Category: Resources (Page 5 of 5)

Summer Soul Food and the Enneagram

June 13, 2019 /

Toddlers in tutus and sunglasses, sailboats skimming the lake, lemonade stands, little league games and bike rides to get ice-cream! It’s SUMMERTIME and I am doing a perpetual happy dance!

via GIPHY

I’ve been traveling a lot and in a season of change, so I’ve gotten out of a rhythm of posting here, but I’d love to get back in the habit of sharing “soul food” on Fridays. Maybe it will a recipe or a resource, an idea or a picture, but my prayer is that it will bring you JOY!

This year for my birthday, I asked for a gift from my family that doesn’t cost any money. My wish was that they each would do three things: Take an Enneagram assessment, listen to one podcast episode exploring the profile they think they fit, and talk to me about what they discover.

If you haven’t explored the Enneagram, you’ve probably at least heard about it. Some back away from it, but I see it as just one more tool to help us better understand ourselves – the fears that motivate us, and the ways we interact with others. It’s NOT our identity, but it may help us to transform into greater Christ-likeness as we become more self-aware.

So if you’re up for a little reflective adventure, here are some suggestions:
1. Do ANY Enneagram assessment you want – answer the questions as you would if you were at HOME, not in your work role.

Here’s one free assessment. (Always go with your gut/experience if in doubt re the number that comes out of assessment and “try it on” for awhile if you’re not sure). 


2. Annie F. Downs is doing a great series during June. Listen to at least THE ONE podcast episode corresponding to the number you think YOU are on this podcast series .

3. Talk to someone about what you learn!

Two other podcast episodes that are helpful if you’re not sure of your number:

Also…

A fun article on how to choose the best vacation for your Enneagram type: Angieaway and…

A fun Instagram feed to follow: Enneagramandcoffee

Or YourEnneagramCoach

What resources might you add? Fun insights?

As always, I’d love to hear from you! If you get this in email, just click on the title and it will take you to the site where you can post a comment. If it’s your first time, don’t worry if it doesn’t show up right away! And if you’re interested in some smaller doses of inspiration, join me over on Instagram. (You can turn on “notifications” in the upper right-hand corner if you want to know when there is a post.)

How to Make the Most of Your Summer

May 25, 2019 /

It’s Memorial Day weekend.

In Minnesota it is the season of sweatshirts and shorts. Everyone heads to “the lake” (like there’s only one instead of 10,000) to put the boat in in spite of the fact that ice-out was only a couple of weeks ago.

We are an optimistic lot and we live for our glorious summer months like an addict jonesing for a fix.

When my kids were young we made “SUMMER GOALS” on a big chart that we hung in our kitchen – recreational, reading, serving, spiritual physical… (Sanity in the Summertime was my go-to book) It was fun (color coded, of course)!

It worked for us. I’m a former teacher so I love this kind of structure, but I know some of you are rolling your eyes thinking “Oh that’s so precious!”

Still, if we aren’t intentional, September 1st will roll around and we’ll think “Whaaaat happened? Summer’s over??” So, no guilt and no big goal chart, but can I offer 5 questions that might be helpful?

  1. What’s one book you want to read? A few inspiring suggestions:

And if you want a resource to find great books for your kids, check out Books that Build Character by William Kirkpatrick

2. What’s one thing you’d like to create or try?

  • A Summer playlist
  • A new recipe or ethnic dinner
  • A garden
  • A bike trail
  • A yoga class

3. Who’s one person you want to learn from? Might this be a place to stretch? What about someone from a political party, or with values that make you uncomfortable? Maybe it’s someone with a job you’re curious about (If you have kids, let them pick and do it together).

  • Set up a coffee date
  • Brainstorm some questions you’d like to ask
  • Write a note afterwards affirming and sharing some new insight you gained.

4. What’s one way you’d like to simplify?

  • Unplug (the tv, the phone, the computer, the iron)
  • Clean out (a closet, a garage, a basement)
  • Say no
  • Protect family time – identify boundaries
  • Sabbath

5. What’s one thing you might do to nurture spiritual growth in the midst of a different pace?

  • Take a daylong silent retreat.
  • Take a walk through your neighborhood and pray for the people who live near you. Then do a Sundaes on Sunday in your front yard, inviting the neighborhood to stop by for ice cream.
  • Go to the park and watch your kids play. As you watch, thank God for all you see.
  • At the lake on a Sunday morning? Try an ABC prayer of praise as a family. Start with one person who names an attribute of God that starts with the letter A. Go around the table – second person takes B, third C, etc. You can do this with things your thankful for instead of attributes too.

