A Step-Father’s Love….
22 Apr 2011 7 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: agenda, father's love, love, ripple, Step father, unconditional
He is 81…I love him. He is a beautiful soul who has loved me without reservation, unconditionally, and most importantly, with no agenda. Today I visited him in the hospital, watching as he struggles with a severe lung disease. How precious each moment is, nothing is taken for granted. I hope he knows how much he means to me…how his love has righted so many wrongs, I am blessed. We can never underestimate the ripple effect of a simple act of loving; restored faith in the purity of a father’s love. I pray I have many more years to spend with my papa….your love and kindness has changed my life; you are my hero ♥
Pivots…
25 Feb 2011 2 Comments
in Uncategorized
Significant moments, an abrupt turning in a new direction….about faces. These are the moments when I am standing in the shadow of the mountain looking up, anxious to get to the top, but my feet are sooo heavy, and it’s much easier to just curl up in this warm sunny spot at the bottom. I love this spot… it loves me, we’re comfortable together…so familiar. I close my eyes and the mountain disappears. Quiet, numb, blissful denial. Then the wind comes, it’s so damn noisy in my head. It pushes and nags me forward as I try to bat it away. Stubborn, I look back….longing, but the spot is gone. Each day a few more faltering steps, a new spot for a rest, and then a little closer. I can’t actually see the top, but I know it has to be there…this is my faith. Curled in my new warm spot, this is His Love, the wind…perseverance, and the mountain…it is God’s reward. Blessings ♥
It’s soooo easy!
12 Feb 2011 4 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Respect
I’ve been thinking a lot about respect. So I’m going to digress and do some talking out loud at your expense…he he. To begin with let’s start with some definitions: as a noun: esteem for, or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person; favor or partiality. As a verb: to hold in esteem or honor; to show regard or consideration for. Now it seems to me that pretty much everything falls under the umbrella of respect. Relationships of all kinds, love, politics, religion, justice, racism, crime, addictions… I can’t think of a thing that couldn’t be guided by the compass of respect.
We’ve all been taught about love, but love without respect, well it’s not really love. For example, imagine for a moment if we raised our children with respect as the primary premise of how they should filter their behavior. The first lesson would be taught by parents showing initial respect to the small child, their right to have & express feelings without unjust repercussions. Teaching the child about respect of self, thereby potentially eliminating the need for drugs & alcohol, sex for love, etc, instead they would have a personal sense of justice and the treatment of others. They would honor their parents until death…less nursing homes, forgotten populations. Respectful children making respectful adults making respectful children…….
When you really boil it down, all the previously mentioned issues are really just relational issues of some kind, and the only time trouble comes is when a lack of respect is expressed to or against another person or thing. In my estimation, I think respect is the crux, the be all end all of all conflicts, issues, wars, divorce, abuse, poverty, and the list goes on. You rarely hear people talking about respect, like it’s an old fashioned idea. Personally I don’t think it’s ever been practiced on a grand scale. When you look at the larger issues in life like war, poverty, etc., you can always take it down to the smallest level…the individual, and there is where you will see the character defects that populate into the larger issues. I want to shake the world by it’s shoulders and say WAKE UP, it’s so damn easy, really!
Every single day I have so many opportunities to choose whether or not to show respect. A typical day of respect would look like this: wake up and first thing, express my deep gratitude to God, then show love to my pets, making sure they have fresh water and food. Now off to the shower to show some respect to myself as I lather, dress and present myself as best I can. A healthy breakfast to respect my body, and health, and I’m heading to work. My car is nice and clean because I respect the things that have been provided to me, and in traffic I don’t begrudge the crazy drivers because I have no idea what their morning or life is like, so I respectfully give them space :). At work I give my employer 100%, I don’t steal their time, I am grateful for my job. I treat my co-workers with respect, don’t gossip, just offer my support/help when needed. I treat my patients tenderly, with the utmost respect for the difficulties they are facing. I show respect to the doctors, for the sacrifice of years of schooling they went through and their desire to help others. At home in the evening I greet my neighbors, and then spend time talking to my friends and loved ones, never demanding from them, always giving a good ear and a warm heart about their day. At day’s end I finish with my prayers, thanking God for all the people he brought into my life that day, praying for those who are hurting, and that I may better reflect Him tomorrow.
That is how I would like to live each and every day, and just for a moment, imagine if we all were on the same page. The ripple effect would be like no other. Sure everyone’s day is different, but we all have an amazing amount of opportunities to show and express respect. At home, work, dating, communicating, our beautiful earth, our families….it’s ENDLESS!
