Two weeks ago I stood on the shore of the Sea of Galilee at Capernaum where Jesus did most of His ministry.
And I listened.
The breeze ruffled the water and ironically, a rooster crowed in the distance.
Was the Lord reminding me of my “Peter-ness”? My tendencies to run fast and crash hard and get so excited that I don’t make wise choices? Continue reading
It’s been a full week. In the best sense of the word.
It’s been full of moments when God just seems so present, and people are authentic, and joy is in the air like the woodsmoke from Autumn fires. Out of that fullness I want to share a few morsels of soul food that have been life-giving.
The other day when I wrote about Holy Drones, I referred to the (almost impossible for me) practice of being still before the Lord. Just silent and still…to become aware of His loving presence, closer than our breath. I thought I’d share an app that has helped me. Note: you can set the amount of time for silence and I set mine for 3 minutes. That’s truly the most I can manage. I’m clearly not a natural contemplative!
I love, love, love good stories like this especially when it is men stepping up!
And lastly, some hospitality inspiration…
We went to a couples wedding shower this weekend and I absolutely LOVED this is idea! The Bible was given to the couple at the end of the party, full of love.
Then Wednesday night I had a bunch of young women over for a get-together and I was blown away by their vulnerability and present-ness. I made a little favor for them to take with them because I really wanted these young women who are in a stressful season of life to feel special.
However, 2 DISCLAIMERS regarding the following idea:
What about you? Any soul food to share with the rest of us? What inspired you this week?
One of my closest friends who, like me, is sure she would make a great CIA operative, is paranoid about drones. She is suspicious that foreign governments are spying on her. So for her birthday last week John and I decided to have a little fun.
We have a friend who just happens to have a drone and lives two blocks away from the birthday girl. So we deployed the drone while our friends were outside playing a birthday game of basketball (you know…like you do when you’re a 56 year old woman…).
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Anyway, this is a long way around to saying, it got me to thinking about all the holy “drones” that we’re oblivious to. Not drones in a sneaky spyish way, but the unseen forces of God that fight for us.
I was reminded of this too back in July.
One day, as my brother David was in the hospital hovering between life and Life, our friend, Lee, who was miraculously healed of Pancreatic cancer, sat by David’s bedside alone.
Afterwards, Lee journaled about her experience and graciously shared the thoughts she had written about her time with David. Continue reading
Returning to Real Life after a vacation (even a short one) in a Warm Place is a little like jumping onto one of those moving walkways at the airport in the “keep walking” lane. You’re concentrating on getting Somewhere and thinking about Things, while juggling luggage and trying not to run over other moving walkers. It’s easy to be absorbed with lists and tasks rather than present to God and others.
This was my challenge last week. Real Life kept getting in the way of a Real Relationship with God – you know, where you actually are still, and listen, and talk to Him and say “What do You have to tell me about Yourself and myself, Jesus?” I’d be humming along, getting things done – even good things like reading the Bible – and all of a sudden realize that being with Jesus was kind of like brushing my teeth – I was going through the motions without thinking about it.
Here’s what happens when being with Jesus is like brushing my teeth – I start feeling fat and ugly and discouraged and cranky, tired, and out of sorts – kind of like a toddler who needs a nap or a time out. Continue reading
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