What if you're waiting? (TROMS Pt 11)

The Rest of Your (My!) Story - 21 Day Challenge hosted by heart to heart with holly

Q. What is your heart waiting on right now?

A. At first I didn't really think this question applied to me at this point - but then it dawned on me, even if we're exactly where we want to be in life, we're always waiting...wondering What does God have in store for me next?! As best we can, we use what little we know for sure to plan & prepare for what we know nothing about - aka what the future holds.

I've waited at times ... to see how on earth God would use "this" for good * for some inkling of direction regarding what to do & where to go from here * for an answer to a question or a prayer * and for something/someone my heart longed for.

In the waiting, I've found that - even if I'm not sure what to do, it helps to do something(!) - anything that qualifies as something good, because quite frankly, "doing nothing" contradicts how and why we were created...

...for relationship (with God & others)
&
(designed) to do good works.

***

Idleness is the parent of psychology.
- Nietche -


***

For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10

Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy,
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God
- this is your spiritual act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:1 & 2

...and I can't help but wonder if that (worship!) is precisely what God is waiting for us to do when He makes us wait? It sure sounds to me like something He would do (based on HIStory) - which is why it seems to me that assuming ...whatever you do, [you] do it all for the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31b), even when you don't know what to do....you can't go wrong if you do something - while you're waiting.

What are your skills? (TROMS 10)

I have some catching up to do as it relates to The Rest of Your Story - 21 Day Challenge over at heart to heart with holly


Skill: A strength expressed in a specific way that builds up others and benefits the Kingdom.

via
double click the image to to see a larger version

***

Q. What are your skills?

A. Communicating, organizing, leading/administration - are a few that come to mind.

I kinda wish I had more "hands on/creative skills" .... but somehow creativity (the fun part!) works itself out sometimes.

My skills along these lines were honed when I was in the workforce. Among various other jobs, I worked as an Administrative Assistant/Secretary to various executives - 4 men/2 two women. Four of the six were no doubt, perfectionists. I think it's safe to say that two (& possibly more) of them were OCD. One would walk around the office picking things out of the carpet (seriously!) & he had white carpet w/ plastic runners all over his practically perfect home. And another... well let's just say I shudder to think of how many trees in the forest we essentially depleted editing & tweaking letters over & over again until they were "juuuust right".

I will say that from all of this experience, I learned to write concisely/precisely - to wrap words tightly around my thoughts using as few words as possible. That's good when when one wants be articulate/accurate in what they convey...but not so good when you just want to tell a good story & your vocabulary is rather limited to mostly non-descriptive words! I enjoy writing "the story way" but I find it to be challenging - & when I do, I tend to lean heavily on a thesaurus!

Of all of the executives I worked for, the ones I admired most were the ones whom the adjective "perfectionist" didn't really fit. They tended to be much more enjoyable to be around (for one thing - they had a sense of humor!) & to work with/for - more relaxed - more approachable, interactive, appreciative & easily satisfied, less selfish - & in general, I think they both earned & received .....more respect.

When I consider "all of this" this in terms of my faith, I'm so incredibly/eternally grateful that the words "Well done, good & faithful servant..."(Matthew 25) are what I'm aspiring to when I stand before The LORD, & that His Son has fulfilled all of the perfection requirements in that regard on my behalf - because not once, not ever(!) have I managed to do anything (let alone everything!) perfectly. Because of my history, if it weren't for His story .... I'd have no hope.

We're going on a field trip ... to Senegal

It's official. Strike, Playmaker, Playmaker's boyfriend & I are going to Senegal, Africa in April. Tickets are purchased. The girls & I went yesterday to get our immunizations (I need 6! Depending on the result of a blood test, I may need 7. ouch!). We have to go back one more time for more. Malaria medicine & self medicating antibiotics have been prescribed. I dropped off a letter to Playmaker's Guidance Counselor yesterday to notify her teachers of the school she will miss in hopes that they'll help her plan ahead so she doesn't fall behind in her schoolwork.

Senegal is a third world country - so this will by no means be a 5 star vacation. I'm generallly not a big fan of cruise ships, luxury hotels & vacation packages when it comes to traveling - as they tend to shelter travelers from "real" people & real life...which is what I'm really interested in. I also believe American born/bred citizens should leave our country's borders at least once - to experience real life anywhere else ... especially if they're prone to complaining about life in America.

Some Dakar Demographics: 2 million people * 95% Muslim * Aprx 1/3 of the population live below the international poverty line of US $1.25 per day.

We'll be staying with my brother, who is a teacher there, & his wife. Our itinerary is packed w/ places to go & people to meet. Among them:

- The Door of No Return (former slave house) on Goree Island
- Capital city of Dakar
- The kids will likely attend school one day w/ other kids their age at the school my brother teaches at.
- Strike will finally get to meet her penpal there!!
- Outdoor Marketplaces.

My sister-in-law shared recently that fresh produce & eggs must be washed in a bleach/water solution for 20 minutes before eating, flour must be frozen for a few days before use to kill any bugs & she says:

"Sometimes when I want to buy meat, I go down to the local meat shop pictured. You have to hope that the piece of meat you are buying hasn’t had too many flies on it! The meat hanging here is sheep that someone just brought into the shop to sell. They had it loaded in the back of an old station wagon and got it out and hung it up. I guess you would call that special delivery!"






