God Does the Unthinkable – He Sets His Affection on Us & He Woos Us!

I remember it like it was yesterday – being woo’ed – is an experience you don’t forget…

….Each morning within minutes of the clock’s black arrow pointing to 8:00a.m. I walked into my temporary corner office with its huge bank of wall to wall windows overlooking the university campus’s manicured lawns and garden beds laced with wandering brick paths.

There waiting for me on my desk was one white bakery bag containing the gooiest almond croissant – wildly sticky to the touch, with an almond glaze that lent a shiny sheen to the golden brown swirls encasing the flaky center. Ahhhh. [Read more…]

Have You Ever Had A Bad Hair Day? Give Yourself Grace for the Daily Grind…

Ever Have a Bad Hair Day?

‘Bad Hair Day! I get it‘ – I think it each time I drive past one particular pasture on the highway littered with sheep, and, invariably,  I notice the tangled and matted ‘hair’ that ensconces them. Perhaps, that gives you an idea how often I lament the troubles of having curly hair and living in a rainy climate.

By ‘rainy climate’ I refer to the Pacific Northwest – and it is damp. Those of you with curly hair will understand – damp climates, moisture in the air, makes straightened, styled hair an impossibility for us with curls.

 

Our natural state is not always our most desirable state, as in the case of my curls.

The dilemma with curly hair is that moisture releases previously styled hair back to its most natural style – wild abandon, in my case! It doesn’t take much. A five minute walk through Pacific Northwest mists from my car to a store or dining establishment is all it takes for nature – chaos – curls – to ‘set’ in.

What do you and I do with those flaws that keep popping up and causing us angst?

As we near the end of January, we may be experiencing some extra bad hair days or just bad days, as many of us who made resolutions or plans may be waning (or failing, if you’re like me!), I thought I’d throw myself and you a lifeline – a small reminder –

God’s got this!

 

I don’t so much mean our hairdo’s – as I mean our mess ups, our confusions, our missteps and mistakes, our very heartaches.

The longer I am a Christian the more I find I need it – I crave it – I can’t do without it – ‘it’s’ grace, I’m talking about.

And, I don’t mean a once a week dose – I need it daily, hourly, moment-by-moment.  And, even though I need it, I often don’t offer grace to myself – because I’m too busy trying to ‘fix’ it (me, that is), or tweak the trouble (me, again!), instead of wait at God’s footstool and receive it – all that I need.

 

There is a Bible verse that reminds me of all this:

“but God shows His love for us, in that

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us..” Romans 5:8

 

The ‘Sandra J’ commentary for this verse might read…

“On our worst hair days, God loved us and gave Himself for us…”

 

Somehow this makes sense to me – it hits my emotional center, since how I look, sometimes translates into how I feel.

When I am at my worst – not just hair – but worst decision, worst mess up, worst parenting day (I’ve got quite a log of these), at my lowest points God offers me His very best.

A clean slate. A kind word. A second chance. His loving heart.

God takes us today – as we are – where we are – and offers us grace in our Here and Now. Our as is life.

Sometimes I just need to hear it again – that I can choose grace – undeserved favor for the place that I find myself. He’s not waiting for me to get it all together – He doesn’t want me to try to ‘look’ the part – He asks, rather, for my ‘as  is’ heart.

I can choose to forget my shame and even the untamed mass of out-of-control hair that I wore to church last week (if you witnessed it – pour some grace my way, please!).

Fresh starts. Straightened paths – curls or no.

May His grace be yours, this day.

Linking up with Holley’s CoffeeformyHeart, Deb’s Faith’nFriends, Lyli’s ThoughtProvokingThursdays, #ThisDayGodsWay, ,

Connections – We Want ‘Em, We Crave ‘Em – But, Do We Know What They Look Like?

Yesterday a dear friend and I, for over 30 years (those are the sweetest), sat in a Starbucks with our steaming 16 ounce lattes, and talked about that ever illusive – hard to catch thing – connection.

We both admit – we crave connections – think about connections – want and plan for more connections.

It’s kind of like chocolate for me – I can’t seem to get enough.

I not only crave connections, I expect them.

