by Sharon O | Jun 8, 2015 | Uncategorized
Our church is starting a new idea for women.
It is challenging us to think about as women, how do we present ourselves to others.
The thought around this ‘concept is this’, when we visit with others do we hide our ‘real selves’ and present to them our ‘best selves’, or are we able to be real with them right from the start.
We hide for many reasons.
We feel shame because of what was done to us in our early years?
We feel inadequate or not worthy?
We feel less than authentic and loved because of what was told to us as we were growing up.
The challenge sounds wonderful and hard, for to be real is actually to be very transparent
and for some of us that means our ‘hurt and pain’ must be shared.
It is easy for us to give grace to some but very difficult to give to ourselves.
To be authentic is very important when it comes to relationships.
Dictionary.com says authentic means nothing false or copied, as in original, genuine or real, it says it is trustworthy and reliable.
Then I looked up grace to see what the dictionary would say about that, it said it is elegance, pleasing or attractive, beauty or favor, mercy or pardon.
It said it is also an allowance of time between when something is due, as in a thirty day grace period.
That time is not counted until it is late, I understand this concept because of bill paying experience.
Authentic grace.
Most of those who know me would tell you I am authentic.
My feelings are real and to the point, as much as possible without hurting someone.
If you are a friend of mine and you have done me no wrong, I will be faithful to you to the end of our friendship or lives which ever comes first for us.
There are some people who have been in my life since we were in junior high, we are close friends because we care for each other in a mutual way, we pray for and hope for the best for each other.
There is no agenda of ‘me or I’ it is about us, as friends in a very special friendship.
I value that greatly.
We all need at least one or two people who we can call our genuine authentic friend.
There is a risk to being real. There is also strength in being honest.
Sometimes being real and honest can also be hurtful.
That is where discernment comes into the story.
Relationships that are filled with authentic grace are the most ‘healthy’ kind.
In my home growing up the lessons we learned were not relational.
In fact it was not even safe to share what was really going on inside your heart.
The best thing to do was be quiet and follow the rules.
For me now, as I am sixty and finally at a mature ‘space’.
Authentic grace means I can be real with you and you with me
and if we don’t agree, we can learn to give grace to each other and agree to disagree.
It is kind of like that allowance of time we call a grace period.
Where nothing is required of you, other than to be yourself.
Relationships are like that in many ways.
They must be authentic and real and trustworthy and reliable.
Very much like the love we receive from our Lord when he tells us,
“I have loved you with an ever lasting love.”
Authentic and real, full of life giving hope.
Authentic grace… I pray it is something you have found.
by Sharon O | Jun 5, 2015 | Uncategorized
The rule is to write for five minutes and don’t over think or over do your writing.
Have fun, think fast, and then publish.
The word for the day is ‘Gift’.
We often think of gift as something we open as in a present during a special event.
But what I want to write about is another type of gift.
The gift of our time.
The gift of friendship and of people who we have learned to care for.
I have a friend who is very special to me.
She recently moved away and the only time we can spend now is on the phone without a four hour drive to visit in person.
When she calls me I know it’s going to be a long ‘two hour’ chat.
We talk about life and lessons we have learned, and our hopes and dreams for our grand children or our grown children.
We share prayer requests and we share matters of the heart with each other.
That is a gift.
We open our lives to each other and she knows me and I know her and we are happy in the friendship.
Gift giving doesn’t have to be hard, it just has to be genuine.
Authentic and real, without a catch and without a agenda.
When we give something to someone we give with a hope that it would make them happy.
God gave us a gift wrapped up in his Son.
For God so loved the world that he gave a gift for a life time.
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15
The bible shares the word gift 158 times.
It might be good for us to some day look them all up and then realize what a gift he has given to us.
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10
by Sharon O | Jun 3, 2015 | Uncategorized
Living in the Pacific Northwest we have a wide variety of weather changes, one day it will be 80 degrees and sunny, then the next day it will go down to 53 and be rainy.
I have learned to love the overcast cloudy days, they are comfortable.
They do not challenge us in the ways the hot days do.
I even love a misty ‘rainy’ day.
Forecast for the weekend might be up to 92 or higher,
I cannot deal with that kind of heat.
I am a sweat pant and warm sweater kind of person and if I have to, I will wear shorts and a tank top, but my favorite is a cloudy cool refreshing day.
Thought I would show a few of our ‘roses’ … before they are beat down by the rain.
They show the beautiful raindrops, and tender leaves and the amazing buds.
My husband took these photos and they are really beautiful.
by Sharon O | May 23, 2015 | Uncategorized
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him.
Isaiah 30:15
I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.
Psalm 119:147
Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises, he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains.
like the spring rains that water the earth.
Hosea 6:3
The word prompt for the day is Rise.
I will rise to start the morning.
I will rise up when they bring the flag out… we rise when the judge walks into the room.
All rise. It is a sign of honor.
When we sing in church a lot of times we stand and rise to let others know, we love him and long to sing praises to his name.
I love these verses and many more that include the word, rise.
It even makes me think of dough when it has been pounded and kneaded… it begins to rise again.
Ever thought of that in a spiritual way? Pounding and kneading until all the air is out of us.
Then we rise… we rise slowly and deliberately and it is good.
VERY good when it is finished.
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
Isaiah 60:1
by Sharon O | May 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
I am realizing that as time moves forward the calendar does too.
Is is really the middle of the year and almost the end of May? wow.
Soon my grand daughter will be age 16 in a week.
The school year will be ending. Life will slow down some.
Then as quick as that, it will be fall again.
The seasons of time. The days passing into each other.
I turned 60 in December my husband turned 61 in January.
Soon we will be retired and able to go and see all that we have planned in our 41 years of marriage.
Life is passing before us.
I think it is time now to slow down and enjoy all the moments.
I am ready. To sit where I can hear the roaring ocean.
I am ready to watch the seagulls fly high in circles over the water.
I am ready to not think of schedules or meals or laundry.
Life is passing before us.
I remember when we brought our little Faith Elizabeth home weighing only 3 pounds 9 ounces and the many hours of rocking and holding and praying.
Now she is almost 16 in the middle of her teen years.
I still pray… I still hug her. I still hold her very close to my heart.
Life as we know it will change. But change is good.
Unless change brings sorrow and loss.
Today we breathe in the breath of thanksgiving.
Of gratitude that this life that is passing has been a good one.
We give thanks for small things and pray for those who are in sorrow.
I have received news of those who have lost love ones recently.
God comforts those who mourn. He heals the broken hearted.
Life is passing before us.
May be strive to do our very best to make it a good one.
Picture by Pamela B of Portland
