by Sharon O | Nov 21, 2014 | Uncategorized
This time next week many will be settling in to warm homes
filled with a variety of baked goods,
perhaps a fire in the fireplace and good conversation
with family and friends.
Our turkey is ordered and soon to arrive.
A fresh one this time from a local farm.
The menu is being planned and shopping lists are made.
It is a time for reflection and giving thanks.
We have so much to be thankful for even if we don’t feel it.
Thanks giving is a heart condition.
Learning to give thanks for everything.
The good moments and the not so good ones.
We grow and come out stronger during the hard times.
Thanks giving is a holiday yes but not really for one day of the year.
It is learning to give thanks with a grateful heart every day.
It is learning to say ‘for this I am thankful’.
Realizing how very blessed we are to be in the situation we are in.
I so remember the traditional dinner my grandmother used to cook.
It is not about fine crystal and beautiful china.
It is about relationships.
It is family and learning to truly appreciate each one who enters
our space and chooses to spend time with us.
This time next week there will also be many alone without family.
I pray we stop to remember them too.
In our moment of giving thanks.
by Sharon O | Nov 16, 2014 | Uncategorized
The word for the Friday writing prompt is Still.
Dictionary.com says it means to remain in place or at rest.
“to stand still.”
Also it is to be free from noise or sound, silent.
“to keep still about a matter.”
Also it is to be subdued or hushed sound.
“a still small voice.”
Also it is to be free from turbulence, peaceful, calm or tranquil.
“the still air.”
Mark 4:39 there is the story of Jesus and his disciples.
The water was rough and scaring everyone and Jesus stood
and told the waves to stop.
“He woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea,
Peace! be still!
The wind ceased and there was a dead calm.”
Psalm 46:10 tells us to,
“Be still, and know that I am God!”
He has the power to create stillness over any situation.
I think He is telling us over and over,
to quiet our restless hearts and be calm.
Be still… that is a profound difficult task for us sometimes.
We often feel we must do, we must keep busy,
we must not have idle moments.
Yet Jesus said, “Be Still.”
I think I like the remaining in place definition as it goes with my last two blog posts.
Be still and know…. remain in place
with no turbulence surrounding you.
Only the quiet peaceful knowing that He is God
He alone is the one who can give us ‘quietness of soul’.
by Sharon O | Nov 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
SO powerful.
“I didn’t marry you because you were perfect.
I didn’t even marry you because I loved you.
I married you because you gave me a promise.
That promise made up for your faults.
And the promise I gave you made up for mine.
Two imperfect people got married and it was
the promise that made the marriage.
And when our children were growing up
it wasn’t a house that protected them;
and it wasn’t our love that protected them –
it was that promise.” ~ Thornton Wilder ~
I really like this simple little comment.
Today it was found in a group of quotes and
It makes so much sense to me.
I had no concept of this kind of love when we got married.
Oh as a teen I watched the young and restless or
One life to live soap opera.
Those were all pretend not real in your face relationships.
I hear my 15 year old grand daughter say to me,
“grandma he knows I love him and he loves me.”
And I pause and choose to not say to her,
“you really have no concept of that love.”
The power of a promise means from year to year,
in good times and in bad, in happy times and in sad,
I will stay with you and only you.
You are the one who fills me with joy and contentment.
You are the one I am comfortable with and who
has challenged me to walk this journey with…together.
We promise to continue this path we began till we
no longer can walk it.
Our journey and our promise continues.
Till the promise is over and we are too old to walk it together.
by Sharon O | Nov 4, 2014 | Uncategorized
We were so young.
So naive about life and love and what it meant to say yes
for a lifetime.
We planned a wedding.
I made the announcements in my high school graphics class and
your mom made our cake.
A family friend made the ‘bridesmaids’ dresses
and my grandmother made mine.
Forty one years ago on this day, November 3rd 1973.
We stood before friends and family and promised to stay together.
Till death parted us.
We listened to our ‘pastor friend’ say a prayer of blessing over us.
We listened to the yearning of our ‘young hearts cry’ to belong
to someone.