If I am in a group setting with others – no matter where (work, church, home), I expect to make a meaningful connection. I expect some type of emotional attachment – being heard and loved for who I am.

“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” ― Brené Brown

Connections matter.

If I am honest with myself, my picture of connectedness might look like an episode from the TV show “Friends”.

My friends would always be available for my every need (they live across the hall, right?), our conversations would be witty, these friends would be attractive, not needy, and time with them would always hit my emotional happy place.

Not…. what my life looks like!

First off, I crave connections, but I find that in social gatherings, I often leave feeling disconnected, somehow ‘off’.

There have been more instances than I care to count when I’ve felt alone in places that I’d expected to have comradery and fellowship.

Connections for me often come in unexpected places, with people I don’t expect to connect to.

Connections are like the bubbles pouring out of the bubble machine on the curb at my local art store – they float all around me, touching me with their beauty – but when I reach out to grab one – they pop and disappear in my hand.

Connections can’t be ordered up – like our favorite coffee drink.

They happen when they happen – like that ever elusive bubble that I can’t seem to catch as it floats by me.

You and I are clearly made for connections – we seem hardwired with a drive to connect. This is no freak accident of nature. But, how do we meet our need to connect?

I think we all want a simple “how to” answer – to make our connections ‘work’ – to meet and fill our needs.

What I’m wondering – is if that small ache we feel – that ever present hunger for connections, is what Solomon described as: “eternity in the heart of man” (Ecc. 3;11).

Perhaps, the something more we crave – is a God made hole that can only be filled at the end of time, when God’s ultimate plan – oneness – the diversity of mankind melded into a heavenly whole, will be unraveled and displayed in all its splendor.

 [tweetthis display_mode=”box”]Connection and the working of it – a mystery.[/tweetthis]

A mystery of God’s design, God’s handiwork. A great mystery, with great purpose – part of His will and design.

 

“God made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ…to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”  -Ephesians 1:9

 

The best description I can find, of a “how-to” approach to intention and purpose connection is this:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

Luke 10:27

 

My job – loving God and loving others.

God’s job – bringing about His ultimate plan – His design for our hearts – the unsolvable mystery – oneness.

 

**Lord, we look to you, the Author of Life, the Designer Extraordinaire, the One whose purposes and plans never fail. Lord, fill the deep places in us that crave connection. Lead us – in our weakness, in our wants, in this our heart’s desire – to connect. We trust in you.

This post was one I published a year ago, which I decided to recycle as this topic is near and dear to my heart – always a trending topic for me!

Linking up with: Holley’s CoffeeformyHeart, Lyli’s ThoughtProvokingThursday

Nourish – God’s Answer for Our Hungry Hearts – My Word for 2017

“What word would I put in wood blocks on my mantel?” I knew my answer without thinking – Nourish!

Did a word pop into your mind with the question? This was a question I posed in a Thanksgiving post on blessing with our words.

The first place I began to savor the word ‘nourish‘ was in the Bible story of Joseph.

This spoiled and favored brother out of ten, who was thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers, understood times of feasting and times of famine – he’d experienced loss of his family, slavery, disappointment.

I am drawn to moments of impact – those moments that creep up on you, then change your life forever.

There is one particularly electric moment in Joseph’s story – high emotion, high drama, high stakes., that I am drawn to.

Let me tell you the story…. [Read more…]

Reflections on 2016 – The Year of Big Events

**I’m tucking in an extra post this week because it’s time for Emily P. Freeman’s ‘What We’ve Learned’ link up. You might enjoy taking a look here.

This year was marked by Big Events for our family, so I’m starting with a review and, then, what it’s meant to me. These have been life changers – they’ve made seismic shifts in the terrain of our family life.

I’ll start with The Big Event – probably better named ‘The Blessed Event‘. This past July my eldest daughter married the love of her life, Sean. It was a once in a lifetime day, as I’m sure many of you’ve experienced, and it not only blessed our family, it altered us, somehow.

kristin-and-sean-with-ice-cream-cones-at-wedding-cut-version

Most obvious, our daughter-filled family now has a son. We’ve added testosterone, much humor and wit, along with a generous spirit. Not a bad addition. [Read more…]

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