmering and shaking

their heart-shaped leaves

in the afternoon breeze.

And you see it in the gingko tree,

that ancient traveler across time,

found in fossil form

around the globe,

its fan-shaped leaf distinctive

and lovely.

Our tree is misshapen and not large,

but its leaves are magnificent,

whether on the tree or off.

The birds love it either way.

We have a small, octagonal window with beveled glass,

one that we salvaged when we added onto this house

about ten years ago.

We placed it at the peak of the high ceiling in

our bedroom,

where I can look up and out

as I wake each morning.

The gingko branches against the sky

tell me what season we’re in.

I love that.

Bare branches in winter,

nodules bursting into chartreuse in spring,

deepening, thickly-covered branches in summer,

and bright, bright yellow in fall.

As they fall from the tree,

I find them in the nooks and crannies of our yard

and I marvel.

They die every year.

To make room for new life.

And they scatter themselves everywhere,

in one last hurrah.

I was here!

LOOK at me.

And I do.

I do.

I am a beauty-hunter,

seeking always for evidence

of love and hope and joy

in the world around me.

A friend had this quote on his blog

last week and it has stuck with me

ever since.

“As soon as beauty is sought not from religion and love,

but for pleasure, it degrades the seeker.”

– Annie Dillard

But here’s what I believe:

if we seek to find beauty around us

because we are indeed

looking for signs of the Source

of that Beauty,

then we will also find pleasure.

Yes!

I believe that.

Pleasure is not the goal,

but it is the by-product,

the glorious gifted by-product.

And in exactly that way,

we are saved by beauty.

Thank you, Lord.

This has been a challenging month on many levels, but I have enjoyed looking for beauty each and every day. I will join this last post in the 31-Day Challenge with Jennifer, Duane, Ann and Emily on this Wednesday and Thursday:

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Beauty, God's gifts, Home

31 Days in which I Am Saved by Beauty – Day 30

October 30, 2012 By Diana

A Note of Thanks for a Beautiful Friend

Dear Rachel,

Here’s a scary thought:

you are young enough to be my granddaughter!
(If I’d started having kids really, really young

and my kids had started having kids really, really young –

but still!!)

And yet I call you friend. Through these cyber waves only, of course, but friend. That’s what you do, you know. You make friends — everywhere.

Across all kinds of so-called ‘barriers’ in this world of ours – age/gender/sexual orientation/race/political persuasion/denominations/theological differences.

Now that last one has proven problematic at points, I know that. You’ve taken a few too many brickbats for my taste. But you’ve handled every single one with grace, honesty, openness. And that is a very rare thing in this world. Very rare indeed.

You consistently choose to take the high road and you do it with intelligent humility, which is a killer combo in my book. You do your homework, you write with skill and good humor, you listen to criticism, if it’s offered with good will and has merit.

But you refuse to be cowed by hate-mongers, fear-based misinformation, sideswipes, even outright lies. I salute you, I admire you, I respect you and your work.

More than that, I am deeply, deeply grateful for your presence out here in this ever-growing world of technological conversation and community. Yes, community. And you have built a wild and wacky one over there at RHE, yes you have! Lots of voices, most of them filled with grace and intelligence, even when they don’t agree with you.

And then, of course, there are those others, who are not graceful. At all. Sigh.

But you see what you’ve done, don’t you? You’ve made room –even for those more difficult voices. AND you’ve built a team – to speak right back to them. Your commenting community is among the most articulate and well-spoken I’ve seen anywhere out here. And there are a lot of really fine friends (and far better writers than I) who are writing notes like this to you today. We write because we believe in you. And we believe in what God has called and gifted you to do — on your blog and through your books.

Because we want you to be encouraged today. To know that what you do and what you say and who you are — all of it, all of YOU is valuable to us and to the building of the Kingdom of God in this time, in this place. You are a great gift to the church, Rachel. A great gift.

So thank you for being brave. Thank you for using that good, good mind God gave you. Thank you for taking on the tough topics, for facing into your fear, for speaking truth and love with well-chosen and wise words.

Your publisher didn’t choose me as a team member, but I am one anyhow. I have ordered the book and I look forward to reading it, reviewing it, sharing it.

May you be blessed this day – and every day – by the steady and steadying presence of our Savior. And may you always stand ready to, “give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have…with gentleness and respect.”

Because that is exactly what you are doing. And you do it so very, very well.

Blessings,

Diana

Joining with a long list of other bloggers in a secret synchroblog to honor Rachel Held Evans on the day of her book launch. You can read all the others over at Jessica Goudeau’s great blog, “Love Is What You Do.” (Isn’t that the greatest blog name ever??) Just click on these sentences and you’re there.

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Beauty, Encouragement, Friendship, God's gifts, RHE Synchroblog

31 Days in which I Am Saved by Beauty – Day 29

October 29, 2012 By Diana

I find myself being saved by beauty

in interesting and various ways of late.

On Thursday night, in answer to an invitation

from a friend, I hosted a table

at the fund-raising event for our local

Young Life organization.

I was never a part of Young Life as

a student and neither were any of my kids.

But I believe in the work they do,

and I especially believe in

what our local leadership is doing.

This was the first time I had seen the

new area director in action.

And let me tell you,

this woman is a ball o’ fire.

Her name is Tanita.

She is beautiful in every way I can think of,

exuding the love of Jesus with every breath.

The youth of this city are in very good hands, indeed.

Then on Friday evening, after a difficult phone

conversation with my increasingly confused mama,

I took a walk.

