Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Asking Questions with 5 W's and 1 H.

Hi everyone…       
Another week has passed and yet I still feel at a loss for words to write on my blog page. I suppose I need to just let my thoughts and feelings flow and share the deeper pulse of my heart. Yet, even that seems so difficult for me to do.
I’m reminded of the writings and the devotions that Ann Voskamp has shared (some her own, some are guest writers) on her blog, “A Holy Experience”. God had shown me so much whenever I read her daily posts. I’ve noticed over the years that she often poses questions (using the 5W’s and 1H) in the titles of each post. Those questions form a theme for the meat of the writing. 

As summer quickly fades out and the fall season begins, I have been reflecting on not only what I have learned, but also what God is teaching me through some very difficult circumstances. Most of these lessons have been nothing short of excruciatingly difficult. Yet, as I have pulled through each of them, I come out renewed and so much wiser and stronger.


I noticed in Ann's blog, that the same has often taken place. I decided to share some lessons from some of her recent posts that I have also learned. 

Here are the questions posed:
When…without explanation, I was accused and rejected, I felt helpless and had no strength to defend myself. I had not been anchored in Christ's Word.
My spirit was crumbling, but deep down there was a vapor of strength. I cried to God, “Rescue me, I cannot rescue myself.”




What…do I do when I feel lost, alone, and am hurting?
There were times in my life when I was desperate for God’s presence. When I decided to spend more time in God’s presence He spoke to me.
  • ·       God yearns to spend quiet moments with us and help us grow more and more aware of His presence as we seek Him. He says, “When no one else seems to understand you, simply draw closer to Me.” He has made Himself completely accessible to you and is waiting for you to come to Him. So accept His invitation, enter in, allow yourself to be overwhelmed by God — and then declare His glorious being to the world (http://www.aholyexperience.com/2015/08/your-invitation-to-exhale-all-the-stress/ )



Where…do I go when I have to make a decision? Where do I turn when the seasons of change in my life start taking place?
There were some days I needed wise words from an older, more experienced mentor. And some days I needed crazy laughter and long sunlight and to really just get outside and feel life and breathe… And there were days when change was painfully hard.
  • ·       I thank God that as I lift up my foot to step into the next season, He is graciously placing it down exactly where it should fall, knowing I can only experience the true goodness of one season — because of the others I have gone through.

(http://www.aholyexperience.com/2015/09/when-change-is-hard-its-hard-to-say-goodbye-to-a-season/ )

Who… is my hope, my anchor, my strength?  Who do I give thanks to when I am tearing through what He has so graciously given me in this season of my life?
I’m very guilty of rushing about – from my house to work to my mom’s house, and back to my house again – and, all the while, my mind is racing, my blood pressure is rising and all I can think about is what’s next…And I forget that these days are gifts - Gifts given by a most gracious Father.
  • ·       We need to stop racing – and start resting, to take a break  – and just start listening, to stop worrying about what’s next and to be amazed by what’s right in front of us. Because His goodness, His grace and His glory – they’re all around. We just need to keep our eyes open and listen to a gentle beckoning : “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days;  let me know how fleeting my life is.  You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be. But now, Lord, what do I look for?  My hope is in you.” (Ps. 39:4-7)

(http://www.aholyexperience.com/2015/08/how-to-slow-down-savor-now/ ) 



Why… now, this moment in history, is the world  facing the worst crisis in decades?
I’ve heard and seen the heart-stopping stories. And I know that the Love of God, for such a time as now, will not be stopped.



How…should I feel about the people who strike a difficult cord in my life? How do I respond to those who broke my heart and those who have been my rock?
I obsessed over pushy demands, angry words, and hurtful threats. From our summer vacation to moving my son up north, I learned that summer’s gifts are not always what I expect – but it’s everything I need.




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Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Summer Activities with "Eyes Wide Open"

It has been a few months since I last posted here. due to taking some time off to contemplate my next steps in blogging. As I explained in my last post, life is a journey and an adventure. Finding the path that is best for myself can sometimes get overwhelming. I'm still not positive where I'm at with blogging. Summer has been so full, so far. I feel like my blogging still needs to take a back burner and rest a bit. I've been posting more relaxed and fun posts over at my other blog, "Cairn Cottage", which is less demanding of my time. 

