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20 Instructions for Life

Posted in Guest Post, life, WONDER, tagged 20 instructions for life, Dalai Lama, goals, H. Jackson Brown Jr., life's little instruction book, Love, New Year on December 30, 2012| 3 Comments »

I first saw the following list of “20 Instructions for Life” credited to the Dalai Lama, but have since discovered that he is not the creator of the list, but that it comes from H. Jackson Brown Jr. in his Life’s Little Instruction Book. images

Whoever this list originated with, it is a brilliant list of goals, of things to aspire to each day as we live our lives. It is a great list to ponder as we prepare to turn the calendar on the end of 2012, and into the beginning of the New Year.

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R’s:

– Respect for self,

– Respect for others and

– Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and

think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

20. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

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Holy Work

Posted in christmas, Guest Post, WONDER, tagged Ann Voskamp, calling, duties, Fatigue, gifts, Guilt, holy, holy work, jobs, one thousand gifts, Purpose, Stress, the best way to do christmas cleaning on December 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As we continue with all of the last minute preparations for the ‘big day’ obligation, guilt and fatigue can begin to take over our existence and moment by moment lives. Our duties, our jobs can come to feel as weights upon our lives.

The guest post today is by Ann Volskamp, who was also my guest post two week ago. It is short, and sweet and will put breath back beneath your sails as you look for purpose in your tasks.

After reading The Best Way to do Christmas Cleaning I think you might just have a new understanding of what it is to do holy work.

Oh, and you might want to purchase Ann Voskamp’s book, for someone you love (or for yourself), “One Thousand Gifts”

one-thousand-gifts

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The Christmas Miracle … Guest Post

Posted in christmas, Guest Post, WONDER, tagged a holy experience, Ann Voskamp, eucharisteo, guest post, he witholds no good thing, one thousand gifts, Pain, Scarred, Stress, Thanksgiving, the christmas miracle on December 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

How do I introduce a guest post whose writer’s words have so fed my soul, filled my heart, made me weep and taught me that I’m still a newborn in learning to be thankful? As I lay across my bed, with dark shadows of fatigue and stress from choosing to carry the weight of the world all by myself, there are also lines of mascara from the leaking from my tear ducts just minutes ago, as I was gently massaged with words like ointment on my scarred heart.

Let me introduce you to a woman who knows about
delight,
joy,
fear,
pain,
Eucharisteo (Thanksgiving)!

I was introduced to the (Canadian) New York Times bestselling author of “One Thousand Gifts,” Ann Voskamp by two co-workers who said that I NEEDED to read it. I am cheap and thought that signing up for her blog would do just fine, thank-you … I was right … and wrong.

The blog was good, no great! And so I bought the book. I bought the book in early September, and have only read three chapters in the three months, not because it is not good … Quite the contrary, it is too good to rush through! I am savoring it like aged cheese, sweet wine, dark chocolate … No! Not even those favorites can compare. More like those moments when you held your newborn baby and looked into their eyes praying that God would imprint every detail of that moment into your memory … that is what this book is like!

And so today I am offering to you a treat that I think might send you to the bookstore too! Enjoy A Holy Experience

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Do You Hear What I Hear?

Posted in christmas, Guest Post, WONDER, tagged 1 kings 19:11-12, busyness, Charles Swindoll, christmas, do you hear what I hear, guest post, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Listen, quiet, sales, season, Shopping on December 2, 2012| 2 Comments »

images As we begin to adjust to the moving of the calendar to December, we can no longer deny that Christmas is coming.

Truly one would have to live as a hermit in the forest to have not been noticing it for weeks already. Our mailbox is stuffed with flyers, our inbox is stuffed with admail, and our grocery stores are stuffed with more than the usual amounts of food that we should only eat in moderation.

Another giveaway of the impending holiday season is that our calendars, daytimers and schedules are packed with activities, parties, concerts and celebrations.

Since way back on the hottest day in July, when shopping at a wholesale store and seeing that Christmas decorations filled one aisle, I have been aware that the Christmas that I celebrate, is not the one that is loudest at this time of year. I sighed, and began the mental preparations for the noises of the season.

My guest post today is one that I have shared before, but the video that holds the message is different.

It arrived in my inbox one day last week, almost drowned from my inbox by the dozens of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale advertisements. As I hit delete for the twenty-ninth time, I almost didn’t open this message, but decided to check it out.