Tomorrow I will respectfully pray that today we will guide our actions and responses in a manner that always strives for the higher road, the one of Respect Always. Peace
Love Is
09 Feb 2011 3 Comments
in Uncategorized
“The question of love is not one that can be evaded. Whether or not you claim to be interested in it, from the moment you are alive you are bound to be concerned about love, because love is not just something that happens to you: it is a special way of being alive.” Thomas Merton
In today’s world it is so easy to view ourselves as a package, something to be marketed, the next best deal around. We dress it up literally and figuratively, market it, and wait for love to happen. But in truth, Love is…already. It is the force, the one word, it is why we were created. It seeks nothing in return,” it responds with warmth, abandon and surrender” (Thomas Merton). In truth the more we dwell in Love in the truest sense, the more we also lose our selves, our marketable identity, our return on our deposit. We no longer concern ourselves with outcomes, gain…there is no greed in love (note to self). So to love is to lose ones self, to truly be in Love, in solitude, yet in everything. Love is a transcendent spiritual power. It is a living appreciation and value of life as a gift. It is open and receiving, asking nothing, yet giving everything. Love reveals itself through us to others, it reveals our deepest personal meaning, our value, identity. Love is the force, the energy, the creation itself…it cannot be found, it already is, there, to be dwelled in, fully immersed, joyful in the full contact of, emanating out from within…a whisper heard around the world. Here is where I find my peace….love and blessings
“Hope” Happy New Years!
01 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized
“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them.”
Louisa May Alcott
Merry Christmas!
25 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized
God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith;
the warmth of Christmas, which is love;
the radiance of Christmas, which is purity;
the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice;
the belief in Christmas, which is truth;
the all of Christmas, which is Christ.
–Wilda English
Precious child, always know I am infinite.
I have no beginning and no end.
In your earthly life as a human being, you have a physical beginning and you will have a physical end.
Although you have a physical end as a human being in your human body, in your spirit you can have life everlasting in me.
Part of your faith in me rests in believing my infinite size, my infinite love, and infinite power can touch your life.
In your faith, you need my touch because parts of you and parts of your life are not what they should be.
In my love, I will help you open your life to me so what is finite in you can be made infinite by me.
In my love, I will help you open your life to me so what is weak in you can be made strong by me.
In my love, I will help you open your life to me so what is broken in you can be made whole by me.
In my love, I will help you open your life to me so what is unworthy in you can be made worthy by me.
In my love, I will help you open your life to me so what is unlovable in you can be made lovable by me.
In my love, I will help you open your life to me so you can touch, change, and transform your life through my infinite love, mercy, and forgiveness.
Precious child of mine, I love you
A Christmas Letter From God
22 Dec 2010 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Christmas letter, Hope, Loss, Love from God, Romans
Do you feel at a loss right now? Do you feel that God is not talking to you and that you really need His care and attention right now? Many of us do, and so as we approach Christmas, let us believe for a minute that this is our letter from God.
Dear Child
I just wanted to remind you today of how beautiful you are because there is a father of lies who will try to deceive you.
He will try to tell you that you are not good enough, not attractive enough, not thin enough, not strong enough, not smart enough, not righteous enough, and that you are simply unimportant to me.
He will try to tell you that you have broken one too many promises, that you have fallen one too many times, that you have lived one too many lies, and that you’ve been going in the wrong direction so long that it is pointless to turn back now.
But guess what?
YOU DO NOT BELONG TO HIM. HE IS NOT YOUR FATHER. I AM.
You see, you are my creation. My workmanship. You have been born of my thought, every part of you placed together by my hands. You have my thumbprint upon you. You are precious, did you know that? You are my child, the child of THE King!
I look at you and see a precious, priceless pearl. There is no ocean I would not swim, no mountain I would not climb, no price I would not pay to have you and to be with you and call you my own.
I already have.
I have done all that I could, given all that there is. I desire to be with you every moment of every day. How I long for you to talk to me every day. My love for you never grows cold. My promises are never broken (contrary to what he might lead you to believe). My character never changes. And you, my child, have been made in my image.
I love you dearly, unconditionally and completely. I understand every emotion that you have. I’ve been there. I count every tear that you cry. I know every hair on your head. And do you know what?
I even know your weaknesses and your failures and your fears. I know those hidden parts of you that you wish would go away. Those dark corners of your world that you stuff deep down, praying that no one will ever see. I have already seen them and they will not change my love for you.
Nothing will. I love your heart and I desire all of it.
I just wanted to remind you today of how beautiful you are and how precious you are to Me.
With love, God
“I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless you with complete happiness and peace because of your faith. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope”. Romans 15:13
vvlea
