Author Archive
Can You Remember Your First Love?
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Ah, the first love. The one who first consumed our hearts, our thoughts, our dreams. What do you remember about that one? Often thoughts of first love are mixtures of happy thoughts of hopes and dreams and painful memories of crushed hearts. Later we may wonder if it was really love at all because we more clearly identify the blind desires with which we embraced another in immaturity. Yet there is a reality of a first love that is true.
The apostle John wrote to the church of Ephesus to remind them of their first love experiences with God. He spoke these painful words to them, “…you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen…” (Rev. 2:4-5).
Ouch. Those words must have stung when the believers at Ephesus read them. Left. Fallen. No fault on God’s part obviously. The Ephesian believers had moved away from the place of first love.
How did it happen?
They were still involved in working for God. “I know your works, your labor…”
Their lives still bore evidence of the fruit of His Spirit. “I know you patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and found them liars, and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My names’ sake and have not become weary.” Patience. Discernment. Steadfastness.
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Mercies in Disguise: Finding God in Your Trials
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Seasons of trials and troubles, pain and suffering, disappointments and dying dreams can leave all of us with more questions than answers. We find ourselves unable to box our theological answers as neatly as before. We wrestle with questions like, “Where are you, God?” “Why have you deserted me?” “Are you real, God?” In our trials, we reach for our false strengths and we find that they were only illusions.
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Seize the Day!
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A few years ago the movie "Dead Poets Society" resurrected a Latin phrase, Carpe Diem, or Seize the Day, an exhortation to live life to the fullest, getting the most out of each individual day.- Enjoy the day. We don’t know what will come tomorrow. (Click post title to read entire post)
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The Day My Clothes Spoke to Me
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A new year. A new opportunity. A new day. A new beginning. Ah, the inspiration of it!
I spent part of New Year’s Eve cleaning out my clothes’ closet. I took everything out of my closet and laid the stuff in stacks around my room. Then I began. Toss. Keep. Give away. Store in a different place. Reorganize. Somehow the arrival of the New Year beckoned me to start over again. To think in new ways. To look for new strategies.
Magazine articles about decluttering and organization called to me.
I was in a ruthless mood. If I didn’t love it, it went no matter how much I wondered if it might come back into style in a year or if it might fit me better later.
The process became spiritual.
I picked up a blouse. I thought of my mother and her changing memory. The blouse represented a shopping trip we’d had. I felt saddened and a deeper realization of my time with her changing as she ages.
A dress touched my memory of days gone by and folks I love who I don’t really see anymore. Tears filled my eyes as I allowed the memory to fill my heart.
Another outfit took me back to a season of my life. Ah, those were good days.
The blouse I would wear for my anniversary this week. More smiles.
Ah, there was that item that needs hemming and one that needs a button.
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Remember, Reflect, Refocus, Resolve: Preparing for the New Year
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My heart is filled with a quiet anticipation and traces of ambivalence. Another year is ending; a new one beginning. The very passage into a new year carries an innate sense of need to evaluate oneself. This self-evaluation, if done in truth, brings one face to face with the depths of one’s own depravity and the heights of one’s own glory for both are true of the human heart and life.
The end of the year beckons us to remember. What have we done well this year? Where have we gained ground? Have we grown spiritually, emotionally, and mentally? Where have we failed? Missed the mark? Wasted the treasure of life?
True reflection on one’s life can be painful, especially when we must admit that we didn’t keep any of those 2011 New Year’s Resolutions! Yet the purpose of our reflection is to refocus not to condemn.
How can we see and hear more clearly what God is saying to us at the end of a year?
While typical New Year’s Resolutions are things like spend more time with my family, organize more, lose weight, spend less money, etc., the commonality seems to be this need to refocus our lives.
How do we refocus our lives?
Intentional introspection requires a quiet spirit submitting to the voice of God who will lead us to remember, reflect, refocus, and resolve.
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