Be a Shout of Color…

Picture Credit: Julianne Jackson

The fallen azalea flower…

far removed from its mother bush.

Bright pink, but face down in all the muck and mud that gathers before the opening of the drainage ditch.

Just the gentlest of showers could carry it into that darkest of places – forgotten.

But for now it is a shout of color within the dirty debris.

Being itself in the midst…as it is called to be…as it needs to be.

“Be who you are and be that well in order to honor the Master whose handiwork you are.” St. Francis de Sales

“When they walk through the valley of weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs.”

 

+It has been awhile since I have posted on this blog and I hope now to return more regularly.  I have weekly been posting on my professional blog at http://www.lifelinesmobile.org/blog and you are welcome to visit me there. And yet I have missed this place, this bit of Godly sanctuary, and each of you my readers. I’m learning that in work we often wear seatbelts. I see God so connected in the all about me, it blesses me (and I h0pe you as well) to share those bits of light. In this crazy, mixed up world we need to remember God is with us. He is Emmanuel, and we in turn are called to be those shouts of color…that hope for the weary.

Personal Patina…

(reposted from my professional blog at http://www.lifelinesmobile.org/blog )

I’ve been given some lovely silver trays, bowls, and serving pieces that have been passed down through generations. This time of the year I begin to think how I would love to use them for holiday dinners…but then I think of the polishing…and the polishing…and the polishing and then it never really looking like the shiny version of what I imagine my great grandmother would have used.

What is it in us that always wants the shiny version?

Tarnish is a chemical reaction that can leave a dull finish on silver after being exposed to air. It is rather simple to clean. But the patina of the silver is a lustrous finish that well used, loved and cared for silver pieces develop over time. It is a living finish of sorts that reveals marks of history from all the uses prior. Just think of the personal history each silver piece could reveal…all the joys and sorrows that mark all the times families come together.

So, what is it in us that always wants the shiny version? …

Each of us is an accumulation of a lifetime of experiences and history…our personal patina is the wisdom we wear and share. Our personal patina is nothing to be overzealously stripped…it’s what makes each of us unique.

Are you striving to be a shiny version of yourself? …

Or are you allowing your personal patina to be the wisdom you wear?

“Let the beauty radiate from inside your heart to the outside world.” Imania Margria

Inhale…”Oh Come Oh Come”…Exhale Slowly…”Emmanuel”

picture credit: from the heart of j

There is an adrenalin stirring in the heart…

An advent adrenalin…an advent anticipation…

an awaiting of the light to come…the quiet, mysterious dawning of newness.

The inhaling of the mystery…”Oh Come Oh Come”…

The slow exhaling of hope…”Emmanuel”…

Inhale: “Oh Come, Oh Come”…

Exhale slowly: “Emmanuel”

“it is now the hour for you to wake from sleep for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith. The night is far spent; the day draws near. Let us cast off deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Rom 13: 11-12

Ready…Set…Go

Isn’t life to be a verb?…

Do you hide from the negative?…From the chaotic, messy of life?

Engage the world with the unique gift of You…

That one of a kind fingerprint of you can help to hold down the noisy negatives…

Engage the world with the unique gift of You…

The world needs you…

Ready to move?…

Ready…Set…Go!

“The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are.” Edith Stein

Grandmother’s Love

image via jjackson

 

Things have been a bit quiet on the blog…but the most wonderful news to share…

I am a new, first time grandma!

No one can really put into words the indescribable joy of being a grandma.

This precious new life…in all ways a gift from God!

Ansley Grace…you make me smile from the inside out!

It’s such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother – that’s why the world calls her grandmother.  – Unknown

Grandmothers hold their grandchildren in a special place in their heart.  – Catherine Pulsifer

When a child is born, so are grandmothers.  – Judith Levy

Chosen to Be A Friend…

Jesus reminds us that He no longer calls us slaves, but friends…

Friends…

Therefore, is not our greatest calling…our mission in life…to live as a friend of Jesus?

He chose us to be His friend…

We may have memories of being chosen….for a role in a school play, as a member of a sports team, for a new job…

We also may have memories of not being chosen…a spouse has an affair, a friend betrays us, the loss of a job…

We have memories of being chosen…we have memories of being rejected…

But Jesus CHOSE us to be His friend.

Do we ponder this invitation?

Do we respond?

William Shakespeare states, “A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently, allows you to grow.”

Jesus CHOSE us to be His friend

Do we ponder this invitation?

Have we responded?

A New Invitation…

picture credit: J Jackson

Suppose as you woke this morning, as you first opened your eyes, an image of Jesus with an outstretched hand was before you.

His outstretched hand reaching out to you in invitation…

How would this affect your day? Would you live your day differently?

Specifically, what would His hand outstretched in invitation say to you personally?

COME WITH ME…

In your fears of the day…in your worries…in your trials…in your concerns…in your difficult moments

I AM WITH YOU…

In your joys of the day…in your ponderings…in your prayers…in your conversations…in the movements of your day…in the everything of your day…

 I AM WITH YOU…

And yet, each day is a new beginning, filled with new graces, a new calling, a new invitation to take hold of His hand and walk…a new day with Him, Lord and Savior.

Yes, this day, Jesus with His hand outstretched to you in invitation is truly before you…

How will you live your day differently?

A Cheerful Giver…

Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said…

“When I see someone sad, I always think, she is refusing something to Jesus.”

This quote has really touched my spirit. I think of the little annoyances throughout the day…or the larger trials all of our lives are punctuated with, and I think how easy it is to become sad or discouraged. Isn’t this an indication that I am trying to do things my way?

She goes on to say…

“Cheerfulness is often a cloak which hides a life of sacrifice, continual union with God, fervor and generosity.”

God loves a cheerful giver…and it is in giving to Him all that befalls us, that we discover deep and lasting joy. And it is this joy that is our strength. May this day we live the joy that is the fruit of the “blessedness of submission”, refusing nothing to our God… even our daily annoyances.

Impossibilities Turned Possibilities…

picture credit: julianne Jackson

I always love finding signs of the impossible in my daily life…like this blooming flower, with buds mind you, bursting forth from between the cracks of concrete. It seems fitting to begin my Monday week with this image. With God truly all is possible…His grace makes it so. May this day all your impossibilities turn into possibilities in Him…He is a God of Surprises!

Everywhere You Go…

A friend once told me that one of the most lasting lessons of wisdom her father taught her was,

“Everywhere you go, leave it a better place”

This has always stuck with me. What if we all adopted this mentality? …

“Everywhere you go leave it a better place”.

What would this look like? Remembering to say thank you to someone who has assisted you in any way, smiling at those who cross your path, pausing to say a kind word to someone whose day is troubled, offering to help when an extra set of hands is needed, really listening to another without any distractions, telling someone you love them when they least expect it…leaving everywhere you go a better place could take on so many different directions. It’s certainly something to think about…

“Everywhere you go, leave it a better place”

I challenge you today!