by Sharon O | Jun 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
I watch a little baby three to four days a week.
She is my nieces baby and her name is Liliana Olivia she is almost 10 months old.
I have enjoyed sharing this new time in my life with a little one.
Her cuddles and cuteness, her smiles and giggles are precious.
Although I feel my age most evenings since I am 55 and dealing with an almost toddler is tiring.
God really designed young mom’s to do this kind of work on a daily schedule.
Whenever I am with her I try to make it special and safe.
With babies consistency and repetition is very important to their development.
We have a new tradition every morning before our ‘day’ begins we sing our ‘special song.’ She sits on my lap and I say “ok let’s sing our song.” (I sing she listens)
I have to admit I made it up… and I am not really that creative.
But Lily doesn’t know that she just likes the tune.
I imagine the words could be anything at this stage of her life but I wanted ‘them to be positive’.
So join with me as I share this little song with you…
To the tune of ‘OL My darling Clementine’…
In the morning – In the morning – We will praise you – Father God
WE will thank you – We will praise you – In the morning – Father God.
She giggles and gives me a big smile as she claps her hands.
Sooo… cute… I guess it doesn’t take much to entertain me.
Semi retirement has been good :o)
by Sharon O | Jun 9, 2010 | Uncategorized
In the book Waking the Dead The story of a heart fully alive.
John Eldredge has challenged me into a new way of thinking.
I would recommend this book to any one who has a heart for the Lord and a desire to move deeper into a spiritual walk with Him.
He focuses on the heart of a person.
Proverbs 4:33- Guard your heart because it is the wellspring of your life.
Guard your heart…
John talks about the heart of a person all throughout this book. He shares how when Jesus was here he surrounded himself with a group of friends. He was not alone.
Our spiritual journey is never alone.
It can’t be for if we are by ourselves we cannot be challenged or encouraged or uplifted.
Jesus was our example.
He took time to be alone for a short time then he gathered himself back into the group. It was a community of friends who checked in daily to watch over each others heart. John says the fellowship of our hearts is critical to our growth. John says “If you believed your heart was the treasure of the kingdom…How would you live differently?”
He says, “Caring for your hearts isn’t selfishness; it is how we begin to love.”
“If your heart is empty you can’t love others – you can’t love well or fully unless your heart is well.”
“If your heart has been broken it must be mended to go further into the kingdom walk.”
We mend our hearts by allowing God to heal us.
Asking Him to show us where the broken places are taking residence
and creating a stumbling block for us to fully love.
John says, “When it comes to the whole subject of loving others, you must know this; how you handle your own heart is how you will handle the hearts of others. If you dismiss your heart you will end up dismissing theirs.”
He asks the reader, “Who do you know who would be safe to call at 2:00am if you needed to. If you choose a name that wouldn’t be safe, why wouldn’t it? Because you know they would not listen to your hurting heart. The decision comes from how they would handle your heart cry.”
Today my challenge questions for us all are these:
Are you caring for your heart? Are you guarding your heart?
It is a spiritual question.
I pray that we can all say as we move through lifes journey:
My heart matters to God.
My heart always mattered to God.
Lord open the eyes of my heart so I may see you…and allow you to heal the places in my heart that are not open to myself, to others and most of all to YOU. Help me always to know this spiritual walk is all about matters of my heart.
Help me Lord to care for my heart so I can care for the hearts of others.
by Sharon O | Jun 8, 2010 | Uncategorized
You will see more changes to come to this blog soon and then the redo will be over. I like the new look.
by Sharon O | May 31, 2010 | Uncategorized
The question has often come into my mind…
why do I write and why is it so important for me?
As a young person I always had a paper and pen with me.
For note taking or for doodling and even drawing if I felt a ‘picture was forming’.
It is who I am.
If someone were to say something about me after I am gone someday I hope they would say: She had faith in God, She loved her family, and she wrote many things to think about.
Is it a need to be remembered in a specific way?
Is it a way to put feelings not shared into a form for sharing?
These are questions I have no answers for but what I do know;
I need to write.
As a child raised in a ‘home’ who never really talked to each other in a deep and meaningful way. I think I learned to write within the safe net of my journal book as a way of releasing what was stored in my mind.
No one would read it.
I could not get into trouble from my written word or my pictures drawn.
I learned to put them away into locked boxes
where I was the only one who knew
where the key was kept.
It was safety.
It was a way for me to pull out feelings…
especially once I entered into counseling.
I have journals full of memories stored written between lines of blue.
They all tell a story of who I was… who I have been…
who I am becoming.
Revealing within me as the handwork of God healed my heart.
Now instead of paper and pen I type on a keyboard with black and white keys.
I miss sometimes the paper and pen and black and white images of sketches formed.
But I also like the comfort of sitting in this den and creating a ‘written’ message and imagery.
As I have said before it is a type of legacy for those around me.
There are no rules on this blog other than to be truthful, inspiring and encouraging.
When something is on my heart to write I can’t discount it or dismiss it.
For the goal of this blog is not for an audience of many but for the purpose of giving glory to God. For it was HIM who brought me into this place and it will be HIM who will remove me when the time comes.
To be transparent and open and vulnerable has been a very hard lesson for me to learn in this process. It is not a comfortable place for me. It is learning daily how to be
authentic and real.
For if we cannot be real with ourselves and with others
we lose what really matters in relationships.
It is more difficult to be open and transparent and vulnerable when those thoughts go against everything I was taught growing up.
I was taught to hide and not ask ‘real’ questions.
I was always the quiet one in the background humming to the tune only I could hear. It was safety for me. Stay in your own space in your own room and you will be out of any ones way.
In this new process of writing I have learned to bare my soul.
God whispered to me in quiet words one day saying… “If you write others will be blessed. If you write I will bless you and pour into you the words for the right day the right moment and the right season. If you listen with all your heart.”
If this focus is ever lost the blog site will be ended.
This blog is a journal for God.
This blog is about the ONE who saved me and keeps me growing through the process of Faith.
He created me for a purpose. If that purpose is to share a gift HE gave then it is something that must be done.
The words on this blog might not be perfect or grammatically correct but they are from my heart.
As my fingers tap across the key board like a dancer stepping across and onto the stage.
My hope is that the reader can be challenged into a ‘quiet place’ for reflection.
I pray that each reader will experience the love of God all throughout this writing blog.
I also pray that when they move away and close their computer they will find themselves in a deeper and better place and closer to HIM because of this blog.
For that is the reason it is called…
something to think about.
by Sharon O | May 31, 2010 | Uncategorized
“Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139:12 I love this picture it shows that all is well. All is in God’s control. All is peaceful and awesome. The darkness moved into the light. Thank you God that you are our light when the darkness feels so dark sometimes.
by Sharon O | May 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
Our garden is planted.
We wait now for the seeds to take root and mature into plants full of veggies for our enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.
Our lives are not too different from these seeds…growing and maturing through the reading of the word along with worship and praise.
Sometimes we come to God with a hardened heart and a brittle spirit.
It is in those times where He must cultivate within us
a heart full of worship.
As the farmer would cultivate the dirt for better and richer growth,
God nourishes us and strengthens us
by his power and love through his Holy Spirit.
We ever so slowly begin to grow as the word waters our parched hearts and we receive its nourishment.
Lord help us to listen as we wait with anticipation of a new birth.
Lord God help us to allow the hard soil of our hearts
to be open to what you want to plant within us.
Help us to receive with a willing spirit and trust…
For you are the ‘master gardener.’
In the Old Testament book of Hosea – 10:12:
“Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that HE may come and shower righteousness upon you.”
Lord Jesus come shower us… as we receive your righteousness
and seek to know you more.
