Weekly Blog
Tips, Tricks, Skills, Spirituality and Wisdom
Positive Faith in Scripture: God Protects
Don’t fear, because I am with you;
don’t be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
I will surely help you;
I will hold you
with my righteous strong hand.
Isaiah 41:10, CEB
Yesterday we started unpacking some of God’s positive attributes (compassion, mercy, patience, love)- knowing these things is really going to inform and shape our ability to have a “positive faith.”
Another of these traits is God’s protection and his desire to help. In a culture that has talked way too much about the bad things God wants to do to you (not true, by the way), it’s hard to imagine that God’s desire, truly, is to be helpful.
Time and again scripture speaks to God’s desire to strengthen his people, to work through them when they’re too exhausted to do the work themselves, to hold them up when they can’t stand.
He is not a God who desires to harm- nor is he distant. His desire is to give his people everything they need to keep moving in the direction of compassion, mercy, patience, and love.
Complete the Stress Cycle…
I often think about what it was like for my grandparents to live during the Great Depression. I understand that we are all feeling the stress of the pandemic, and it is bad, but what about living through a pandemic or war without air conditioning, reliable transportation, the internet, television, or access to food or a paycheck? That must have been brutal. My grandparents considered themselves lucky. Embedded in large families on both sides, among them they figured it out. My grandfather had a paycheck, his cousins had farms. He could give them money and they could supply him with food. Someone usually had some means of transportation for the clan, and they would ferry and barter and deliver goods among them. They survived.
Lately, I've been wondering if in the long run, they might be better off than many of us will be post pandemic because of the way they handled their stressors: they were able to complete their stress cycle. They had a need, they figured out who could meet it, they found ways to return the favor.
During the pandemic of 2020, 2021, etc., can we say the same? Does our stress cycle ever end? We are fighting about different political viewpoints but we are not leaning in and collectively serving one another - even if we disagree. This is not universally true. My friends Carolyn and Linda have put their nursing skills into good use and vaccinated the unvaccinated. My doctor tries to help me make sense of all the conflicting reports about best medical practices for living in a pandemic. My neighbor promised me that if we ran out of toilet paper, her stash was so large that she would share with me if needed. But as a collective, I do NOT think we are completing our stress cycles as the waves of stressors roll over us. We are not being as careful with our relationships as I think the situation warrants. We are escalating rather than de-escalating our stress.
I bet you wonder what a stress cycle is and how you might complete it. Stay tuned. We'll figure it out!
Using Your Influence
"Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."
Winston Churchill
According to Churchill, I am killing it. I have NEVER felt as much enthusiasm for life as I do today. In the middle of a pandemic, a time of political unrest, with grandchildren growing up so fast that I've started thinking about college options and really great trade schools, not everyone would find it in their heart to latch onto enthusiasm.
Soooo, what's my secret?
My people - those who have been influential in my life in a million big and small ways. Although their influence has not turned me into a person the world would consider successful, that's ok. My candle is kindled in my heart and my soul sings. This has been a long and winding journey that included a recent protracted depression. (I personally think if the past few years have not caused you to rethink life, maybe you're not paying attention.)
I've been ruminating with gratitude on how I got here, back to the place where I have reasonable amounts of peace and joy. What's happened to me? And why would you care? I suppose because I do believe Rumi and I think all of us want to find a life of meaning and purpose - whether or not success is part of the plan. And maybe you, like me, has struggled of late to figure out if enthusiasm is even possible.
I believe that all of us have an opportunity to influence our world in some positive way, co-workers with God in slowly, laboriously, sometimes almost imperceptibly, inching the kingdom of God toward his vision for his people. What I needed, and have gratefully received as of late, is vocabulary for how true influence works. At my darkest moments, I need someone to influence me - to help pull me out from the confusion and lost sense of meaning that depression steals from us. In a world that prefers success, it is difficult to find help, so I want to share the various ways people showed up to help me. My prayer is that you might find yourself in these descriptions or recognize the helpers in your life. Tomorrow, we begin!
Gratitude
Closing out August with a ton of gratitude. Apologies for all those who I am missing....
While I was lazing around enjoying my vacation, our friends Gala and Carolyn responded to a request for volunteers willing to do some painting at NSC. They did a bang up job and I am extremely extremely grateful. I cannot wait to see how great the new space looks!
It would have been a mistake not to ask for help...but that would have been my inclination. I'm so glad Scott thought to ask! I'm grateful for his willingness to ASK! I am grateful for being on Scott's team NSC - and the fact that he lets me play with my granddaughter Norah!
My friend Debi generously steps up and facilitates Wednesday night women's group when I cannot be there - everyone enjoys her gifted leadership and I receive the gift of not having to find a strong internet connection every time I leave town. Thanks Debi, for my vacation!
We have a team that is working on writing grants to help fund some new adventures at NSC. Thanks to this team and all their hard work to help NSC do its thing.
For Tim and Debi and Anne and others who regularly post on the NSC Community Group page words of encouragement - we hear you and we appreciate you!
Thanks to Jessie and Linda and Anne and others in supporting the work of NSC in ways both large and small - it is all important and it all matters.
To Steve and Brian we give thanks for our return to NSC...to the beat of your wonderful music.
Thanks to Denise and the partners and speakers who allow our Thursday night Friends and Family Education Program to keep bringing support and education to families seeking recovery for those they love. To Walt and
Emily and their commitment to SMART Recovery - we are so grateful!
Our board - we thank you for continuing to help us dream!
And for all you wonderfully supportive Enneagrammers who are helping me learn a new way of servicing - thank you thank you thank you.
For all of you who have hosted and/or attended our Saturday night gatherings - what fun you are to hang with - thank you for sharing yourselves and making Saturday night something to anticipate with pleasure!
As always...a huge shout out to all of you wonderful souls who keep showing up, even when it is inconvenient and NOT your preference. God bless you and yours!
Slow, Steady Improvement
It never occurred to me that tennis lessons could actually improve my game...at my advanced stage of living. I thought I was doing the best I could by willingly taking to the hot courts several times a week and flailing away at the ball. It's not like I was sitting at home in my rocker watching Jeopardy! (Not that this is a problem if others do rock and watch!)
I had grown content to win a game or two off of Pete per set and tamp down my natural inclination to compete for a win. I thought this was me being mature. But it turns out, I was wrong.
What I missed, by a lot, was this amazing concept called tennis fundamentals. After a few weeks of feedback, tips, drills and regular practice - my game has improved. My backhand is solid, my forehand is actually worse, and my serve is more inconsistent. This is progress.
It means, I am told, that I am trying new techniques that will eventually pay dividends. I can already see the truth of this; although my serve is less consistent, when it does land in the right box it has some spin on it and I can even exert some control over placement.
Tennis is no big deal but the capacity for humility - assuming there are answers out there and someone can help me - is huge. I am applying this to other areas of my life too. It turns out, in virtually any area of my life, there is someone else out in this wild world of ours who can coach, mentor and guide me. People like to help!
And I love it. I love it so much. It brings me joy to lean into learning and change.
What areas of your life have you given up on changing? Not so fast? Maybe you, like me, just need a little help from your friends! Who can you reach out to?
Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.
Psalms 25:4 NIV