Archive for March, 2008

March 31, 2008 @ 11:33 am | Filed under: Friends,It's a Girl Thing

Sometimes a smile and the face of laughter is all the caption you need!

This photo was taken one year ago at a ladies retreat and – YAY! – that same annual conference is only THREE DAYS AWAY!

I have no doubt that the speakers will be awesome and anointed.

I have no doubt that the music will be inspirational.

I have no doubt that the Spirit of God will move in a great and mighty way.

And I look forward to all of that!

But you know what?

I really just can’t wait to spend three days laughing and loving God with these women – my friends.

March 30, 2008 @ 11:17 am | Filed under: Soul Food,The Solid Rock,Uniquely Me

It comes down to this: God’s best is available only to those who sacrifice, or who are willing to sacrifice, the MERELY GOOD. If we are satisfied with good health, responsible children, enjoyable marriages, close friendships, interesting jobs, and successful ministries, we will never hunger for God’s best. We will never worship. I’ve come to believe that only broken people truly worship. Unbroken people – happy folks who enjoy their blessings more than the Blesser – say thanks to God the way a shopper thanks a clerk.” —LARRY CRABB
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I don’t think of myself as a broken woman.

But I do think that once we’ve experienced a true winter of the soul – once we’ve fallen one too many times, once we’ve desperately clung to sanity by a mere shoestring, once we’ve felt the pain of life shattering about us – we are never the same again.

I wouldn’t want to be the same.

I am whole today and, in that wholeness, I am confident, self-assured, and rest entirely in Him. But that wholeness does not hide the scars that my years of brokenness left in their wake.

Instead those very scars serve as daily reminders that I am incomplete and undone on my own.

I never intend to try life on my very own again. Any strength I may have, any gift I may have to offer, is only because of His far-reaching grace and His fathomless love for me.

It’s one thing to trust God in innocence, long before anything bad has ever happened to you.

It’s one thing to trust God theoretically, but yet still attempt to handle the tough stuff on your own.

It’s one thing to trust God in good times, when health, and prosperity, and the richness of relationships make your life a pleasant place in which to lie down.

But once you’ve fallen into a chasm and have been lovingly and heroically rescued, you begin to develop a new trust that’s like no other.

It’s an absolute confidence in His love and in His ability to intervene supernaturally in your life.

It’s not until you’ve experienced a winter of the soul that you learn once and for all the warmth of His arms and the gentle touch of His hands as He begins to bind the wounds and heal the hurt.

The brokenness is gone, but the scars remain behind.

They are all that is left after the harsh, unrelenting winter of the soul. They are the purple hearts of the spiritual battlefields.

If we are courageous enough, and if we can corral our pride enough, these scars have the power to be ongoing testimonies of the heroic rescue of our soul.

I’m not broken.

But I am scarred.

More and more every day I am becoming okay with this.

More and more every day I am wanting to let the wounded, hurting women I encounter know about the Great Rescuer.

God can do a lot with brokenness. He can do a lot with pain. But He can really do very little with our good Christian woman facades.

He wants us to be real.

He wants us to be honest, with Him and with each other.

He wants to bring springtime to souls who’ve fallen prisoner to winter.

He wants to take our brokenness and turn it into beauty.

March 27, 2008 @ 3:01 pm | Filed under: Mary & Martha Project,Soul Food,Uniquely Me

“Biblical encouragement is soul work. God unleashes its mysterious power every time a child of God follows the Holy Spirit’s direction and steps into the suffering of another person…As children of God, we have every tool we need to mend broken hearts and lives. So instead of isolating ourselves in a self-made cocoon of protection, we need to find out what those tools are, learn how to use them, and get to work.”
—SHARON W. BETTERS, Treasures of Encouragement: Women Helping Women in the Church
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“Wait a minute…” Darlene paused and looked at me. “You write, don’t you?”

I nodded, too overcome with emotion to do much more than mutter that, yes, I did indeed write.

She pointed to the large, cracked pottery vase she cradled in her arms and then motioned to the many more on the shelf behind her. “There’s a story here somewhere, don’t you think?”

