Glory | life: acoustic & amplified

Archive for the category “Glory”

My strength did not come from lifting weights. My strength came from lifting myself up when I was knocked down.
– Bob Moore

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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/

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, courage, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Glory, Gospel, grace, Gratitude, Life, receiving, soul and spirit, strength

12 Sep 2013

1 Comment

my hero

I went to visit my sister, Nancy, yesterday evening at her home. On Tuesday she went through a 10 1/2 hour heart procedure. Much of the time she was awake. She was strapped down during this, and for 8 long hours afterward, as it was imperative that she didn’t move due to them going into her heart through both sides of her groin in both of her main arteries. Can you imagine?

My sister is a rock star! Not only does she look fantastic (you would truly never know she was one bit sick) but she has a huge sense of humor about it and the best attitude ever. I am so grateful for her example and, I know, if I ever experience anything like this, and as an aging human I probably will, I will make every effort to follow the example my sister has shown me. What an amazing and beautiful person she is. I am so grateful for her. So grateful for life and love and sisters.

Big thanks to all my readers for all the prayer, for the Doctors and staff who worked so long and hard, for her amazing husband, Richard, for loving her so much, and for family. I am truly blessed and so grateful to God for peace and rest during this time.

Having God in my life does not mean I will never have a problem, it does not mean that my life won’t be messy or that bad things won’t happen to me. My faith means that I have help during these times, that I can trust there is more going on than my small slice of the picture, that I don’t have to worry or be anxious, because I am able to trust that this life unfolds just as it should and there is always love enough to get me through the dark. That’s what makes all the difference to me. Peace in the storm – it’s the most amazing way to live and anyone can have this gift. Where ever I am, Jesus will still be there. Best thing ever? Love such as this is free to all who choose it. Good stuff, my friends, very good stuff.

Posted in attitude, beloved, Blessing, Choice, courage, find art at pinterest, Glory, grace, Gratitude, healing, inspiration, Love, Miracles, Prayer, Relationships, thankfulness

08 Sep 2013

changing grace

this was the reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little you may know me better there.
– Aslan (The Chronicles of Narnia)
– C S Lewis

I recently read the book Proof of Heaven by Dr. Eben Alexander http://www.lifebeyonddeath.net/ and enjoyed it so much, I also related to much of it, not because I have had a return from death experience, but because I have met and talked to God in some unusual places over these past years and have had glimpses of God and mystery which have changed me, and opened me, forever.

We are brought to these places so that we may know God, just a little, better here in this broken world. We are given glimpses, shaded bits of glory, the pieces we are ready to receive, come to us, changing our lives forever, as we attempt to absorb the brilliance, so far beyond our human understanding. As Ann Voskamp says, ‘We can have as much God as we want in this life’. I believe that is true. We are given a guarantee that what we ask for and seek will be opened to us.

We grapple and try, to open our minds ever wider. We try to share, in ways we are able, this new understanding, this life changing knowledge, knowing how difficult it is to understand. We could never have understood these things happening before we went through them for ourselves, yet we also know it is too important to keep to ourselves, and we understand that, IF we, who are just ordinary people, have experienced these earth shattering moments, (and we cannot deny we have) then it is possible for others as well.

And so, we try. We put it into inadequate words and we share it however we are called, this unexpected knowledge we have been given, even as we are just a bit embarrassed at the position it puts us in. Sometimes it seems like it was a little simpler before these revelations. Yet it is also the best gift we have ever experienced and we just want others to know, to share it, to open to amazing grace. As Anne LaMotte says, ‘God’s grace comes to us right where we are, but never leaves us there’. Slowly, gloriously we are changed into glory ourselves.

When we find fellow travelers, who have experienced similar things, it is rare, joyous and wonderful to share. It gives us strength, hope and allows us to open ourselves to even more of the unlimited possibilities which are ever present and possible as we move through this place and into the place where we are so intimately known and connected.

I am so grateful for Dr. Alexander sharing his story and I am grateful I was able to read it and relate to such an un-understandable mystery and unconditional LOVE – which is our creator.

Posted in Adventure, awareness, Change, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gratitude | Leave a comment

04 Sep 2013

how to find your life

What you cling to is not household goods,
that’s not likely what you need to let go of.

What you carry is not the silver cross, stylish,
matching your outfit, fitting well with your life already.

Not the wooden one, stained with blood and drama,
not the annoyance, the “cross to bear.”

No: enter the suffering of the world;
bear it one person at a time.

Accept the weight of powerlessness, and its power;
surrender your own way that you want to get.

Let the potter reshape you
into a form not of your choosing,

a life that’s not yours,
a struggle not for you to win.

What you let go of may seem as life itself.
Let the new life be given to you.

The little cry of grief
is the weight of the hand on the clay.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

New Newsletter Issue at Songs From the Valley

http://songsfromthevalley.com/

Posted in awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, grace, Gratitude, Letting Go, Life, Losing, mystery, power | Leave a comment

31 Aug 2013

keep going…

Posted in Adventure, attitude, Beliefs, courage, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Imagine, Impossible, inspiration, Letting Go, Love, Miracles, Passion | Leave a comment

