Friends and Fire

Wow!  I just returned from an amazing weekend.  I work for FamilyLife®.  Every year they encourage the women to attend a women only retreat.  I attended this year and feel rekindled.  To be rekindled, is to have your fire (energy) renewed in such a way as to support a greater fire.  Think about it.  You light kindling for the purpose of building a bigger fire.  Well, it's fortunate that I feel that way as the theme really was "Women Rekindled." 

There is so much to say about the retreat; but I feel to give it the attention it deserves, I will need to really contemplate some of the ideas for a little longer before I blog on them.  The neural system is running wild with thoughts and ideas as my heart beats wildly in anticipation of what the Lord may bring from this.  With that said, I will focus on the one item that I can write on now—FRIENDS. 

One thing the Lord has shown me in the past few years is that we need friends.

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  Galatians 6:2

 I was reminded of that again this weekend.  This weekend about a hundred christian women with a cause in common met together and shared openly and honestly about life's trials.  The burdens spanned a wide variety of issues like premies, children in the military, illness, how to rear children, how to overcome betrayal, death of loved ones, and even dealing with robbery.  Not a one of us could solve another's problems, but we could listen, pray, encourage, and do small things (bake, clean, serve) to help. 

I was particularly blessed by my roommates.  They are two of the kindest, most generous, and most real people I know.  Sharon and Tammy let me share with them my struggles with forgiveness.  (That's another issue for another blog.)  I shared with them openly and honestly and they encouraged me and loved me.  THAT is what it is about my fellow christians.  Loving each other unconditionally is exactly what Christ modeled for us and exhorted us to do.  It is how the world can tell that we are God's children, because we have love for each other. 

I encourage you to find a friend for accountability and encouragement.  In your church, look for someone who shows signs of being open and real.  Someone who is active in the church and has a fire for the Lord.  If you are new to your church, ask your pastor to help you connect with someone.  We all need the encouragement. Also, be willing to listen as well as have someone listen.  Be willing to serve and willing to let someone else serve you.  I've seen and experienced the results of pride that says "I don't need help.  I can take care of myself.  This isn't big enough to bother anyone with.  I don't want to be a bother."  (You get to experience depression and the feeling that no one cares.)  When that happens, you rob yourself of one of God's gifts to you and you rob someone else of a blessing.

I hope you catch a spark from my kindling.  I have more to share and more to do.  So do you. 

What a Welcome

I had a normal morning. Trouble with the car, slow traffic, a long drive, and a late arrival would seem to be the start of a horrible day. However, upon walking into my office, Toblerone was waiting to greet me.

The Toblerone was a thank you from a co-worker that brought a smile to my face and set the tone for my day. The giver was under no obligation. It was an act of kindness. It reminds me that we can all do something to make the world around us better.

There are many people who are takers. They take all they can materially and emotionally from those in their lives. Those who take are always looking for more and will never be satiated. For these people, you should place boundaries. Know when the giving becomes too much. When possible remove these people from your life. If you are one, stop.

We can choose to be givers. Give of your time, appreciation, and talents. Most people remember the kind words and deeds that you do for them. And you never know what may result from your good deed. I am reminded of the movie Pay It Forward. For each good deed done to you, pay forward three good deeds to someone else.

Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy are some of the more well known people, who make it a practice to do good to others. They passed that on to their children.

However, what we do doesn't have to be huge. I have a wonderful friend who's a photographer. She often pays for her Starbucks and that of the people behind her. Just holding the door for someone who has their arms full can be the one thing that goes well for that person all day.

As Leigh Ann Tuohy has said, "You think you can't make a difference, that 'my little bit won't matter.' It will matter."

The Toblerone made a difference for me.

Zoo Trip

So last week, Mulberry Baptist Church took a trip to the Little Rock Zoo. The idea was to reinforce the previous week's lesson on creation. The little ones had the opportunity to look at some of the many wonderful animals that God created. In fact, I had to opportunity to look at one a bit closer than I really wanted. During the animal show, a beautiful barn owl flew so close to me it hit the edge of my camera.

