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Jan

Seize the Day!

Posted by: Mikki | Comments (1)

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.

I thought of that phrase this morning as I read Ecclesiastes 9. Ecclesiastes is not on the top of my reading list, but I found myself there today. Throughout the book, Solomon struggles with issues like the vanity and futility of life. Not exactly the book you turn to in order to be encouraged. Yet that is what I found in this passage!

Solomon’s journey had taken him through seasons of pursuing God wholeheartedly to times of seeking his own paths. His wrong choices left him empty, broken, and dis.heart.ened. He had lost heart.

Solomon had great wisdom, wealth, and every whim of his heart was his, yet his long season of pursuing selfish desires had left him disillusioned. We believe he wrote Ecclesiastes toward the end of his life. He reflected on his life and on life in general and shared what he had learned.

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?” … “I communed with my heart, saying, ‘Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge. And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 16-17).

Wow, that will stoke your fire, huh?

Chapter nine continues with Solomon’s exploration of how both good and bad come to all, “To him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner,” (vs. 3). And just when you think you want to close the book before you are overcome with discouragement, he offers these truths:

“Go eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart: For God has already accepted your works. Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life…Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going,” (cheerful, huh?) [verses 7-10].

And yet, there is a simple wisdom for us.

Enjoy the day. We don’t know what will come tomorrow. (Click post title to read entire post)

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Categories : Enjoying Life, Fullness of life, Real life issues, Relationships, failure

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Dec

Nothing Less Than Something More

Posted by: Mikki | Comments (4)

It’s my birthday today. As I get older, birthdays seem more significant. I reflect more. I evaluate my life. I ask questions.

Am I living an authentic life? Am I living in balance? Have I forgotten to listen to my heart or my Lord? Am I enjoying my family, friends, and church community as fully as I should?

I laughingly call myself a recovering workaholic, and as such, these questions are important for me. I have a sense that these same questions are necessary for all of us who live the great American life which exalts busyness above relationships.

In honor of my heart and soul and what I’ve learned in recent years, I took the day off work today. I began the day with a cup of Archers Farm coffee and a bite of almond pound cake and a good conversation with my husband. I drank in both the coffee and the words in my husband’s birthday letter to me.

I received hugs from my husband and youngest son. I enjoyed birthday wishes from my daughter via phone. I await my wishes from my other two sons as it is still early here in Alabama. My husband’s men’s small group sang Happy Birthday to me.

I am filling my soul and spirit with Jesus Culture as I oscillate between reading birthday wishes from friends via Facebook and email and writing this blog.

I look forward to other significant moments today. I plan to read a good book, which is a pleasure of mine, and my husband is taking me to Cracker Barrel for breakfast where I will enjoy the delightful world of carbohydrates.

I feel at peace, and I know that I am not settling for shallowness, either in my relationships or in my dreams.

I want nothing less than something more.

More than living life to check off a to-do list. More than living for the pats on the back that are not linked to relationships that stand the tests of trials and time.

I believe that life is meant to be more. A sacred adventure. A journey of discovery.

I live for more. More fullness of joy. More revelation of God’s love for me. More good conversations. More beautiful sunsets. More meaningful hugs. More laughter. More awareness of the present moment. The heights of the joys. The depths of the sorrows. The richness of life. The beauty of today. The something more.

What about you? Are you living for nothing less than something more?

Navigating Uncomfortable Waters

Posted by: Mikki | Comments (0)

Ship_Storm I like comfort. My personal choice is easy, painless, risk-free, non-confrontational living. God, however, seems quite at peace with asking me to be uncomfortable. In fact, He is somewhat insistent on stretching me, requiring me to face my own unhealed stuff, and gently reminding me that comfort does not always equal His will or purposes in my life or in the life of those I love.

I have found that God is not hesitant to ask me to walk through wilderness, desert, north winds, and mountainous terrains of my soul and spirit. The lessons I have learned as I have faced the uncomfortable places have greatly transformed me.

I think that most of us who are believers in Christ can identify many situations where God has asked us to be uncomfortable. From my salvation on, I can think of times when God’s invitation was to allow Him to change me IN AND THROUGH the uncomfortable place.

Why would God choose to work that way?

God, who knows each of us so intimately, much more than we know our own selves, has a plan for us. Scripture tells us that He intends for us all to be “conformed into the image of His own dear son.” This transformation requires change. Most of us resist change. We cling to what we know, even when it is not working. Read more...

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Categories : Change, Emotional Healing, Fullness of life, boundaries

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Dec

The Gift of This Day

Posted by: Mikki | Comments (4)

birthday dog I awakened at 4 a.m. this morning to the sounds of the wind whipping. It’s a bitterly cold 17 degrees with a wind chill of 2 degrees here in Northwest Alabama where dusts of snow lie on the ground from yesterday. It is my birthday.

Alone with my thoughts which refused to return to dreamland, I slipped out of bed. My coffee awaited me thanks to the wonder of a coffee maker with a timer, one of God’s really good gifts. For a few moments, I purposefully took some deep breaths and thanked God for breath, for life, always painfully aware on my birthday that my twin, Mike, is not here to celebrate with me.

After reading some reflections on Advent, I smiled as my Facebook account told me that several of you early bird friends have already arisen and sent birthday greetings my way, and my email told me that Luminosity offers me a coupon for my birthday to buy a program to keep my brain sharp. Ah, the mixed blessings of being 51.

Before long, my husband greeted me with a lovely birthday card, very carefully chosen for this day and a chorus of Happy Birthday and You Are So Beautiful to Me. It was really close to Lionel Richie, sweetheart, I’m just sayin’.

I suppose birthdays are meant for reflecting. Tears fill my eyes as I think of significant losses in my life. Inner joy and peace also fill the moment as I think of the great riches I have. Read more...

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Categories : Birthdays, Fullness of life

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Dec

How Not to Live Your Life

Posted by: Mikki | Comments (1)

risktaking4 What if I told you that I could guarantee you a mistake-free life from today forward? What if I offered you a downloadable document for $9.95 with an outline for mistake-proof living or what if I offered you an app for that? Would you be “a taker” for any of those offers?

Life is a journey. Who we are is a composite result of our journey with the good and the bad adding the herbs and spices to our life’s soup. Every day, every hour, every minute of our lives blend together to form us. Most of us would love to hit the Undo key for several of those moments and perhaps even for several of our years! Of course, that is impossible, but what can you and I do about living the rest of our lives well?

Sometimes I find it helpful to speak in opposites so in order to talk about how to live today I will speak of how not to live your life.

1. 1. Do not allow your bad days, weeks, or years define you in negative ways. Instead allow them to “grow” you.

2. 2. Do not close your heart because you’ve been hurt. While we must be wise in “who” we allow into our hearts, sometimes our wounds lead us to close our hearts to most, if not all, in order to protect ourselves from future pain. This closing of our hearts is like hitting the times 10 (X10) key on the loneliness button. We are not designed to live in isolation. Pursue godly relationships. Read more...

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Categories : Enjoying Life, Fullness of life

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Archive for Fullness of life

Seize the Day!

Nothing Less Than Something More

Navigating Uncomfortable Waters

The Gift of This Day

How Not to Live Your Life

Welcome to My Journey

Books I Love

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