This morning I am listening, half-heartidly, to the news as I read through several blogs of encouragement I read each day that give me things to think about (to chew on really) throughout the day. If I chose to listen to what the news was saying, I think my heart would skip a beat. The current financial crisis America is facing is really a global issue. Our money affects EVERYONE. Our economic decisions here on our soil impact the smallest of investments halfway around the world. It is times like these that I look to the Heavens "where my help comes" and decide to turn down the volume on the television.
I used to get caught up in the daily turning of our world. I felt if I knew everything that was going on, then I would be informed enough to help those around me when the time came. I'd be ready. The truth is, as I listen too closely, my heart and soul absorb the contents being spoken and I find myself grappling with negativity and pessimism. Not that I want to be an ostrich with my head in the sand, I just realize that I am very sensitive to surrounding energies, and I choose to exclude the world as it turns or at least lessen its impact by concentrating on good. I decide to see the world through a more insightful filter... a filter of hope.
A more important question for me is who do I affect on a daily basis. What family, friends and neighbors need my help? How can my life impact another, even with a smile? I first have to have a smile stashed away inside my soul before I can give it away. Like Anne Frank wrote in her diary as she sat in a concentration camp looking out at what we would consider a bleak world, "I choose to be happy." If, given her environment, Anne can make a choice to be happy, how much more do we have available to us?
When the world shows us its ugly side, we have a choice. We can fret about our future and trap the negativity into our being, or we can reach out to others and be a positive light of encouragement that illuminates an unstable world. I know the choice I desire to make. How about you?
Friday, September 26, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Saying Goodbye
There is never an easy way to say goodbye to those you love. I have had a very busy month in my life saying goodbye in many areas. None of them were easy or timely. In fact, they were a little shocking to my system.
On August 29, my wonderful mother-in-law of nearly 30 years passed away just three days after being diagnosed with cancer. None of the immediate family was prepared for this. Mom was 86 and up until the last year, she had all her faculties about her. Little did we know that she was extremely tired and apparently very ready to go. We all felt the diagnosis gave her the permission she needed to check out this side of Heaven. The doctor gave her less than six months at her appointment and being a self-determined woman, she figured that was a bit too long to linger. But, she didn't go out without being prepared. She lived a life of conviction and faith and passed those qualities along to her children. While she held that spirituality was a very personal relationship, she did not hesitate to show God's love in her everyday actions. She was a giving woman with such a big heart and she will be greatly missed (for now). We can rest assured that we WILL see her again on the other side of life's curtain. Even so, we mourn. Life is less full without her in it.
Just two weeks later, I lost a beloved pet of mine. His name was Charlie and he was 11-years old. How do you say goodbye to something where you were responsible for every one of his needs since birth? Though there is no comparison to the loss of a human being, losing Charlie tore at my soul as much as losing a parent figure. He had been absolutely fine one day, and the next morning he died in my arms apparently of a blood clot. Within one minute of waking, he was gone. His eyes meeting mine as he passed into Animal Afterlife. I have never had a pet die. I cannot put into words what I am feeling exactly, but its such a profound sense of loss. He had been such a good friend to me while my husband traveled and he filled up the empty side of the bed every night with gratitude. I know I will recover and the sun will shine again, but for now, the painful rawness I cannot shake.
On top of the loss of loved ones, I am also in the process of moving out of Georgia where I have called home for over 20 years. We are moving to the D.C. area, and I am trying very hard to find the silver lining in what I think of as clouds right now. I am determined to know that God is carrying my family to a new adventure and new beginnings. I want to believe that He has our best in mind...but still, in a deep recess in my heart, I am a weary traveler not sure where to call home or really whether or not I want a new home...but I DO trust that He knows even my smallest of concerns and will be there to help carry me forward into the life He has planned for me.
How do you cope with loss of any kind? For me, it is faith in action. I know that life will go on, and my hope is in the realness that I serve a God who has everything worked out already. I do not have to carve a path that no one else has traveled. He has always traveled EVERY path before me. I rest in that today. I know He will never give me more than I can handle and that gives me the peace I need to take another step. I choose to be happy. I choose to believe the best is yet to be....
