When I was learning to snowboard, one of the super important terms / skills that was essential to master was the concept of linking turns – being able to turn from moving to the right to the left & vice versa – easier said than done. Today, I have no problem linking my turns & it’s close to second nature for me, but not without lots of falling, spills, pain, etc. What I’ve learned from snowboarding is that there can be lots of lessons I can learn from pain. These include:
*get up & keep trying
*transitions require lots of practice to be smooth
*when I get lazy, I tend to fall more
*sometimes I need to give my legs a rest
*remember the lesson but forget the pain 
Archive for the 'Christmas' Category
Turning points
Published January 2, 2013 Christmas , enemies to intimacy , family , Genuine love , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , relationships , saving moses , spiritual , travel Leave a CommentTags: endurance, growing, learning, lessons, pain
Now is good :)
Published December 26, 2012 Christmas , enemies to intimacy , family , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , relationships , spiritual Leave a CommentTags: future, now, past, present, trust
We are having a very nice Christmas break with our kids & I’ve noticed that they haven’t once said, “I can’t wait until . . . ” This says to me that they are enjoying now, this present moment & this is a great lesson for me!
Sometimes I get stressed out about the future or discouraged looking at the past. Whenever I get I these weeds, I neglect to see the beautiful flowers of today. Even worse, my awareness of Jesus’ presence seems to deteriorate & I can easily become stressed & depressed. So lets decide to let the past be over & relax that when SE get to the future, Jesus will be there, just as much as He is with us in this moment
Convenient :)
Published December 17, 2012 Christmas , enemies to intimacy , family , fasting , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , relationships , spiritual , travel Leave a CommentTags: convenience, convenient, important, priority, test
I’m a huge fan of convenience & things that make my life less complicated & more efficient, especially in this busy holiday season. But if I’m not careful, convenience can be a deceptive sinkhole – if something is inconvenient I don’t do it or it falls down to a low place on my priority list. While this may seem logical & effective the “convenience” approach to life can potentially sabotage my intimacy with God, simply because God isn’t always convenient. In fact, I find that God is sometimes very inconvenient – requesting my time, attention & presence at inconvenient times. With all that being said, perhaps the convenience test is more about my priorities & less about my achievements – just something to think about
Happy Monday!!
You’re really cool!
Published December 14, 2012 Christmas , enemies to intimacy , family , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , relationships , spiritual 2 CommentsTags: celebrate, cool, distinct, unique
When I was a teenager, I wanted to fit in & be cool. If I’m honest with you, there are times when I still want to fit in. But alas, I’m unique & from God’s perspective, that’s wonderful! When you look at the world in which we live, it is filled with individuality, distinction & uniqueness. Think about snowflakes, flowers, zebras, clouds, etc.
So if you ever have those insecure moments when you feel like you don’t fit, be sure to turn your thoughts to the immensity & intensity of God’s love for you because you’re really cool!!
pandemonium, pressure and peace
Published December 13, 2012 Christmas , cooking , enemies to intimacy , family , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , relationships , saving moses , spiritual , travel 1 CommentTags: Christmas, demands, expectations, frenzied, hustle, peace, still
It seems to me that in almost every Christmas season, there comes a time when all of the pressures, activities, demands and general busy-ness shifts into the frenzied and frantic zone and the chaos threatens to swallow me into a abyss of cluttered insanity (sorry for all of the adjectives). In the midst of all of this, I find my heart getting really still and quiet, seeking to create some serenity, calm and peace. Even now, I have a few unexpected moments of quiet and while I’m writing this, I find myself letting go of some of the season’s stress and receiving some much needed divine peace.
So my friend, please be sure that with all of this season’s demands and expectations, don’t neglect to take those essential moments to be still and celebrate our Prince of Peace
Are you ready for Christmas? :D
Published December 10, 2012 Christmas , cooking , enemies to intimacy , family , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , saving moses , spiritual 1 CommentTags: Christmas, get ready, grow, improve, learn, prepare
Confession time: I don’t like to wrap presents & so for many preceding years, this has been a really bad point of procrastination – so bad that I’ve had melt downs on Christmas Eve looking at all the wrapping I needed to do while thinking about all the meal prep I needed to do for our Christmas meal. No one’s fault but mine. This year, I’m trying something different – I’m trying to wrap 4-5 present over each weekend, attempting to prepare for Christmas better than my recent disasters. So far, it seems to be working.
