It struck me today that in order to know what light is, we have to be able to recognize darkness. It is in true darkness that we understand the importance of light. Light is what gives us hope in darkness. Light dispels darkness and fears. Fears subside as light pours into an area that was once full of darkness.
"Too often our answer to the darkness
is not running toward Bethlehem
but running away.
We ought to know by now that we can't see
where we're going in the dark.
Running away is rampant. . .
separation is stylish:
separation from mates, from friends, from self.
Run and tranquilize,
don't talk about it,
avoid.
Run away and join the army
of those who have already run away.
When are we going to learn that Christmas Peace
comes only when we turn and face the darkness?
Only then will we be able to see
the Light of the World."
This season don't give in to the urge to run. Don't give in to the need to tranquilize your feelings or thoughts. It's too easy to busy ourselves into not thinking about things that take time and effort. But you know as well as I do that those things are the things that are worthwhile. We have these moments, these days, these people in our lives...and they are fleeting. Don't sprint away from the light...embrace it. Sit in the darkness, shut your mouth, open your eyes, and step toward Bethlehem. It's a journey that will leave you forever changed...this season and beyond.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Anticipating
In this Advent season, let us go out in the darkness and look for the star, for it surely is shining. The light of God has never stopped shining, beckoning us to look, to follow, and to believe that it is most certainly shining for us. We have a journey to walk. We have a story to share. We have a life to live. We have these moments in our every day lives that can become moments that impact eternity. We are the shepherds in the fields, tending our lives, doing the ordinary, thinking that what we do doesn't really matter...and yet a star appears. We have to choose whether we pay attention or not, whether we leave the ordinary to see something extraordinary.
We are the wise men. We have gifts that are worth much. We have voices and abilities and resources. And we are called to offer them to our King. Will we hoard them, bury them, or let them lie dormant? Or will we journey to give them back to our King? We are Joseph...unsure and asked to do hard things that we don't understand. Will we walk away when it gets hard, or will we obey and see what God does? We are Mary. We hold something incredible within us. We ponder it. We marvel at this gift within us. But do we keep it to ourselves, thinking it's ours...it belongs to us...or do we share it with the world?
Their story is our story. How will we respond?
We are the wise men. We have gifts that are worth much. We have voices and abilities and resources. And we are called to offer them to our King. Will we hoard them, bury them, or let them lie dormant? Or will we journey to give them back to our King? We are Joseph...unsure and asked to do hard things that we don't understand. Will we walk away when it gets hard, or will we obey and see what God does? We are Mary. We hold something incredible within us. We ponder it. We marvel at this gift within us. But do we keep it to ourselves, thinking it's ours...it belongs to us...or do we share it with the world?
Their story is our story. How will we respond?
Monday, November 30, 2015
Advent...
Well, it's that time again...the season of Advent. Yesterday we celebrated the first Sunday in Advent, focusing on HOPE. We also participated in the Hanging of the Green service at church which is always a time of celebration and anticipation as the church is decorated as a community of faith comes together to sing, decorate, and just fellowship.
Looking back at the last year, it has been full of change. My sister got married two days after Christmas and we welcomes Henry James Taylor into our family at the end of September. Miley will turn 3 this coming Sunday. Chris was deployed to the desert for 2 1/2 months. Grandma turned 90. We now have 84 ESL students at my school. Change always comes, whether we are prepared for it or not. I've caught myself saying this phrase a lot...."it is what it is." Take it as it comes. Try your best to be prepared, but most of all, be prepared to just accept what is in the here and now.
As I think about Advent, the coming of Christ, I can't help but think of change and preparation. Change must come in our hearts and minds if we are to be prepared for the coming of Christ. I must move from a self-centered view of this season. I must accept what is in my life in order to see how God is (and has been) at work in and through me. Think about the people of Israel in those days...they had been waiting a long time, anticipating a king that they could really get behind, a king FOR THEM, one that was on their side, advocating for them. Don't you want the same thing? We already have that. We serve a God who wants goodness for us. We serve a God who already won the victory. Are you afraid that God won't come to you? Has bitterness gotten in the way? Are you buried in a sea of grief? Are you too busy to even look for the Christ child? Read these words from Ann Weems...