23 Aug 2013

3 Comments

thank you, Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver reminds me
to let go of any need, that might linger within,
to, even try, to impress anyone,
least of all,
myself.
LET GO…
just stay alert to the extravagant impressiveness around me,
puddling at my feet,
drowning my life with goodness.
To be easily astonished,
easily filled with wonder,
to allow life to boggle my mind.
To stay a child of joy and nature,
a collector of abundant miracles,
never taking one of them for granted.
To stay in awe of sunsets
and dandelions,
coffee shops
and grasshoppers.
Bears and ants.
To gasp every time I get a view of the ocean,
to be breathless at the view from a mountaintop road at sunset.
To thrill when I see a leaf change color.
To crane my neck, every single time, to catch a glimpse of sunlight on water,
and the curve of a babies cheek.
To get a chill of macabre delight
at gnarly, old toenails,
and bats hanging upside down
in a dark damp cave,
or flying around a street light as darkness falls slowly through the air.
Such things keep me alive.
These are the true riches of our living.
Extreme miracles everywhere around us.
We are here to witness,
here to share descriptions of such beauty,
even our feeble attempts are so amazing
they boggle the mind.
Thank you, Mary Oliver, for this reminder,
with your lovely vision
and every beautiful, glorious word.
We are each here to do our part,
to record our miracles
in our own way.
With our
lives,
voices,
pens,
paints,
dances,
lyrics,
artistry,
we make up this tapestry,
record the blazing glory,
of this masterpiece we live in.
We each add notes to the grand symphony of life,
no accidents,
or accidental people.
Only I can tell you the grandeur of my living space,
it is mine alone,
until I share it.
As I share,
I allow the singing of the rocks to be heard,
but also to stay a silent mystery
–
at least for those
who don’t choose to hear
this exquisite, out-of-this-world music,
playing with such brilliance, light and passion,
everywhere we go.

AL 8/23/13

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Blessing, Choice, create, Dancing, find art at pinterest, Glory, inspiration, Letting Go, Life, light, Love, Miracles, music, mystery, nature, Passion, perceptions, Poetry

15 Aug 2013

“Proceed as the way opens…”

is a Quaker axiom which is defined as: “To undertake a service or course of action without prior clarity about all the details but with confidence that divine guidance will make these apparent, and assure an appropriate outcome.”

abandoned to divine guidance
living with this confidence…
the way will open
God will provide!
This is a difficult saying,
even more difficult to fall into the arms
of mystery
and begin every day
new
in this way of living.
It is not a natural way to live.
it is a radical way to live.
doesn’t make sense,
least of all to me,
the most stubborn and selfish of girls,
the one who is known to love shoes
even more than chocolate.
it is only with the spirit that I can choose this path.
true love is its only source,
true love is radical,
it takes me to the cross,
and asks me to lay down willingly…
and because I have experienced this grace amazing,
because I know how good this love is,
because I know how much I have been forgiven,
I DO!
I peacefully give up.
I joyfully lay down.
I patiently learn to wait.
I step out into the valley
and then
I gladly learn to die.
Not my will,
Thine be done.
In earth.
In heaven.
In me.
To me.
For me.
Through me.
In spite of me.
The past year
I have walked this way
it is the only way I find
I want to live,
can now live at all;
waiting for grace
to illuminate my next step.
counting miracles every minute,
letting go of my wants,
reveals love beyond imagination.
provision at every turn,
Every bush is blazing holy.
Shoes can only be discarded.
To God be the Glory
Forever and ever
Amen

AL 8/15/13

Posted in action, Adventure, Becoming Yourself, beloved, courage, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Glory, Gospel, grace, Gratitude, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, People, power, Prayer | Leave a comment

13 Aug 2013

there’s a voice that doesn’t use words. listen. – Rumi

Infinite Presence, The Beloved, speaks,
draws the universe near with a quiet word.
Out of the heart of all things, their mysterious beauty,
the Divine radiates.

This silence is not silent,
in which God comes to us,
arrayed in the consuming flame of suns,
clothed in stormy seas of galaxies.

God summons the whole created order
to witness us hearing her voice:
“If you are in love with me,
come near.”

Creation nods, and smiles.
This is the Truth, the Source, The One.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in Alone, awareness, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gratitude, Life, music, mystery, nature, Patience, Peace, Poetry, quiet, Solitude, soul and spirit, Stars and Moonlight | Leave a comment

12 Aug 2013

2 Comments

life changing words

there are words strung together
in such beauty
in such a way
they touch secret places
of pain so deep
they have had no words
they almost don’t exist
they are so deep
so shadowy scarred and twisted
so nameless I can’t acknowledge them
because they might possibly be ghosts, or demons
and why would I disturb alien creatures,
when there is quite enough pain
right here in plain sight
to try to heal and deal with?

until these thoughts appear,
shadows become real,
in these words of another
because the other
has felt
has written
has sung
has wrestled and wrangled with
this too
and the words they have mined
from these dark, broken quarries
touch that wispy, pain-filled place
inside of me
with delicate fingers
and declare they are so,
and make them alright,
binding and healing
my broken bones
my hidden stab wounds
my almost too pain-filled to be real
merely by sharing them
and my soul says, aha!
and the roses in my heart
turn from blush to deepest crimson
and birds come and rest in these trees,
which declare every moment that
Yahweh is always gracious,
and the morning wakes up
new and alive
and love burns seven times hotter
than I ever thought possible
and I count gift after gift
of never-before-seen riches at my fingertips
as I step into a life
that matters
because I am beloved
because I understand myself better
and the meaning of,
It is what it is,
and,
the truth shall set you free
become my praise songs
because I am
with every word
and I grin and say,
You aren’t much,
and I belly laugh
because it is true
and I laugh even harder because,
truth is also,
I am everything I need to be
hallelujah
glory be!

AL 8/12/13

a special thank you to my favorite writers today! So very grateful for words written and shared!
Steve Garnaas-Holmes, Mary Oliver, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Kathy Galloway, Wendell Berry, Walt Whitman, Paulo Coelho, Ann Voskamp, Mark Buchanan, Kyle Idleman, Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning, John O’Donohue, Audrey Assad, Janet Paschal, and so many, many others who have touched and inspired me over the years…these are exceptional amazing, inspiring people of words! Thank you for your gifts to me!