And we said yes.
We promised to love each other through sickness and health.
Oh my were we tested on that one.
I was sick for nearly ten years, not only physically but emotionally.
And you stayed.
As you watched me struggle with internal memories and depression that nearly tore us apart
and we struggled through relationship ups and downs
and we stayed.
Our babies came and grew into children and we watched
in amazement and wonder how we raised them together.
For richer or poorer
and we stayed.
Yes we had those times of living paycheck to paycheck.
Sometimes I felt very poor when opening the cupboard or refrigerator but we made it and we never went hungry our bills were not always on time but they were paid and
we were rich in experiences and friendships who encouraged us.
We chose on this day to be a family.
It meant a lot as my own was pretty fragmented and broken.
I didn’t really understand the concept
other than from watching assorted TV shows that showed a family.
We have strengthened each other, challenged each other and
in seasons we grew apart in different directions
but always returning to our commitment to each other and
the promises we made on this day forty one years ago
we would stay.
Later as the ‘grown children’ became adults and were married.
Challenges came along with each tiny new grand child
some were preemies and we learned to pray differently
for we were now new grand parents rekindling the need
for us to stay.
We have been on our knees over and over in a posture of prayer.
The grand children are growing and we are still praying
for protection and love and for them to love and know the Lord.
We are heading into our sixties and it is called our sunset years.
We promised to stay till death parts us and we do stay.
Retirement and plans to travel are in our future.
We have learned to give and let go.
We have learned to understand and forgive.
We have learned that life is not often easy.
But that is a part of the joy of choosing.
1st Corinthians 13 says:
love is patient; love is kind.
Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never ends.
It is the process of walking together that makes it comfortable.
Today I am remembering so many things about our forty one years.
Our love has been tested but never ends and as we are growing old together
may our love grow stronger and our testimony
be an example to those who watch and observe and pray with us.
Today I am remembering the many reasons we choose to stay.
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| silly man in my photo |
by Sharon O | Oct 29, 2014 | Uncategorized
I am not writing about the ‘basket of words’ today but I am writing
about a new word our Pastor challenged us with on Sunday.
It is WORSHIP.
Worship defined is: extravagant love-extreme submission.
I personally have a strong reaction to the word submission
but in this instance it is critical.
Submit is to: give over or yield to the power or authority of another,
or allow oneself to some kind of treatment, as in “to submit to chemotherapy.” It is to say ‘I know this will help me.’
Dictionary.com says:
Reverent honor and homage (which means, respect, formal acknowledgement or consideration of another) paid to God
or something regarded as sacred.
Formal ceremonious rendering of such honor as in;
“They attended worship this morning.” 
When I remember my love for God and submit to His love
I am allowing Him to do a work within my heart and spirit.
I am submitting my will to not fight or push against Him.
Pastor said, Worship is similar to silent listening.
Some definitions he gave of the concept of worship:
Worship is a response of God’s faithfulness.
We respond internally to God. (as in submit our spirit or will)
Many times in the old Testament the worshipers
would bow down in honor and worship to the God
who brought them out of difficult circumstances.
Worship is choosing sides. Deuteronomy 29:26
They turned and served other gods, worshiping them whom
they had not known and whom He had not allotted to them.
In other words they made a bad choice.
What do you give your affections to? (Is is good and helpful?)
Worship is medicine for the soul. 2nd Samuel 12:19-20
(When David realized his baby had died), he rose up from the ground,
washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes.
He went into the house of the Lord, and worshiped.
When Job heard his family was killed. Job 1:18-21
Then Job arose, tore his robe and shaved his head and fell to the ground and worshiped.
Worship is emancipation and proclamation.
When Moses asked Pharaoh to let his people go.
It was for the very reason of ‘worship’.
Then the Lord said to Moses, (Exodus 8:1)
“Go to Pharaoh and say to him,
‘Thus says the Lord: let my people go, so that they may worship me.’
Worship frees and delivers us.
Worship is a spiritual experience.
Worship is private and also communal. Psalm 150: 1-6
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with clanging cymbals; loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Sounds like a group worshiping together.
