spa for the soul - meditating

“Through meditating we explore in order to know more and more of Abba. Before we find this reality, we only BELIEVE; through experiencing a relationship, we come to KNOW.”

Morton Kelsey

To know someone, I need to spend time with them. I need to talk to them and I need to listen. The more I know them, the less I need to depend on words. I have a couple of people in my life who can just look at me and know what I am feeling. There is no need to explain myself in great detail. I am known by them.

It is that way with God. In the beginning of my relationship with him I talked…a lot. Now I talk less and listen more. There is more of a comfort level there…more of a ‘knowing’. I am learning to rest in the fact that He loves me.

Considering meditating, reflecting, pondering on who He is. Meditate on His love and His presence. Ask for nothing more than to know Him and be known by Him.

Grace and peace,
Deb

grateful

“Gratefulness is born of a prayerfulness that helps us notice “Magnalia Dei”….the marvels of God.”Brennen Manning

I hope that your Thanksgiving was filled with family, fellowship and gratitude. Each of us has so much…even if we find ourselves in a dark part of the journey. Life, even when it is difficult, holds many things to be thankful for.

No matter where you find yourself today…in feast or in famine….look for those things that can fill your heart with gratitude for the blessings God has given you.

Grace and peace,
Deb

gratitude

Every breath we draw is a gift of God’s love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude, therefore, takes nothing for granted.

Thomas Merton

Today is a day we set aside to remember what we have to be thankful for. Today I want to share my list.

I have a beautiful family complete with a loving husband, a daughter and son-in-law, a son and daughter-in-law,between them, five beautiful and healthy grandchildren. I have incredible friendships,a vocation I love and an intimate relationship with my savior.

Today….think deeply about your blessings. Allow yourself to offer up a prayer of gratitude to the One who makes it all possible.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving……….

Grace and peace,
Deb

solitude

"Solitude: the creation of an open, empty space in our lives by purposely abstaining from interaction with other human beings so that, freed from competing loyalties, we can be found by God."

The Life With God Bible

Spend some time with this quote today and notice how God may want to speak to you through it.

grace and peace,
Deb

transformation

"Most transformation takes place in hidden ways, in slow, incremental ways, nurtured by a cultivated reverence."

Eugene Peterson

Do you get discouraged with the lack of transformation in your life? Do you find yourself trying to memorize more scripture, pray harder and serve more?

What if transformation is really more God's work than yours? What if your part of to be present, to pay attention, to notice what God may be doing? What if transformation is already taking place under the surface and what you need to do is prepare a space within yourself for God to work?

Remember...it takes place in hidden ways, in slow, incremental way....nurture it.
grace and peace,
Deb

community

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one."
C.S. Lewis

A few weekends ago, I was at a retreat with other women. We shared deeply with each other...our fears, our sins, our joys. What we discovered is that we are much more alike than we are different. We are not alone in our 'stuff'. Everyone has stuff - we just usually don't talk about it with each other.

But, once you do, did you ever notice how much less powerful that stuff seems to be? Take the risk....talk about what is going on. Be honest and notice how freeing it can be.

Grace and peace,
Deb

sabbath

no post today ~ enjoy your sabbath

constriction

artist - Beth Cavener Stichter

constriction
lungs reaching for air
throat closing

trapped
pinned down
struggling against
an immovable object

now
there is nothing
holding me
nothing tying me down

but

still
tightness,
shallow breaths,
struggling, pulling

i want free!
i want release
i want to breathe
deeply ~

i want to fill my lungs
with the sweet air of freedom

trapped
by fear
of my own making,

unseen
but
just as real

hope

hope

[Photo]
The East is getting out her gold
She holds it out against the night
and scatters darkness
with her light.
Then morning comes
climbing over the hill
like an eager, restless child.
She pauses just a moment
then cast her color on the earth.

Morning, color me bright
I’ve been afraid too long
The color of fear is dark
darker than night
But your glance is full of light.

Don’t hurry morning;
come slowly.
Dress yourself in light.
Climb over that hill lovingly
Hand me a new day hopefully
Get into my bloodstream, and
color me like the rising sun
slowly
I’ve a mind to be contagious
Color me bright.


