by Sharon O | May 4, 2025 | Uncategorized
Years ago, when I entered into a season of therapy.
I was given at some point in the process of group time or maybe a gift from someone, a basket of words.
They are heart shaped and etched into the pottery stone.
The basket is broken.
Symbolic of what was to come in the days ahead of my ‘healing journey’.
I don’t remember if it always was that way but for me now
it represents the fragile and broken spirit I had when entering into the season of healing.
In the recovery group we were instructed to pick a word and then write about it in our journal books.
Giving voice to our ‘thoughts’ on paper so the feelings would not stay hidden deep inside ourselves.
For many survivors’ feelings stay hidden and silenced and the only way out of that season of silence is to move through it.
The only way out is through.
We were told that over and over.
The only way out is through.
You must move from the dark places inside to a lighter ‘healing place’ restoring your spirit and your broken wounded self-inside.
A broken leg cannot heal if one keeps walking on it, there must be a time for restoration and rest.
Then after a short time of ‘healing’ physical therapy begins so the bone can learn to accept the pressure.
Emotional healing is very much the same concept.
Restoring the broken wounded child and moving her into a strong voice of an adult.
A few nights ago, in the quiet of our room I woke up with the idea of writing the words as a blog post.
Each week one word would be written and focused on.
Exploring the meaning and the thoughts surrounding that word.
——————
When we are broken, we don’t see the potential for healing.
We only feel the brokenness deep inside ourselves.
(or we feel nothing at all)
We are not sure what to do with that internal mess.
so many times, those who enter into this journey go in with great resistance and fear because we don’t know or understand what it will look or feel like.
To find our voice and put words to it.
Our feelings get misunderstood and jumbled and we remain closed off from them because they feel foreign and new to us.
Those who have lived in difficult places or scenes cannot begin to believe when entering a season of healing that it won’t always feel ‘this way’.
A basket of words is a good tool to start when working with someone who is closed off and resistant.
Our group leaders were brilliant and caring and compassionate and wise, they were sensitive and gentle never pushing but always encouraging us to become stronger.
A basket of words is a good beginning
when the door to one’s heart and voice is closed.
Words that can bring life, hope, healing, and new awareness.
Words that challenge and re-direct our thoughts and minds.
Words that change the core of who we are and mature us into stronger people.
Words that change us deep within.
Restoring and renewing our thoughts about life.
Years ago, when I entered into a season of therapy, I didn’t know the life that was to come to me.
A basket of words representing new life.
Peace ~ delight ~ abundance ~ healing ~ beauty ~ rest ~ humor ~ balance ~ change ~ tenderness ~ play ~ willingness ~ courage ~ compassion ~ forgiveness ~ light ~ trust ~ power ~
A basket of words representing growth and health and empowerment…
by Sharon O | Apr 22, 2025 | Uncategorized
Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us?
It was a question they asked themselves.
On the road walking to the village of Emmaus seven miles from Jerusalem.
A few of the men walked along, they were talking about everything that had happened.
As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them.
But God kept them from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stopped short, with sadness written across their faces.
Then one of them said, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”
Jesus asks, “What things?”
The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth.
He was a prophet who did powerful miracles and was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people.
But our leading priest and other leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him.
As they talked, he scolded them and then took them through the writing of Moses and all the prophets
explaining from all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
The night was ending, and they were heading home, and they offered him a chance to stay with them.
As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it.
Then he broke it and gave it to them.
Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him and at that moment he disappeared!
They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
It’s a very good question for many different situations.
My husband and I were at Costco one day and an older man saw my husband’s logo on his shirt and asked about its meaning.
The more this little old man talked to us, the more I thought I should know him.
I listened intently.
Then I said, “Were you a Pastor at one time?”
Yes, HE was OUR Pastor over 35 years ago and I knew HIS VOICE.
I didn’t recognize him at first.
I knew the ‘burning within me’ that recognized him for who he had been.
Not the little old guy we shared with, but the Godly man who taught the word with power and giftedness.
The question is a very real one.
“Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us?”
Our Pastor friend was killed in an accident a few months later but I will never forget HIS VOICE and his gentleness.
And I will always be glad we were able to see him one more time and pray with him in the middle of Costco.
“Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us?” The question still haunts me a little bit.
by Sharon O | Apr 20, 2025 | Uncategorized
It is Sunday. the day of the resurrection.
Mary went to the tomb with spices where Jesus was laid.
She knew that needed to be done and because of her love for him, she made the long walk.
Arriving there she noticed the stone was moved and the tomb was empty.
Weeping and wondering she didn’t understand where he could be?
There were angels there and they asked her, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
He is not here, he has risen.
She just wanted to know where he was so she could see with her eyes and believe in her heart.
Just tell me where they placed him, and I will go find it.
The angels said, “HE is not here”.
Sorrow was upon her heart and at one point the angels asked her why she was crying.
She said, “if you have taken him somewhere please let me know.”
At that time Jesus said to her, “Mary”.
She was startled and happy wanting to cling to him and hold onto him.
He said, NO don’t. It is not time.
And Mary went to tell the disciples all that she saw and heard so that they could go see and hear also.
Now we have to back up a bit because the only one who could say her name with great meaning was JESUS.
“Mary”… personal and unique and heart felt from Jesus.
Her name. When someone says your name. it is a reflection of relationship and honor.
“Mary”… the same voice that spoke to her out of her old way of living.
The same voice that healed her heart in the way that ONLY Jesus could do.
I wonder if HE knew that was the only way her heart would believe.
Hearing his voice one more time would be just what she needed.
That would be amazing when you think of how she understood him to be gone.
Then hope came to her.
“Mary”.
A miracle story and a proclamation from her, “I have seen the Lord.”
It is Sunday the day of the resurrection.
And they said to her, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
by Sharon O | Apr 19, 2025 | Uncategorized
We are in the quiet time of Saturday. the day before the resurrection of Jesus.
They all knew there was a difference.
They saw and observed the horrific death of Jesus.
They observed the skies changing colors into deep darkness.
They knew something was taking place and even Jesus had told them it would happen.
Often, we go into denial when we are told news that our heart can’t take.
Listening but not taking it in emotionally.
I often think of Mary and Joseph.
Weeping and watching at the foot of the cross.
Any mother would be desperate to see her son not in pain or agony.
She knew he was different. She knew the prophecies were coming.
She was watching too.
I often think of Peter. Knowing he denied Jesus his friend, three times.
I often think of Judas. Knowing he betrayed Jesus, and his guilt was too much for him.
I often think of the disciples all watching, waiting and wondering.
I often think of Mary Magdalene, who found value and beauty through this Man called Jesus.
He believed in her and did not want her to go back to her old ways.
Now Jeus was in the tomb.
It was dark and the stone that was placed in front of it was just an example of the fears of the leaders.
Would he, could he, be able to move the stone?
The leaders felt for sure they made it difficult.
The quiet of Saturday was preparing all for the rejoiceful Sunday to come.
So much happened and so much to take in.
I would imagine the disciples talked among themselves about the times shared with him,
We often do that when someone we care for is no longer present in our lives.
We remember, we share, we find opportunity to honor that person who we cared for.
I wonder if they felt that too.
Oh, I wonder about even Jesus when on the cross he said, “FATHER” knowing HE was not seen or accepted.
The woundedness was horrible and the sorrow was deep.
There is so much I wonder about.
We are in the quiet time of Saturday the day before the resurrection of Jesus, and all would see the hope given to us soon..
by Sharon O | Apr 13, 2025 | Uncategorized
The three days wait begins at the start of good Friday, leading into Sunday the resurrected Easter.
We are not told anything about Mary and how she responded, or even Joseph.
They knew the birth of Jesus was significant and miraculous and they also knew HE was called to be different.
No one is prepared for a death of a child, no matter how old they are in your life.
No one could imagine a cross, especially a parent who has watched their child grow and mature and do ministry that they tried to understand.
Mary knew he had abilities to perform miracles, she had been there, seeing it with her own eyes.
I cannot even begin to imagine the horror of seeing YOUR child, however old he is, in a chaotic violent crowd then ultimately killed.
The disciples disappeared fearing for their own lives.
The intensity of the cross was a familiar way of dying in those times, although JESUS was God and man he still suffered in His humanity.
Through the town they drug him as they brutally beat and yelled at him.
