by Sharon O | Sep 6, 2010 | Uncategorized
I was reading a magazine and came upon something wonderful. Thinking about this blog as I often do it seemed like a writing that I could share and since it was a ‘picture’ for sale in a magazine there shouldn’t be any copyright issues.
For the readers of this blog I hope for you to reflect on this writing.
Life is not a race-but indeed a journey.
Be honest~work hard~be choosy~say “thank you”~ “I love you”~and
“great job” to someone each day.
Go to church~take time for prayer.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh.
Let your hand shake mean more than pen and paper. Love your life and what you’ve been given~it is not accidental~search for your purpose and do it as best as you can. Dreaming does matter~it allows you to become that which you aspire to be.
Laugh often~appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them~some of the best things in life really are free. Do not worry~less wrinkles are more becoming.
Forgive~it frees the soul.
Take time for yourself~plan for longevity.
Recognize the special people you’ve been blessed to know.
Live for today~enjoy the moment.
by Sharon O | Sep 5, 2010 | Uncategorized
I wanted to bring up something I saw today at Target. It bothered my heart and my grandma radar was in shock as I walked by the little girls department the age range was little girls ages 4-7. There was a section of clothes that totally rocked my grandma world. On the rack was a very short black mini skirt with black lace leggings to go with it. I mean this skirt was short and black and very ‘revealing’ with black lace leggings for a little girl who is going to be running and playing at recess on swings and teeter toter’s. For a little girl who is under age 5 and totally innocent to what she is wearing or trying to look like. Am I over reacting or just old fashioned or is it really way out of line for some parents to purchase this and let their child wear it in public? It reminded me of the show toddlers and tiaras. I really dislike that show. The show is about little toddlers who are at a tender innocent age and still babies made up to dress as if they are 16 with makeup and fancy outfits and the parents are expecting them to perform. The little girls cry and whine because they don’t want to have their pictures taken or the makeup on or the scratchy dress. It is the parent who sitting there telling them they have to perform it feels like a form of exploitation. It is the parent who has the problem or sick dream. Good grief the first time I saw a preview of that show it almost made me nauseous. What is the message we are sending our little girls? Little girls who are precious and beautiful and innocent. I just spent time with my grand daughters this weekend and I want them to grow up slowly and with the knowledge that they do not have to do or wear anything to make them more pretty or more precious. They do not have to perform or pretend they are valued. They are loved and valued for who they are just because they are my grand daughters. Lord God I pray we do not send a ‘wrong’ message to our little girls. Help them to know they are precious no matter what they wear.
by Sharon O | Sep 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
The other day as I was skimming my emails and face book
I stopped at a quote of John Eldredge.
It felt so profound to me I just had to write it down and do more thinking about it.
I have read it several times and each time I grasp a new meaning.
John said: Changes in our lives often bring grief and loss. May we embrace and mourn our changes today. Let us not refuse them and lose what God has in store for us.
Changes… none of us like them.
I certainly don’t my routine is pretty much the same day in and day out and my ‘diet’ often is too. The saying ‘creature of habit’ is me. Furniture stays the same year after year, decorations stay the same for each season with very little variations. It is security for me to know that ‘the same’ is here and now and in the room with me.
When something changes it does bring a sense of loss and perhaps grief.
Jobs can change. Friendships come and go. Relationships move in and out of surface talk and deep sharing depending on the time and season.
Children grow up to become adults.
Life is full of changes.
When he said, “Let us embrace and mourn” the picture of a huge hug and a weeping for the night comes to my mind… it is cleansing and restoring.
We say good bye to yesterdays pain and sorrow and we welcome today.
We learn to live in today and look forward to tomorrow. As John says “let us not refuse the changes ahead for us” we might be joyfully surprised by what God has planned.
Today may we live in the now and not worry about anything else.
May we welcome with open arms the changes that might be ahead for us and be willing to accept them even before they come. I pray that we will not miss the blessing that might be around the corner just waiting to be experienced because we refused to change.
by Sharon O | Aug 30, 2010 | Uncategorized
Yesterday in church our music pastor moved from behind his guitar to a teaching position.