I wanted to briefly catch you all up on what I've been doing this summer. We did take our 2-week vacation of  the west coast and PNW states, which was breathtaking, but challenging(for an explination, read my last post, A Nomadic Calling) We have also enjoyed time with family and had a few celebrations together. As I share these photos, I also decided to share some beautiful

Quotes from
Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything 
by Steve DeWitt
“When we experience a moment of beauty, we should turn wonder into worship by giving thanks to God for His goodness in providing it, for His creativity in making it, or simply for our pleasure in experiencing it.” (119)
Flowers from my garden at our lake home.
"Beauty was created by God for a purpose: to give us the experience of wonder. And wonder, in turn, is intended to lead us to the ultimate human expression and privilege: worship. Beauty is both a gift and a map. It is a gift to be enjoyed and a map to be followed back to the source of the beauty with praise and thanksgiving.” (91)
Mama and baby swans that swam in front of our house on the lake.
“Glory is the light of divine delight. Specifically, it is the brilliant, emanating overflow expression of God’s infinite delight in being God. Glory light expresses God’s glorious worth. God chooses to express His invisible, infinite worth in a visible, created way. A created thing can reflect or express a spiritual reality. Glory to us looks like light. It is bright. It is radiant.” (48)
Vacation - Mt. Ranier, WA
“God gleams from every molecule and atom of this universe. He is the beauty within and beyond every wonder-creating sensory experience. As we delight in God, our senses search for opportunities to enjoy Him in the pleasurable sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures all around us.” (122)
Vacation - Multnomah Falls, OR
“Creation speaks to us — every day, all the time, constantly shouting truths about spiritual reality. Did you hear it this morning as you got up? Did you feel any truth about God this morning as you took a hot shower? Did you taste any truth as you delighted in your morning coffee? Did you hear any divine reality as you heard a bird singing? Did you see any truth as you saw the blue of the sky? What have you actually felt, tasted, touched, seen, and heard today? The whole earth is filled with His glory. Every day creation shouts to us, God is glorious! God is creator! God is provider! God is love! God is there! . . . Everywhere I look, everything I feel, hear, smell, and taste transmits the beauty of God through the beauty of creation. He is the beauty behind all beauty.” (63–64)

Vacation - Along the Oregon coast
Coming together feels great! Relational unity is humanity at its supreme and highest ideal. Have you ever wondered why the greatest memories of our lives are not things we bought or sites we saw or foods we ate? Think about your greatest memories. They probably have something to do with times of closeness with a parent, a child, a spouse, or a friend. Relational unity is beautiful because all the experiential harmonies of this world whisper of the wondrous beauty of the Godhead’s relational three-ness and oneness.”
My "blog" friend, Joan, and me. We got to meet 'in real person1' after 2 years connecting via our blogs.
Our oldest grandson graduated high school!!
“We enjoy holidays (the coming together of family), weddings and anniversaries (celebrations of the union of marriage), and Fourth of July parades (the unity of community and nation). 35)
Fourth of July at our house with family
“As Romans 11:36 states, all things are from God and to God. Beauty boomerangs from God into created beauty, then through the senses and soul of the image-bearer, and finally back to God with praise and glory.” (69)




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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

The Love Chronicles: A Family Built with Love

Hello, bloggy friends! 
 Valentine's Day is just 2 days away!  Are you ready?
 I have been writing on 2 subjects lately that are related and both are very important to me... family and love....
This is the second of a series of posts I am writing on…called 
“The Love Chronicles”.  
To read Part 1, go HERE
In that post, I wrote about the love letters, shared between my grandparents during their courting days. 
I feel so blessed to have been raised by two loving Christian parents, as well. My father, who was my grandparent's youngest son, lived down the street from my mother. (Yes, they were actually neighbors). Interestingly enough, they really didn't know or meet each other until my mom graduated from high school....that was because my father was 12 years her senior. He was graduating high school when she was just starting to go to school. By the time they met, he had accomplished a lot in his life already...college, going into the navy, and working for his father's furniture business. 
Below is a photo of dad, when he was in the Navy. He is the one wearing the hat on the right.

