dropping the rope
There are days when words just don’t come. I’ve had a string of about twenty-one of them. That nagging feeling of “I should write” playing tug-o-war with the futility of “I have nothing to say”—a constant pulling back and forth that most recently seems to end with me back in bed, covers askew and cats aplenty as I burrow deeper under both. I do not like the constant pulling and tugging—the relentless tension in the line, the way each side digs in their feet and sets their weight in opposition to the other, the rope burns on my hands. I despise the taunting and...
Read Moreof truth and tattoos
It’s no secret flying is not one of my favorite things. The turbulence (aka: falling straight out of the sky a little bit at a time), the ear-popping (as if my head didn’t ALREADY HURT), the joy of feeling the plane sway from side to side as the pilot is attempting to land (did you know more than 80% of crashes occur during the first three minutes of takeoff, or the last eight minutes before landing?), and don’t even get me STARTED on the germ factor (did you ALSO know I am 100% likely to get the flu or a sinus infection within 24-48 hours of having ridden on a plane? True...
Read Moremore 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 Morewhat is worse than pain?
There is, I’ve found, something that is actually WORSE than the insidious vice grip of chronic pain that has had my by the neck for literally as long as I can remember. This is something WORSE than going from doctor to doctor to doctor, and leaving time and time again without an answer or a cure. Something WORSE than the constant suggestions, the “yes, I’ve already tried that,” the actual trying of five thousand different medications or diets or supplements or back-woods remedies. The hopes rising—then the disappointment inevitably falling like a thick blanket...
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 Moreyou tell me: shortcuts
What shortcuts enjoyment for you and steals your enjoyment of the moment? Why is it hard to be IN the season you’re in? How do you practice trusting God with tomorrow so as to enjoy today? If you sat down with a blank piece of paper, how long would it take to fill it with things you are thankful for? Are you willing to try it and see? What might you need to surrender to the Lord in order to enjoy the life you have been...
Read Morea thankful heart is a happy heart
In addition to being mindful of the present, if we are to ENJOY the season of life we’re in—to know Paul’s secret to being joyful and content in all circumstances—we must learn to live each day expressing thanks to God for each and every good gift and surrendering every bit of our will and desires and plans to him—for that day, and for all others— in the process. Put very simply, we need to have a constant mindset of gratitude if we are to enjoy the life we have been given to live. Ann Voskamp writes, in One Thousand Gifts: Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, We only enter...
Read Morepracticing mindfulness=practicing the present AND the presence
We concluded on Monday that if we are to ENJOY the season of life we’re in—to know Paul’s secret to being joyful and content in all circumstances—we must learn to live in the present, not worrying about tomorrow. And we must live each day expressing thanks to God for each and every good gift and surrendering every bit of our will and desires and plans to him—for that day, and for all others— in the process. It sounds easy. Until you try it, that is. Living in the present requires a skill that has recently come back into vogue: mindfulness. If we are to live in the NOW,...
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