Macrina Wiederkehr

waiting

waiting

[Photo]
The other day, I had a conversation with a friend. She is in a season of waiting; waiting for God to unfold the path in front of her. She is not struggling in the waiting but has made peace with it. This poem speaks to where she is in her journey.

Slowly,
she celebrated the sacrament of letting go
first she surrendered her green
then the orange, yellow and red
finally she let of her brown
shedding her last leaf
she stood empty and silent, stripped bare.
leaning against the winter sky
she began her vigil of trust.

Shedding her last leaf
she watched its journey to the ground.
she stood in silence
wearing the color of the emptiness,
her branches wondering:
how do you give shade with so much gone?
And then,
the sacrament of waiting began.
The sunrise and sunset watched with tenderness.
clothing her with silhouettes
they kept her hope alive.

They helped her understand that
her vulnerability
her dependence and need
her emptiness
her readiness to receive
were giving her a new kind of beauty.
Every morning and every evening
they stood in silence
and celebrated together
the sacrament of waiting!
Macrina Wiederkehr

Grace and peace,
Deb

prayer

Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.
Saint John Vianney


Do you see prayer like this? Or do you see it as a list of things and concerns you need to talk to God about? A form of prayer is intercession and petition, but there is so much more to this intimate act we involve ourselves in. Prayer is our love language with our God.

Allow yourself to soak in God’s love today during a time of prayer.

Grace and peace,
Deb

awareness

“Our ability to change is limited to the present moment. We can only affect this moment and hope it affects all the others.”
Margaret Becker

How true this statement is! And how many times I find myself living in the past. I fret about things I’ve done, or haven’t done. Did I do a good job with this? Did I make a mistake with that?

I also think a lot about the future. Where will I be one year from now? Should I do this or should I do that?

Sometimes, I find myself being in the present. It is something I am trying to practice more. No matter what I am doing, I want to be fully present to it. Because, if I live in the past or in the future, I am missing now. And now, right now, is really all I have. And, it is true - what choice I make in the moment truly does affect other moments in the future.

Point being, I don’t want to miss my present because I am wrapped up in what has been or what might be. Now is what I have. Now is what you have.

What is consuming your thoughts? The past? The future? What would it be like to work towards being fully engaged with right now?

Consider trying, today, to be present. Pay attention to what you notice. Thank God for today, for this hour, for this minute, for this moment.

Grace and peace,
Deb

music

"Bach gave us God’s word, Mozart God's laughter and Beethoven gave us God's fire, and God gave us music so that we can pray without words." —

written in front of an old German opera house

Why is it that music can speak directly to our hearts? A song can easily take us back to a time in high school (good or bad!). It can evoke memories of a loved one who has passed away. It can bring up painful feelings of a broken relationship. It can remind us of childhood.


As a child, my mom loved country music. I can hear Loretta Lynn or Hank Williams Jr. sing, and once again, I am a 5 year old who is supposed to be taking an afternoon nap. I can picture my bed, the color of my bedroom walls and the sounds outside my window.


Somewhere Over the Rainbow reminds me of that one exciting night a year, as a child, when I would settle in for the annual viewing of The Wizard of Oz. The music that plays during the flying monkey scene still gives me chills!


The theme song, Tomorrow, from the Broadway play, Annie, was sung by my 16 year old sister-in-law a month before she was killed in a car accident. I cannot hear that song without feeling the loss of Lisa in my life.


Music can move me in ways that mere words cannot. I am thankful that God wired me in such a way that music is connected to my memory and my emotions. It can help me remember pivotal times in my life.


Give thought today to some of the songs that hold memories and emotion for you, whether those are feelings of pain or joy. Consider thanking God for the role music may play in your life….and go listen to a song that makes your heart sing.

Grace and peace,
Deb

sabbath is comin'

“Sabbath is the holy time where we feast, play, dance, sing, pray, laugh, tell stories, read, paint, walk and watch creation in its fullness. Few people are willing to enter the Sabbath and sanctify it, to make it holy, because a full day of delight and joy is more than most people can bear in a lifetime, let alone a week.”