Maybe jot down your thoughts in a journal, but then just choose one thing to start with. What helps you live a great story in the summertime?

I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.

deuteronomy 30:19-20

An Invitation You Don’t Want to Miss

September 28, 2018 /

Are you skimming this between meetings, or between changing diapers and fixing dinner?  Waiting in the carpool line?

You barely have time to take a quick glance at this post, and the last thing you want is to feel guilted with one more thing you should be doing or not doing. I hear you sister. You’re desperate for a little encouragement or a hack to do EVERYTHING FASTER.  Sometimes the thing you long for the most is the hardest to make time for.

Invitation to Retreat is a new book by Ruth Hayley Barton. It’s a timely, tall drink of cold, refreshing water – permission to stop, withdraw, and gulp God’s goodness. It’s an invitation to choose the counter-cultural way of slowing and silence instead of stress and striving in our own power. It could be seen as just an advertisement for a Transforming Center retreat (which would not be a bad thing), but it is so much more. Whether you use this book as a resource for a classic retreat, or use it to inform your daily and weekly spiritual rhythms, it has tremendous value.

One of the images I love most from Ruth is that of retreat as strategic withdrawal from the battle lines. Whether we are paying attention or not, we are all in a spiritual battle. Ruth writes:

“We often see this (retreat) as a negative thing; however, military retreat can also be a wise tactic – an opportunity to rest the troops and tend to their wounds, to stop the enemy’s momentum, or to step back to get a panoramic view of what’s going on and set new strategies.”

Each chapter is relevant to retreat, but also contains valuable insights that are transferable to  everyday life. For example, who of us can’t relate to the daily need to relinquish false-self patterns –  identity dependent on what we do rather than being Jesus’ beloved?

“The cure for too-much-to-do is solitude and silence, for there you find you are safely more than what you do….That harassing, hovering feeling of ‘have to’ largely comes from the vacuum in your soul, where you ought to be at home with your Father in His kingdom.”

I also found great challenge and encouragement in chapters on Discernment, Recalibration, and Spiritual Freedom.

Ruth quotes Henri Nouwen saying,

“‘Maybe my own deep-rooted fear of being on my own and alone kept me going from person to person, book to book and school to school, anxiously avoiding the pain of accepting responsibility for my own life.’” Then she adds, “On retreat we stop avoiding the pain of the disconnect between our deepest desires and the way we are actually living.”

Today you may be overwhelmed with “to-do’s”. Instead, I pray you will hear the gentle invitation of Jesus to come away with Him, back to your true self, beloved whether the meeting tanks, or dinner is mac ‘n cheese out of a box, or you forget to pick up a kid at soccer.

“Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” Mark 6:31

Remember…If you want to post a comment and you receive this by email, just click on the title and it will take you to the website where you can share your thoughts!

Catching up on One Word

September 6, 2018 /

Are any of you familiar with the Enneagram? Well if you are, I’m a “7” which means I get distracted by ALL OF THE THINGS! Especially in the summer when there’s just so much awesomeness to see and do! Even if you’re not a 7 or whatever, maybe you can relate.

Summer is distracting in the best way possible. Our routines change. We’re outside 24/7 here in Minnesota because, winter. There are lakes and bide rides and cookouts and travel and tennis and bonfires… And then there’s some other writing and speaking I’ve been doing. Anyway, that’s my excuse for neglecting the blog for awhile. I’m guessing you’ve been so busy you haven’t missed it.

So let’s catch up a little. I missed the One Word Prompt for July and August. How’s that going? Here’s a challenge for September:

  • Who is someone who models your word? In whom do you see joy or patience or fruitfulness or whatever?
  • Ask them out to coffee and talk to them about how they have seen God grow them in that area.

My One Word is “fruit” and more specifically “patience”. Fortunately I’m married to the most patient person I know. I realized I can be learning from him!  I asked him how he does it (apart from the work of the Holy Spirit) and he said years ago he recognized that he didn’t like seeing impatience in others and so he decided to basically “fake it” til he made it. He decided to act like a patient person until he actually felt patient. True patience grew in him over time.

!

How are you doing? What can you celebrate today? Maybe join Paul in saying;

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Philippians 3:14

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