On August 29, my wonderful mother-in-law of nearly 30 years passed away just three days after being diagnosed with cancer. None of the immediate family was prepared for this. Mom was 86 and up until the last year, she had all her faculties about her. Little did we know that she was extremely tired and apparently very ready to go. We all felt the diagnosis gave her the permission she needed to check out this side of Heaven. The doctor gave her less than six months at her appointment and being a self-determined woman, she figured that was a bit too long to linger. But, she didn't go out without being prepared. She lived a life of conviction and faith and passed those qualities along to her children. While she held that spirituality was a very personal relationship, she did not hesitate to show God's love in her everyday actions. She was a giving woman with such a big heart and she will be greatly missed (for now). We can rest assured that we WILL see her again on the other side of life's curtain. Even so, we mourn. Life is less full without her in it.
Just two weeks later, I lost a beloved pet of mine. His name was Charlie and he was 11-years old. How do you say goodbye to something where you were responsible for every one of his needs since birth? Though there is no comparison to the loss of a human being, losing Charlie tore at my soul as much as losing a parent figure. He had been absolutely fine one day, and the next morning he died in my arms apparently of a blood clot. Within one minute of waking, he was gone. His eyes meeting mine as he passed into Animal Afterlife. I have never had a pet die. I cannot put into words what I am feeling exactly, but its such a profound sense of loss. He had been such a good friend to me while my husband traveled and he filled up the empty side of the bed every night with gratitude. I know I will recover and the sun will shine again, but for now, the painful rawness I cannot shake.
On top of the loss of loved ones, I am also in the process of moving out of Georgia where I have called home for over 20 years. We are moving to the D.C. area, and I am trying very hard to find the silver lining in what I think of as clouds right now. I am determined to know that God is carrying my family to a new adventure and new beginnings. I want to believe that He has our best in mind...but still, in a deep recess in my heart, I am a weary traveler not sure where to call home or really whether or not I want a new home...but I DO trust that He knows even my smallest of concerns and will be there to help carry me forward into the life He has planned for me.
How do you cope with loss of any kind? For me, it is faith in action. I know that life will go on, and my hope is in the realness that I serve a God who has everything worked out already. I do not have to carve a path that no one else has traveled. He has always traveled EVERY path before me. I rest in that today. I know He will never give me more than I can handle and that gives me the peace I need to take another step. I choose to be happy. I choose to believe the best is yet to be....
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Petals of Life
Chapter 125. That's the chapter I am on in my life right now. In book language, that's one heck of a novel! In the last 24 hours, I have made decisions based on a multitude of prayers and thoughtful delay. I am a real estate Coach/Trainer. Or should I say, I was. I have worked in real estate for the last 15 years beginning as an agent, going on to become a Broker of two companies and branching out into the coaching and training arena over the years.
Aside from my identity as a mother, my career was a close second. So for me to change course of any kind, I kept putting off any decision until I heard and saw loud, clear signs, which of course I did not. But I did catch small glimpses of "what if's" for quite some time. What if there was something more for me out there? Could I reinvent myself? What if I did go into the unknown and not just be okay, but totally thrive? Yesterday, I turned the page, gave notice at my job and decided to seriously entertain the vast array of what if's I have tucked away. I have ventured onto a new path, and the funny thing is I don't know exactly where the path is heading AND I'm okay with it! I'm even fascinatingly excited! Goodness, only God could do something like that!
Remember in my last entry, I mentioned that "still small voice"? Once again, I heard a message asking me to trust and go "this way." Isn't it funny that through small glimpses the Lord prepares you for some new adventure even before you know there is going to be an adventure! So, when I heard the whisper, I prayed the Lord would show me where He was leading me. He answered very quickly, and He used my children as megaphones.
My husband has worked in the D.C. area since the end of February on Navy orders. Due to the nature of Reservist military orders, I was not willing to uproot from our home of 20 years until I knew those orders were permanent and stable. I thought I was going to be able to live apart just as well as I had when he was deployed to Bosnia, Italy and Virginia over the years. Turns out I was wrong.