Dan Allendar


What do you think of when you think of keeping the Sabbath? Sitting around all day praying? Have you ever thought of it as a time to feast, play, dance, sing, pray, laugh, tell stories, read, paint, walk and watch creation in its fullness? What about napping, going to an art museum or concert, making love, holding a baby or playing with your dog? What brings smile to your face? What makes your heart skip a beat? When do you feel most alive?


Think on these questions and enjoy planning your Sabbath day.


Grace and peace,
Deb

push

Have you ever sensed that God has given you a vision of what He might have in store for you? You can see bits and pieces but not the whole. You wonder what it is that you are to be doing…what is your part in making the vision come to be.
I am in such a place in my life. I sense there is something coming but I can’t quite see the whole. I’ve been asking questions like, “God….what do you want me to do?”, or “What is the next step?” I’ve stressed over making the ‘right’ decisions or trying to make the pieces fit together.
The other day while I was journaling about this, I remembered the story of Sarah and Abraham. God had promised them a child (she, at least, knew what she was waiting for). But, she couldn’t see HOW it would come about. She was too old to conceive. They had been waiting for a very long time and she had no idea when it would happen. As she tried to put her pieces together, she came up with the plan which was to have Hagar sleep with Abraham in order to have a child. Maybe that’s what God had in mind! Sarah pushed into the vision, the promise and found a way, her way to make it happen. What a hot mess that turned out to be.
I have been trying to discern what God is leading me towards. I have some clues but nothing definitive. I think, in some ways, I am like Sarah. I am trying to figure out how God will do what seems out of reach for me. I work on all the angles and then realize I am looking for my Hagar. I am trying to make it happen.
I don’t want to do this. I want to trust what God has laid on my heart and then wait and watch to see how He will bring it about. It doesn’t mean that I won’t move when He says move but it does mean that I will wait for Him to set the pace. No pushing, no straining to figure things out. If it is what He wants, then I know I will see it when He brings it into focus.
What dreams or visions has He given to you? What is it like in the waiting? Are you pushing….or observing? Consider spending some time with God today paying attention to what He might be showing you and how you might be responding to it.

Grace and peace,
Deb

beauty

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
Elizabeth Kubler Ross

I love this quote. Isn't it true? How many of us find it easy to shine when all is going well? But, when the tough times of life close in and it feels dark all around, do we still shine...or does the light go out? I think that depends on what your source of light is.

Consider some times in the recent past when life has been tough. Do you think others have been able to see The Light shining in and through you?

Grace and peace,
Deb

fresh start

"You may have a fresh start any moment you choose for this thing we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down."
Mary Pickford

Do you ever feel like not trying anymore? You try and try and try and feel as if it will never work. Just put your 'thing' in the blank. "I am so sick of always _______________ and having it always______________________." Or - "I've done _______________so many times and nothing changes."

The easier thing would be to stop trying. But, that is 'staying down'and that is not what God has for us.

I love the reminder that we can have a fresh start at any moment....if we choose it.

Grace and peace,
Deb

sacred

"She is turning her life into something sacred;
each breath a new birth,
each moment a new chance.
She bows her head,
gathers her dreams
from a pure, deep stream
and stretches her arms toward the sky."

unknown

Are you allowing God to turn your life into something sacred, with all of its difficulties, its failures, its joy and its beauty? I just spent this past weekend with 25 courageous women who were willing to go deep with each other about sensitive issues. They were able to begin to unpack some things in their lives that are painful. What may be hard for them to recognize right now is that they are well on their way to turning their lives into something sacred, seeing how God can take some of most difficult things they have been through and redeem it.

What do you need to offer up to God? What pain? What unrealized dreams? What frustrations? What unforgiveness? These things are the fertile soil from which God brings beautiful things. May you allow yourself to be real in front of God and watch Him turn your life into something sacred.

Grace and peace,
Deb

sabbath

no post today ~ enjoy your sabbath

your 'idea' of God

detachment

glory

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell."
C.S. Lewis

Why do you think we get so bent if someone we know refuses to acknowledge the reality of God? Or if they refuse to live the way we think they should? Does it change God? No.

Nothing diminishes God.