Oh yes.

If she only knew…

Just minutes before, we’d come upstairs to discuss the details of my new volunteer duties at Coventry. I’d already taken the downstairs tour and had seen both, the gift shop where the finished products were sold to the community and the work and production area where these special needs young adults were gaining pride and ownership as they learned the craft of pottery.

The work that is produced here is phenomenal, to say the least. To realize the special hands and hearts behind it all makes it priceless. By the end of the downstairs tour, and meeting each of the day residents and the other staff and volunteers, I already felt a sense of belonging. If I hadn’t been sure beforehand, I was more than sure of it now.

Volunteering one day a week at Coventry was my own personal ‘next step’ of the Mary & Martha Project. In ways that not even I truly comprehend yet, I’m doing my best to follow His prompting.

God, isn’t this whole project about finding balance – about somehow reconciling our inner Marys and Marthas?

Initially I wasn’t at all convinced that adding one more thing to my already overflowing calendar was a good thing, let alone the right thing.

It was over a period of a few weeks that I slowly came to realize that I’d been looking at it all wrong.

“It’s not about the quantity of work (read: service) you’re doing, it’s about the quality.” His reprimand was gentle, but it struck a cord deep within me.

Sometimes in our urgency to “be salt and light” we get so busy doing that we miss the opportunity to truly touch. To truly affect a life and leave it changed for the better.

For me, it was time to let some of my “busyness” fall to the side. It was time to get outside of myself (and outside of my comfort zone) and into my community and touch a life. Or two. Or more.

After spending the better part of an hour with these kids and with the people who so obviously love and care for them, I went upstairs with Darlene, touched and excited to be a part of this.

I immediately spotted an absolutely gorgeous vase that had obviously been glazed and fired and now stood alone on a shelf.

I commented on the beauty of the piece. She reached for it and placed it between us. Pointing to the tiniest hairline crack in the side seam of the vase, she smiled and spoke the words.

“See? We can’t put this one in the gift shop. It’s broken, but beautiful.”

Something inside of me pulled up short and I caught my breath.

“I simply can’t throw these out.” Darlene went on. “I bring the cracked ones up here and find other uses for them. They’re still beautiful, don’t you think? They may not be able to hold water, but they’ll be perfect for another purpose.”

Broken, but beautiful.

Those were the very words God had placed on my heart so many months ago for our ladies. Like those pottery vases and pots, we all stand before God with cracks. Some more severe than others. Some may even be damaged to the point where “they can’t hold water.”

But that only means that holding water is not their purpose in life.

They’ll be perfect for another purpose.

“Wait a minute…you’re a writer, aren’t you?”

I am a writer.

“There’s a story here somewhere, don’t you think?”

There is definitely a story.

My God is in the process of telling it to us all.

March 26, 2008 @ 10:59 pm | Filed under: Uniquely Me

Maturity includes the recognition that no one is going to see anything in us that we don’t see in ourselves. Stop waiting for a producer. Produce yourself.” -MARIANNE WILLIAMSON
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“No way. Well…whatdoya know?” Mike nudged me and pointed to the television. “Did you just hear that?”

I had heard it all right and – if I hadn’t been just absolutely shocked and thrilled to have my own feelings and thoughts validated by the current expert on Oprah – I would have been jumping up and down.

“It is imperative – in order for a woman to enter the afternoon of her life with grace and with joy – that she mark that milestone entrance in a way that is significant to HER.”

It was the fact that she used the term “afternoon” to describe the entrance into the midlife years that caught our attention and made us both smile.

For weeks I had been using this term myself to describe what I felt like the forties and fifties would be like for me. While many women seem to struggle somewhat with this number – and the ones beyond it – I think maybe I am embracing it.

I keep remembering those long late Spring afternoons when I was a little girl, right after the time would change. I would rush home from school, change into play clothes, and then head outdoors into the seemingly endless sunshine filled with equally endless possibilities.

