the blue card

I've been kind of speechless lately, in terms of finding things to blog about and taking time to reflect. I have been thinking about this blue card a lot. Last fall, I did some cleaning and came across a stack of papers, quotes, verses, poems, ideas, etc. that as some point during college I had posted to my wall. In some ways, it was fun to read through and be reminded of the journey for which those words carried me through. I've started a book of them all, and may add more about that to the world of blogging, too. But, for now just wanted to share this one. When I rediscovered it last fall it found it's way again to a spot on my wall. Some days are better than others at living in out...but then again that's a piece of what the journey is all about. :)

This is how the weekends are meant to be lived

When my schedule allows or my heart asks for it, I try to take a day or a weekend to just spend...to just spend however God wants to. In the end, I wind up pondering why every day can't be that intentional, why I can't be better at juggling priorities or just making priorities, priorities...but in the mean time, I will strive in the day to day.

Sometimes the times are ever enlightening and sometimes there are just joys in the little things....the most recent adventures have brought along the following revelations or reminders:

1. I am thankful for the "abudant provision of grace"...just think on that. Abudant! Provision! Grace!. (Romans 5:17-19)

2. Instead of praying for good friends...may my prayers be redirected that I would have the strength, patience and love to be a good friend.

3. "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." (Psalm 105:4)

4. Thankfulness for this cute little elderly couple at the coffee shop that had a quiet little lunch together and split their sandwhich. There was just a sweetness about them. I really wanted to go and speak to them, but I couldn't get through the tears, as I peered over my reading and cup of coffee. I did come home and call my grandparents. And then teared some more. They are so special and I am so blessed to have them in my life.

5. Thankful for the reality check of a conversation with a friend from college. Although it had been over a year since we last talked...just to be able to pick back up and speak with transparency.

6. It's ok to take a nap. God wants us to find rest, too.

7. As much reading that I can do, there is always going to be a hunger for more that is faster than I can read or comprehend, but I just have to take it as it comes. And ultimately it is not the knowledge of knowledge, but the buidling of relationship with Christ. It's easy to get discouraged for wanting to keep discovering more and more, but needing to trust that He is giving me as much as I can handle and gently shaping my ideas to be in light of who he is and just as gently correcting those misconceptions that I may have, or questions that linger. At the same time, the deeper I go, the more I can't help but wondering for what He is preparing me.

8. Being open to not planning out every second of every day. And being open to just saying Yes. I was so blessed to be invited to a lunch of a dear family at church, just because our paths happened to cross and the invitation was extended. Always learn so much from just being in their presence.

9. Continuing to read more in the "All study," some of it I know I must have known before, others it is like hearing it for the first time....one section makes me ponder the greatness of the bright Morning Star. So cool!

10. Being reminded that God is truly in the big and the small stuff, if we only let Him, "whatever" we do. ...It was just one of those moments you just had to be there, but I decided to do some cooking and was working from a recipe I had seen on tv (and actually followed it for the most part), but at one point it wasn't looking so hot, and the kitchen was a disaster, and yet it was in that moment that I just felt His presence, laughing with me and the mess I was making, yet enjoying every moment with Sonic Flood classics playing in the background. True Joy had found me...may it never let me go.

Cake: Take 6,7,8, and 9

This year, I decided to try making a themed cake for each of the b-days on my staff....below in the progression of the journey thus far.....

(A DQ cake-makeover...I just added the hunting stuff.)

the clarity and relevance of True North

"Relevance" as been my word of striving and searching lately. Last week a friend had invited me to a prayer labyrinth that was being put on by MCC. It was basically an open room with a maze traced on the floor. You started out with a cd head set and it took you through 10 different stations. It was very cool. And very interdisciplinary (I think that is the right word). The cd was a combination of voice and music guiding you through each stop. The first was mostly reflection and transition in. Then was one about static in the world (a tv there with lots of squiggly lines). Then to a rock dropped in a bucket of water...to symbolize letting go. Then a mirror and seeing what God sees. Then...hmm I forget a few in the middle, just because I am trying to get to the one I liked best...Then there was a stop for communion. Then a stop for others...lighting a candle and praying for them. Then a station with a box of sand...leaving an imprint. And a few others in between.

The paused moment in time that still sticks out the most was the station with a map on the ground. There was a compass in the middle with lots of magnets around it. The objective was to move the magnets further away to the edges of the map, which then changed the registering of true north on the compass. It was very powerful as the cd talked through how our lives can be that way. And we have a True North in our Lord Jesus. But what happens when the non-true norths (magnets) take away time and energy and fog our view and perception...and prioritizing of True North. I left thinking that I've got a lot of non-true north in the day to day and in the big picture. I mean just think about it so much junk in our lives...tv, even if it is just 10 minutes a day...technology, sometimes...bordem....gossip...surface friendships...time wasting...distraction after distraction, and the list goes on. So, magnet by magnet, I hope to identify them and pull them further away...and looking forward to the clarity and relevance of a True-True North.

The reality of action

Faith is praying with your head, waiting for your heart to catch up.

Grace is praying with your heart, waiting for your head to catch up.

Love is faith and grace in action.



Think about it...



with your heart and your head,

and let love be the answer.