Entering a new season....

Yesterday at Doug and Susie's it was pretty clear that Grace has entered into a new season of life...walking!  She is finding it quite difficult to carry items from one place to the other while crawling and therefore, she is forced to walk.  This is a slow and unsteady process for her, but still she has to resort to this mode of movement if she wants to bring an important item with her on her journey. 

She wanted to show me this special book, but I was sitting way across the room.  After several attempts at crawling and not being able to hold on to the book (she even tried putting it in her mouth without much success) she finally stood up and walked the 7 or steps over to me.  She was very pleased with  herself when she finally delivered the book onto my lap. 

This special book holds pictures of our family that she can page through .  You can see that she has found her mommy and daddy, as well as our family picture.  **Side note - special thanks to Aunt Gwen and family for this great 1st birthday present!  She loves this book so much.  It is soft and "chewable" and also as a handle which makes it much easier to carry! 

I also noted yesterday, that all of a sudden she is using so many "baby signs"!  We have all been using these signs for many months - things like milk, more, all done, water, bye-bye, please and thank you - and now Grace is actually making her wishes known through sign.  She has grown into a toddler and left baby behind.  Yes, it is a new season for her and for all of us!

Today is also the beginning of another season - Lent.  With my Lutheran background, Lent was an important observed time for me.  I would usually being a Lenten Journey devotional and also considered "giving something up" for the 40 days of Lent.  We would be encouraged to spend extra time considering the life of Jesus each day as we contemplated His sacrifice on the cross.  Honestly, today I was thinking about how incredibly meaningful Lent has been for me over the years.  I loved helping kids understand this connecting season between the birth and the death of Jesus. During those years of bringing the message to kids, I encountered Jesus in such a deep and meaningful way.  Isn't it interesting just how many times teachers learn and grow just as much as the students?  

One of my very favorite Lenten memories is a very special time with two amazing ladies that happened to work with me - one as a parish nurse and one as a youth director.  I was the church secretary.  We had our own sort of "small group" and often prayed together and encouraged one another.  We were all reading the same devotional that Lent and one particular day, the message was on worship.  We were alone in the church and decided to go into the sanctuary and worship together.  It was a blessing that the youth director was also an amazing worship leader and singer.  There we were, just the three of us in a large room, an unlikely trio, singing our praises to Jesus.  For me that was a game changing moment.  Lent became a time of offering more worship and praise to Jesus.  It became a time of a deepening understanding of fellowship and friendship.  Instead of "giving something up" for Lent, each Lent that followed that experience became a time of growing closer to Jesus and to those most precious to me.  

It was fitting that today, Ash Wednesday, was also my small group meeting.  As I sat there and looked around at those women, I was reminded of that long ago worship time with Lynn and Jade.  And my heart was very full.  What a blessing to be moving into this new season - here in 2018 - growing closer to Jesus and being surround by my shield-sharing prayer warriors.  I believe that this new season we are all called to give out rather than give up during Lent.  Give out your love to those near and dear to you.  Give out your praise and thanksgiving to Jesus. Give out a smile to the clerk at the store.  Give out a kind word to a neighbor.  You get the idea.  It is really easy.  

I am challenging you and I am challenging myself to this 40 days of giving out.  My small group today was such a blessing, leaving me feeling filled up with warmth and love.  I can't wait to see what Jesus has in store for the next 39 days.  Won't you join me?

Jesus, you are the author and creator of seasons.  You have given us rhythms and changes in the natural to guide us through our lives.  Holy Spirit, draw us ever closer to Jesus during this season of Lent.  Remind us when we have a moment or two that we can spend it in worship and thanksgiving rather than on Facebook.  Thank you Jesus for friends who impact us so powerfully.  Amen 

Grace in the unexpected..........

I did not expect to be home tonight, sitting at my computer, blogging.  There is a speaker at a church fairly close to my house, and I have been anticipating hearing him for several weeks.  So, in spite of the "Severe Weather Warning" for a wind chill advisory, I set off for the meeting.  However, when I finally arrived at this church, there was an all out traffic jam.  The very small parking lot was full and every street was filled with cars parked on both sides.  I drove around for several minutes and then decided that I would have a very long walk (in the very cold) if I even could find a place to park.  So I turned around and headed for home.  On the way home, all I could think about was there MUST be a reason that I was missing this speaker!