Those afternoons would stretch on for hours and hours and were some of the most productive of my growing up years. Those afternoons were the ones where I played Nancy Drew to my friend Kathy’s Bess, I learned to hula hoop, skateboard, AND lemon twist. I hosted a free-of-charge gymnastics class for all the neighborhood little girls who were either younger than me or worse than me at flip flops and handstands. I would read in the treehouse and hopscotch on the sidewalk.

By the time dusk finally came calling – my tired little body was well spent but blissfully fullfilled and happy. I had given those hours my all; had milked them for everything they were worth. In those days there was nothing I felt I could not do. I embraced life with open arms and a joyous heart, reveling in the simple beauties of life.

That’s the closest I can come to describing the way I view my life right now. Once again my arms are open and my heart is joyous. It truly is the simple beauties that fill me with delight and that motivate me to ‘be all that I can be.’ I am doing my best to give this time in my life my all.

I have a feeling that my days of afternoon are going to be glorious ones. I feel my soul awakening to its full potential and to the endless sunshine of possibilities that are just waiting for me to find them.

The urgency I feel these days is an awareness that I’m no longer waiting for life to begin; I’m in the great big middle of it and I’m finding it to be the ride of my life. Is it always sunshine and flowers? The past months of occasional heartache are proof that Spring (even the Springs of the soul) have their share of rainy days and storm-filled skies.

I intend to milk this time in my life for all its worth. I want my soul to be blissfully fulfilled and happy long before the evening dusk finally comes to call on the afternoons of my life.

THIS…is living.

March 25, 2008 @ 4:11 pm | Filed under: Family

I’m so proud to introduce an aspiring young writer to you! This is my niece and this is the beginning of her first story, Fairy Fishing. (The first of many, I do believe.)

I sat down with Madison and gained the first (if I’m not mistaken) interview with this budding new author.

ME: Tell me, Madie, how do you get the ideas for your stories?

MADIE: Well, first I just think about things. And then I’ll think of something and go, “wow, that would make a fun story!”

ME: How long have you been writing?

MADIE: Hm…quite a long time.

ME: What are some of your favorite things?

MADIE: Pandas, horses, and watermelon.

ME: If you could visit any state, which one would it be?

MADIE: Hawaii. And New York. And…it’s not really a state, but…Las Vegas.

ME: What do you like to do for fun?

MADIE: Bowling, roller skating, and swimming.

Without further ado, here is an excerpt from Madie’s first story.

All writing is 100% orginal work – no editing!

Enjoy!

Fairy Fishing

Once upon a time there lived a fairy named Claire. Claire lived in a tulip by a big pound. Legond has it that a ginormous bass lives in the pound.

Bass Pro Shop said that whoever catches it, they will give one hundred dollars to the person. But Clair knew that none had ever cot it and none ever will.

All of Claire’s friends belevid in the big bass. Claire did not know to believin it or not. Then one day Claire made up her mind she was going to fish day and night until she had cot that bass.

One Wednesday Claire went to Bass Pro Shop to get a fishing pole. But there was one proplem. There were no fairy sized poles.

So Claire just had to get a big one. She picked out a pick and gray pole. After she paid she went home to fix her pole.

Tomorow Claire is going down to the dock and catching that bass.

(to be continued)

March 23, 2008 @ 11:14 am | Filed under: Family

The past twelve hours have been faith-filled, family-filled, fun-filled minutes of pure Easter goodness. 

We had a huge family meal, with everything you can possibly imagine an Easter dinner would have – and then some!

But a bountiful dinner table is still empty without the most important ingredient:

The family who makes it all complete!

Pure Easter goodness.

March 21, 2008 @ 10:43 am | Filed under: The Fit Life,The Solid Rock

“Sometimes when we read the words of those who have been more than conquerors, we feel almost despondent. I feel that I shall never be like that. But they won through step by step.  By little bits of wills.  Little denials of self.  Little inward victories. By faithfulness in very little things. They became what they are. No one sees these little hidden steps. They only see the accomplishments, but even so, those small steps were taken. There is no sudden triumph, no sudden spiritual maturity. That is the work of the moment.”

                              —from the journal of Amy Carmichael, as quoted in Holy Sweat: The Process of Peak Performance

“What is WRONG with me?” I limped into the house, scraped my running shoes off of my feet, and all but collapsed on the living room floor. “I don’t understand this.”

