life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “Encouragement”
return
Walking in the woods this morning
I was distracted; my mind wandered
out of the woods, far away from them
and from me. I kept having to return
to the woods, return to this morning,
return to myself. Then I would leave again.
The trees called out to me,
the leaves gently turning fall colors,
the sun reaching its long arms through them
to me, to me walking there,
but I didn’t notice.
But they were still there, weren’t they,
calling to me, reaching out, surrounding me.
Most of the time I don’t notice God
in this world, in the people around me,
in all that is. But God is still there,
calling, reaching out, surrounding.
If we can’t live in holiness all the time
we can remember now and then.
We can return. God is still there,
waiting for us. Each moment
is a return.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
living
Just like everyone alive
Your days will be full of threads
Weaving your life into a tapestry
There will be days of great joy
as well as, ones of overwhelming sorrow
Good days 
Bad days
Medium days
Average days
Snow days
Hazy days
All your days you will meet circumstances hard to accept and embrace
Some things you will have to let go of in order to overcome
Life is not about being fair –
rain falls on everyone
Life is about winning with the cards you hold
Winning doesn’t mean being rich and famous
Winning means living up to your very best
Winning means living this amazing thing called life
experiencing love, peace and joy along the way
Just remember this –
Only you can take control of your own wild and precious life
there is no life by proxy
You’ll be as happy as you decide to be
You will be as healthy, as possible, based on your genes and how you treat your body –
eating, drinking, exercise
You’ll choose to accept or reject what is offered
You’ll do what you want to do
Go where you want to go
See things the way you want to see them
Keep holding on to what is most important to you
– even if you destroy it, or it destroys you –
so choose your most important things wisely
You’ll love who you love
Be who you are
You will be worth as much as you decide you are
You will have as much love as you allow inside your heart
You will have as much of God as you seek
You will inhabit your life, or not
All this will have nothing to do with your circumstances
It will all be about your thoughts and your choices
While you are given this gift of life, while you are bestowed with holy breath
you have the power to change your thoughts
You can always make new choices
AL 9/20/13
Grace is the backbone of every woman (and man) still standing. – Ann Voskamp
My strength did not come from lifting weights. My strength came from lifting myself up when I was knocked down.
– Bob Moore
If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going. – Harriet Tubman
I woke with words from The Lord’s Prayer in my head. Over and over it came, in the form of a song, “Lead me not into temptation, deliver me from evil”. It is my prayer today…all day. I am writing it, thinking about it, studying why it is in my head. It is an exciting prayer for me and one which, I believe, is grounded in my years of making mistakes, walking through brokenness and learning to have faith in this mystery, the LOVE which is so much more than I will ever understand in this life.
As I was thinking about these words this morning, I remember my prayer, many years ago now, for God to give me a REAL faith. If I was going to embrace this whole thing, I wanted to experience it. I wanted to know for sure it was for me and about me. I began to ask, seek and knock on purpose, but it was always one of those things that was somewhat conditional – IF it didn’t bring me what I wanted – if I didn’t really know for sure, even a nibble of doubt, I would say, ‘There is no God.” and walk away for something better. Easy, right?
For 22 years I lived in that ‘testing’ period where God became so much more, where Christ became my partner in life and where the Spirit of God moved and poured grace over me, slowly moving me from where I was into a place where I could no longer stand on the sidelines. I went through some devastating years. HARD stuff, and through it all God was there. Over the years of struggle God became real, intimate, more than I could ever hope, dream or understand. So, in October of 2011, when God came to me and asked me to commit or walk away, there was only one way I could respond. Only one thing I could do. I could only fall on my humble face say,’ YES, Lord, I know You. I am Yours. Not my will, Yours be done.”
I no longer need to ask for my faith to be real. It is real. A guy asked me one time if I project I was writing was “faith-based” to which I replied, “everything about my living is faith-based”. There is no division in my life any more. Commitment means ALL in. 100%. If there is even a hang nail that is not committed, then there is no commitment. It took me many years to learn this, I hope others are not such slow learners. haha
Soooo, here I stand, all in, singing a new song, “lead me not into temptation, deliver me from evil. ooooo-o oooooo-o” and I say thank you, because I have received the promise that what I seek I will find, and I move through the day knowing grace is my path, because everything is grace.
and I read the words of those who encourage me to get back up when I fall, and the words of heroes like Harriet Tubman, “Keep Going. If you want freedom – keep going. Don’t ever stop!” and the daily words of Ann Voskamp, which always move me and break me open:
She wasn’t afraid of swimming in the deep end, way out of her comfort zone.
When you can’t touch bottom, you touch the depths of God.
– Ann Voskamp
http://www.aholyexperience.com/
Praise Song for the Day
Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other, catching each other’s
eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.
All about us is noise. All about us is
noise and bramble, thorn and din, each
one of our ancestors on our tongues.
Someone is stitching up a hem, darning
a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.
Someone is trying to make music somewhere,
with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum,
with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky.
A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.
We encounter each other in words, words
spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,
words to consider, reconsider.
We cross dirt roads and highways that mark
the will of someone and then others, who said
I need to see what’s on the other side.
I know there’s something better down the road.
We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,
picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.
Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,
the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables.
Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?
Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.
In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,
praise song for walking forward in that light.
by Elizabeth Alexander
http://www.elizabethalexander.net/home.html
every choice matters…one small step at a time
Petit à petit, l’oiseau fait son nid.
Every little bit helps.
“Little by little, the bird builds its nest.”
kindness is always right – mastin kipp
The apostle Paul writes to the Romans: “Bless your persecutors; never curse them, bless them. … Never pay back evil with evil. … Never try to get revenge. … If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink. … Do not be mastered by evil, but master evil with good” (Romans 12:14-21). These words cut to the heart of the spiritual life. They make it clear what it means to choose life, not death, to choose blessings not curses. But what is asked of us here goes against the grain of our human nature. We will only be able to act according to Paul’s words by knowing with our whole beings that what we are asked to do for others is what God has done for us.
– Henri Nouwen
www.henrinouwen.org
a little help from my friends
The Celtic understanding of friendship finds its inspiration and culmination in the sublime notion of the anam cara. Anam is the Gaelic word for soul; cara is the word for friend. The anam cara was a person to whom you could reveal the hidden intimacies of your life. This friendship was an act of recognition and belonging. When you had an anam cara, your friendship cut across all convention and category. You were joined in an ancient and eternal way with the friend of your soul.
– John O’Donohue
Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together. – Brené Brown
Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.
Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.
Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable.
Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.
– Brené Brown http://www.brenebrown.com/
life: acoustic & amplified 