five minute friday – belong

Earlier this summer I finished my final project in my English program and an interesting element of the reading I did included the 3 or 4 ways (depending on how you look at it) that people are able to temper/mitigate the stresses in their lives.

BELONGING is one of them.

We all knew that right? I mean Maslow blah blah blah needs blah blah blah hierarchy blah blah blah blah blah.

But did we ever really THINK about how our ACTIONS translate into creating a culture or environment conducive to enhancing someone else’s experience of BELONGING?

Families have traditions for it – wedding showers, engagement parties, weddings themselves, and then later baptisms and baby showers and birthday parties and whatnot.

Religions do but whether they enhance the belonging or exacerbate the separateness is up for debate (gee you had your first live snake handling … do you “belong” to those nut job snake handlers or are you separate from the rest of us? Or are we separate from you? And O BTW WHERE THE F is the snake NOW?!?!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!) If you’re interested in learning more about that aspect of belonging, I advocate reading AJ Jacobs’ book The Year of Living Biblically. And yes, I can live with the fact that he went to Brown … because HE isn’t the Brown student who tried to hack the IRS’s website this week and sent out a bajillion spam phishing emails to state university students all over the country (which BTW, reporting to both the IRS & to Brown University was useless … thus it’s on my blog).

So go forth. Make people belong. Belong to someone. To something. To yourself. To the world. And don’t forget at the end of the day – no matter who has let you down – you’ll always belong to the dog. Because she doesn’t have thumbs & you do. Now go open the fridge and make some noms appear before you belong to the barked-at-guild-of-America.

STOP

 

Present – Five Minute Friday – from LisaJoBaker.com

Five Minute Friday – Present

Present …. The first thought that comes to mind is Van Dyke’s book The 4^th Wise Man – an excellent story about the gifts that each of us brings to the lives we live through the blessings we receive from the Lord. Blessings that, until we give of them to others, prevent us from truly seeing the Lord in our lives.

Present … here and now … challenging my deodorant to live up to its Marathon Sport Clinical Strength labeling when speaking in public about the importance of a blended learning option in our school district.

Present … being able to think on your feet because you’re in the moment, not dwelling on the past not dreaming of the future, but firmly grounded in the path which is set before you – and knowing that the thing you MUST do is take the next right step (thank you Regina Brett for putting it much more eloquently than I)

Present … being able to preorder books from Amazon so they’re waiting for you to rip open the box and dive into the pages when the time is right.

 

Present … the touchstones that remind us of who we are, what we mean to others, how we connect with them and the world around us, the thrumming of the universal language of humanity; not words; but harmony and connection. A touch. A smile. A gift of presence.

 

From Pinterest

Present … being able to laugh and cry at the same time; being blessed to have the words to tell someone else how much they’re valued and how deeply their friendship meets others hearts and emboldens them to go beyond their shell and into the greater good they have to offer the world.

Present … what’s apparently “lacking” from those of us who chose outward migration from our hometown … that gives rise to challenge – a gauntlet as it were – from those who remained and feel that those who departed somehow took the answers and solutions “con migo”

 

Present … with diet dr pepper and the freedom to wear whatever shoes I want after 466 days of sneaker imprisonment! Present … wondering if sometimes Doctor’s Orders are meant to push us to the breaking point … or to repair us from it.

STOP

 

Provision – Heathens & Holiness

A couple of days before Easter 2012, one of the members of the auxiliary at my work recommended Grace Notes by Jim Stephens as one of those books that really helps you connect with God in a meaningful way. I bought the book and from time to time I’ve read that instead of my Mom’s Devotional Bible. It’s got dated pages with a reading & a theme and a prayer (similar to the Mom’s Devotional Bible)

Yesterday it was the perfect reminder & reassurance that saying “thanks, but no thanks; I’m staying put” was the right path for my feet. It sure blessed my socks off; I hope it blesses yours off, too!

 

 

June 3

 

Finished My Work

Reading: Proverbs 25-27; Romans 15

 

 

But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you. (Romans 15:23)

 

It caught my attention that Paul said his work “in these regions” was finished. He refers to his ministry from Jerusalem to Illyricum (Northeast of Italy) and he said his work there was finished! This didn’t mean that everyone in the region was saved. It didn’t mean that all the churches were perfect or had the perfect leadership in place. It also didn’t mean that he was through with hard work, with facing challenges, with taking steps of faith. It simply meant that his specific assignment there was completed.

 

It’s so important to know and be committed to God’s specific assignment for our lives. It’s equally important to be aware of the seasons of our lives and of God’s assignment – to recognize when a season is finished and an assignment is completed.

 

I believe it’s healthy for us to have sincere and deeply held desires for our future. It’s healthy and good to be willing and ready to move toward fulfilling those desires when a current season and a present assignment is finished. But it’s foolish to expect that those desires will be fulfilled in just the way we determined and on the schedule we set.

 

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

 

Prayer:

Father, There’s so much for me to learn from the honest account of the adventures of Paul. Thanks for taking the time to teach me. Thanks for your patience with me when I’m slow to get it. This morning I’m thinking about the importance of knowing your specific assignment for me, and of recognizing the seasons of life and ministry. I’m learning to be honest with you about my deeply held desires. I’m learning about making plans, and about trustingly placing the outcome in your faithful and capable hands. Be it unto me according to your will and your word. Amen!.

Comfort – Five Minute Friday #FiveMinuteFriday

Comfort ….

Once upon a time being in the comfort zone was a comfortable place … now it makes me wonder if I’m pushing myself enough … and pushing means going outside that comfort zone and exploring the parts of life and self that need to be challenged.

Routine is comfortable.

Tradition is comfortable.

Spending a day on a job interview is – regardless of need/want/preparedness – uncomfortable.

Baring your soul is uncomfortable.

Eating pasta is comfortable but the effect it can have on your system when you’ve had flour exactly 3 times in 32 days is um not

Kleenex, Puffs and their generic counterparts – despite years of trying – still are not as comforting or comfortable as an ancient cotton hankie. Warm from a pocket.

Adidas addisage sandals are not – at first – a source of comfort, but boy for aching feet they’re miraculous!

Being stuck in sneakers for a year provides comfort to an injured paw … but is awkwardly uncomfortable in certain situations … see “job interview” above (tres classy! Navy business suit, high denier hose, perfect white blouse, the right accessories and those Ghastly sneakers … freakin Reebok, man I’ll tell ya)

Coffee is a comfort … but not if it’s from the Golden Arches (unless you bring your own artificial sweetener).

Most of all – love is comfort. And comfort is love. and this week, we celebrated 14 years of sharing a circle of gold marking our promise to be each other’s comfort …

And that’s 5 …

Here’s a great comfort recipe: Super Soft Sugar Cookies!

 

 

Want to play? Follow me over to LisaJoBaker.com and join the Five Minute Friday writing challenge! Hope to see you Becky and Kate  and can’t wait to read FunkyFaithGirl (since I know she already wrote hers!)