Stay tuned for further details.

Snow & ice & all things nice.....

.....that's what happy memories are made of

& that's just what we made yesterday.

Dad, Spokes & Playmaker headed to the park, cleared off a spot on the frozen lake & wa'la .... we had ourselves an ice rink. Once all was ready, Strike & I responded to the call to action & headed over too. I average donning ice skates about once a year & yesterday ushered up the perfect time & place for just such an occasion.

Yours Truly :)

Strike

There's not much I enjoy watching more than
Daddy'o havin' fun w/ his kiddos

Three Amigos! :)

Playmaker

Spokes

Sistah Chicks :)

Going home....

The Pianist

I 'd like to say I enjoyed the rare occasion of spending an evening home alone w/ my husband last night ....but I really had no idea what I was getting us into when I picked out this movie for us to watch. If I had known....I would not have watched it. I've long managed to avoid Schindler's List for similar reasons. But, in all honesty, I'm so glad I did watch it. Just considering how painful it was to watch, & the freedom I took at times to close my eyes &/or plug my ears - somehow helped me realize, even more than I did before I watched it, just how horrific the holocaust was. I was almost in shock. Wasn't until after we went to bed that tears finally stung. One thing that helped me get thru' it was knowing that this man survived ... & that this was his story - from which we can learn so much.

Winner of the prestigious Golden Palm award at the 2002 Cannes film festival, The Pianist is the film that Roman Polanski was born to direct. A childhood survivor of Nazi-occupied Poland, Polanski was uniquely suited to tell the story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew and concert pianist (played by Adrien Brody) who witnessed the Nazi invasion of Warsaw, miraculously eluded the Nazi death camps, and survived throughout World War II by hiding among the ruins of the Warsaw ghetto. Unlike any previous dramatization of the Nazi holocaust, The Pianist steadfastly maintains its protagonist's singular point of view, allowing Polanski to create an intimate odyssey on an epic wartime scale, drawing a direct parallel between Szpilman's tenacious, primitive existence and the wholesale destruction of the city he refuses to abandon. Uncompromising in its physical and emotional authenticity, The Pianist strikes an ultimate note of hope and soulful purity. As with Schindler's List, it's one of the greatest films ever made about humanity's darkest chapter. --Jeff Shannon

via Amazon.com

Are you in survival mode?

via
Only put off until tomorrow what you
are willing to die having left undone.

Fair Warning ... these are just random tho'ts here....not very well organized...but they are well thought out nonetheless ... at least in the sense that I have thought about them. a lot.

Farmgal's post started my wheels turning in this direction again recently as I considered what I would do differently if I knew I would likely die very soon. And it occurred to me that so much of our lives we spend living in "survival mode" - basically trying not to die. I thought about how obsessive we can be in that regard. I mean - let's face it...we live in a paranoid/phobic society.

&

I wondered ....

how would life be different if we weren't afraid to die?

&

just what is it that we're so afraid of?

&

"All of this" brought to mind a previous post "toward that end"

&

this song came to mind too:

John 11:25-26 ²⁵Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; ²⁶and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

What are your strengths? (TROMS Pt 9)

Click here to learn more about:

The Rest of Your Story 21- Day Challenge over at heart to heart with holley. Feel free to jump in anytime!

Strength: a personal characteristic that can be used on behalf of God in service to others.

Today's (Yes! I'm finally caught up :) Question:

What are your strengths?

A. Here, it struck me(!) - that some, of my strengths are things I enjoy doing... things I recently identified when I posted a list of things that make me happy! Tho' oddly enough & in all honesty, it feels more like bragging when I identify them as strengths - but that IS the assignment - so here goes....a list of some things that I both enjoy doing & consider to be personal strengths:

Writing (Communicating)

Giving

Sharing

Sharing is different from giving in that it involves taking. The process of "give & take"encourages relationship which, quite frankly, is what I believe we were created for! I honestly believe that what God created (His Works) & inspired (His Word), He did in order to to "communicate relationship" ... with Him & with each other.

Exploring

Note: This might seem like an odd thing to list here - but I think it qualifies as a strength because the more up close & personal that I'm able to explore creation/nature, the better I understand the nature of the Creator! Maybe I should just lump it together w/ the next one....

Understanding

Note: The more I REALLY understand after studying, exploring, researching, reading, writing, calculating, etc ..... the better I feel like I know God & the more effectively I'm able to share what I'm learning with others.
.

Being Creative ...

....in how I use my time, money, energy, & God given abilities to express what He has shown, taught, & done for me ... in hopes of sharing Him with others.

Caring

If I ever stop caring, I hope I die. Caring is what motivates me to do so much of what I enjoy!. I see people around me who seem to have lost their abilility to care about anything or anyone other than themselves & some who have even lost that (!) & that ..... is just SO sad.

***

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4


For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10

***

How about you? What are YOUR strengths? Not sure? Click here for a list of possibilities. Following is a strength test I found there too:

Service - Does it help me serve God and others?

Time - Has it been present throughout much of my life?

Relationships - Do others see this?

Energy - Do I feel energized when I'm living this way?

Natural - Does this come naturally to me most of the time? OR do I know God has intentionally developed this in me even though it doesn't?

Glory - Does God ultimately get the glory from it?

Trials - Even in hard times, does it usually come through somehow?

Heart - Does this really feel like a core part of who I am?