“Your knee again?” Mike had become quite adept in noticing when my right knee – the definite weakness in my body – was once again making its presence known.

“Not just my knee. It’s both legs.”

This was Saturday and, for the third day in a row, I’d suffered a horrible case of shin splints. I’d not felt this kind of discomfort (and, at times, downright pain) since last summer when I was in the beginning stages of training for the 5K.

“Last Saturday I ran 4 miles, without even thinking about it.” I was in full-on whine mode and – unfortunately for him – Mike was the only one within earshot. “Today I ran only two and the last half I was in HORRIBLE PAIN.“

Irritatingly unfazed by my drama, my sweet husband had the good sense to just humor me. Or so…I thought…

“Okay, let’s think about this. Have you done anything differently this week?”

“No.”

“Are your shoes still in good shape? Are you lacing them properly?”

“Yes. To both.”

“Still stretching first, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Hm.” Mike continues to be maddeningly unfazed even as I continue to bemoan my sudden, unexpected fall from runner-girl-goes-far status.

“Let’s go over this again. Have you done anything differently?”

Uh-oh.

A little niggling of something remarkably akin to discomfort began to worm its way through me.

“Well, have you?”

“Not really.” I hedged as much as I dared to. “I mean, I increased my speed…some.” The truth was that for the past week I’d spent three days on the treadmill, rather than outdoors, working on taking my speed from 5.2 to 5.6.

“Uh-huh, that’s what I thought. What about stretching? Are you compensating for the extra stress by doing extra stretching?”

“Not really.” This time I didn’t even try to hedge. The picture was becoming crystal clear and it was letting me know that I’d made some simple, stupid mistakes.

Not only had I not done extra stretching but I had become so comfortable and complacent in my running routine that I’d all but told myself I didn’t really need the stretching anymore.

“I get it.” I held up a hand in protest when my kineseology major husband opened his mouth to say more. “Believe me, I get it.”

And I did get it.

Before I ran early this morning – I followed ALL that I knew to be right. I spent the needed time in stretching. As I worked the muscles still sore from days of neglect and (okay, let’s call it what it was – abuse) I was struck by the odd feeling the stretching gave me.

It hurt…so good.

There was soreness, definitely. Even a few twinges of pain. But the longer I stretched, the better I felt about what I was giving to my body. It hurt…so good.

God began to speak to me like He does during times like these, this time giving me an analogy that was very personal, very timely. Very real.

These past weeks have been such a growing time for me. Over and over, I have found myself being challenged in ways that are taking me to a new level. He’s calling me to new places, new levels of ‘fitness’, new dimensions of awareness, and new endeavors.

At times it is pure delight. Still – many other times, it’s quite painful.

He’s shaking up my complacency, calling me to spend extra time in ‘stretching’ in order to be flexible enough, limber enough, strong enough – for the course He’s setting me upon. I can’t get away from the feeling that He has much He wants to say to me, but I have to get myself out of the way in order to hear it all. I have to let down the masks I wear, the disguises that I use to hide my imperfections, my weaknesses. He wants me, real and honest.

He knows those ‘weak’ spots too. Just like my right knee, He whispers words of both, caution and encouragement and I know I’d be wise to listen, to pay attention to the ways I can compensate for those weaknesses. My weak spots need not be a hindrance; they can just serve as a reminder that my only chance of true strength is when I place myself completely under His care.

He’s calling me to something ‘different.’ All my past training is just that – in the past. This is a new thing – a fresh thing – and requires a fresh vision, fresh faith, a fresh anointing.

These are those baby steps, revisited.

But I’m excited. I want to be ‘more than a conqueror.’

That can only happen in those little steps.

Those little bits of wills.

Little denials of self.

Little inward victories.

By faithfulness in very little things.

This new call to more is not always comfortable.

There is soreness, definitely. Even a few twinges of pain. But the longer I spend in these new things, the better I feel about what I am giving to my soul.

It hurts…so good.

