Tag Archives: people

Look beyond the ugly

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We watch HGTV all the time, I mean a LOT.  For some reason it’s really fun to see homes, furniture, rooms and what not fixed up, updated, changed, painted, re-styled, and more…basically made better.  One of our new favorites is the Property Brothers in which Jonathan Scott, a seasoned realty agent, and his brother Drew, a contractor/renovator, convince people to trust them to create their dream home.

The show always starts with the brothers taking a couple to a fabulous updated home, one that holds all the items on their hearts’ wish list, and then letting the couple’s hearts crash into reality when they hear the price of that home.  Time for Drew to step up and tell them he can help make an older or outdated home into their dream home for less.

If the house hunting couple agrees to give it a go, Jonathan takes them to see all sorts of…well…not so lovely homes so they can pick which one they want to renovate.  I have to say I don’t blame the couples for wrinkling their noses at some of them.  What with the orange shag carpeting, the dark 70’s paneling, painted wrought iron railings, dirt and even mold, the fake stone front fireplaces and tiny kitchens with fluorescent lighting, the words “dream home” are not the first to come to mind! Continue reading →

We really are so much the same

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She could barely keep two feet on the ground as her mom paid the bill and made the next appointment.  She giggled with a grin so wide I could see practically all her teeth, and bounced up and down on her toes, looking all around excitedly.  This girl exuded joy!  Why?  She had just gotten her new hearing aids and could hear everything more clearly than ever before.  She had been nervous and hesitant, not knowing what it would be like, but I could tell she was glad she decided to give them a go.  Watching her was so much fun.  I felt buoyed up by her happiness. I joined in the fun, rustling my papers and clicking the keyboard, “Can you hear this?”  “Yes!” she exclaimed with bright, happy eyes.  It was easy to laugh and smile with her and her mom.

I remember getting my first pair of glasses as a 2nd grader and being able to see details, tree branches outside, and that there were actually things and people in the distance instead of a bunch of blurs.  I remember Christmas mornings with my brother and sister, family vacations, my first real kiss, falling in love with John, having our baby girls, and so many more of those moments that made me want to bounce on my toes and not stop grinning.

Then there was the patient who came out after getting not so encouraging test results.   Continue reading →

Not that I want to go there again…

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Last year was fraught with stress, pressure, hurt, questions, doubts, frustrations…you name it!  In fact the last few years for us were pretty stressful in one way or another and brought some disappointments here and there.  That’s the way it is for everyone, I know, it just seemed to be ultra concentrated for a while.  My heart was gasping for God like suffocating lungs for oxygen.  I had to hear His voice, tried to find Him day after day and be near Him.

In this new chapter of life we’ve just started many of those pressures have been relieved.  Life feels a little easier right now.  The only problem is, how do I stay so intimately connected to God like I was before?  It seems I searched for Him more fervently when I didn’t know where the resources to meet our needs in each day were coming from or when I felt so at a loss for solutions that I simply fell into Him in hope that He had them ready.

It’s not like I want to go back, no, no, no, Continue reading →

A gooder good?

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I heard it a few times throughout the weekend, God telling me that my definition of “good” wasn’t good enough.  I feel like He has been showing me and wants to keep showing me a deeper good than I’ve known in the past.  A different good.  A good not based on warm fuzzies or happy emotion, but on truth and purpose.  A good based on the peace and profound satisfaction that comes from knowing you’re in the place where the way God made you fits the need before you….just right.  No square pegs in round holes here.   Happiness is not necessarily the manifestation of this type of good, not always anyway.

I heard Him telling me most clearly as I sat in the room where the church council and leaders had gathered to hear John’s philosophy of ministry and ask him questions.  Throughout the day I had felt awkward at times, a little out-of-place at times, the typical stuff that happens when you’re in a group of complete strangers Continue reading →

More than meets the eye

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I must warn you upfront that this post is kind of rambly and disjointed.  Okay, read on if you like.

We all make judgments about other people all the time, in split seconds.  Most of the time I think we base our judgments on the way they look, sound, act or smell.  Unfortunately, I think a lot of our judgments are critical because so much of our thought-life is driven by pride, even when we are doing our best to follow Jesus and live humbly.  I catch myself thinking critical thoughts a lot.  Probably need to take that one to God on my knees a little more fervently.  I don’t like thinking those thoughts and sure don’t want someone thinking them about  me.  They sure could, especially on days like today when I ventured out with no make-up and shaggy hair.

I’m not talking about dwelling long and hard on these judgments, just formulating instant impressions.

Can you tell I’m feeling a wee bit convicted about all of this?   Continue reading →

The questions with no answers

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I know you have them, too.  Those deep thoughts about the meaning of life and the way things are and why they’re the way they are.  The thoughts and questions that, if you dwell on them too long, start to make you feel anxious or weird or small.   While I was driving to work yesterday, watching the sun grow brighter and then seeing colorful purple and pink clouds spreading away from that rising sun as I drove over a hill, my mind started asking some of those questions – the questions with no answers.  Continue reading →

Not so scary

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I watched “The Sixth Sense” for the first time, believe it or not, on Friday night.  I’m becoming a fan of M. Night Shyamalan’s early movies.  They’re so interesting and thought-provoking.

You know me, I tend to link up things I see with spiritual matters, looking for illustrations to real life from what I’ve watched on-screen.   I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie but one of the biggest lessons one of the main characters learns is to not be terrified of ghosts (dead people) that he sees, even though many of them are pretty ghastly.  They appear to him the way they were when they died or were killed so I don’t blame him for wanting to keep far away from them!  Continue reading →

A Great Day

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race-teamI was privileged to walk in the Komen Race for the Cure this past Saturday with one of my daughters and four friends.  What a great day!  Here are some things I loved about that day:

I love the energy created by a huge group of people gathered for a good cause.

I love the openness people feel when some barriers have been knocked down by common ground of suffering, disease, or struggle.  Complete strangers hugged me.  I felt I was friends with everyone there.

I love the optimism and joy that seems to radiate from everyone there – buoyed up by the notion that we can beat this!  We can make a difference.

I love my friends and my daughter for giving up a Saturday morning to walk with me and the other 42,000 people.

3233_86088558893_660523893_2475881_3308313_nI love the contagious sense of excitement as we made our way through the course set out for us.  At one point someone started the wave way up front and it traveled all the way through the throng to the back as we all shouted and cheered.

I love God for giving me another chance and sparing my life.

I love sunshine – it was a beautiful morning.

I love volunteers.  I was inspired by the amazing number of people that pulled it off – many of whom just volunteered.

It was a great reminder that a lot of good can be accomplished when many catch a vision.  It was a somber reminder that not everyone survives breast cancer and those of us who have need to be always grateful.  It was a great day!

Dance!

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Watch this video:

The first time I watched this I giggled and smiled the entire time, almost moved to tears.   Such joy and fun!  I love how as they danced, more and more people joined in until it was soon a huge crowd of joyful, jumping, dancing people.  Joy is contagious!  I immediately thought of our walk with Jesus and how it should affect people like this.  The joy we have in knowing Him should be contagious, obvious, bubbling over and drawing people in.  Jesus promised that if we lift him up He would draw people to Himself.  What better way than to be full of joy and hope.  People are definitely looking for that.  I wish I could have been at this train station, dancing and leaping with these people!  How exhilarating!   Complete freedom and fun.  No worries of what people are thinking.  Contagious, beautiful, swelling joy!

How beautiful our world would be if mankind could interact like this – enjoying life, working together, having fun, celebrating…a preview of what heaven will be like.