popinjay

Michelle started a new photo meme called Popinjay. She posts words each week and the challenge is to capture the essence of that word in a photo.
Last week the word--which I didn't get posted on time--was Hope. I am posting it today, a week late.

The real Jesus, not a ceramic figurine, completely captures the word Hope for me.

The word this week was Alive. So I had to think--what does alive mean? It means not dead. Here is my photo for Alive.




No matter how bad it may look. No matter how dead it may seem. If there's even the tiniest bit of life left, it's alive. Sounds kinda like hope, too, doesn't it?

(And yes, I'm ashamed to say, that is one of my houseplants.)

The next word is Dorky. Wanna play?

checkin up

The year is more than a dozen days old. How are you doing on whatever decisions you may have made on the first?

I'm supposed to be living a risky life. Taking chances and thumbing my nose at fear of failure and all that.

How am I doing? Well... I'm mediocre at throwing my cares to the wind. Or my cars, as I first typed.

I said I wanted to knit something with a pattern. Well, I can't figure out how to read patterns. But I made up my own and guess what? I've messed it up pretty good. And some of the mess-ups I've fixed and others--most--I've left as is. It's a terribly imperfect scarf. Isn't that wonderful!? Of course it helps that it's for my son and he won't care a lick, but it's a start.

I've starting editing the story I wrote for NaNo and it's kinda scary. I don't know how to do this. But I'm just doing it. Taking a risk. Although I don't really know what I'm risking. I have a copy saved of the original, but it feels dangerous anyway.

Little changes. Little steps. What about you?

escape

Thinking about temptation and 1 Corinthians 10:13 where Paul says, "... God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

Thinking about how maybe we don't escape because we kinda like where we are. I mean, that's the point of temptation, right? We aren't usually tempted to do things we hate.
If I were held captive in a luxury spa, sleeping on a feather bed with a fireplace in my room, bathing in special spritzer water and soaking in hot tubs, eating gourmet nourishing meals and walking through flower gardens, I wouldn't be searching for a way of escape.

But if we see sin as the death and destruction it really is, a drippy, dungeon, then perhaps we would scan eagerly for the way of escape. Captivity is captivity, no matter how pleasant it may seem.

And here's my other thought. The way of escape is seldom a wide open door with sleeping guards and a disabled security system. The way of escape is hard to find. It takes ingenuity sometimes and a lot of searching.

When temptation comes we may glance around once and shrug and say, "well, I guess I'm trapped" and dive right in. We don't look very hard, do we?

On the other hand. If we at least cried out and asked God to show us the way out, I think He would. He doesn't want us to sin. He wants us to want to not sin. In the Bible he did do some of those wide open door, sleeping guard, kind of tricks for his followers who were in prison. I think He would do it for us as well.

So there is always a way out. The question is, do we look for it? Do we want out?

things I'd kinda like to do

I've said it before, I'm not one for resolutions. But in the spirit of taking chances and learning to accept failure as an option, I am making some decisions about things that I would like to do differently this year.

I plan to read a writing book every month.

I plan to eat a piece of fruit or a vegetable every day. (I know, that's terrible)

I plan to blog at least three times per week.

That's not everything on my list, but they are the things that are measurable.

There are other things like:

Say the nice things, (as opposed to just thinking them)

Take care of myself

Mess up

Be joyful

Simplify

There are a lot of those that have more to do with outlook and attitude than specific actions. But I'll have to take action to change the outlook, I think.

What about you? What do you kinda want to do differently this year?

no more playing it safe

I've decided this year will be a year of risk taking. That may sound kinda wild, but let me explain what that means for me:

Knitting something from a pattern. You see, when I just knit a scarf I can't really mess up. But if I'm trying to follow a pattern, well... I'm pretty sure I will mess up. And if there is one thing I hate, it's messing up.

Finishing the story that I started last year.

Re-writing the story I wrote during NaNoWriMo and seeing if I can make something of it.

This year I'm going to do my best to get in touch with my imperfection. Letting myself get into situations where I may not succeed. Accepting failure as an option.

And that is incredibly frightening.

So, let others jump from airplanes or dive with sharks. I'm knitting a hat!

And may you all have an exciting, fulfilling, peaceful, and joyous new year!

decades

1960s ~ I was born

1970s ~ My childhood

1980s ~ The questioning years. What will I do? Who will I marry? Where will I live? Who am I?

1990s ~ The answering years. I got my degree, got married and gave birth to my children.

2000s ~ The growing years. Watched my kids grow into a pre-teen and a teen. Self-discovery and growth. Marital growth. Spiritual growth.

2010s ~ Perhaps the letting go years? Our nest will empty. I will turn 50. I expect it to be a decade of challenges and some loss. But I'm ready. Bring it on!

Christmas feet

Another revamped re-post.

Last December I mentioned several people who were hurting.

Denis had just been diagnosed with stomach cancer. His family will be having Christmas without him this year.

Linda was fighting ovarian cancer. She is still in the fight. She also lost her husband in October when he drowned while fishing.

This year my friend Kate is in the process of being re-staged for her Melanoma. They found a spot on her lung.

My friend Erin is in the hospital. She went in because she was pregnant and didn't feel right. They admitted her and a couple of days later she suffered a brain aneurysm. They had to take the baby three months early. Erin is recovering well. The baby, Riley, has several issues that will need to be surgically addressed. He's already had one surgery that I know of.

I have several friends experiencing broken marriages. Betrayal and rejection of the worst kind.

Not everyone will have a Merry Christmas.


"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." Isaiah 53:4

When one of my kids asked why I had a picture of a foot on my blog, I said, "Because it's Christmas and Jesus got feet." He traded feet like bronze for feet of flesh. Pudgy little feet with ten little piggies. He stubbed his toes. He stepped on splinters and stickers and rocks. Nails were pounded into that flesh.

I know that during the thirty-three years that He wore those feet, he experienced grief and loss. Jesus knows our pain. We are never alone in our suffering.

If this Christmas is a difficult one for you, cling to the deeper truth of the Holiday. Jesus put on flesh, suffered and died. God came down to walk with us. He walks with us still. Forget the bells and tinsel, the egg nog and cookies and cling to the one who has walked where you walk. He hasn't just been in your shoes; He's been in your feet.