WONDER | itsawonderfilledlife

Archive for the ‘WONDER’ Category

Who are You, Really?

Posted in WONDER, tagged #bodymindheartsoul, #iamasoul, #identity, #soul, #whoami, #whoareyoureally on June 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

We’ve seen it all, heard it all, done it all …

and yet do we know who we are?

We encourage fitness, education, therapies, plastic surgeries, diagnosis, knowledge, training and self improvement …

yet, do we know who we are?

We read the books, all the books …

yet, do we know who we are?

We have voices everywhere telling us (or ours is telling others) who we, who they, are.

We see magazines, and talk shows telling us that outward change will change their, change our, lives for the better.

We are told to do, to say, to learn, to change, to become who we really are, who we have always been meant to be …

yet, do we know who we are?

If I listen to my heart …

I will think only of me

If I listen to my body …

I will think only of me

If I listen to my mind …

I will think only of me

So often we try to make changes to our body, to how we live, or we venture into studies and programs, or we sit with a therapist, thinking that these outward changes will change our life, who we are. Though they may help for awhile, we need to recognize that who we are is not about what we feel, or think, or know.

Our diet is not who we are.

Our occupation is not who we are.

Our gender is not who we are.

Our education is not who we are.

Our race or culture is not who we are.

Our passion is not who we are.

Even our religion is not who we are.

In Jeremiah 1:5 we are told:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart …”

You, and I, were conceived in the plan of Christ before our heart, body and mind were created. Our soul was the planned work. We existed in the mind of the Creator, for we are His creation, we are reflections of the Creator.

I read a blog post, this past weekend, written by a woman, who has fought the Cancer fight for years. Her post was titled, “I am Ready to Die.” In it, she tells of how she still believes that she could be healed, but that she is ready to say farewell to this life.

The final line of her post is this:

“Isn’t saying I’m ready to die just meaning it is well with my soul?”

And, isn’t saying it is well with my soul, meaning I am okay?

Your heart is not you,
It is your reflection.
Your body is not you,
It is your container.
Your mind is not you,
it is the information center.
So, who is “you”?
Your soul is you,
and in it, you are uniquely you.
Carole Wheaton

Read Full Post »

Finish Well

Posted in WONDER, tagged #2corinthians8:11, #endofschoolyear, #finishwell, #grade12, #graduating, #summeriscoming on June 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

“Oh my, they need to be done!”

Said a wise woman (myself), multiple times in the past couple of weeks (hours?), of the grade twelve students at our school.

I was convinced that my noticing that these (really, they are lovely) students need to be done was because I am almost exclusively working with students in grade 12, and my own daughter is in her final year. But, other, more wise and experienced staff assure me, this happens every year, at this time.

The evidence of what I am speaking about includes disinterest (in classes, events, even peers), disengagement (of studies, of others), disorder (if I hear once a class, I hear a dozen times, “stop talking!”), and distance (ie. from the school building, due to absences … with or (mostly) without approval).

My secret (so much for secret now) personal desire is that we gather every senior student in a room tomorrow morning, and say, “please do not come back to classes next week. Yes there are classes scheduled until next Thursday, but please, stay home.”

In the past week I have heard the following from a handful of students, regarding everything from absences, dress code, coming late, contributing to class discussions, etc:

“what are they going to do if I don’t ________? I’m done in a few days”

sigh …

My mantra is one that I say (repeatedly) to myself at this point in the school year, when the days are warm, and the evenings are long, and I am longing for summer break:

FINISH WELL

The work is not done until it is complete, and I/we need to strive to complete our task with the same energy and zeal that we began with.

2 Corinthians 8:11 reminds us of something similar to my mantra:

“now finish the work
so that your eager willingness to do it
may be matched by your completion of it,
according to your means”

This is a reminder to myself, as well as to those eager graduates in waiting, to finish well … only four more days of classes …

Read Full Post »

be better.

Posted in WONDER, tagged #anythingispossible, #bebetter, #dontsettle, #habitorconviction, Adventure, dream on June 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »

“Seeking higher than you are so that you might be better than you are.”
The Hubby

68a3d5d846d3576b6f3bb25a12cc57bc

Is it a right thing to expect, to dream of, to want for more?