And here it is, give it a look, no …give it a LISTEN

“… but the Lord was not in the wind:
and after the wind an earthquake;
but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
And after the earthquake a fire;
but the Lord was not in the fire:
and after the fire a still small voice.”
1 Kings 19:11-12

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16 Ways I Blew My Marriage

Posted in Guest Post, Marriage, WONDER, tagged 16 Ways I Blew my Marriage, brain break, Dan Pearce, Divorce, guest post, Marriage, Mistakes, Single Dad Laughing on November 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I have been on a bit of a marriage roll lately, and the more I am researching for one post, the more interesting information and blogs I have been encountering.

The guest post of today comes from a blogger who I literally happened upon by accident, while having a ‘brain break’ on Pinterest, after much marriage research, and came across a post called 16 Ways I Blew My Marriage, that I just had to open and read.

Dan Pearce is the author of the blog, Single Dad Laughing. His main subject (other than himself-the usual main topic for most of us who blog) is his son Noah, and you will see beautiful photos of the father and son pair. He has experienced marriage and divorce, and I thought his experience of both might just give those of us in the midst of the marriage minefield a fresh perspective … on the things we do (and maybe shouldn’t) and the things we do not do (and maybe should).

It is worth the read!

Carole

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What Does it Mean to Cleave to your Spouse?

Posted in Guest Post, Marriage, WONDER, tagged guest post, leave and cleave, Marriage, Rabbi Richard Bristol, research, spouse, standing strong on November 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As I am writing my own blog posts, I do research on the topics I am writing. Often this research leads to my discovery of other bloggers, and through this I have come to subscribe to many who I love to read regularly.

Such was the way I ‘discovered’ the guest post writer of today.

I was researching the word cleaving (a word that is rarely used today) and found a writing by Rabbi Richard Bristol, on his site Standing Strong, titled “What Does it Mean to Cleave to your Spouse?”

The site describes Standing Strong as “an Expositional Liturgical Messianic Congregation (now that is a mouthful) with an outreach to followers of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Israel.” I was drawn to the site even more when I read, in the statement of faith, “our goal is to enrich lives regardless of race, gender, or background.” I like that!

I was blessed by the words of Rabbi Bristol, and I hope that you will be as well.

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War: Professional Enemies Verses Human Friends

Posted in canada, Guest Post, life, WONDER, tagged armistice day, Falkland War, Freedom, Mariano Velasco, Neil Wilkenson, Redemption, Remembrance Day, soldiers, veterans day, wars and rumors of wars, Worship, WWII on November 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.
See that you are not alarmed,
for this must take place,
but the end is not yet.”
Matthew 24:6

I do not know all that is involved in the meaning behind the passage above. Wars and rumors of wars have been taking place almost since Adam and Eve first ate of the fruit that they were instructed not to eat.

Today is Remembrance Day (Veterans Day, Armistice Day) a day that brings a watery-eyed stare to the eyes of veterans, a day for those of us living in peace and freedom an opportunity, not to glorify war, but to thank those who sacrificed for the gift of peace and freedom.

There is nothing like hearing the stories of freedom attained during WWII as the Canadian soldiers (and others) marched into Holland, or the stories of Jews who survived the Holocaust, because of the freedom attained through the lives of others, to push me to a cenotaph on November 11 … it is the least I could do.

Soldiers are not warmongers, they are men and women who are called to give … give their time, their youth, their will, and even their lives. They are fulfilling not a desire to kill, but a desire to prevent others from being killed, abused, demeaned, disrespected. They are fulfilling their job, as instructed to do so.

But it does not mean that those with whom they are enemies in wartime, are enemies in times of peace.

My family and I are blessed to see the redeeming work of God every Sunday, just by going to church. You see, the make up of our church is something that only God could do, and He has done it so well. On any given Sunday our sanctuary is filled with individuals from all over the world. And, in the pews sit many veterans … Canadian, German, and (until recent years) Russian … wartime enemies, peacetime friends.

I struggled with locating a ‘guest post’ for today. I so wanted something that would be meaningful, respectful, honoring.

So, in light of my earlier words about freedom, I want to introduce you to Neil Wilkenson, a British Gunner during the Falkland War, and Argentinean fighter pilot Mariano Velasco. During this war Neil shot Mariano’s plane down, and has been dealing with post traumatic demons ever since. In an effort to find inner peace, Neil wanted to find out what happened to the fighter pilot he shot down. This is the story of their reunion, and the freedom that was found by these wartime enemies.