He did an awesome job.
I am always excited when God’s gifts are used in different ways.
Our church is not locked into a box of ‘this is your job and this is mine’.
Gifts are used in many ways and this guy behind a guitar became an awesome pastor teacher on Sunday morning.
He began by telling us how Jesus wants to be with us in the seasons of life when we feel overwhelmed and fearful while facing the storms ahead.
We all have them.
Financial storms, health storms, marriage storms, teenage storms, lost jobs or lost homes.
The list goes on and on and in the midst of these life changing storms Jesus wants to walk alongside us and hold us up through the process.
He began to read Mark 4:35-39
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples,”Why are you so afraid? Do you have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Then the music pastor teacher began to break it down verse by verse.
First of all don’t miss the fact that Jesus said,
“LET US GO over to the other side.”
He meant let us go together~you are not alone.
Second point a squall is no small wave… it is large~ it is scary~
it is overwhelming~ it is has the power to knock us over.
Third point swamped is really washing the entire boat full of water
leaving the men holding on tightly for their safety.
Fourth point they became irritated that Jesus was sleeping
while they were potentially going to loose their lives.
When they woke him I wonder if they said to each other,
“who is going to wake him up?”~ did they draw straws? did they choose by number guess ~ how did they decide or did they all run to him and tell him to wake up in the midst of their panic?
The music pastor teacher said, “They woke him up with the question we all ask…throughout different times of our lives. Do you care? Do you care Jesus that we could die? Do you care Jesus that our life is at risk? Do you care Jesus that I lost my job or my marriage or my friendship? Do you care…..???
They didn’t ask him if he could stop the raging winds and water…
they asked him if he cared.
They didn’t ask him to help them.
They asked him if he cared~it’s a very important question to sit with.
Then the music pastor teacher continued and said, “Jesus didn’t answer their question.”
He just stood up and rebuked the wind and water and told them to stop.
Rebuke means: to express sharp stern disapproval of; reprimand. admonish.
Jesus with a sharp stern reprimanding voice said ‘Quiet’ and the winds and the waves obeyed him.
No wonder the disciples were terrified.
Would you feel totally calm if someone you were with was able to speak a word and the wind and the rains obeyed them? Wouldn’t you feel like you didn’t really know the person? would you question who they are to have so much power? Would you still ask them if they cared?
The music pastor teacher continued to say, “when you face the storms of your life you have to remember he won’t let you drown. Remember he said let us go to the other side.” That means he never had any intention of leaving you alone. The journey is yours and his together.
Our AWE should be in the power and glory and beauty of a Holy God who chooses to walk alongside unholy broken people.
Then the music pastor teacher said, “Who ever holds your AWE holds your faith.”
So can I ask you who holds your faith today? do you run to Jesus and ask him if he cares?
I pray your awe will be found in the knowing that your storm is not faced alone.
That you have a savior who has the power to walk with you through it till you get to the other side.
May we face our storms hand in hand with the Lord who heals us through the process.
We must remember ‘we are not alone.’
by Sharon O | Aug 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
We went to the beach yesterday and we were immediately thrilled to notice a gaggle of geese there. We have
never seen Canadian geese at the beach… there had to have been close to 40 or more…it was
such a treat.
I often stop and listen to them as they fly across the sky.
It is so amazing to me that they can fly and honk and stay on course following one leader who occasionally will honk an encouragement sound to the ones following behind. Soon several will be lifting their sky sounds as if they are saying to one another ‘come on you can make it’.
I think we are not that different.
We head into new directions for ourselves and we encourage others to do the same. We cheer each other on as we say:
Be faithful. Be encouraged. Stay strong. Hang in there.
These are all words of encouragement to keep pressing forward in the right direction~ towards the goal~the right final ending place.
Whether that be a new job, a new hobby, a new weight loss, a new look or new attitude.
We encourage each other in the process when we say to one another…
‘I believe in you~you can do it~others have done it and you can too.’
