Something In The Air

A LIL’ MORE THAN HOT AIR

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The other day, in conversation, a friend apologized for having what they thought was bad breath.

“I’m so sorry” she said, guarding her mouth with her hand.

“For what?” I replied.

“My breath!”

She immediately explained that what she ate for breakfast had so much fresh garlic, cilantro and onions in it that it seemed to be lingering and ruminating in the air and between her and I, though she brushed and did all she could to prevent it from having that effect, she was embarrassed that it was affecting me. But it wasn’t. I wondered if I made a face or gesture that triggered her concern but in the end she said it must only be her that smells it or I am just too nice to say that it’s putting me off. I thought to myself, I love the smell of those three things, so I am not sure it would have put me off anyways, but I didn’t smell anything still.

We laughed it off together, and I did my best to try to reassure her that the evident experience she was having, as a result of her morning choices, was in no way impacting me the same. However, she remained self-concious about it afterward and still continued to cover her mouth and apologized with explanation again as another approached to join our coversation.

This made me think…

How often am I hyper sensitive to the lingering effects of my prior choices? And… how much does it affect my interaction with others and most important of all, my interaction with my most significant other… God?

It’s funny how we can tend to focus on all the wrong things and do so often in our relationships. Especially, the most important ones; the one with God, our spouses or significant other and ourselves.

Dale Carnegie, one of the leaders and experts on relationships, in his amazing book “How to win Friends and Influence People” speaks a lot on the topic of focusing on what’s positive in our interaction with others. His very first principle is actually “Don’t criticize, condemn or complain” and it is first for a reason.

God knows and apparently Dale Carnegie does too; it’s extremely hard not to focus on the negative but whether we do or not has the greatest effect on us and everyone we interact with. We are easily drawn to the negative and are critical and offer complaint more often than anything else in our relationship with Him, as well as ourselves and others.

So on this Sunday morning, as I prepare to go to His house, where I hope to meet with Him and am looking forward to Him speaking to me… I’m thinking of what, if anything, will have an affect that may hinder our conversation.

Will it be what He is focusing on or what I am? He already knows all that’s on my plate and what I have to put out on the prayer table this morning. I think He is preparing me for what He has cooking.

Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

Just a little food for thought this morning. Hope you enjoy what is served up enough to join me again!

Lord!! Help me in my prayers and praise to you. That what I bring before you focuses on all that you are doing that is good. May it fill your house with a pleasant aroma that revives you’re spirit in me. In every sense, REVIVAL is what I need!

Thought on love #12:

If you are spoken for….

Reviving your love takes more than just focusing on what you are doing in love. It involves focusing on what the one who truly loves us all has done, is doing and has promised to do.

His love is good, all the time. All the time, His love is good! I AM Spoken for.

True Loves Truths

TRUTH IS…

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What you want is far from what you need

TRUTH IS…

Seeing growth requires more than just the planted seed

TRUTH IS…

For some… feeling only exists where there is pain

TRUTH IS…

To see the rainbow… you must withstand the rain

TRUTH IS…

There must be darkness for you to see the light

TRUTH IS…

Great joy comes the morning after surviving the longest night

TRUTH IS…

Deep love hurts deeply… but He did dive in none the less

TRUTH IS…

True love is worth the cost, I know cause’ He paid my unparalleled debt

TRUTH IS…

The scars that remain are the proof of love’s perfect sacrifice

TRUTH IS…

You don’t care but to do it again and again… He doesn’t even think twice.

TRUTH IS…

He knows you have been holding back because you don’t want to start feeling again

TRUTH IS…

Truth hurts therefore the truest of love will give cause enough to endure the greatest pain ’til the end.

ME in the mirror.

Thought on love #11:

True love can truly be a pain but what comes out in the wash is worth withstanding all the rain.

Keeping the Faith

GROUNDED

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“Good evening folks… this is your captain speaking….” statically coming over the loudspeaker.

As the flight crew pauses from their routine, he continues “We have some adverse conditions currently that are causing some delay of our on-time take off.”

“Just great!” Exclaims the man in the seat behind me. “Excuse me, do we know exactly how long this delay will be?” Asks another. “I have a connecting flight!!! This is going to make me miss everything!” A disgruntled voice yells from across the aisle.

Not going anywhere for a while?

Sometimes there are times we must weather events that cause great delay in us getting where we planned to go. Usually, we focus on all the wrong things during these times… and those things result in us really going nowhere.

We can tend to focus on the event, saying… “Why is THIS happening?”