"Our God will be born where God will be born,
but there is no place to look for the One who comes to us.
When God is ready
God will come
even to a godforsaken place
like a stable in Bethlehem."
Open your heart and mind this Advent season. Let a sliver of light in. Pray for a softened heart to feel the anticipation of the season again. And wait and see how God comes to you and to those around you.
Looking back at the last year, it has been full of change. My sister got married two days after Christmas and we welcomes Henry James Taylor into our family at the end of September. Miley will turn 3 this coming Sunday. Chris was deployed to the desert for 2 1/2 months. Grandma turned 90. We now have 84 ESL students at my school. Change always comes, whether we are prepared for it or not. I've caught myself saying this phrase a lot...."it is what it is." Take it as it comes. Try your best to be prepared, but most of all, be prepared to just accept what is in the here and now.
As I think about Advent, the coming of Christ, I can't help but think of change and preparation. Change must come in our hearts and minds if we are to be prepared for the coming of Christ. I must move from a self-centered view of this season. I must accept what is in my life in order to see how God is (and has been) at work in and through me. Think about the people of Israel in those days...they had been waiting a long time, anticipating a king that they could really get behind, a king FOR THEM, one that was on their side, advocating for them. Don't you want the same thing? We already have that. We serve a God who wants goodness for us. We serve a God who already won the victory. Are you afraid that God won't come to you? Has bitterness gotten in the way? Are you buried in a sea of grief? Are you too busy to even look for the Christ child? Read these words from Ann Weems...
"Our God will be born where God will be born,
but there is no place to look for the One who comes to us.
When God is ready
God will come
even to a godforsaken place
like a stable in Bethlehem."
Open your heart and mind this Advent season. Let a sliver of light in. Pray for a softened heart to feel the anticipation of the season again. And wait and see how God comes to you and to those around you.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Summertime
Summertime, and the livin' is easy...
That's pretty much been it...we finished school at the beginning of June, I got deathly ill for 9 days, said goodbye to Chris, took a certification test, and headed south! I visited my family in Georgia and Florida for about two weeks. Let me tell you, it gets harder to leave them every time. Two nieces, 2 and a half and 15 months...next to impossible.
No one tells you what it feels like to have little people as an extension of you...or maybe they try, but it falls on deaf ears until it happens to you. These little people have my blood flowing through them...we belong to each other. Miley still looks into my eyes, hasn't seen me in months, and there is this knowing that occurs. She squints up her eyes and smiles broadly and it's as if she is saying, without words, "I know you. We belong together." You may be thinking to yourself, yeah right. But if you've experienced it, you know it to be true.
So what's the difference when we CHOOSE to belong to someone? Is it less powerful? Is it more powerful? Sappy-ness is not my goal here...Chris and I choose to belong to each other. Who he is and what he does matters to me, not because I just need to know everything or whatever, but because he has become a part of me, of my heart, of the person that I am. And yes, I am me. If you know me, you know that to be 100% truth. And Chris is fully himself...and maybe BECAUSE of that, there is depth and power in the fact that we choose to belong to one another. And through all of this, through our choices to love and to belong, we create family. We create a sense of belonging for ourselves, for our children, for future generations.
Church is similar...it's not building, or fellowship times, or a million other little "things" that we do...it is choosing to belong to each other. Who have you joined up with? Who have you looked at in the eye and thought, "I know you. We belong together." It's a beautiful thing when it happens. The Spirit of God reaches out and gives us family, invites us to choose each other.
That's pretty much been it...we finished school at the beginning of June, I got deathly ill for 9 days, said goodbye to Chris, took a certification test, and headed south! I visited my family in Georgia and Florida for about two weeks. Let me tell you, it gets harder to leave them every time. Two nieces, 2 and a half and 15 months...next to impossible.