The day was beautiful, sunny, and most importantly cool. There were 25 people in our church group. Kevin and I brought four of the young one's. Two are my wonderful nephews, Joey and James. They spent the night with Aunt Bonnie and the next morning ate green eggs and ham. So while at the zoo, we looked for green chickens to replace the green eggs we used that morning. It was quite fun.

The day was definitely an answer to a five-year-old's prayer. "God, please make tomorrow fun. And make everyone have a good day. Amen."

Losing Track

Do you ever find yourself losing track of things that are important to you because life has distracted you? Well, that's what has happened with me. I was asked yesterday whether or not I had a blog and realized that I did, but I had lost track of it. Wow! Writing is important to me, but somehow I've let life distract me.

As the president of the Little Rock Chapter of American Christian Writers, I started the blog, so I could tell others how easy it is to create a blog. The part I am beginning to understand now is how hard it is to maintain it. One needs to have a schedule and a plan. As I mentioned in my Honeymooners article, life gets complicated and goes by quickly.

Having a plan for our writing is the Little Rock Chapter of American Christian Writers' focus for 2010. If we don't have a plan, which is like our road map, then we will never reach our destination. So, here I am implementing a new plan for me. For now, my challenge is to write one blog a week.

What one thing is important to you that you've put off? Why have you put it off? What kind of plan can you put in place to help you to achieve your goal? Put it in writing and get a friend to help hold you accountable. Good luck!

Honeymooners

My new husband and I returned from our honeymoon several weeks ago. For the most part, we were happy idyllic young lovers looking through rose colored glasses upon a beautiful world. Of course, that is pretty easy to achieve on a cruise ship upon the Gulf of Mexico where all your needs are catered to, and you occasionally stop someplace exotic and new like Cozumel.

We had so much fun. We toured the Mayan ruins at Dzibilchaltun outside of Progresso in the Yucatan. We toured the Mayan ruins on Cozumel. We ate wonderful meals and enjoyed each others company. Then we came home.

Life hit us fast and hard when we returned. We arrived home late Saturday night after being delayed by a fog that shut down the port preventing us from docking for about four hours. We woke up to go to church the next morning. (He's the pastor.) And we arrived just on time. A few moments later, one of our church members passed away right there in the pew.

Our life just sort of went from one thing to another thing in a rush including my love's stomach virus. So here we are still newly married, but so very different from the couple on the cruise. There are no rose colored glasses. No one is taking care of our every need and whim. We must now learn to cooperate with each other. I've learned that he talks a LOT. I don't. He's learned that I need quiet time and plenty of rest or I am a crab apple. I am learning that I am very short-tempered when I wake up. And I am learning to bite my tongue and apologize for unnecessary crabbiness.

The funniest moment to me was when we had only been in real life for a day or two and both of us had similar thoughts. I was wondering when he was going back home, and he was trying to figure how late we were going to be out so he could make his long drive home. For a second, we had forgotten that we are married and there won't be anymore separating and going our own way at the end of the day. We don't really want to, because we really do love each other.

A honeymoon is not real life. We shouldn't be surprised that when we get back to real life that there will be a period of adjusting. We are two selfish ('cause face it, we're all selfish) people trying to mesh our lives together. With God's help, we can do it and do it well. So...welcome to real life honeymooners!

Into the Lions' Den

Hello, World!

I've avoided creating a blog for the simple fact that once you post something for the world, you open yourself to criticism and judgement. Life is hard enough without creating more stress for oneself. However as president of the Little Rock Chapter of the American Christian Writers, I want to encourage our members to overcome their fears and get their writing into the hands of publishers, the internet, or whatever area it is they write for. So I need to model what I say.

So, here I am world. I am a Christian. If you decide to follow or read this blog and think that I will say and or do everything right, you will be disappointed. I'm not here to argue my beliefs. You can agree or disagree. Fellow Christians, if you think I will always agree with you because you are a Christian, you too will be disappointed.

So I enter into the Lions' Den also known as the internet praying that God will protect me from harm.