Isn't it interesting how easily we get distracted when things don't go as we had planned?  Yes, I was very distracted and disappointed on my way home.  But, thankfully I had on my favorite Christian Radio station and there it was.....a great song about grace.  In all situations.  Grace.  So I took a couple of deep breathes, and gave myself some grace.  And then came home to my nice warm house.
And this project.........

 I've been working on this cross stitch for a long time.  And as I am nearing the completion of this project, all I can see are all of the "not perfect" parts of this piece.  It is NOT turning out exactly as I had imagined.   Yet another area where I need to give myself a bit of grace.  But I am hoping when this is completed, all of those imperfections will make this a special, one of a kind piece.

This week marked the beginning of the Lenten Season.   I have marked this time in many different ways over the past years.  When my children were young we always did a daily devotion.  One year I did a very intensive Bible study that actually took a bit of time each day to complete.  I remember a year that everyone in my church was challenged to commit to ADD minutes of Bible reading rather than giving something up.  Today I saw a Facebook "Lenten Challenge" that was interesting.  Someone had taken a large black garbage bag and attached a card with this challenge.... each day during lent, find something in your closet or cupboard that you don't need and/or use and put it into that bag.  At the end of the Lenten season you will have a large bag of items to donate to someone else.  Remember that one man's trash in another man's treasure! As an added bonus you will gain a closet that has been cleared of unused items and more organized cupboards!  Additionally, each day you can pray for the people who will benefit from these items when they land in the resale shop.  Now this is a challenge I can sink my teeth into!

  I added some items to my bag tonight, remembering to pray for the people who might want these "treasures"!  It is a good way to keep our focus on Jesus.... on His great sacrifice for us.  These items that I am donating really don't qualify as a sacrifice to me.  Like most of us in the United States, my family is very blessed.  As I said, I came home to a warm and dry house on this cold day.  I have a closet and cupboards filled with many more items than I really need.  I am sure I will be adding prayers of thankfulness to those prayers over each item.

So along with showing some extra grace to yourself  (and others) when your plans don't turn out as your expected, you can join me in this Lenten challenge.  

Jesus, thank you so much for music that speaks to me.  Thank you for grace in those times of disappointment and distraction.  Holy Spirit help us to keep our focus on Jesus during this time Lent.  And remind us how blessed we are, in spite of those unexpected things!  Amen

Praying for a "pattern design" of my own......

My last post described a bit of the very challenging times I have been having at work.  Quite honestly, I have been having a bit of challenging times in ALL areas of my life lately.  I have felt a bit lost and without clear direction.  And I feel as if I can not get all the pieces of my life to fit together in a meaningful way.  Today I had the following revelation.........   It helps to know what the pattern design is when you are trying to fit the pieces together!

This afternoon I worked with one of those "challenging kids" at the table with the pattern blocks.  Usually it is difficult to get the most active kids to sit at the table long enough to finish the picture.  But this afternoon, this cute little boy, actually sat with me and figured out this entire picture of a fish.  He was SOOOOO proud when it was done.  It is really quite hard to place the pieces on the shining surface of the picture and get them to stay in place when you add additional pieces.  But he worked very slowly and carefully and completed the task.   Don't you just love that smile and shine in his eye! 

On the way home I was thinking about this picture. (I actually took this photo to show his mom since we had to clean up the blocks).  Wouldn't it be nice to have a picture like this when we are trying to make all the different parts of our life fit together?  I don't know what the picture on my design would be right now.  Is it a fish (the earliest symbol of a Christian)? Or how about a cross?  And isn't it interesting that this picture is actually also a fish?  Would that help me make sense of the lack of a clear direction that I have been feeling for some time? 

I know that the most important thing to me, is to grow in my relationship with Jesus.  So I guess that answers this question.  My pattern design just needs to be Jesus and making all the pieces of my life fit the Jesus design.  Some of the pieces of my life fit very nicely into that design without much trouble. Other pieces are more difficult.  And possibly I might have to remove some things that just won't fit at all. 

Lent is a good time to be doing this reflection.  First I think I'll be praying and asking for a clear "design" so that I know exactly what I am working towards.  And then I will be trusting the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom and direction as I work on fitting everything into whatever that design is. 

Jesus, thank you for who you are.  It is amazing to me that you love us so much.   Thank you for this special time of Lent when we can step back and evaluate our relationship with you.   Holy Spirit, thank you for using pattern blocks and challenging little boys to remind me that I am sometimes challenging to you.  What a gift it is to know you are patient with us.  Help all of us to remember that we need to find our design to make things in our life fit.  Amen