March 19, 2008 @ 3:33 pm | Filed under: Family

“What should we do today?”

Famous last words spoken to an almost-four-year-old and her almost six-year-old brother, huh?

“CHUCKECHEESE!CHUCKECHEESE!PLEASE-O-PLEASENANA-PLEEEEEEEAAAASE?”

Kendall even threw in an “I’ll be your BEST friend” for good measure.

How could I possibly refuse these two precious faces?

That’s right – I couldn’t!

Twenty-nine dollars in pizza and tokens later, I realized we’d had a truly priceless day.

March 17, 2008 @ 7:53 am | Filed under: It's a Girl Thing,It's funny!

Comedian Anita Renfroe, who made an Internet splash with “William Tell Momsense,” a song about motherhood, is now a special “Good Morning America” contributor addressing issues important to all women — like hair, handbags, and all things girly.

Clutch, hand bag or purse — whatever the name of your all-inclusive accessory, it can say a lot about you. Whether you love those over-the-shoulder boulder holders or tiny totes are your thing, your pocketbook is telling the world more than you realize.

There are at least four purse analogies.

More Is More Better

This lady is the one who never really got over carrying the diaper bag and still wishes she had something that large. She normally has like a full snack bar and a working pharmacy down in her bag and is prepared for every situation in life.

•  The upside: Should you ever find yourself in jail, she’ll be the only one in your group of friends with a MacGyver 7-in-1 tool to bust you out.

Basic Tiny Toter

This girl can get the whole contents of her day into seven square inches. I don’t really understand this woman, but you can bet if she can do this that she’s got some control issues.

She probably pays her bills ahead of time and has her sheets tucked in real tight on the corners of her bed.

•  The upside: Should you ever find yourselves in jail, she’ll be the only one with the unlimited AMEX who can bail you out.

Serial Monogamist

She gets one purse and sticks with it for 12 years. She’s the kind of person for whom you occasionally have to do what we call “a purse intervention.” Now she’s also loyal and if she’ll stay with this purse for 12 years she’ll hang with you.

•  The upside: Should you ever find yourself in jail, she’s the only one in your group of friends who’ll be out on the sidewalk holding a candlelight vigil with a sign that says, “My friend is innocent.”

Purse Schizophrenic

This woman changes her purses more often than she changes her underwear. Sometimes she doesn’t know how she’s going to feel after lunch so she’ll occasionally carry a purse inside of her purse just in case her mood changes.

•  The upside: If you find yourself in jail, she’s normally the reason why you’re there, BUT she’s also the one who’ll sit right there with you in that jail cell saying, “Isn’t that the best fun we ever had honey?”

March 14, 2008 @ 9:44 am | Filed under: Friends

A year-and-a-half ago I made a huge, scary decision.

I decided, at 38 years old, to return to college and finally chase down this one dream that I had let intimidate me for so long. While it’s been challenging, this journey has already also been one of the most rewarding. I’m halfway there – too far in to think about looking back, too far away to truly be able to anticipate graduation yet.

One thing that has made this adventure so wonderful is that I have a couple of very special people to look to for inspiration and motivation. This Spring – I am living vicariously through two of my best friends!

Dawn just graduated from Liberty University with a Bachelors in Business Management, and was just accepted into a graduate program where she’ll be earning a Masters in Human Services with a specialization in marriage and family. Dawn is married to Kevin (practically my second brother) and they are the proud parents of two beautiful children, Simeon and Anna. They pastor a flourishing, revival church in Indiana.

Rochelle will graduate in eight short weeks from UTD with a Bachelors of Art in Psychology. She, too, is a busy mom to Keilani (8), wife to Kevin (different one!), and a great friend to me. We’ve been celebrating a lot this week because Rochelle has just been accepted into the masters program of SMU and will be pursuing a Masters of Science in Counseling Psychology. (Oh yeah – today is also Rochelle’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Ro!)

Will you join me in congratulating my friends and these tremendous milestones? I said this blog was going to be all about fiction, faith, and FRIENDS, so what better place than Glimpses to recognize the accomplishments of women who bless my life on a daily basis?

I am so very proud of them both.