Yesterday as we watched these geese on the beach
I was feeling both thankful and blessed that they found a resting place where we could enjoy them. Some were sleeping and some were walking around flapping their wings and stretching them out. I was just as excited to watch them as I was in watching our grand children playing. The geese were resting in the sun and surf and just hanging out as if they knew once back into flight they must focus and not become weary in the process.
May we do the same as we journey into the directions of our lives.
Each of us have a task, a focus and a destination that we are heading towards.
Help us to not grow weary in the process and realize a new day is coming as we encourage each other to press forward and not give up.
by Sharon O | Aug 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
Our pastor has been teaching a series called soul sessions.
It has been challenging.
He was sharing the other morning how subtle things can be for us
and how we can have our souls affected by something in a way we don’t fully recognize.
It is sneaky. It is disguised as something perhaps good… yet very bad for us.
For example… the boss wants you to volunteer for over time. You say: I need the money so you compromise time from family and home for money that won’t be here for very long.
Pastor says something that is toxic to us is anything capable of causing sickness or death.
Using my example: working over time is not bad in itself but is it creating life in a relationship or building souls? He said toxic things can be consuming to us – consuming the life out of us.
I have seen people so involved in things that it removes the potential for relationship. In their process of doing they forget how to live which is where our focus really should be.
To be so consumed by what you might gain for the wrong reason is a sad situation.
The focus needs to be on relationships and asking questions of ourselves and others, “how is your day going and how is your soul feeling?”
When we demolish every thought that might be hurtful or unkind and not edifying to a relationship we take hold of the toxic potential and stop it before it even begins.
Have you ever seen something toxic?
Remember the oil spill pictures on TV and all the ‘death’ it brought to the ocean?
We can be that way too. We can bring death to relationships by allowing the thick gooey layer of toxic behavior take hold and wrap itself around something that was once a positive and beautiful thing.
Have you ever met someone who appeared to be ‘nice’ and then as you begin to talk to them out of their mouths comes words that are negative, offensive and critical. You walk away from them feeling ‘dumped on’ as the debris of their hearts sit near your soul. It is hurtful.
I pray that we learn to take every thought captive before we say anything.
Our Pastor says our souls are always eavesdropping in every conversation.
When our children were little every time the phone rang they would ‘eavesdrop’ on the conversation. They would drop everything they were doing so they could stop and listen. The picture in my mind of our souls leaning over and pressing in to hear every word is impressive to me. I remember saying to our children…”go find something to do”… they would reply …”but I want to listen.”
Our souls are doing the same.
May our challenge be to remember that we can give life or give death…
it is all a matter of choice.
by Sharon O | Aug 23, 2010 | Uncategorized
I often look up words…
and even subscribe to the word of the day on dictionary.com.
It has challenged me to think of what to say and how to say it so the words on this blog can bring life to the story that is trying to be written.
A new word I have discovered is frangible – it’s meaning:
Capable of being broken; brittle; fragile; easily broken or to break; frail; delicate; brittle; dainty; feeble; flimsy; weak.
I moved this meaning or definition into relationships.
How we treat each other should reflect how we see ‘the power of a word’ within our souls and our hearts and the hearts of others around us.
When I was growing up my maiden name was Nichols. I would often hear from someone…”you don’t have enough sense to be a nickel.” I don’t remember who that someone was or where they were in my story but that doesn’t matter. They said it to me and I didn’t understand it for a long time until one day it hit me….”That was not a nice thing to say to a child.’
Perhaps it is the reason why I question my ability to be smart or able or capable of doing something even now as an adult. It became a core issue that was buried deeply and placed on me by someone who carelessly threw out words not realizing the impact they would have on a childs sense of themselves.
God’s word tells us over and over….
be gentle with what you say –
be careful and wise –
for what you say goes into the spirit of another and it is not easy to retract it once it has been said.
I see relationships as frangible.
They are capable of being broken.
They are fragile and delicate.
They can be frail and flimsy.
The balance between caring for each other’s hearts and soul shows us how we are to love.
I don’t think we should be so ‘brittle’ that we shatter at any harsh word said to us…
if that was the case we would all be shattered and broken people.
