more than ideas or sentiment
The morning of June 13th dawned early—much too early. But it wasn’t just the hour that came too quickly—though that certainly was a factor, as we were bone-weary tired from seven jam-packed days of sweating and service. It was more that the week, which had once stretched out before us full of hope and promise, was now drawing to a close and within hours we would lift off from this land that had become dear to us, not knowing when we might return. We came to breakfast tired. Hungry. Heavy-hearted. Reluctant to leave. And as we did every morning...
Read Moregrasping for words
Some days, it’s not so much about WHAT to write, but WHERE to begin. I sit here, staring at my laptop—the breeze blowing through the tiny little hideaway from which I have been hiding—and my thoughts won’t slow down long enough for me to catch one and throw it up on the screen. Grasping for words usually isn’t an issue for me. Unless, of course, there are more words than I know what to do with. The last three months of hit-or-miss writing have not been born out of a lack of words as much as an overabundance of them. Heavy words like pain, depression, fatigue, or illness....
Read Morewhen god (and your daughter) turn your life upside down
It would appear God is preparing to stretch me in ways I wasn’t quite prepared to be stretched. The writing thing? Yep. Was prepared for THAT stretching. Knew it would be uncomfortable. Knew it would be hard. And time-consuming. And eeeeeeennnndlessssssssss. But these newest helpings on my plate? I don’t know where they came from. I just looked down and they were suddenly there, touching the other food on my plate and overwhelming me a bit with their portion size. Both of these big scoops of faith-stretching goodness have to do with my middle...
Read Morecan we be real? (how i lost my voice, and how i found it again)
Alright, folks—can we be real, here? Somewhere, along the line, things have gotten off track. I’ve been feeling it for a few months now, but haven’t been able to put my finger on it. At least not until I attended the Killer Tribes inaugural conference in Nashville a few weekends ago. And that was when I realized why this blog had started to feel like work, and why readership was becoming a bit flat. I had lost my voice. You would think, for someone who has built her whole writing career up until this point on finding my voice, I would have known better. And, to my credit, I was...
Read Moreembracing what’s already begun
So, friends, what is YOUR motivation to begin—one that is big enough to create an equal and opposite force to set things into motion? Is it your kids? Your spouse? An important family member? Are you sick of the way things are? Has someone has given you an ultimatum? Are you pushed against the wall by a deadline or a doctor’s orders? Perhaps you feel a calling on your life? Something you feel God wants you to do but you just haven’t done it yet? What is going to give you the hope and courage necessary to take that first step and Become a Better You? Whatever your reason for...
Read Moreyou tell me: what’s got you STUCK?
There are number of things that can cause us to feel as if we are stuck: Fear of change Fatigue Hopelessness Comfort Contentment Resistance Busyness What about you? What causes you to feel stuck? What is the weight you carry that holds you in place? What creates inertia in your life? Do you have much hope that things can be set in motion? Why or why...
Read Morewhen inertia sabotoges a great beginning
I learned last winter, under the tutelage of “Professor Ray” at the Hands On Museum in Ann Arbor, that inertia causes something to resist a change in motion. Just to be certain Professor Ray wasn’t making this up, I went straight to the source of all truth and knowledge: Wikipedia. The experts at Wikipedia state: Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion or rest, or the tendancy of an object to resist any change in its motion. This is interesting to me as one who strives to create change, both in myself and others. See, I always thought...
Read Moreword of the day: begin
be·gin v. be·gan v.intr. 1. To take the first step in performing or carrying out an action; start. 2. To come or bring into being: when life began. 3. To do or accomplish in the least degree: Those measures do not even begin to address the problem. v.tr. 1. To take the first step in doing; start: began work. 2. To cause to come into being; originate. 3. To come first in: The numeral 1 begins the sequence. [Middle English biginnen, from Old English beginnan.] Synonyms: begin, commence, start, initiate, inaugurate These verbs denote coming into being or taking the first step, as in a...
Read Morebeginning the good work
Here, friends, is where the rubber first meets the road. If we are to desire to become BETTER—to become more like Jesus—we must first get out from under our warm and fuzzy blanket of comfortable complacency and we must BEGIN the pursuit. Robert Collier writes, “Take the first step, and your mind will mobilize all its forces to your aid. But the first essential is that you begin. Once the battle is started, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance.” All the planning and praying in the world does not accomplish even the tiniest bit if we do not ever take that...
Read Moreword of the day: better
bet·ter (btr) adj. Comparative of good. 1. Greater in excellence or higher in quality. 2. More useful, suitable, or desirable: found a better way to go; a suit with a better fit than that one. 3. More highly skilled or adept: I am better at math than English. 4. Greater or larger: argued for the better part of an hour. 5. More advantageous or favorable; improved: a better chance of success. 6. Healthier or more fit than before: The patient is better today. adv. Comparative of well2. 1. In a more excellent way. 2. a. To a greater extent or degree: better suited to the...
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