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Friday, July 8, 2011

Lightening up

I realized something today.  I don't laugh enough.  I don't laugh often enough and I don't laugh hard enough.  You know, that can't catch your breath, crying, think you might throw up sort of laughing.  I used to laugh like that all the time.

I miss it.

So if you see me laughing, join me.  We'll both feel better.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

What choices will you make this week?

As we contemplate our choices, our failures, our shortcomings, our temptations, and the grace under which we live, I offer you this, from my friend Lynn Buckley.  This will be my personal morning devotion every morning this week.  I encourage you to do the same if you can.

Blessings,
Teresa

The Choice by Max Lucado
IT’S QUIET. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep.. The day is coming.
In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun.. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.
For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary , I’m free to choose.

And so I choose.
I choose love . . .
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I choose joy . . .
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical . . . the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I choose peace . . .
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I choose patience . . .
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I choose kindness . . .
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
I choose goodness . . .
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I choose faithfulness . . .
Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My
spouse will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their parent will desert them.
I choose gentleness . . .
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I choose self-control . . .
I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace. And then, when my days are done, when my book is closed, I will rest in His love, not the cold, hard re-purposed ground.
From When God Whispers Your Name Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1999) Max Lucado

Friday, July 1, 2011

Be the change you want to see

I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Think of all the things that are not working in your life. That job you don’t like, that relationship that’s not working, those friends that annoy you. Now turn them all on you. Imagine that everything that’s not working in your life, is your fault. How would you approach it? What would you work on to change your life to the state that you want it to be?

Today's writing challenge hits pretty close to home.

We all project so much onto others.  We make others responsible for our happiness.  We say we are trapped by circumstances.  But here is the truth as I see it.  Life is a series of choices, and each choice we make takes us closer to our true self, our highest self, or away from who we really are, who we can be.

If I don't like my job, I can change it.  Sure, it will bring consequences that affect not only me, but my family, but those are just challenges to overcome and adaptations to make.  If I am not happy in my relationships, rather than bemoan my loneliness and rejection I can be the partner, friend, child, parent, employee, leader, (fill in the blank...these are examples here folks) that I need, and that almost always results in improved relationship with those around me.

And, in the end, I am responsible to myself and to God.  That's it.  But those are some very high standards, and I'm grateful for that.

How much energy, how much life, do we waste complaining that things and people are not as we want them to be?  What if we directed that energy, spent that life, making sure we rise to our own highest expectations of other?  What would our lives look like?  Who would we be?

Life is a series of choices.  Today, I plan to make choices that reflect my truest nature, that reflect the divine, or at least make the best choices I can.  Because I will project onto others my own nature.