Worship is inevitable. We will worship something.
When I heard every creature in heaven and on earth (Rev 5:13)
As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God. (Romans 14:11)
Worship is a lifestyle. A spiritual worship (Romans 12:1)
Worship needs to be rekindled and restored in our lives.
Worship gives us hope and strength.
How is your ‘worship’ these days? What do you worship?
“Worship has been misunderstood as something that arises from a feeling which “comes upon you,”
but it is vital that we understand that it is rooted in a conscious act of the will, to serve and obey the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Graham Kendrick
“Corporate worship is a regular gracious reminder that it’s not about you. You’ve been born into a life that is a celebration of another.”
Paul David Tripp
by Sharon O | Oct 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
We are almost through with the basket of word lessons.
I have found this experience not only powerful but also challenging.
As a writer it is easy to write about what is familiar to you.
What is comfortable.
What is pressing on your heart for the day or
what the Lord is perhaps sharing with you.
It has stretched me to write about a word that is new.
It takes a lot of preparation, study and motivation to integrate it into a writing that makes sense.
I am finding this to be a wonderful learning process for me.
The next word we are exploring is:
Dictionary.com said:
it is overflowing fullness and benevolence as in
“abundance of the heart.”
affluence or wealth as in “the enjoyment of abundance.”
an extremely plentiful or over sufficient quantity or supply.
In the bible it is spoken of thirty three times both in the Old and the New testaments.
For the purpose of this writing I am only focusing on a few.
Luke 12:15: Then he (Jesus) said to them, “watch out!”
Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
For many of us we have never had to live in a situation of dire need.
We can wake up in our warm comfortable homes.
Then open dresser drawers stuffed with clothing or closets too full of things hanging for us to choose from.
After that we open our full refrigerators or pantries and we can always have choice because of our abundance.
I like it when Jesus said, “Watch out! be on guard”.
Discontent breeds wrong thoughts and I often find myself
not satisfied
with the abundance of our stuff and I wish for more.
Rather than walking through the house and thanking God for providing
sometimes I complain.
I can go to the store and find abundant choices to put into my cart.
I can turn my television on and find abundant channels to choose from and still not find what I am wanting to watch.
What will it take for us to become grateful and thankful and even generous?
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much
it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.”
Franklin D Roosevelt
“Abundance is not something we acquire.
It is something we tune into.” Wayne Dyer
“Doing what you love is the cornerstone
of having abundance in your life” Wayne Dyer
On the spiritual side of this word:
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house,
I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you. Psalm 5:7
For their sake he remembered his covenant, and showed
compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
Psalm 106:45
and I end with this prayer:
But as for me, my prayer to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. Psalm 69:13
Our challenge is to realize
the abundance of what we have been given
along with how much we have been forgiven and
the abundance of his powerful almighty love for us.
by Sharon O | Oct 21, 2014 | Uncategorized
Returning to the basket of words after a small break.
The next word we are exploring today is LIGHT.
Dictionary.com said: Light: something that makes things visible.
Illuminating agent of radiance, daybreak or dawn.
To cause a face to brighten with joy.
“a smile lit up her face. Her presence lighted up the room.”
To brighten with animation or joy.
To come to light, discover or reveal something
See the light and begin to accept or understand a point of view.
Light.
Seems like a simple word, yet the bible has 263 results for that word.
Significant isn’t it?
Light. Jesus said: I am the light of the world whoever follows me
will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12
That is a wonderful promise.
Have you ever walked into a room with no light? I have.
Until the light bulb gets replaced it is very scary and feels unsafe.
What looks ‘good in the day time’… looks and feels different in the dark, you can’t trust it or know something won’t hurt you.
When I walk outside I cannot feel safe until I see a light to make the path more clear.
We can walk in the light or the dark. Our choice.
To see the light and begin to accept or understand a point of view
is not easy in fact it is challenging to our belief system.
Jesus said: For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:30
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see
your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
I do believe light is an important word.
In the Old Testament it is mentioned 174 times and in the New Testament 89 times.
