life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the month “March, 2012”

21 Mar 2012

Do you treat YOURSELF as a beloved child of God?

Claiming the Sacredness of Our Being

Are we friends with ourselves? Do we love who we are? These are important questions because we cannot develop good friendships with others unless we have befriended ourselves.

How then do we befriend ourselves? We have to start by acknowledging the truth of ourselves. We are beautiful but also limited, rich but also poor, generous but also worried about our security. Yet beyond all that we are people with souls, sparks of the divine. To acknowledge the truth of ourselves is to claim the sacredness of our being, without fully understanding it. Our deepest being escapes our own mental or emotional grasp. But when we trust that our souls are embraced by a loving God, we can befriend ourselves and reach out to others in loving relationships.

Henri Nouwen
http://www.henrinouwen.org/

Posted in art, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, confidence, find art at pinterest, Growth, Habits, Happiness, Life, Love, People, Purpose, Reality, Reflection, Relationships, Respect, thankfulness, Thoughts, time, Today, Trust, truth | Leave a comment

20 Mar 2012

Might need this bat for mine…

Batting!

Toward the end of winter I came upon
the Lord on a diamond, batting.

I said, “ Lord, what are you doing?”
“These are your sins,” he said,

as a shadowy figure on the mound
with a vicious arm pitched.

He had no instinct: swung at everything,
even dirtballs. And hit ’em every time.

He had a beautiful swing,
fluid, sure, and joyful.

He hit pitch after pitch, endlessly.
I lost myself, watching.

“Out of the park” he said, his eye
on a nasty looking knuckleball,

and swung like a dancer,
gracefully unwinding. Chock!

It rose up over the fence, over the trees,
released from all earthly bonds,

floating free until it disappeared,
infinitely gone, still rising.

He watched it go, as if
he’d never seen such a beautiful thing.

“I love this game,” he grinned,
and set for another pitch.

I think he was honestly
pleased with himself.

______________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Used With Permission
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

happy spring training baseball people!

Posted in art, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, confidence, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, fun, Gratitude, Habits, Happiness, Hope, Imagine, inspiration, Joy, laugh, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, People, Poetry, Reflection, Spring, thankfulness, Thoughts, time, Today, Trust, truth | Leave a comment

19 Mar 2012

Inspiration is everywhere…keep your eyes open!

Posted in Adventure, art, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, Blessing, Choice, courage, create, determination, Dreams, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, fun, inspiration, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, music, People, strength, Tenderness, thankfulness, Thoughts, time, Today, Trust, truth | Leave a comment

18 Mar 2012

1 Comment

We are what we do! Starts with our thoughts! Make good choices!

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 2 peter 1:5-8

Posted in beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, Blessing, Change, Choice, confidence, courage, create, determination, do, Faith, find art at pinterest, Habits, Happiness, Letting Go, Life, light, Love, Patience, People, Prayer, Purpose, Relationships, strength, success, Tenderness, thankfulness, Thoughts, time, Today, Trust, truth, Vulnerability

17 Mar 2012

We are never Alone…

Last night we ended up at the hospital with Chris’ mom. We got in bed at 4:57 AM this morning. We left Bernice in the ICU and came home to get some sleep and will head back there in a bit.

The Dr. (who looked more like a waiter at a TGI Friday’s) was really wonderful and explained her condition in very simple layman’s terms for us – her arota , the large vein coming out of her heart is enlarged and they will need to decide a treatment plan – hopefully not surgery – but that is not his expertise and he couldn’t tell us what the surgeons would decide. I thought it was nice he explained to her that surgeons usually have a ‘God-type’ complex and are not ‘people’ oriented and may not have a great bedside manner, but are very much experts in surgery and they are the best people to correct what is happening to her heart.

I understand what he was saying, but I wanted to tell him that’s not how, or who, God is – that is just the idea that people have decided is who God is!!!

As the night wore on and we waited for tests, waited for a room, waited for news, waited to sleep, waiting…waiting….this morning as I think about the coming days of unknown. I am reminded, and encouraged by this song, which I love! Thanks to Mandisa! We are never alone – He is with us – always – no matter what!