I’ve also been thinking about preparing for Jesus’ birth this season with Is 40:4 where he talks about bringing the valleys up to meet the road level. I’ve been thinking about this in relation to any depressed areas in my life – low spots in my thinking, actions & conversations. While I’m not advocating denial or burying my head in the sand, there are certainly areas in my life that are lower than what God says in the Bible (low thinking, substandard conversations & actions, etc). So I feel challenged to let the Bible confront & help me to shore up those low areas as I prepare for Jesus’ birth during this season
HELP!!!!!
Published December 4, 2012 Angola , Cambodia , Christmas , family , Holy Spirit , living , missions , prayer , relationships , saving moses , spiritual , travel 1 CommentTags: feeling good, fun, help!, saving moses
I like to feel good & one of the things that helps me to feel good is when I get to help people. So if I’m gut level honest, sometimes my motives for helping people are selfish
Now that I’ve put that out there, I also want to give you a chance to feel good by ordering your own 2013 Saving Moses calendar!! Please don’t fight the urge to visit the link at the end & be sure to pass this along to your friends as well, so they can also feel the love
Party prep!!!
Published December 3, 2012 Christmas , family , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , relationships , saving moses , spiritual 1 CommentTags: advent, get ready, party, preparation
In about 2 weeks, we will host a party at our house to thank all of the volunteers at our church for their incredible service & help throughout the past year. So this is a really important party & as such, we make a REALLY MASSIVE effort to be sure that our house is nice, the food is tasty & that we do our best to ensure that everyone feels welcome & appreciated. To that end, we begin our preparation early because it takes a good quantity of work.
Getting ready for this party has caused me to think about what it means to get my heart ready for Jesus’ birth during this holiday season. This kind of makes me think about what it says in Is 40:1-5 about getting ready for Jesus’ arrival. Isaiah talks about 4 things to get ready for Jesus: bring up the low places, bring down the high places, make straight what has been crooked & smooth out the rough spots. So over the next few weeks I’m planning to blog about these items to explore what they can mean & look like in our practical living. Be sure to come along for the ride & watch for Getting Ready #2!!
rejuvenate
Published December 27, 2011 Christmas , cooking , family , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , relationships , spiritual Leave a CommentTags: pause, recover, reflect, space, think, time
I find that its really important to have times to rejuvenate & perhaps these few days are for exactly that purpose. Like virtually everyone else, it seems like December is normally packed to the gills with activities, festivities, parties, obligations & general frenzied demands. But after Christmas, there seems to be an accepted pause or exhale. For me, this break in activity is very rejuvenating. It helps me to have some space & time to think, listen, be still, enjoy my family, sleep, read, cook simple things, talk long w best friends and stay warm under a heavy blanket.
I know that soon enough, the pace will again commence & I’ll get back into the regular groove & routines. But for this time to pause, I’m thankful. Furthermore, perhaps when we take time to “sharpen the saw” maybe our work efforts will be more effective & less arduous 
The Endless Gift
Published December 25, 2011 Christmas , family , Holy Spirit , living , prayer , relationships , spiritual Leave a CommentTags: celebrate, continuous, generosity
We opened Christmas presents this morn & it’s always a blast to watch the kids get so ramped up about plaid bath robes & beaver slippers But we know that soon enough, the new-ness buzz wears off & perhaps this Summer I’ll find one of the beaver slippers in the sandbox in the back yard.
One of the things I love about Jesus is that He’s always new & I am continually discovering wonderful things about Him that cause my wonder & awe for Him to always stay fresh. I pray that your awareness & awe of Jesus stays fresh throughout each day. Jesus is the ultimate Endless Gift. Merry Christmas!!
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