Bent over in frustration and worry,

I cried out for patience,

and forgiveness,

and deep reservoirs of love.

And then I looked up.

And this is what I saw:
the mountains glowing pink,
reflecting the setting sun.
And the full moon rising,
shedding its quiet light over the landscape.

Sometimes a quiet light is what is needed.
Just enough illumination for the next step,
the next curve in the road,
the next smooth space to put your foot.
I’m not sure I want to look very far down
the road ahead for my mom.
I think it’s going to get increasingly rugged
and difficult and
a little moonlight
will be just about right.

As I rounded the driveway and headed away
from the reflective hills and the rising moon,
I was struck by another view:
this strong, clear silhouette against the dying sky.

Three tall, straight Washington fan palms,

three shorter, sturdier date palms —

quintessential California sentries.

I love them.

I have not always loved them.

Growing up, I thought they were strange,

sort of purposeless, actually.

Where was the shade?

Where were the finely shaped leaves?

Somehow, I grew into them.

I love the rustling sound they make

in the evening breeze.

I love that birds of all varieties

make their home buried at the

bottom of those massive fronds.

These trees speak to me of my own history,

driving to my grandmother’s house,

across concrete roads with asphalt stripes,

clickety-clack, clickety-clack,

every street lined with one variety or another.

They speak to me of warm, sunny days

and cool, soughing midnight stirring.

They speak to me of continuity,

of presence,

of stability.

They are long-lived and impervious to drought.

They don’t burn easily, either.

In fact, it’s really hard to get rid of them

once they’re in place.

We have an upstart next to our backyard shed,

and the fire department is suggesting

we eliminate it.

It breaks my heart,

even though it’s one of my

least favorite varieties.

I think maybe I need these reminders of longevity

around me right now.

Life can seem fleeting when

you watch your parent slowly disintegrate,

when you see ones you love struggling with

debilitating, life-altering disease,

when you hear the years

creaking in your own bones as you move.

So I say thank you for palm trees,

and night skies,

and full moons,

and family history.

I say thank you for young women,

picking up the slack,

carrying the torch,

loving Jesus and pouring love into others.

I say thank you for beauty,

in the world around me,

in the people I meet,

even in my own faltering love for my ailing mom.

Because all of it. . .

every bit of it,

reflects a Beautiful God,

the One who stirs in me,

in all of us,

this longing for beauty —

anywhere and everywhere we can find it.

It is that longing that speaks to

the imago dei within.

It is that longing that leads us to Love.

Joining this reflection with Michelle, Jen, Ann, Laura and Laura – with deep gratitude for their faithful invitation to keep community growing.

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Beauty, God's gifts, Home

31 Days in which I Am Saved by Beauty – Day 28

October 28, 2012 By Diana

I love steeples.

All kinds of steeples.

From wood frame churches,

hanging out in small towns,

to tall, stately stone edifices, standing as

dignified adornments for busy city streets.

I like being forced to stop,

to look up.

I like seeing their silhouettes

against the sky.

I like imagining how long they’ve been standing there,

thrusting upward,

proclaiming the glory of God.

Because of where we live,

I am particularly drawn to mission style towers.

I love the gentle curves,

the tilework,

the crosses atop.

There doesn’t have to be a cross on the top of the tower
for me to see one there.
Because that’s the beauty of church towers
to my eye —
they all bring to mind the vertical beam
of that old rugged one,
the one that stood on the garbage dump
just outside the city of Jerusalem
over 2000 years ago.
And that is the most salvific of beautiful things
in my life — that stark reminder of Love in Action.
Thanks be to God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Beauty, God's gifts, Santa Barbara

31 Days in which I Am Saved by Beauty – Day 27

October 27, 2012 By Diana

A spot of color and beauty at our lunch stop on Tuesday, driving south on the 101.

“Put the question to our ancestors,

study what they learned from their ancestors.

For we’re newcomers at this with a lot to learn,

and not too long to learn it.

So why not let the ancients teach you,

tell you what’s what,

instruct you in what they knew from experience?

Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil?

Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water?

Blossoming flowers look great

before they’re cut or picked,

but without soil or water

they wither more quickly than grass.

That’s what happens to all who forget God —

all their hopes come to nothing.

They hang their life from one thin thread,

they hitch their fate to a spider web.

One jiggle and the thread breaks,

one jab and the web collapses.”

Job 8:8-15 (The Message)

May you find quiet space to learn from our ancestors

this weekend, friends.

May you have room to enjoy the beauty of flowers,

and pine trees and tomatoes.

And may our lives hang from the Rock,

rather than ‘one thin thread…’

Joining this with Sandy and Deidra for a small space of quiet this weekend.

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Beauty, biblical reflection, Quiet for the Weekend

31 Days in which I Am Saved by Beauty – Day 26

October 27, 2012 By Diana

A LIGHT-HEARTED LIMERICK

(read: GOOFY attempt at rhyme)

IN HONOR OF OUR 1ST-BORN GRANDDAUGHTER

There once was a girlie named Gracie,

who had the most beautiful facie.

She woke up with curly curls,

just right for this girly girl,

who loves everything glitzy and lacy.

The kids all sang “to you” at morning prayer,

her uniform left home for free-dress-wear.

She smiled in the morning light,

to mommy’s complete delight,

her grin unveiling the missing pair.

The party continued that night at six,
with grandparents added into the mix.
We dined with great flair,
she looked SO debonair,
while sister performed disappearing tricks.