Yesterday, I made the decision to start the wheels in motion toward moving to be with my husband in D.C. The whisper was guiding me all the way. I knew that getting a house prepared to sell and moving to a new area would take it's toll on my energy, so I decided to give up my job to concentrate on going where God is ultimately calling me. It's not easy packing up dreams and memories of 20 years, but when I explained to my adult children what I felt was happening, they spoke to me in a powerful way...
As my sons and I were eating dinner, I compared my life to a flower. As a mother, each of the petals represented my children; the remainder, activites my children and I shared over the years. As the years have rolled by, the petals are slowly falling off one by one. At the core of the flower, however, once all the petals are no longer attached, there is the core which I believe is God and me. I'm no longer sure what I am outside of being a mother (and a Realtor). Do I dare dream there may be something else for me? Somewhere in the back recesses of my mind, I seem to remember dreaming of writing and public speaking.... but that was so long ago...
My second child, Stephen, asked me to think that the petals might have fallen, but they were not dead; in fact, they are alive and thriving. He said, "Mom, this time is for you. You've been a Mom and raised three fully functioning children, and now it's time for you and Dad to go toward your dreams." He then went on to tell me about before he joined the military, he was pretty much scared of everything in his life. The military helped him gain courage and to realize that "that which does not kill you, makes you stronger" and that if he takes one step at a time, each of those individual steps would lead to where he needs to go. The word encourage means to give inspiration and courage to another. He did that for me in a very big way.
Fast forward to this morning, when my oldest child, Shannon, called me. I told her the turn of events the day before and how I had shared my flower analogy with the boys. Once again, the encouragement came to me through her words as well. For at the end of our conversation, she said to me, "Mom, because the petals fell, you now have a beautiful bowl of potpourri." Smiling gratefully, I told her that yes, I truly believe I do!
Aside from my identity as a mother, my career was a close second. So for me to change course of any kind, I kept putting off any decision until I heard and saw loud, clear signs, which of course I did not. But I did catch small glimpses of "what if's" for quite some time. What if there was something more for me out there? Could I reinvent myself? What if I did go into the unknown and not just be okay, but totally thrive? Yesterday, I turned the page, gave notice at my job and decided to seriously entertain the vast array of what if's I have tucked away. I have ventured onto a new path, and the funny thing is I don't know exactly where the path is heading AND I'm okay with it! I'm even fascinatingly excited! Goodness, only God could do something like that!
Remember in my last entry, I mentioned that "still small voice"? Once again, I heard a message asking me to trust and go "this way." Isn't it funny that through small glimpses the Lord prepares you for some new adventure even before you know there is going to be an adventure! So, when I heard the whisper, I prayed the Lord would show me where He was leading me. He answered very quickly, and He used my children as megaphones.
My husband has worked in the D.C. area since the end of February on Navy orders. Due to the nature of Reservist military orders, I was not willing to uproot from our home of 20 years until I knew those orders were permanent and stable. I thought I was going to be able to live apart just as well as I had when he was deployed to Bosnia, Italy and Virginia over the years. Turns out I was wrong.
Yesterday, I made the decision to start the wheels in motion toward moving to be with my husband in D.C. The whisper was guiding me all the way. I knew that getting a house prepared to sell and moving to a new area would take it's toll on my energy, so I decided to give up my job to concentrate on going where God is ultimately calling me. It's not easy packing up dreams and memories of 20 years, but when I explained to my adult children what I felt was happening, they spoke to me in a powerful way...
As my sons and I were eating dinner, I compared my life to a flower. As a mother, each of the petals represented my children; the remainder, activites my children and I shared over the years. As the years have rolled by, the petals are slowly falling off one by one. At the core of the flower, however, once all the petals are no longer attached, there is the core which I believe is God and me. I'm no longer sure what I am outside of being a mother (and a Realtor). Do I dare dream there may be something else for me? Somewhere in the back recesses of my mind, I seem to remember dreaming of writing and public speaking.... but that was so long ago...