Do such thoughts lead to discontent, or do they simply act as spurs on the backsides of our lives encouraging us to not give up, to not settle, to strive to do and to be better?

Do we accept the way things are as the only way they can be?

Do we do what we do because ‘that is the way it has always been done’?

Do we awaken each morning, only to dream of returning to that same bed that night?

Do we do what we do more out of habit than conviction?

Do we anticipate a life just like our parents, because that is how our parents lived their lives?

Do we desire security more than adventure?

Do we risk?

Do we stretch?

Do we see the possible, or the impossible?

Philippians 4:13 states :

“I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Mark 9:23 states :

“Anything is possible if a person believes.”

If it is true that we can do everything through Christ who gives us strength.

If anything is possible if a person believes.

Then hubby was right (the Hallelujah Chorus is playing in his ears right now), that if we seek One higher (aka. Christ) than ourselves, we truly might be better than we currently are.

And that means that there are no limits to what we might accomplish, with Him on our side.

Read Full Post »

On Holy Ground with High School Seniors

Posted in WONDER, tagged #godsgrace, #holyground, #onholygroundwithhighschoolseniors, #specialneeds, Memories on May 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

This week began busy, is ending busier.

This week began with a head full of plans for a fun day for two of the students I get to work with. Days like this are much more enjoyable, and more work … crossing i’s, dotting t’s …

They, the two young men, who live with challenging Special needs, are in their final year of high school.

In just two weeks, when they cross the stage to receive their diplomas, their lives will change. Change can be more challenging when one’s life started out with challenges.

They spent the beginning of their day, together, like many of their days in high school. They shared breakfast with the rest of the graduates, then drove around the school parking lot, beeping horns, disturbing the staff and students who were in the midst of classroom learning. Then off to a movie, joined by three who wanted to share the experience as they had shared many days of high school … together.

It was a holy ground, it was a sacred, moment.

How, you might ask, could teenage boys, diner-style breakfast, beeping your car horns and popcorn be sacred? Not one of those things is sacred in itself, but with the intervention and participation of God, the breakfast is like communal meal, beeping car horns like the singing of angelic chorus’, watching a movie with friends like sharing in fellowship with the saints. When God is involved in the lives of the participants, the sacred absorbs the secular, the mundane becomes the miraculous.

This dear pair of young men, and their faithful friends, shared moments and memories that day, that made one realize where they are, and recollections of where they have been.

God’s grace was on them at conception, God’s grace is on them now, and by the grace of God, they will be under His care for every day allotted to them.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with them both (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Read Full Post »

Be Real

Posted in WONDER, tagged #1john4:7, #bereal, #loveoneanother, #maderealbylove, #margerywilliams, #thevelveteenrabbit, authentic on May 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I recently re-read a favorite child’s story, and it got me to thinking.

What it is to be real.

The Velveteen Rabbit (I strongly recommend it … for any adult!) is the story of a perfectly stuffed and decorated bunny, received with joy, by a boy, who heaped complete attention and dedication …

for a few short hours.

The Rabbit then gets put away in a toy cupboard, where he lives an awkward existenance with the other, more expensive, toys. There in the cupboard, he is befriended by the Skin Horse, an older and wiser toy, who teaches the Rabbit the most important lesson that any rabbit (or person) could ever learn …

what it is to be real.

Not long after, the Rabbit gets to experience what it is to be real, despite having the shine, the softness rubbed away. He was made real by the love of the little boy.

Due to unfortunate events, the Rabbit is tossed to the fire pile, and the rest … well now, if I tell you, you will never be motivated to read it ( http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/williams/rabbit/rabbit.html ).

At one point, the Rabbit is offered the ability to become, really real. His response was:

“wasn’t I Real before?”

And the response to his question was:
“You were Real to the boy, because he loved you …”

To be loved is know that you have value, worth, that you exist. To be loved is to be known, and to be needed, wanted. To be loved is to know purpose for life, for you have someone who makes life worth living.

“Dear friends,
let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
1 John 4:7

Read Full Post »

Love, Hate and a few Tears

Posted in WONDER, tagged #driveoutdarkness, #hypocrites, #lovehateandafewtears, Christians on May 25, 2015| 1 Comment »

As I sat in the grimy public washroom, with tears streaming (I mean streaming like a waterfall) down my face, I really was not sure why it was that I was crying. All that came to my mind was the verse from childhood, about sticks and stones, but not one person said one word to me.