In the words of Neil, “the welcome was everything I had thought of, no thoughts of hatred, nothing but pure admiration for each other and as former professionals we both understood it was our duty to carry out what we had against each other back in 1982.”

Another, more intensive link is here.

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Hide and Seek … Without The Seek

Posted in GOD, Guest Post, WONDER, tagged Blaise Pascal, Church, church visitors, god shaped vacuum, great commission, hide and seek, Holy Soup, mega churches, movement, seeker sensitive, seekers, Thom Shultz, without the seek, Worship on November 4, 2012| 4 Comments »

The guest post today is from a blogger I have guested here not that long ago. This particular post made me consider how important it is to be aware of the movements and trends in society when we are involved in a church.

This Holy Soup post by Thom Shultz discusses the ‘Seeker Sensitive’ movement in churches in the last generation or more.

After reading this post I did a little research, and learned a few things about this movement that I did not know before. For instance, the seeker sensitive movement has been closely associated with the mega-churches, primarily in North America, who have modeled their worship services on other ‘entertainment’ that interests society as a whole, as a means of attracting non-church-ed people.

What I did realize about the seeker-sensitive movement is that of the desire to make church appealing to those for whom going to church is foreign.

This is not a bad thing, not at all! Certainly if someone enters the doors of a church they should be warmly welcomed, not looked at from afar with curiosity. No visitor should enter the doors of a church, and leave afterwords without someone at least greeting them. After all, as Christians, we would all agree that our purpose is the Great Commission (the instruction from Jesus to spread his teachings to the world), and we really cannot do that without relationship. How fortunate we Christians are when that world walks right through our doors.

What this post from Thom Shultz is saying is that maybe their are fewer seekers than we previously thought? Maybe we have created and re-created our worship for seekers who are no longer seeking?

Personally, I think our world will always have seekers. In the words of the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal, “there is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” And that “God shaped vacuum” will keep people seeking … they just might not be seeking in churches.

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The R-Word

Posted in Guest Post, WONDER, tagged ann coulter, down syndrome, jay leno, john franklin stephens, Obama, r-word, retard, Romney, special olympics, stereotypes, timothy shriver, tweet, twitter on October 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The guest post for today comes out of a response to inappropriate, thoughtless and wrongly used words. The response, on the other hand, was appropriate, intelligent and wise.

During one of the recent American Presidential debates, conservative American colonist Ann Coulter tweeted the following, “I highly approve of Romney’s decision to be kind and gentle to the retard.”

I am pretty sure that Ms. Coulter regrets the wording and insinuation of her tweet, nonetheless, she, a professional person of words and their meanings, should have known better!

The best response to her tweet was by John Franklin Stephens, whose response is well thought out, wise and very gracious. Mr. Stephens is a Special Olympics athlete with Down syndrome. He knows something of the word ‘retard’ and can speak to the power of that word from a place of very intimate knowledge and experience.

To me, his most powerful statement is, “no one overcomes more than we do and still loves life so much.” Amen to that!

Oh, and since the election is so soon, and I don’t want to be held responsible for swaying the American public to vote one way or the other (with my readership of … five 😉 ), the American liberals also have a special needs skeleton in their closet. Back in 2009 President Obama, when on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, joked about his bowling score of 129 “was like the Special Olympics or something.”

Obama did apologize to Timothy Shriver, Special Olympics Chairman.

Apologies are good, but it is better to think BEFORE we speak, because out of our lips are often the words of our heart.

And, as Mr. Shriver said after the presidential apology, “I think it’s important to see that words hurt and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seem as humiliating or a put-down to people with special needs do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes.”

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All We Have Left of the Maker’s Image

Posted in GOD, Guest Post, WONDER, tagged adam, Creation, devotion, eve, Garden, Gift, GOD, heel, maker, Pain, satan, save yourself, serpent, Sin on October 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Monday morning in staff devotions, a teacher shared a story called Serpent, by Joan McCarthy (from a publication called Pro Rege, December, 1997), and I loved it! Then, two days later that same teacher read it again, this time in devotion time to his class, and I loved it more!

Today, I want to share the story with you, enjoy …

Serpent sinuously slips unseen and smiling through the grass with eyes narrowed to cruel slits. It has heard the cry of pain and rejoices.

“That cry echoes across the universe. it trumpets my victory. “Scream Eve, scream,” it hisses. “Today something new will be added to creation. Adam, the namer, will have to provide a name for the cessation of life.”