My second child, Stephen, asked me to think that the petals might have fallen, but they were not dead; in fact, they are alive and thriving. He said, "Mom, this time is for you. You've been a Mom and raised three fully functioning children, and now it's time for you and Dad to go toward your dreams." He then went on to tell me about before he joined the military, he was pretty much scared of everything in his life. The military helped him gain courage and to realize that "that which does not kill you, makes you stronger" and that if he takes one step at a time, each of those individual steps would lead to where he needs to go. The word encourage means to give inspiration and courage to another. He did that for me in a very big way.
Fast forward to this morning, when my oldest child, Shannon, called me. I told her the turn of events the day before and how I had shared my flower analogy with the boys. Once again, the encouragement came to me through her words as well. For at the end of our conversation, she said to me, "Mom, because the petals fell, you now have a beautiful bowl of potpourri." Smiling gratefully, I told her that yes, I truly believe I do!
Monday, August 11, 2008
That still small voice...
Yesterday before going to church, I felt the Lord say to me, "I have something for you today." It was more of that feeling you have inside your heart that comes as swiftly and as quietly as if someone knocked you in the stomach. Your breath is taken away, and you just know you better follow the lead...
When I opened up the book to read the passage ahead of time, the First Reading was from 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a:
At the mountain of God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter. Then the LORD said to him,“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;the LORD will be passing by.” A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountainsand crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire—but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.
We all want to see God. That is our in-born nature, but like Elijah, we would have no other choice but to hide our face in our cloak because God's Holiness would be too much for us to bear in our earthly bodies.
I am reminded that God is in the "whispers" of our lives. Those moments when we are asking the Lord to present a sign to us to show us the way... I have to remember that he does not come in the wind, earthquakes or fires of our lives, but in the still small voice saying "Here, my child, come this way." Where I have to come to the table is settling myself long enough to actually hear it. Everyday, I know God will lead me, and many times I know I have been lead without ever hearing any thought, voice or command. I just know that if I had taken a path of my own reasoning, things may have taken a very poor turn. For those times where I am too busy running around in my life, I am very grateful for His mercy in that area.
Prayer thought: If I would sit still for just a moment, what would God say to me?
When I opened up the book to read the passage ahead of time, the First Reading was from 1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a:
At the mountain of God, Horeb, Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter. Then the LORD said to him,“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;the LORD will be passing by.” A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountainsand crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire—but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.
We all want to see God. That is our in-born nature, but like Elijah, we would have no other choice but to hide our face in our cloak because God's Holiness would be too much for us to bear in our earthly bodies.
I am reminded that God is in the "whispers" of our lives. Those moments when we are asking the Lord to present a sign to us to show us the way... I have to remember that he does not come in the wind, earthquakes or fires of our lives, but in the still small voice saying "Here, my child, come this way." Where I have to come to the table is settling myself long enough to actually hear it. Everyday, I know God will lead me, and many times I know I have been lead without ever hearing any thought, voice or command. I just know that if I had taken a path of my own reasoning, things may have taken a very poor turn. For those times where I am too busy running around in my life, I am very grateful for His mercy in that area.
Prayer thought: If I would sit still for just a moment, what would God say to me?
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Moments with God
It is my hope that this site will be a source of comfort and inspiration to everyone who reads it. It is in obedience to that "still small voice" that asked me to begin creating a place where people could come and see how mighty our Lord is in everyday snippets of life. It is where I will post what I have seen His great hands do each day as He allows me to be a part.
I encourage you to come by every day to see His mighty works and to share the mighty works you have seen Him do in your life as well.
My hope is that this will be an avenue of faith, hope and love and especially those Divine moments where you say, "It was indeed a God moment."
Be encouraged, "For He has overcome the world..."
I encourage you to come by every day to see His mighty works and to share the mighty works you have seen Him do in your life as well.
My hope is that this will be an avenue of faith, hope and love and especially those Divine moments where you say, "It was indeed a God moment."
Be encouraged, "For He has overcome the world..."
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