ENCOURAGE - EQUIP - EMPOWER
IT STARTS HERE.
I tend to have an all-or-nothing mentality when it comes to my goals. If something can’t look exactly the way I think it “should,” I give up on it altogether.
I can’t find a full hour to practice drawing techniques? Then I’ll leave my sketchbook to collect dust for another day.
I can’t do a 45-minute workout including cardio, legs, and core? Then I won’t exercise, period…
In a similar way, I often hold myself to a rigid list of shoulds when it comes to spending time with the Lord. For example:
Isaiah 61:3 talks about God giving us beauty for ashes and Ecclesiastes 3:11 says “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” This is a poem I wrote reflecting some thoughts about those two verses.
Lord, Your Word says you make all things beautiful
I want to believe this
I want to claim this
I want to know it deep within my heart
But Lord, some things are so ugly
My own heart seems beyond repair
Beauty seems so far away
I resonate with ashes, but beauty?
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My theatrical career can be described as varied, but limited. Besides lots of Christmas pageant roles, I played a flirtatious girl in Papa was a Preacher while in college. When I was a teacher, I was asked to portray a cranky cleaning woman, complete with a solo, in a school musical. And finally, I played the faun, Tumnus, in a community theater’s run of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
You might be wondering, wasn’t the character a Mr. Tumnus? Yes, that’s how C.S. Lewis wrote the story, but not enough men tried out for the production. So I was just Tumnus. That outdoor production over three weekends was a thrill for me, not because it brought me adoring fans, but because for that time I entered a creative world full of fantasy. Plus it introduced our five-year old twins to a new side of their mom.
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In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month 2024, I hope this helps those who need to hear this message too.
A letter to myself,
You are amazing. The way you battle for your mental wellness every day while balancing all that is on your plate makes you a modern-day warrior. Your scars are a badge of courage…
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On Sunday, May 19, we celebrate Pentecost. While originally a Jewish feast day, Christians celebrate Jesus sending the promised Holy Spirit to his followers on Pentecost. Jesus said in John 16:7, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”
Acts 2:38 says that the Holy Spirit will be given to us when we repent in the name of Jesus. I am extremely grateful that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit because I count on Him for direction and counsel.
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This week, join me in considering a passage from Colossians.
Colossians 3:15-17
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Paul mentions thanks three times: “be thankful”, “with gratitude” and “giving thanks.”
I guess being thankful isn’t just something we should do once a year over turkey dinner!
I needed to get groceries today. I was almost out of essentials (Read: coffee, peanut butter, toilet paper). But I really didn’t want to. I was tired and hungry. I needed to get home to write this blog. And it was windy and possibly going to start raining (and why the weather impacts this mostly indoor activity, I don’t know, but it does!). I had lots of excuses but finally made up my mind to just do it. So, I went through the motions …
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One summer years ago when we lived in Illinois, our extended family joined us for a trip to Chicago to visit what was then the Sears Tower.
We found parking several floors up in a large garage. The elevator could only fit eight of the twelve of us. As those of us in the first group got off at ground level, the doors closed before my daughter Lauren and her cousin Lori, both about six years old, stepped out. The elevator was already moving back up before we could stop it.
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The celebration of Easter is over. Praise God, Jesus is victorious over death! We can live with the power of the resurrection in our lives. The other morning as I was sitting with Jesus, I was still reflecting on what He experienced. I was thinking of Him on the cross and was wondering what emotions and thoughts He experienced as He faced the end of his earthly life.
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We are often promised that things will be simpler than they turn out to be.
Sometimes it’s because we’re sold something, pitched on an idea that “we can do it” when we actually cannot. My mom taught me some basic sewing skills when I was growing up, so in college I purchased a “2 hour” skirt pattern thinking I could knock it out, but it ended up taking me more like 8 hours plus my mom’s help.
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Last week we drove from Pennsylvania to Florida. As we travel, I often think about what it was like exploring this land for the first time, the technology available (or lack thereof), and the unknown. This drive, I thought back even further -- 2000 years! Could you imagine walking everywhere? To spread the name of Jesus, His early followers had to walk…everywhere! Now all we have to do is hit record and send. Boom -- his message radiates around the world.
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I recently had a conversation with someone that grew up in the Catholic church who now attends Willowdale Chapel. He wanted to know how our church does confessions.
“Well…it’s a little different here.” I explained that even though we don’t have a set time and place for confession the way the Catholic church does, we’re encouraged to confess our sins directly to God as well as to close friends. It’s a more “organic” process.
In the Oscar winning movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility, two sisters have their romantic hopes dashed. The elder sister, Elinor, never reveals her lost love and suffers in secret. The younger Marianne is overwhelmed with misery after losing her love. As she says in the book, “Misery such as mine has no pride. I care not who knows I am wretched.” If you have seen the movie, you may recall Kate Winslet’s performance as the distressed Marianne and Emma Thompson’s characterization of the restrained Elinor.
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The summer before entering seventh grade my parents encouraged me to be a part of fall sports. The two options were cross-country and volleyball. It only took a week of volleyball camp to determine that I would run cross-country. All summer my dad, an avid runner, tried to get me to go run with him. “Just a mile” he’d coax, but I was not interested in training.
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There is a passage in Matthew 5 called the Beatitudes. It is a portion of Scripture that gives instruction about life in the kingdom of God. Jesus was speaking directly to His disciples in this passage, and the crowds were so intrigued by what He had to say they followed him and listened.
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Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, and for many it was a difficult day. For some people the absence of a love interest or the absence of attention from the “love of their life” left them feeling disappointed and alone. There are many people who feel like they have no meaningful connection in their life. They experience loneliness on a daily basis. This holiday that is primarily focused on love can exacerbate this feeling of isolation.
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You know how our favorite sounds like laughter or a musical instrument can bring us happiness, calm, even a sense of love and peace? Research has even shown that listening to running water can help lower stress for some people. Or perhaps, like the sounds of a stadium after a touchdown or a concert with thousands of voices singing along, they excite us and make us feel a part of something larger than ourselves.
Think for a moment about your favorite sounds.
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