The Furniture Mart, which was opened by my grandfather(standing on the right), and then run by my father(on the left) for over 50 years.
My parents were married in the little church, (pictured below), located just a few blocks from where they grew up. My mom told me that the picture of the wedding party was actually staged and taken after they were married. You can see people mingling in the background.
Nine months after they married, my oldest brother was born. 21 months after that, my other brother came along, followed by me, then my baby sister. It became a full house very quickly!
Our families on both sides were very close-knit. My parents built their first house on the same road they grew up on, and across the street from my paternal grandparents. Most weekends and holidays were spent at one or the other of my grandparents houses.
Below: Grandpa and Grandma with me(on the right) and my siblings.
Over the years, my mom made sure we would get annual family photos. The first photo(below) was taken in our living room. (I remember the fake brick wall behind us.) The other 2 were taken in our back yard. My dad loved photography and took all these with a timer, I'm sure. For many years he also developed all his film in a darkroom he built in our basement. I love looking at these pictures and seeing all the changes in each of us in just a few years time. (Can you find me in each pic?)
I love the photo(below) of my parents from the 70's. They were so serious looking. I suppose raising 4 children on 2 middle-class incomes wasn't easy. My father ran the family furniture store and my mother had her own beauty shop, which she ran in the back of our house.
I can honestly say, even with all the chaos and activity, our house was filled with lots of love...especially the love of extended family. God surely gave me lots of great examples of His love through my family's  time spent together, hearing and reading the Word of God, and attending church regularly.


"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."
Helen Keller

To read the other post in my series,
The Love Chronicles
For Part 1 - click HERE
For Part 3 - click HERE
Have a blessed day!




Linking up at these blog hops:

Link and Mingle Link-up @ After the Manner of Happiness

Faith Filled Friday @ Missional Women


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Sunday, February 8, 2015

The Love Chronicles: Grandfather's Love letters

With February being the month that contains Valentine's Day(and  being that I just recently celebrated my wedding anniversary) I have been thinking a lot about love....in relationships and God's love for each of us. 
As I began looking through some old photos and albums, I realized that my parents and their parents left me so many wonderful examples of what love truly is. In the next 3 posts, I want to share my family heirloom of love…called 
“The Love Chronicles”.

A few years ago, I was given a box, full of letters that my grandfather and grandmother wrote, during their courtship. I decided to keep the memory of their love story by putting their letters, that tell this story, in a book. I hope you enjoy reading a few excerpts from the book below….


Below is a Valentine’s Day postcard, from my grandmother to grandfather. Also enclosed was a letter, written in French.
 Bien, cheri (Well, darling)...I could not interpret most of this letter. Any French majors out there who can tell me anymore?

The letter below, shown on the original letterhead, was written by my grandfather to my grandmother. He traveled quite a lot, especially to his homeland of Michaudville, in Quebec, Canada. He often traveled by train by land and ship through the Great Lakes. 


 For a period before finally marrying my grandmother, grandfather lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana and in Canada. Below are a few samples of the letters shared between them. My grandmother’s letters are typed  in red. 
Even during their time of engagement, my grandparents related to each other as “wife” and ”hubby”. It's obvious in the letters below that my grandfather was a hopeless romantic. His words could make any woman swoon! (A true Frenchman!)

 This is a photo of my grandparents, later in life. They were married for almost 51 years, till my grandfather passed away in 1972.

What a great inheritance of love that my grandparents shared and now I can look back on that love language through their letters. Of course, I realize that love is not the same as romance…but it definitely helps to have the ability to write with a deep conviction and  share what the heart knows and experiences.
To read the rest of my series of
The Love Chronicles
To read part 2 click HERE
And part 3, click HERE


Have a blessed week!!




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Everything is Blooming!!

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