by Sharon O | Sep 21, 2011 | Uncategorized
I read this on someone’s face book page and
I decided it was such a good comment that it was going into my blog as a starting point for a post. Throughout the years when growing up attachments were very important to me.
Perhaps because of the way we were raised as children
or perhaps it was just my personality.
In our address book there are names that we have known for years.
My famous tease is:
“Once you have met me I am hard to get rid of.”
Some of our friends even go back to elementary school years.
These friends have been treasures to me.
They have been great encouragement and great prayer partners.
Sometimes in church my mind will move into a direction of,
“oh I want to meet someone new and build a good friendship”
then the reality comes to me.
If time allowed it the friends who have walked with us
through good and bad are only a phone call away.
If you think of it even Jesus only had twelve
who he chose to share his ‘life’s most intimate journey with.
Why do we expect ourselves to have more than that?
The friends who have been with us through those hard places in our lives or the good times and perhaps even the funny times they are the ones we hold dear to our hearts.
We have made memories with them.
Age has slowed me down and as that has happened the desire of my heart has been to have real friends.
Authentic friendships that demand nothing other than to be real.
There is no time for acquaintances who need maintained like a car in a body shop.
We all have met those kind of people
they are high maintenance they pull the life out of you any time they can.
When I have a need to share with someone and that someone is my husband
plus a good friend it is way more beneficial
to share with someone who values me and who listens and who
really sincerely cares about life as I experience it.
That is what it means to be real.
Real friendships stay real and whole and true
no matter how much time goes between visits.
Years can go by and one lunch visit makes it feel like nothing ever changed.
When one of my ‘good friends from junior high’ became very ill,
I prayed and prayed for her.
My tears were so deep and heavy wanting her to survive and live.
She is healthy now and doing very well but it surprised me how deeply I cared for her.
Real friends are gifts we can give ourselves.
Have you given yourself any lately?
by Sharon O | Sep 16, 2011 | Uncategorized
As I have matured and grown older the ability and desire
to ‘please others’ has moved away from me.
Pleasing others is not necessarily the best goal
for others may want or expect things that are not good or positive for us.
We need discernment and wisdom to make good choices.
Pleasing others is different than caring for others
the way I see it
pleasing others is for them
caring for others is for ‘us’ together.
I am not sure what a ‘free self’ is as stated in the above note
but what I am sure of
if we please others and lose ourselves in the process
then we have become the losers in the end.
Learning to be true to oneself is the best gift we can give
to
our hearts
our spirits
and our loved ones.
We do not live our lives alone.
We can love others and give to them with a deep compassion and faith
but within that process
we also need to realize that our freedom comes
when we can say no
this isn’t good for me or to say
I need rest today.
When life gets so busy and we give and give and give
and not listen to our hearts need
then it becomes time for rest
and reclaiming oneself.
Even Jesus pulled away from the crowds and
took time for himself to rest and find strength.
When the crowds pushed at him and demanded of him
he knew his need for quiet and restoration through prayer.
I pray this weeks writings have challenged and given us
something to think about.
Life is about choices.
May we all learn to make good and positive ones
so that we can love and live in a more free and healthy way.
Perhaps then we can claim our identity as a free self.
by Sharon O | Sep 15, 2011 | Uncategorized
I wish sometimes I could have met Mother Theresa.
Not to worship her or anything like that but
to thank her for her gentleness
and to thank her for her kindness
and to thank her for her caring spirit.
How does one who lived in poverty and a life of giving and giving
always have such wisdom for us to live by
that is applicable even today in our ‘world’ so different from hers.
How many times have we grumbled at our children
or our spouses
and then ended up in a public setting as friendly as ever and always approachable to anyone who needed us.
This is definitely something to be challenged by
and even to think about.
by Sharon O | Sep 13, 2011 | Uncategorized
I have never met Mother Theresa and never studied her life either
but she always had words of wisdom to share within the midst of her poverty and life giving mantra.
If we could only grasp just a few of these small bits of encouragement.
I think we would learn new ways to be and do and share and live with others.
Just a little …
Something to think about today
by Sharon O | Sep 13, 2011 | Uncategorized
Our trip to the beach was wonderful.
The children were so good and grandma and grandpa just relaxed and let the parents do the care taking.
We are hoping to make this a new tradition.
The beach is always so inviting.
I love it and could actually live nearby if possible.
Two days it was so foggy one could stand on the sand and hear the ocean but not see it.
It was a strange experience to be fogged in so thick that day.
The next day it was warm with exceptionally nice weather around 70 degrees then the day after that it was cool 65 with a brisk wind and one needed a sweater to be comfortable.
The beach weather changes by the day and sometimes even by the hour.
There were two weddings.
We were able to see one bride and groom on the beach taking pictures and enjoying the best day out.
I could not imagine getting married at the crosses where I so love.
Their ‘place for committment’ was high above the cliffs and high above the surf where the crosses stand against the open sky and ocean.
How fun… but oh I kept thinking of that beautiful white wedding dress dragging in the sand as they walked and posed for pictures.
We had a great time with family and next year it will be even better.
A tradition for us all we hope.
Beach time with kids and families.