Grace and peace,
Deb

further examination

I can move through my days and not pay attention to what has happened. If I am not intentional, I will miss what God is saying to me. One tool that has helped me pay attention is taking time at the end of my day to look over the day with the help of God. I think back through the events of the day; what significant things happened, what significant conversations did I have, places where I sensed God’s grace, places where I sensed God’s correction, and things I wished I would have done differently. I run it back as if it were a movie. Looking at it under God’s gentle gaze I can feel safe to look at all these parts of my day and ask God what he wants me to notice.

It can be a very valuable tool in deepening of awareness of God’s work in our lives and also how He wants us to respond to him. I invite you to try it tonight.

Have a blessed day,
Deb

not enough paper

I have been a Christ follower for over 30 years. You would think by now I would have it down. I never seriously thought about killing someone. I don’t think of myself as a thief. I’ve never had a drug or alcohol problem. I don’t like gambling. I normally do not lose my temper…in public.

But, I have had the urge to hit the car that ignores the red light, in the turn lane and takes 2 seconds of my green light (in fact, I was with a friend once who did just that…she hit the car…on purpose!) I have thought about taking a pen or using paper from work for personal use, justifying that I use my paper, ink, etc., from home for work things. I can say no to wine or hard alcohol (it’s easy because I don’t like the taste…unless it Kailua and cream) but it takes everything I have to not eat chocolate cake until I feel sick. The lottery holds no interest for me but if you could see darkness in my heart when I stand behind someone buying tons of lottery tickets when all I want is a gallon of milk, you would see sin. And, I know how to behave in public, how to temper my reactions to things that happen that I don’t like. But, at home, I don’t feel the same need to monitor my response.

About 27 years ago, I was driving to church (in Michigan) on a Sunday morning. A car pulled out in front of me and I hit my horn. As I continued to church, I noticed that he was turning every where I needed to turn…including the church parking lot! I dropped Jeff and the kids off at the door, found a parking spot in the back of the lot and waited in my car for the other guy to have time to move from the lobby to the sanctuary. Once I was inside, a man walked up to me, with a smile on his face , and said “I guess you don’t like the way I drive.” I wanted to sink into the floor. I apologized to him and thankfully, he accepted and our families became good friends. Lesson learned, right? No.

A couple of years ago, I was driving, (which seems to be a real testing time for me) and I was in one of those places where the road merges from two lanes into one lane. I was in the CORRECT lane and the guy in the other lane sped up to try and get around me. Somehow, my gas pedal went down and my car accelerated as well. (I have a slightly competitive spirit). He did not back down and would have hit my car rather than yield. As he pulled in front of me, I hit my horn. He gave me a wave through his window that could be interpreted as “calm down sweetie.” I fumed. My heart was beating harder and faster and my hands were shaking. I found myself driving as close as I could to his bumper. I wanted him to know how angry I was. I can even remember thinking…”this is crazy…I am crazy to let something like that upset me so much”. Fortunately I did not have the opportunity to see this man or talk to him. But the anger lingered over the next couple of hours.

My sins now seem to be more sins of attitude and motives, which can lead me into out-right identifiable sin (horn-honking and tailgating). If I took the time to write them all down, there would not be enough paper.

Thank goodness God is patient with me. I now try to allow Him to reveal those areas He wants me to work on because tackling all of them is impossible.

Consider spending some time with Him today asking what are those motives or attitudes He wants you to look at. Are there things you are already aware of? Others that may be hidden? Pay attention to how you feel and think and become more aware of what is beneath those emotions and thoughts.

Grace and Peace,
Deb

spa for the soul - meditating

“Through meditating we explore in order to know more and more of Abba. Before we find this reality, we only BELIEVE; through experiencing a relationship, we come to KNOW.”

Morton Kelsey

To know someone, I need to spend time with them. I need to talk to them and I need to listen. The more I know them, the less I need to depend on words. I have a couple of people in my life who can just look at me and know what I am feeling. There is no need to explain myself in great detail. I am known by them.

It is that way with God. In the beginning of my relationship with him I talked…a lot. Now I talk less and listen more. There is more of a comfort level there…more of a ‘knowing’. I am learning to rest in the fact that He loves me.

Considering meditating, reflecting, pondering on who He is. Meditate on His love and His presence. Ask for nothing more than to know Him and be known by Him.

Grace and peace,
Deb

sabbath

no post today ~ enjoy the sabbath