All I can say is that my heart felt like it was broken, heavy, grieving by what I had heard.

lets go to the beginning …

It had been a chaotic week for hubby and I and our kids had all gone in different directions, so we decided to check out a restaurant that we had never tried before.

It was nice to have uninterrupted conversation, though my attention was constantly diverted to another table, where four people sat, one of whom spoke quite loudly. Eventually my attention was fully pulled from hubby’s words, when I heard,

“those Christians. Who do they think they are?”

The words felt like a jab to my heart.

The man continued, for what seemed like a painful amount of time, sharing stories of ministers, priests, and people of many faiths who were hypocrites, not practicing what they preach. Though he was equal in his disdain for people of any faith, he seemed to be particularly hateful to those who called themselves Christian.

I sat there, the blood seeping from my face, the pain of a death by a thousand verbal cuts touching every part of my being. The tears welling in my eyes.

It was then that I excused myself to the washroom, to try to pull myself together.

I really was not sure why I was crying.

That man didn’t know me, I didn’t know him, yet we were both part of his bitterness, of my sin.

I have no idea how he has been hurt by faith, or, more likely, people of faith, but I know his vile attitude, and I know that his problem is not faith, not even Christ, but Christians.

I was aching, mourning, because the words of that man in the restaurant were the weight of our sins … how we destroy the name of Christ in how we treat others.

We, who share the name of Christ, also bear the pain of Christ …

Because it is the pain and burden of carrying our sin that Christ bore, that Christ bears.

But, when it is finished, this life we live,

when He is finished,

He will wipe every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4),

and it will all be worth it.

In the meantime,

lets strive to do all that we do, in love (1 Corinthians 16:14),

so that we can be instruments that drive out darkness and hate.

Read Full Post »

Chaos before (re)Creation

Posted in WONDER, tagged #bohuandtohu, #chaos, #chaosbeforrecreation, #genesis1:2, Creation on May 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

It started in the beginning …

chaos.

Now the Earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep …”
Genesis 1:2a

A Bible teacher at our school ensures that each student understands this formless, empty, darkness as Bohu and Tohu, Hebrew for wild and waste. Before creation there was wild and waste … chaos, disorder.

A week ago, we Canadians were excitedly counting the minutes until the start of the Victoria Day holiday weekend, aka. the unofficial start of summer. What it really was, was a teaser! A taste of summer’s repose … and then back at it all again on Tuesday! Now, we are left with the sweet taste of warm evenings, BBQ’s, and sunshine … and yet we still have weeks to go until the season’s name changes from spring to summer, and our vocation to vacation.

At this time of the school year, Bohu and Tohu (wild and waste) might adequately describe my house, my kids homework habits, our eating, sleeping, home maintenance habits (just to name a few).

Although I am a confirmed believer in the concept of finishing strong, the reality of my life would tell you that I do not practice what I preach as the dust bunnies in my house (quickly swept under the bed), the daydreaming in my eyes, the school books (of my kids) gathering dust, the pizza delivery guy (Jaz) who knows that my hubby’s voice on his phone means “bacon, bacon, bacon” Hawaiian, and Greek (because three cheap pizzas mean not having to make school lunches for days), and the dog begging for at least one walk a week, tell of the chaos in my life.

So, what follows Bohu and Tohu? What follows chaos?

God created …

light and darkness, day and night

sky

land and seas, plants and trees

sun, moon and stars

creatures of the water and the air

creatures of the Earth, man and woman

And, what follows the Bohu and Tohu of this point of the year for me (and you)?

Well, concerning summer, it is a coming. The light is shining in the darkness. The prize is just around the corner.

And we will re-create! And we will call it summer,

and it is good.

Read Full Post »

Energy for Introverts

Posted in WONDER, tagged #energyforintroverts, introverts, leadership on May 20, 2015| 4 Comments »

What is your energy source? Do you go to people or within to charge your battery.

I once heard that the best way to figure out if you are an introvert or an extrovert, is to look at where you go to refuel. If you prefer to be with people, you are exhibiting a preference of extroverts, and if you prefer to be solitary to refuel, you are exhibiting the preference of introverts.