We will receive criticism at times.
We will receive reviews at work or at home that are not what we want to hear.
We will receive a ticket if we are in violation of the law.
It is all about perspective in the way we see ourselves
and how we let the words affect us.
The truth is: the words we say to one another have the power
to build up or break down the confidence and belief in oneself.
How you see yourself now often is a direct shadow of how you were seen as a child.
My shadow was invisible. If I could be unseen the ‘pain’ level would be less.
My world would be safer and it was easier to cope within the ’empty’ void.
I don’t think it is a sign of weakness to be easily broken.
I think it is the way God created our heart.
If someone hurts us with words it is normal to create a distance
between that person and ourselves.
The saying ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never harm me’ is completely untrue and it is false teaching.
It only takes a second to build up or break down.
Shall we purpose in our ‘hearts and minds’ to become people builders and realize the power of our words.
My challenge for us is to stop… pray… think and listen to what we are about to say.
Is it helpful or hurtful…
does it build or break… is it toxic or healing.
Let this be our prayer:
Psalm 19:14 {Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer}
by Sharon O | Aug 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
Our grand daughter Faith Elizabeth had her first showing at the county fair.
Her rabbit Max and her … you can see she is a bit nervous. He is doing ok he has been shown before.
She took best in show for her blue rabbit in the category of blue’s and she got three ribbons for Max.
Grandma just had to take a break from her normal blog and brag a bit.
It was fun and I loved seeing her do a good job after her rabbit presentation she did a presentation in front of about 15 people on the blue rabbit’s history. Talking and taking questions for about 15 minutes. Not bad for a first fair event. Next year she will be more sure of herself more able to handle the rabbit with a bit less fear and of course grandma will be there to be her cheer leader.
by Sharon O | Aug 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
Continuing about the Sunday service…
Scotty the Scottish preacher spoke on Psalm 19… I love the psalms so I immediately jumped into it with a desire to listen to what he had to share.
Psalm 19: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run its course.
It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.
The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
The Statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors? forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from the willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Scotty said if you read it and break it down it repeats itself with different meanings telling us about God’s word …. How God is constantly revealing Himself to us as He delights in showing us ‘His Glory.’ He said all of creation is constantly communicating to us without sound or voice.
Look up and see the Glory of the Lord…Look at the skies… feel the wind… touch a babies face… see the beauty of a rose. God is all around us… waiting for us to listen.
In the beginning was God…In the beginning was God… In the beginning…
Do we need a new beginning to see Him?
by Sharon O | Aug 16, 2010 | Uncategorized
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzfPHnoT0-0
The morning was not our usual…
we woke up late and went to the second service instead of the first.
I felt unsettled because of the change.
The music was quieter…
The atmosphere different…
We had a guest speaker who was incredible in his teaching and his Scottish accent was wonderful to listen to.
He shared the word so intensely and so detailed.
It was a LOVE story…
a teaching of words so precise they cut into ones soul.
The Spirit was in the room…
one could sense the quiet movement of hearts repenting and prayerful petitions.
As I stood in the room I could feel my own heart calming down into a worshipful place.
The song began…
OH HOW HE LOVES US…
I sang with everyone else till my throat tightened and the tears welled up in my eyes.
The song was one of LOVE… His love for us…
He died for us.
DIED…because of his LOVE for us.
He is jealous for you… the singers sing… God wants us to ‘rest in Him’ and Him alone…
I hear a quiet whisper;
You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart soul and mind….
He is jealous for you….
loves like a hurricane… I am like a tree…
bending beneath the waves of his mercy…
That speaks of power, glory and might a
Gentle Love from a MIGHTY power.
Oh HOW He loves us so… Oh how HE loves us.
It was awesome… it was healing…
I wanted to cry…
and I knew there was deep work taking place within my heart.
The whispering continued;
{I know your heart has been deeply hurt but remember the Father loves you}.
Oh HOW He Loves us so…
my friends~
I hope you leave this post and remember those three words…
HE LOVES YOU… OH how HE LOVES YOU.