The cross was horrific in every sense and not one part of the body was ignored.
Pain and sorrow were hand in hand as the followers watched him hang there.
At noon the word tells us that Jesus called out a loud cry, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”
It was all a part of the original plan, but the isolation was so intense for him.
When he finally died the temple curtain in the sanctuary was torn from top to bottom.
Witnesses observed and said, “This truly was the son of God.”
Darkness covered the entire area in a very surreal way.
Those who were there knew something was very different.
Even the thieves on the crosses next to Jesus knew that he was unique and not like the others.
The man called Joseph of Arimathea was allowed to remove his body and prepare him for burial.
The two Mary’s watched and followed.
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The leaders were unsure of Jesus power, so they placed a very LARGE stone in front of the entrance of the tomb where they laid him.
Three days wait begins at the start of good Friday.
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by Sharon O | Apr 11, 2025 | Uncategorized
This week has great meaning for many Christians.
Churches will be full of visitors and others who make it a normal part of their week.
It is a serious week.
Soon we will experience the quiet Wednesday before everything begins to change.
Jesus understood and knew the magnitude of this time for him.
Just as when he was a little baby being born, laboring and struggling through the process of life.
This time he is laboring and struggling towards his death.
He knew it was a difficult death in fact in the garden he even pleaded with God, “Father, is there any other way?”
I can’t imagine him walking the pathways of crosses with those who had been placed there before him.
I can’t imagine the heart wrenching reality of all that would take place.
In the garden when he needed others to be with him, they moved to safety or even fell asleep.
It was a struggle as he worked through what was to come for him.
He knew it had to take place for the story to be fulfilled.
He was there from the beginning, and he knew he would be there to the end.
The middle part was the hardest.
Isn’t that kind of like life? The middle part is where it all happens then it’s soon over.
Nothing was a surprise for him.
The agony and the abandonment, the weight of so much on his shoulders, the week would be a multitude of emotions.
Through it all HE KNEW HE WOULD WIN.
But the process had to take place.
Just as the journey to Bethlehem for Mary and Joseph before birth was long and scary and often difficult.
The journey of the cross is not much different.
I would not want to be there.
When I was a little girl, I remember hearing the song, “were you there, when they crucified my Lord?”
NO, I would not want to be there. I want warm calm moments.
I cannot be around violent scenes or issues.
Every player in the journey to the cross had to play a part and be an important part of the plan.
They all had jobs to do even if they fully didn’t understand the role they played.
This week has great meaning for many Christians as we wait in the quiet.
by Sharon O | Apr 8, 2025 | Uncategorized
Palm Sunday the week before Easter.
The final entrance for Jesus.
Everything he had done up to this time prepared him for what was to come in the days ahead of him.
Christmas was the story of his birth; Palm Sunday is the story fulfilling his death.
I remember the years in church where we would sing the songs of triumph.
Easter cantatas by choirs dressed in the finest of clothes. Sometimes robes.
“Praise him blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.”
It was a joyous time and a time of celebrations.
But there is always another side of this, and we will soon see it all take place.
In Mark 11
As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem they came to the towns of Bethpage and Bethany on the mount of olives.
Jeus sent two of them on ahead.
“Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden.
Untie it and bring it here, if anyone asks what you are you doing?
just say the Lord needs it and will return it soon.”
The two disciples left and found the colt, standing in the street tied outside the front door.
They were questioned and after they explained they were given permission to take the colt.
Jesus placed his garments upon the colt and then began his ride into the town.
I’m sure he was feeling the ‘gut’ ache one would feel knowing the journey is taking an intense turn.
The disciples had no clue the dramatic events that will be surrounding them.
It was all a part of the plan and all a part of Jesus journey.
Palm Sunday the week before Easter and the intensity and the emotions will soon begin. i
by Sharon O | Apr 7, 2025 | Uncategorized
This is the season leading up to Easter and in the Chirstian world many are choosing a purposeful time of sabbath.
A quiet shift reflecting the deep meaning of what is to come within the story.
The story of Easter is hard.
It is celebrations and also great grief.
Words cannot begin to share the emotional season around this time.
Palm Sunday when people were welcoming Jesus, happy and celebrating him.