No one tells you what it feels like to have little people as an extension of you...or maybe they try, but it falls on deaf ears until it happens to you. These little people have my blood flowing through them...we belong to each other. Miley still looks into my eyes, hasn't seen me in months, and there is this knowing that occurs. She squints up her eyes and smiles broadly and it's as if she is saying, without words, "I know you. We belong together." You may be thinking to yourself, yeah right. But if you've experienced it, you know it to be true.
So what's the difference when we CHOOSE to belong to someone? Is it less powerful? Is it more powerful? Sappy-ness is not my goal here...Chris and I choose to belong to each other. Who he is and what he does matters to me, not because I just need to know everything or whatever, but because he has become a part of me, of my heart, of the person that I am. And yes, I am me. If you know me, you know that to be 100% truth. And Chris is fully himself...and maybe BECAUSE of that, there is depth and power in the fact that we choose to belong to one another. And through all of this, through our choices to love and to belong, we create family. We create a sense of belonging for ourselves, for our children, for future generations.
Church is similar...it's not building, or fellowship times, or a million other little "things" that we do...it is choosing to belong to each other. Who have you joined up with? Who have you looked at in the eye and thought, "I know you. We belong together." It's a beautiful thing when it happens. The Spirit of God reaches out and gives us family, invites us to choose each other.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Journey
Sorry I didn't finish up my December writings up until Christmas...it was a little nuts with traveling and such and no computer to speak of, except for the tiny keypad of my Iphone, which isn't intended for long, thoughtful writing.
Anyway, over these last two weeks of vacation, I have been through so many emotions....happiness, joy, sadness, deep love, gratitude...and things have changed...the way we celebrate, two baby girls opening gifts and that being more important than opening your own gifts.
This is what I know...life is process. It is ever evolving...and so we must change. Sometimes it feels like I am watching life happen when all of these changes occur, and yet, I am IN it!
I had a soft heart this Christmas...I allowed God to soften my spirit to allow the Christ child to come again in my heart and make a difference. I cried. I felt. I laughed. I hugged and snuggled and prayed that those little girls know how much God and I love them. And because my heart was softened, I was able to see that the journey has not ended. Just as life is process and change, so is our journey of faith. It should not stay the same. It evolves. We change. We listen differently. We love more fully. We mess up and try again. If we are wise, we continue searching for the Christ child. We ignore the Herods of our day and we focus on the light.
God is light. Life is process. Faith is evolved. Amen. So be it, Lord.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Beauty
I am from South Georgia...born in central Florida, raised by a mama originally from Buffalo, New York and a daddy from Moultrie, Georgia. But I've lived in South Georgia for the majority of my life.
I'm dating an East Tennesseean...now he was born in Georgia and I don't let him forget that, but he exudes East Tennessee.
We visited my parents this past June and it wasn't even that hot yet...I mean, yes, we had gnats and all that, but the sticky level hadn't reached its full potential yet. He looked at me at one point and said, "Just so we're clear, there is no reason we should ever live here." Ha!
We were driving down yesterday for the holidays and we turned off of I-75 to the cotton and peanut fields and straight road of highway 33. I saw that the cotton had just been baled and South Georgia snow was scattered in the fields. And I breathed in the beauty of this place. It may not be beautiful to others because they haven't been loved here, they haven't smelled peanuts being harvested, or watched a thunderstorm come in on the horizon.
Beauty becomes...it is realized in moments, in experiences, and in what becomes a part of our hearts. True beauty comes in knowing....a person, a place, a reality...
Bethlehem wasn't beautiful...it was busy...it was crowded and probably really dirty. But I can't help but think that Mary treasured Bethlehem in her heart as a place of immense beauty. For what she had experienced was a new birth not just for her child, but herself. What she had believed had come to life. Her Savior had come...not just in physical form, but in her heart.
Have you seen beauty in your life today? Have you let the place where you're called and the people you're called to serve become beautiful to you? Have you made the place where you are Bethlehem?
I'm dating an East Tennesseean...now he was born in Georgia and I don't let him forget that, but he exudes East Tennessee.
We visited my parents this past June and it wasn't even that hot yet...I mean, yes, we had gnats and all that, but the sticky level hadn't reached its full potential yet. He looked at me at one point and said, "Just so we're clear, there is no reason we should ever live here." Ha!