On its belly it slithers silently to a low tree and peers at the woman who lies curled beneath the branches. Fear and pain are on her dirt streaked face, and sweat gives a sheen to her skin in the light of early dawn. She moans. Serpent tingles with delighted anticipation and moves up the trunk of the tree and on to a branch to watch with eager, glittering eyes.

“You chose to know good and evil, ” it lisps. “My gift to you, Eve. Know evil. Know pain in your once perfect body. Feel the coming of the end. God has cursed us, but your screams are my laughter in God’s face.”

Eve’s body jerks at the sound. She recoils in recognition and struggles to push herself away, but the tree trunk blocks her. “Not you. Not now, ” she whispers through clenched teeth. Her whole body begins to tremble before Serpent’s icy stare.

“Yes, woman, it is I, the one you accused.” Serpent brings its head within inches of her face. “But why are you fearful? I sought only to make you wise. This suffering is the Maker’s doing. It was the Maker who denied you eternal life and drove you from Eden.” Serpent draws back, lays its head on the branch and coolly regards Eve. Remember the Maker’s words, ‘you shall surely die.’ What do you think is happening to you now woman, you mere afterthought of a jealous God?”

Eve’s eyes widen with terror and she screams for Adam. Serpent sneers. “Ah, yes, Adam, the crown of creation, over there crouching behind that tree. He is not in pain. His body is not swollen and deformed, but yours ….” Serpent averts its eyes in revulsion. “Adam blamed you, you know,” it says turning back to her. “Now see what has befallen you while he goes free. Perhaps, the Maker is destroying you and will create a fresh, new Eve for Adam, one that will once again delight his eyes. You will be returned to dust and the breath that quickened you will blow, lost forever.”

Serpent draws its face close to hers. “Call on me. I have the power to deliver you from your pain.”

Eve stares, her eyes wide with bewilderment that changes to horror. She tries to move toward Adam. In a louder voice Serpent addresses her once again. “So you not know what awaits you? See the fear in the eyes of Adam. He shall not help you. His manhood melts before your cries. He hears his own mortality in them and knows terror for the first time. He will run as far as he can from you and your groaning. You shall face your end alone.”

Serpent draws back to watch with a satisfied smirk as Eve’s body convulses once again. Her hands tear at the swollen belly. But, this time, no sound escapes her lips.

As the pain ebbs, her eyes seek the man. Seeing him, indeed, gathering himself to flee, she calls out with all her strength, “Adam, stay. Be man for this woman.”

Adam hesitates and turns his head to look back at her. She extends a trembling hand to him. “Do not fear my pain, Adam. It is mine alone. you too will have pain that will be your own. Comfort me now as you shall desire to be comforted.”

Serpent drops his coils from the branch and slips to Adam’s side. “Flee, Firstmade. Save yourself. She has no comfort left to give you. If you stay, you will see her end and taste your own. Turn while you can. You never needed her to do great things. She was only a gift, a helper for your great deeds, a pleasurable amusement. She has ceased to be helpful or amusing.”

Eve rises on one arm. “So not listen to the words of the cunning one. Serpent twists truth. I have always been with you. The Maker did not start over with me. He drew me from you-as you have said, ‘bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.’ All we have left of the Maker’s image is each other-together we bear that image in its completeness. I do not believe the Maker will destroy part of it. We must not let this evil one tempt us to shatter it and doom us to wander incomplete and alone. That will be worse than pain.”

Adam stops. Slowly the terror leaves his eyes. Serpent rises up before him. “Take care. She deceives you once again. you are the important one.”

But Adam pays him no heed. With his eyes fixed on Eve’s, he goes to her. He cradles he in his arms. With gentleness he wipes her brow and holds her through her pain.

Hissing in disgust Serpent tries to insinuate himself between them. “Fool, fool, save yourself.”

Suddenly Eve gives a great cry and Serpent sees her drew something from her own body. Its eyes widen in horror. Eve has not died. She has brought forth a new creature, small and wet and shining in the growing light.

Then the new one opens his mouth and begins to cry. The gleam returns to Serpent’s eyes. “This is not a new creation. It too feels pain. It is just one of them. I will coil around the door of his heart and have my way with this one too. I can wait.”

But the crying hushes. Adam, his face full of wonder as he tries to name what he has seen, has broken a large leaf from a nearby tree and brought it to Eve. She covers the man child with it and cradles him to her body.

All that can be seen is the kicking of tiny heels. A smile of triumph flickers across Serpent’s face and then suddenly dies. A shiver runs along its body, and it quickly lowers it head and slides silently away through the dust.

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