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It’s Not You, It’s Timing – How to Keep Hope When Nothing’s Working

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Is it just me? Sometimes disappointment, frustration, or fatigue keep banging on the door. You’ve got a project, dream, plan, but it’s stuck. You wonder: Is it me? My skills or vision? Do I lack proper education or experience? Is my heart really in it?

I read about some fisherman who may have thought the same. They worked all night with nothing to show.

Were they unskilled?
No. They were “Fisherman.”

Was the net broken?
Nope. Strong and ready.

Were they in the wrong place?
Absolutely not.

Continue reading “It’s Not You, It’s Timing – How to Keep Hope When Nothing’s Working”

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Diamonds & Pencils: Become the Hero of Your Own Story

Encouraging memes can fall flat when you’re in the middle of a firestorm. My experience is that problems or stressors rarely come alone. I’m dealing with X, but Q is spilling over, and my heart is breaking about T (and D through K).. I’m not sure I’m going to make it about P….

Do troubles wait their turn?

Continue reading “Diamonds & Pencils: Become the Hero of Your Own Story”

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Love Needs “Limit” To Shine: Why We Won’t Trust God Unless He has a Last Piece of Pie

The garden of Eden taught some hard and sad lessons, including that we wouldn’t trust God without testing Him first. Parents warn their kids not to touch a hot pan, but don’t they/we ultimately want to know for ourselves?

Bieber had it right:

justin-bieber-ill-show-you

“I got to learn things, learn them the hard way.
Gotta see what it feels like, no matter what they say..”
(“Ill show you” Justin Bieber, Purpose album)

(Sure, some lessons we never want to learn firsthand, but maybe that’s because we saw the result in the life of another…) Continue reading “Love Needs “Limit” To Shine: Why We Won’t Trust God Unless He has a Last Piece of Pie”

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Puberty of the Soul… Freedom and Choices

School years can be pretty hard. You struggle trying to be yourself, not always fitting in, puberty, pressures, crushes, bullying…. I gladly forgot it all. But decades later I felt something like growing pains, but in my spirit. Can you have spiritual puberty? If you’re feeling awkward or uncomfortable, the answer may be yes.

Everything in life grows and matures, and I believe this is true spiritually as well.  Continue reading “Puberty of the Soul… Freedom and Choices”

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God’s Love is Deeper than our Worst…

Visit any church and listen to people sing about God’s Love–but do they know how deep it goes? Can they understand it or would they recognize it?

spilled milkLove is easy when given to one who spills milk, but how about someone who spills blood? And not accidentally but purposefully?

The hard truth is God’s Love goes that deep… for the mass murderer, the child rapist, the filmer of any kind of torture….

We may think we’re decent people, innocent of such crimes, but don’t forget: your thought life is also part of the equation. Jesus said being angry with someone was like murder, and looking lustfully at someone was like having an affair  (Matthew 5:21-30).

Truly no one gets into heaven on merit, but we’re all invited:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, bible)

So considering all the hate and evil in the world, not just in deed but in thought- Jesus was on the craziest Love mission ever… Continue reading “God’s Love is Deeper than our Worst…”

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Transgender God, Part 2: The Motherhood of God

In “Transgender God, Part 1: What’s in a Name,“ I shared a sensitivity with “Father” as a name for God since many have been abused by theirs. I also spoke of compassion for the #LGBTQA Community who suffer everything from name calling to persecution or death solely for their identity/love choice.

God chose the male AND female gender to express “Himself” (Genesis 1:27), and if “He” can identify with both genders,  we’d do well to accept others who do the same. After all, the Royal Law is: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (James 2:8), and last I checked no one wants a hard time, especially from strangers, on deeply personal matters like identity or marriage choice…

Treat others as you want to be treated, right?

women_and_men_Equal

This Wild Kids, Wild God series was always about sharing God’s Heart, and a precious though hidden revelation is found when reflecting on God as Mother.