They praised him and greeted him with joy as he rode the donkey into town.
Just as his mother Mary rode the donkey to his birthing place, HE rode the donkey to his dying place.
Did you know that every donkey has a cross on its back deep into the fur?
Interesting fact. Not accidental.
Celebrations and happy greetings and then not even a week later anger and hatred towards him.
The passion of Jesus as he entered into this season was filled with many heart wrenching moments.
It is a most horrific way to die. He knew it.
We must grasp the power and imagery of the idea that ‘God SO loved all of us so much that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish.’
He chose to do this. For US, people who often rejected him.
It is all about choice. and belief and hope given to a world who desperately needs it.
The journey to the cross was a difficult finality of the life Jesus had here.
It was planned. It was orchestrated just as his birth was in details and in placement of people.
The rejection from his ‘tribe’ of men who walked with him and believed in his teachings.
Had to be hard for him. Yet I believe he knew they would do that.
He knew what they would say or do or choose and HE gave grace to them anyway.
Peter said to him, “I will never deny you,” But he did, three times.
When times of testing take place all of us have a choice.
Fear or faith.
This is the season leading up to Easter and those who believe will watch and remember all that he told them.
by Sharon O | Apr 5, 2025 | Uncategorized
As we continue the journey towards Easter, I am reminded of the disciples who were not that different from us.
They left homes, jobs, families and followed Jesus a man who they had just met.
Because he said, ‘come follow.”
Because his voice gave them reason to give up in order to gain.
Common sense would tell you that is not a thought-out process.
To leave what was secure and follow what is not known.
But I believe Jesus KNEW who he was picking to follow him and to become his TRIBE,
I am fully convinced he knew the response they would give him and then knew how to gather them together in a group.
Perhaps they didn’t know each other in the beginning.
It was a group forming and they followed him.
They could not fully understand his wisdom.
Even Mary and Joseph were amazed at his wisdom.
There is a knowing, then there is a heart filled knowing.
Mary knew in her heart what the angel had told her,
but she was also the mother who would watch and observe and believe in, her son.
As the disciples watched miracle after miracle, then listened to his teaching and healings.
They were there. Close to him.
There was no reason for them to question him for he lived a believable life.
When he challenged them, He did not shame them, he wanted them to know the truth.
For he often said, ‘the truth will set you free’.
The journey towards Easter has many paths and we will follow some of them in this process.
The story is not just a little golden book read to little Children about Jesus riding on a donkey.
There was purpose. planned out so each scripture could be fulfilled.
Just like the story of Christmas each player, each reaction or response was all a part of the plan.
To fulfill the purpose God had set in motion.
As we continue the journey towards Easter we will listen and learn about the great love the father has for us.
by Sharon O | Apr 4, 2025 | Uncategorized
When we talk about the Easter story, we need to go back to the Christmas story.
The reason Jesus came as a baby to Mary and Joseph was for HIS life to be more believable to those watching.
The angel told Mary, “You are the one chosen’.
Joseph was chosen also to carry the weight of being supportive of Mary and later baby Jesus.
Without Christmas we can’t have Easter.
God planned for Jesus to grow in wisdom and stature.
The plan was for HIM to live as normal as possible till his 30’s when his ministry would begin.
I cannot imagine the disciples living with him, walking alongside him and listening to HIM.
How did they ever respond to the rumblings of the people as the Easter weekend began.
We stayed with some friends this weekend and when you stay with someone you see them within the realness of who they are.
Morning hair, need for coffee, and I would imagine Jesus would wake up and then begin teaching.
Mary Knew her son was special, and I wonder as he grew into a man how did she respond to the reality of ‘WHO’ he was deep in her heart..
When he turned water into wine, she knew he could do it but was surprised when HE DID.
Every mother who has ever had a child has the same moments. WOW I am proud of you for that accomplishment.
The Christmas story is about the beginning. The life given to HIM.
The ministry years were short, and we were not told much about the middle years.
Mary had to reconcile in her heart as any mother would that her son was sent for a very special reason and as the words spoken to her said, ‘a sword will pierce your heart.’
She didn’t know what that meant and she was not going to hold onto it very long.
When we talk about the Easter story, we have to go back to the Christmas story where it all began.