I am an introvert, and there are times when being apart from other humans (even ones that I love) can be likened to having Energizer batteries added to the bunny.

Sometimes, introverts get confused with shy, antisocial, sad or un-fun individuals. Believe me, I like people, I love to have fun with others, and shy … I am not.

Often, in society, introverts are overlooked as leaders, because introverts are not outwardly ‘selling’ their leadership, in three-point form. An introvert, with natural leadership abilities, will encourage, empower and push others to do their best. They will be good listeners or others, and will be able to solve problems effectively, because they generally take the time to look at problems from all angles. Introverts tend to lead by example, and others follow them.

There is no down-side to an individual needing down-time. That is not an example of weakness, but an example of one who knows how to maintain strength.

Read Full Post »

Are you Brave?

Posted in GOD, life, The Hubby, WONDER, tagged #areyoubrave, #fearandanxiety, #isaiah42:16, #monstersunderthebed, Alone, Fear., Plato, yoda on May 18, 2015| 2 Comments »

When I was a child, I thought that to be brave was to go in my room and night, and actually look under my bed to see if there were monsters there.

When I was a teen, I thought that to be brave was walking home alone, in the quiet dark, after a night of babysitting.

When I was a young adult, I thought that to be brave was to stay home alone when my hubby went out of town.

Brave has many faces, but on each face a fear of something, known or unknown, is written. The fears of childhood are the foundation for the fears of the rest of our lives. If I re-read my own expressions of what it was to be brave when I was younger, they are all centered on two fears; fear of the dark, and fear of being alone.

I believe that they are universal fears, I believe they are innate fears. I believe the
two fears are really one fear, for to be afraid of the dark is always diminished by
being in the presence of another.

From when we are born, we experience times alone. From our earliest beginnings in our mother’s womb, we experience dark. Yet those two fears go with us, and in some, intensify as we get older.

There is something about nighttime that can cause doubts, discomfort and fears to arise more easily. Add to that being alone, and the night can seem endless and hopeless.

For a child, being taken to bed, being tucked in, being reassured by a loving person that they are safe and that the nighttime will not last forever, can lessen their fear of the dark. If that does not work, having someone to accompany them in the dark, until they fall off to sleep will eliminate any further cries of fear.

For myself, as an adult, I hear far fewer noises, I sleep far easier, when hubby is in the house with me. His presence assures me that I am not alone, and the dark no longer has power over me.

If we are to be brave, we need to understand that the presence of another can be the light that takes away our fear of the dark, because their presence itself is like a light.

God’s message to us all in Isaiah 42:16 is “I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” Whenever we think that we are alone, we need to remember that the One who never breaks His promises to us, is with us. Him in our lives means we are never fully alone, and the darkness is eliminated by the light of his presence.

Plato said, “we can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” The light of the world has come to illuminate our steps, he is like that parent by the bed of a fearful child, the friend walking you home in the dark, the person on the other side of the bed (snoring like a band saw), but He never leaves those who choose to brave and trust the presence of his light.

“Fear is the path to the dark side.”
Yoda

Read Full Post »

Tough Stuff

Posted in WONDER, tagged #annvoskamp, #comeasyourare, #davidcrowder, #happyandholy, #hardandholy, #toughstuff, Sorrow on May 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

“You’re made to do hard and holy things
— because there’s no other way to get to the happy and holy things.”
Ann Voskamp

This week my mind has been swaying back and forth, between the quote above, and a line in a song. Both quotes have a common thread … tough stuff.

Can we really experience, can we really understand happiness, if we have not experienced tough stuff?

For me, to answer that I just need to look at our three kids. Three miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy, and the sorrow that accompanied each, make the life I get to share with my three kids so much sweeter. I know how hard and holy those times were … and make me understand the happy and holy times today.

“Earth has no sorrow,
that heaven can’t heal.”

Every one of us knows what sorrow is, knows what it feels like, knows the darkness that accompanies it, as though the goal of the sorrow were to envelope us, like a dark cloak. John 16:33 reminds us that sorrow is to be expected, but …

“Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.
But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

There is rest for the weary, for those who are in the midst of tough stuff, that shakes us to the core. But even the tough stuff is holy, and can bring us to the healing of heaven.