Continue reading “Transgender God, Part 2: The Motherhood of God”

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The baby in a feeding trough: A Secret of the Manger

This is Day 20 of the “Wild Kids, Wild God – Looking into God’s Heart Series“

A “manger” is sad place to put a baby in any era. The word comes from French, manger (mahn-shay), which means, “to eat.” Indeed, Jesus’ crib was a feeding trough, filled with food scraps and leftovers–things we probably would call trash.

If you’ve ever been treated like crap, rejected, looked down upon, spoken ill of, if you ever felt like you deserved better but instead got worse, please know, what happened to you mattersking size bed…

But didn’t Jesus deserve a palace? After all, he got his very own Star! Alas, God was determined to identify 100% with Mankind: not just live among us, but get knee deep in our M.e.s.s. .(btw, Im betting we all got a star…)

God loves using symbolism and I wondered, Why the barn? Why a feeding trough?

Continue reading “The baby in a feeding trough: A Secret of the Manger”

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Don’t Carry a Thing…Not Even Anxiety

A friend posted on Facebook that a store clerk offered to carry her single loaf of bread to the car. Was he trying to get a tip? I was skeptical, but apparently he genuinely wanted to help.

And it occurred to me: if this young man’s heart was tender enough to want to carry a loaf of bread for a stranger, how much more- and heavier things does God want to carry for us?  Cares, anxieties, fears.. the stuff that keeps me up at night or makes me want to quit.. Continue reading “Don’t Carry a Thing…Not Even Anxiety”

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Present yet Invisible: How to Keep Hope in Despair

It was a big deal. My kids were watching the Disney classic, Cinderella for the first time. I sat with them, enjoying the nostalgia and reliving the story. Can you imagine a life withcinderella servant that oppression and injustice…? Being a slave in your own home?

Isn’t this happening to all Humanity at this time…?

And then the dramatic scene where the sisters rip her dress to shreds. Cinderella runs to the garden, weeping and in despair. The whole atmosphere changed in our house.
Continue reading “Present yet Invisible: How to Keep Hope in Despair”

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“Wild Kids, Wild God : 31 Days Looking into God’s Heart” [Start Here!]

Welcome! This is part of a #Write31Days Challenge whereby I hope to write a post each day (atleast, that’s the plan). But I’m not so good at doing anything ‘daily’ except waking up, so this is a challenge indeed! (Grace Please!)

Topic: “Wild Kids, Wild God: 31 Days of Looking into God’s Heart.”  Continue reading ““Wild Kids, Wild God : 31 Days Looking into God’s Heart” [Start Here!]”

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Pearl and Mother of Pearl – You are God’s Magnum Opus

Pearl formation is a mysterious process, and despite our scientific advances we’ve yet to create one outside the “womb” of an oyster.* Reflecting on this and our relationship with God (with the hope of not sounding blasphemous on one side, or religious on the other) here are some thoughts:

On the surface, God, like the Oyster, may seem Hard: rigid rules, drastic consequences… a distant and frightening God. But cut the oyster open and you discover something Soft—God’s Heart is more tender than we dared to dream… Continue reading “Pearl and Mother of Pearl – You are God’s Magnum Opus”

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Life like Contractions

Things are going well. You got some sleep, had a moment to shower and are about to start the day. Then it begins…..pressures piling up, minute by minute, moment by moment.

The kids are yelling and whining- each about something different, the baby is crying upstairs for milk, your husband is in bed sick, quick–take a deep breath before you lose it!.. Continue reading “Life like Contractions”

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The Stars are always Shining, Even if you Don’t See Them

Today is a grey, rainy day. My home is a bit chilly and everyone is sleepy. In our spirits, we can  experience “grey days”–and that may be putting it mildly. We can feel dark clouds of gloom, hopes dashed, spirits crushed, lonely in a deep pit. But like the grey day, somewhere in the sky there is the sun… Continue reading “The Stars are always Shining, Even if you Don’t See Them”

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Keep Moving Forward–Grace and Choices

If you’ve ever been on a bike you know that slowing down too much can cause you to fall. You have to keep moving in order to keep steady. I think life can be like this–we keep moving forward, or we start to fall… Continue reading “Keep Moving Forward–Grace and Choices”