Here’s a topic that rears its head and usually elicits an “ewww” from me.
Yep, it means cutting away the people who suck the life out of you. I have a huge problem with this regardless of the fact that many ministries have large teachings on it designed to help you know when and whom you should perform this surgery upon and thereby rid your life of them.
My problem is that it doesn’t sound like Christ. It doesn’t look like His Love and the spirit of it promotes self over others. When I look at Jesus, I see His reaction to the worst people as quite different. Continue reading PRUNING FRIENDSHIPS (taking out the trash)→
Lots of my friends are leaving Facebook and I’ve been reading their reasons. One concern is about intellectual property rights and whether material we post on Facebook belongs to us or them. As a writer, that leaves enough question in the air to make me uncomfortable. Yes, I write freely for everyone to read, but that shouldn’t make it someone else’s property. Continue reading The Comedy of My Learning→
Some time ago, I told Father in a chit-chatty and slightly silly conversation: “I want to live in paradise on Earth”.
Immediately He said, “OK, make it. Right here where you are.”
So, I considered what this might mean. Plus, if He wanted me to do this, then I must simply agree with Him.
It started by daydreaming of what paradise means to me and then making small changes to my little world, like solar lights on my deck. I hung several strings of bulbs up high and placed yard lights down low. I also got a small gas fire pit and replaced the lava rock with colored decorative glass rocks. The fire danced on the glass and looked like water! Continue reading Paradise Now→
I made a drawing of a staircase I saw in my imagination a few years ago. It doesn’t do the staircase justice of course. And that’s because it doesn’t reveal the silky medium caramel color of the wood with its swirling grain. Or the carved and perfectly fitted parts. A drawing can’t share how velvety the staircase is to touch or how inviting it is to a barefoot or tired bum. And the drawing doesn’t have all the many cupboards, some secret, which create the fascinating journey upward.
But if I could take you inside my imagination, you’d see and understand how it might take a week to finally arrive at the top landing. Not because it is so high, but because there’s a world inside each captivating crevasse and hidden compartment. And you’d be drawn to recline in the seat and turn on the light. There you’d lean back and read one of the books, or close your eyes and nap. I imagine fairy tale worlds emerge in naps taken there. Continue reading THE MARVELOUS STAIRCASE→
When Father was teaching me to Rest, He actually told me to sit still for long periods and do nothing. It was hard. I felt condemnation. Lazy was a word that kept popping into my head. It was even somewhat frightening. Which is weird. Silence is frightening. It’s hard to face it alone. And the drive to do something all the time is insistent. I’m responsible for stuff and people. I can’t leave them unattended.
Apparently, I was taught thoroughly that “idle hands are the devil’s workshop”. And it was so ingrained that I didn’t know how to stop doing it easily. Quickly I saw how my enemy was keeping me from being much of a threat simply by keeping me busy. And Father wanted to make Rest a foundation in my life. Breaking off that busy constancy required sitting, staring it down, without a book in my hand, without a hobby before me, without the computer, and without a companion. Continue reading TEACHING ME TO REST→
Years ago, I got a new job that required I walk through a scary building twice a day. It was a security check. And it was part of my job.
Light bulbs had burned out in most of the building, so it was pitch black in the hallways. I submitted an order for them to be changed but that took a few days. In the meantime, I had to go through the building.
Friends said I should skip it until the lights were fixed. But I was compelled to do my job correctly. I didn’t want fear to victimize me. So, I searched for comfort and protection through memorizing scripture.
How can we be Christian and see only death, despair and destruction all around us? How can we?
Christ is Life, He is rebirth, and He is redemption. Have we forgotten? Do we look at a cocoon and not see the butterfly emerging? Do we panic and say “what horrible end is coming – the cocoon is dying?” Do we stare in disbelief and pray and plead with God to save the cocoon? Continue reading Butterfly→
“I’ve seen your thoughts each day, wondering about your purpose and thinking your realm of responsibility is insignificant. It’s larger than you know, and that realm is your kingdom. I gave it to you. But you didn’t grasp your daily responsibilities of Administering from your heavenly seat, your throne. Continue reading A WORD from September 24th, 2013→
Here’s a topic that rears its head and usually elicits an “ewww” from me.
