un-compartmentalizing

here's my geek moment of the day:
i was looking at the word "Goals" & realized that if you put the a & l closer to each other...
...it says "Gods".
(which i interpreted to be "God's".)

so here's why i allowed that thought to take up more than a nanosecond of my time:
i have a tendency to keep things separate.
i would set my goals for the day, week, month, year, whatever,
and then i'd think,
"oh, i should really include God somewhere in there."

so i'd give Him a goal just for Him.
and keep the rest mine.

so today, looking at my goals for 2009, i thought to myself,
"have i included God in all of them?
after all, i am His child, and i'm totally wacko in love with Him.
why wouldn't i make sure that He's part of these?"

since i couldn't find an answer to that last question, i'm praying over the goals to make sure they're in line with my loving Daddy's leading.

happy new year to you all,
and best wishes on setting your 2009 Goals!

garden talk

gardening isn't really my thing.
still, i'm fascinated by the thought of mulching.
being able to use the refuse of plants to produce new & healthy plants is so ingenious to me.

and as i ponder this,
i realize that my Gardener is in the business of mulching.
because i've got a ton of refuse that i've accumulated from

• poor choices
• shameful actions
• skeletons in the closet

and i often don't think anything good can come out of that stuff.

it's a good thing God disagrees with me.
it's a good thing He composts my past & mulches it up to make my present & future beautiful.
the past doesn't get eradicated --
it is made functional for His purposes.

jessica jessica, how does your garden grow?
with lots of loving mulching that i can't do on my own.

tidings of joy & suffering

i find it fascinating that this is a season of both
gladness
&
sorrow.

for some, there is gratitude for the gift of life & the opportunity to share all that it means.
for others, there is dread of the stress & sense of inadequacy the commercialized holidays bring out.
for even others, there is a depression that sets in from loss, loneliness, & lethargy.

to reduce/eliminate the holiday blues,
we don't send Christmas cards.
we don't have a brag-worthy nativity scene (we don't have one at all, actually).
we do decorate with lots of light.
we don't go to every holiday party we're invited to if we're tired or just need time alone.
we do have candles & scents that remind us that this is a special time.
we do make time to connect with others & share our thankfulness.


we only include elements into our celebration that make this a joyous occasion.

i want to wish everyone blessings during this month of hope,
and rest amongst the insanity.

breathe in the color,
transcend the chaos,
and feel the deep calm that the Gift of Christmas brings to us.

peace.

another gift

today, i discovered the trees outside my office building are cottonwood.

the mouth trap

as i read through proverbs,
there is a lot of attention paid to the mess our mouths can get us in.

gossip, complaining, breaking confidences, & just being stupid,
it's all mentioned on the "avoid" list.

but, gosh, it's so hard to break those habits!

i've been trying to cut down on my negative word quota,
and i'm finding it would be a whole lot easier if it weren't for having other people around.
instant popularity is not found in saying,
"no thanks, i'm not into talking about other people in a slanderous manner."

however, my outlook is improving as i pipe up with thankfulness.
at the risk of sounding pollyannaish,
i'm looking on the brightside because it's a heck of a lot more attractive.

God rewards those who follow His advice.
i'm working to make my words more attractive to Him.
who wants to join me?

leaning on that which stands on its own

it's tough to keep track of what i depend on.
i have a list of plans:
plan a, plan b, plan c...
always something to back up the plan preceding it so i don't feel "out of control".

but these plans are really only illusions,
and this gets shoved in my face as often as God remembers to show love to me.

He doesn't like me depending on anything other than Him,
and rightly so:
there is nothing outside of Him that can stand on its own.

when i trust in something that lacks a proven perfect track record --
which seems to be everything, last i checked
-- i set myself up to be let down.

my Daddy disciplines those He loves.
not just when we mess up, but when we need to learn self-discipline.
the fruit of the Spirit, self-control.
He loves me & hurts when i choose another thing to lean on.
something inferior to Him.
how illogical to lean on something less dependable, eh?

so today i'm declaring that i'm going to put my trust in what works.
want to join me?
(hint: it's not money or career.)

the myth of achieving happiness

when i would ask my clients what they wished to accomplish through therapy,
many shrugged & said half-jokingly,
"to be happy."
it was hard to share in the joke;
happiness doesn't really lend itself to creating a clinical treatment plan.

this is why:
happiness is a byproduct of other things, not an end result in itself.

people want it, but we cannot achieve it if it's what we're pursuing.

i heard a pastor on the radio yesterday remind us of what we should pursue:
a life of gratefulness.
giving thanks at all times,
not just in the good ones.

if we are followers of Jesus,
our lives should show a steady stream of thanksgiving.
bitterness & complaining are not becoming characteristics for His kids.

sure, there are times when things suck,
just like i mentioned a few posts ago.
and we don't have to pretend that everything is rosy when it isn't.
God didn't ask us to be blind, naive, or inept.
but as we pray on our circumstances let's give thanks for what IS working right now & what may come as a result of tough times.

happiness will escape our grasp when we reach for it,
but thankfulness leads us into joy & peace by its very nature.

trees & such

i've been working with a friend on creating a film piece on trees.
God really seemed to have an affinity to that metaphor.
we're finding that we do, too.

the trees of our Lord are sturdy & dependable,
and they are dependent on Him for life & sustenance.
they don't run out of fruit -- ever!
and, gosh, does He ever love & care for them.

we're excited to make this piece to share His love of trees with others in His forest.
in the meantime,
let's all take a break & ask if we're really sticking to His job description for His trees.

giving thanks when things suck

~be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. this is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.~
1 thessalonians 5:16-18


it isn't easy to be grateful all the time.
my default mode is set to "brood, worry, & complain".
switching out of that mode takes considerable effort.
i mention this because i've been working against my default a lot lately.
we're trying to sell our house back in detroit with a nasty economy,
and we're working our way out of an equally nasty financial situation.

so let's get thankful, eh?
well, if that's what you want, God, i'll give it my best shot.

the first step for me to get there was to realize that,
when faced with a problem,
i shook my puny fist at God & declared loudly,
"this sucks!"
and, of course, i went through the ick & guck & was better for it.
so i started to see a problem & think,
"this sucks, but not really because something cool will come from it."

note: this was not because i was becoming a better person;
it was totally because God was taking over.
left to myself, i would still be shaking my fist & complaining about my rotator cuff.

so He got me thinking about giving thanks.
and i started doing it each time i felt beat down.
"this sucks" ---> "...so thank You!"

it's getting easier with practice,
and i can tell God's claimed more parts of me as a result.
that in itself is something i can give thanks for...
amidst the suckiness...
which probably isn't that sucky after all.

in motion & out of strength

i heard a comment today that really stuck with me:
God doesn't give strength to us when we're in motion.

the context of this is NOT that God doesn't help us when we have a lot going on.
in fact, the person who said it remarked that God always makes sure we won't run out of steam when we are under pressure.

the context of this statement IS that we need to be taking time to be still before God,
taking time to listen to Him & accept His strength as He works within us.
He doesn't toss strength as us as we run from starbucks to our car while we're on our cell phone.

our God is an intimate God.
His strength comes from those focused, intimate moments together.