If God thought it important enough to have it that many times in the word, then I must hold the light close and allow it to enter into my life and my heart.
“See to it, then that the light within you is not darkness.” Luke 11:35
“The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that shed’s light on ones inmost being.” Proverbs 20:27
“You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.” Psalm 90:8
“My heart pounds, my strength fails me, even the light has gone from my eyes.” Psalm 38:10
“Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.” Proverbs 15:30
As I read these I am reminded that God wants us to be in the light.
To be be bright with animation and joy.
Is there anyone you can be LIGHT to today?
“Light in a messenger’s eyes
bring JOY to the heart,
and good news gives health to the bones.”
by Sharon O | Oct 20, 2014 | Uncategorized
This is a picture of our Columbia River, between the state of Oregon and the state of Washington.
Beautiful and majestic.
My friend Maxine took it and gave me permission to borrow it.
Enjoy… this beautiful view.
by Sharon O | Oct 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
I have an online friend who just wrote a book.
It is challenging. Beautiful. Thought provoking and I want to share it with you so you can have your own copy to enjoy.
When I first began the process of recovery it was very clear to me
that I did not know how to relax or play.
Children who come from broken homes learn to become very responsible.
It was very difficult for me to learn to be free and spontaneous.
To not listen to the must do’s inside my head.
I could not allow myself the down time to do nothing.
The rules robbed me of times of joy and freedom to play.
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Playdates with God
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| Having a child like Faith in a grown up world. |
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Have you have ever watched children in a natural play setting?
There are no agenda’s or must do’s or have to’s or worrisome thoughts on what needs to get done right now. By nature they run, they play, they are free to swing and laugh and find joy in the simple.
Have you ever had a child bring you a bug or a leaf?
As adults we shy away from that sort of wondering and amazement.
I remember going for a walk with a little one and when she stopped to watch a snail
at first it was very annoying to me.
Then I paused and breathed in and slowed down and realized
the snail and the unique ‘look’ of the way it was moving slowly and we watched in amazement how it was in no big hurry to get to the other side of the sidewalk.
We need to make time to slow down and playdates are good for us.
Sometimes my husband and I take time away from this busy life to just play and walk at the beach.
It is good to get away and walk and talk and enjoy each other.
This book is a very good challenge and a wonderful read.
I encourage you to watch the video in the link provided and get your book https://www.heartsandmindsbooks.com/
by Sharon O | Oct 12, 2014 | Uncategorized
Dictionary.com says to care is to give serious attention to,
to protect, to have grief or suffering.
To make provision or look out for, to be concerned with
and give special attention to, to watch over
and be responsible for, to be alert and protective over,
to have a state of mind where anxiety, worry or concern makes one troubled. To act on, attend to or deal with.
To Care:
It is putting your heart out there to be hurt.
To be walked on not of course in a literal way but in a emotional ‘spiritual’ kind of way.
If we care, we give something of ourselves to another.
If we say to someone, “I care for you.”
We are saying to them there is connection, there is closeness and hope in the relationship.
Leo Buscaglia said:
“Too often we underestimate the power of touch,
a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment,
or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential
to turn a life around.”
It takes effort and responsibility to care for something.
We cannot be selfish in this kind of ‘process’.
If someone falls down and seems to be struggling or they are going down the wrong path, if we care for them,
we can say to them, “I care enough to not let you continue
this path you are on, you can do better and you have more potential.”
Richard Paul Evans said:
“Sometimes it’s not the strength
but the gentleness that cracks the hardest shells.”
When I first began the therapy process with the last therapist who I worked with, he told me he sensed I needed gentleness and time, kindness and patience and because he ‘cared’ that was what we would work on in order for the therapy process to begin.
He knew it would take effort on his part to ‘care enough’ to earn my trust in him and let him help me.
When we care for someone, we choose the direction the relationship is going in a positive and healthy direction.
To care:
To have the state of mind where, if they are hurting, we hurt with them, and we hope for them to be safe and surrounded by people who will help them.
Wanting the best for others is all about the process of caring.
Let us challenge ourselves to do that process more often.