We were driving down yesterday for the holidays and we turned off of I-75 to the cotton and peanut fields and straight road of highway 33. I saw that the cotton had just been baled and South Georgia snow was scattered in the fields. And I breathed in the beauty of this place. It may not be beautiful to others because they haven't been loved here, they haven't smelled peanuts being harvested, or watched a thunderstorm come in on the horizon.
Beauty becomes...it is realized in moments, in experiences, and in what becomes a part of our hearts. True beauty comes in knowing....a person, a place, a reality...
Bethlehem wasn't beautiful...it was busy...it was crowded and probably really dirty. But I can't help but think that Mary treasured Bethlehem in her heart as a place of immense beauty. For what she had experienced was a new birth not just for her child, but herself. What she had believed had come to life. Her Savior had come...not just in physical form, but in her heart.
Have you seen beauty in your life today? Have you let the place where you're called and the people you're called to serve become beautiful to you? Have you made the place where you are Bethlehem?
Friday, December 19, 2014
Changes...
I've been processing lots of changes lately...
My sister is getting married in 8 days...I've never spent a Christmas Day without her. We've always shared the sofa pull-out bed and woken up feeling like someone kicked us in the middle of the back. Ahh memories...I spent Thanksgiving with Chris's family this year, only the second one I've missed with my family. And I've been filled with thoughts of changes that this new year will bring.
I cried the other night...I needed to. Have you ever been there? Change requires us to grieve what was in order to accept what will be. Sometimes I grieve the life that I will leave in order to gain life with Chris. I've caught myself grieving the bond my sister and I had because we were the last singles and we knew how that felt.
This is not a sad post. Change is change...it is inevitable. Life happens. We change. We move on. And while change requires us to let go of what we've known, it also gives us hope for the future of what will be. I'm incredibly excited to see what Bethany's life holds as a married woman who is still my sister and one of my best friends. I'm overjoyed and feel completely at ease thinking about my future with Chris. And I'm so blessed by his family and the way they love me and how I seem to perfectly fit in his family. It's a beautiful thing for which I am truly thankful.
I wonder how Mary and Joseph and their families felt about that change so long ago. Sure, they had 9 months to ponder things...I wonder if Mary grieved her former life as a single, or as an engaged woman. I wonder if her parents were a little sad to lose her...but also excited for what lay ahead. It's life. It's a part of it...to change...and not only to HAVE to, but to invite it...because we know that it's a part of what God calls us to do...to leave the familiar to embrace the unknown...to join God in the mystery that is life as a believer.
My sister is getting married in 8 days...I've never spent a Christmas Day without her. We've always shared the sofa pull-out bed and woken up feeling like someone kicked us in the middle of the back. Ahh memories...I spent Thanksgiving with Chris's family this year, only the second one I've missed with my family. And I've been filled with thoughts of changes that this new year will bring.
I cried the other night...I needed to. Have you ever been there? Change requires us to grieve what was in order to accept what will be. Sometimes I grieve the life that I will leave in order to gain life with Chris. I've caught myself grieving the bond my sister and I had because we were the last singles and we knew how that felt.
This is not a sad post. Change is change...it is inevitable. Life happens. We change. We move on. And while change requires us to let go of what we've known, it also gives us hope for the future of what will be. I'm incredibly excited to see what Bethany's life holds as a married woman who is still my sister and one of my best friends. I'm overjoyed and feel completely at ease thinking about my future with Chris. And I'm so blessed by his family and the way they love me and how I seem to perfectly fit in his family. It's a beautiful thing for which I am truly thankful.
I wonder how Mary and Joseph and their families felt about that change so long ago. Sure, they had 9 months to ponder things...I wonder if Mary grieved her former life as a single, or as an engaged woman. I wonder if her parents were a little sad to lose her...but also excited for what lay ahead. It's life. It's a part of it...to change...and not only to HAVE to, but to invite it...because we know that it's a part of what God calls us to do...to leave the familiar to embrace the unknown...to join God in the mystery that is life as a believer.
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