Or we can start to examine our past and present faults and failures exclaiming “Why me?” And “Of course…this was bound to happen to me!” As if the line up of your evident errors in your circumstantial past has led to this subsequent event preventing you from reaching your final destination because everthing is all about YOU. I’m guilty!!!!

But in reality the time spent focusing on why this is happening or who caused it to happen just takes away from the experience of what is actually going on. The subsequent event may be just what is supposed to be happening. If you are not careful… you will miss it entirely!

Staying grounded in the stormy times

We are in a love-hate relationship with everything in life. When adverse conditions hit us and we are faced with dealing with a stormy outlook, we make decisions with the flip of a coin as if there are only two outcomes to our present situation. Good or bad. And we usually don’t lean toward the good. However, there are eight-sides to every coin. If you never knew that… they are:

The right side, wrong side, left side, up side, down side, in-side, out-side and the ever unrecognized “be”side. We’ll get into all of this in more depth later as we take a look at change in our perspective of all that we wholly love and hate in life, but the point I’m trying to make here is: there is more to what you’re experiencing than just what you’re choosing to look at.

I say all of that to say this… my beloved,

Thought on love #10

complete and true love is fully experienced through an entire course of events. The take-off and arrival to your desired destination is such a small part of it all. Don’t get stuck where those two alone are stalled.

You need to be present in every moment that you are in. I read somewhere that the present is “pre-sent”. It’s an opportune time for you to take advantage of the time you are suddenly afforded. Know who God is and who and what you are in Him, then look around to see who you are with and “Be” what you are meant to be with and for them in the moment.

You are where you are for a reason

When you’re in a place where you have nowhere to go… flip your perspective to a brighter side! Make your decision on how to be by considering every side of the situation, not just the side you’re standing on. You may need to change your view by looking at what’s right, wrong, left, up, down, in and out in this moment. You may find you are beside yourself when you see how God uses that time to change things with you in it.

Ultimately… He is the master planner behind the scenes and when we feel like our plans are thrown of course, often we are suddenly right where we need to be for His plan to take course.

Psalm: 46. 10. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

You may be halted so He can be exalted!

Good to Go

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Stepping out without breathing in… taking that first step, where it all begins

To go without, one searches within… needing more than him, feels like a sin

Bags packed, hat tipped at the brim… Painstaking thoughts come on a whim.

No looking back, no other option… Found the path to my destination.

Knowing this chapter has to end… Where everything else begins.

HIS-STORY IN THE MAKING!

Letting Love Fly

A New Love Takes Flight

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In all my travels…I have never been where I am…today!

No greater time to seize the day.

Carpe Diem!

ME in the Mirror

Wondering what’s new? A fresh perspective of what is behind for a greater vision of what lies ahead. God reminds that it’s not just a new day we are in… it’s a new place… and I want to put it on the map so that you can find the way too!

God says to be on the look out… no matter where you are right now.

Isaiah 43:19 Behold! I will do a new thing. Shall you not know it? I will make a way in the wilderness and a river in the desert.

You could call that my pilot verse… because it’s no surprise to me that God can do what seems impossible. I have been blessed to witness him faithfully move mountains for many. However, it’s not what has been moved in or out of my life that is giving me a new found love for the future. It is the fact that He remains unmovable in it that is taking my heart to unbelievable heights in this new year! In my loves past I have been through some pretty dark times (perhaps you have too). I look back at long desert days, spent wondering how I would survive and many mornings where I woke up still “in the woods”, only to wander aimlessly, stuck in my circumstances. For a good while, every time I looked at where I’d been I resented the time wasted and the investment lost from everything I gathered in effort to find my way. Today though, I have a new appreciation for where I have been because He has shown me that He was always there through all of it, I was just focused on where I’d been rather than Him, which meant I couldn’t see where love was leading the way. I am in a different place now, but today I know, no matter my location, He remains.

This past year, the best thing I learned to help me on this journey is how to travel light and let go of excess baggage. As I think about going the distance for love, my past decisions and experiences certainly carry some weight but I now know the final destination I hope to reach requires nothing outside of what is secured in my heart today.

Thought on Love # 7

Let love lead the way, check your baggage and let it take flight today!

Thoughtful Love – 101

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Questionable thoughts on love anyone?

I have 101… on my single one-track mind… go figure. To that you may jokingly say “Well, I guess it’s true that those who can’t do teach.” To which I have to snidely reply…

“Can you define ‘doing’ love for me please?”

Of the all the questionable thoughts I have about love, this is the most prominent one. So, if you know, fess up! Many may stake claim on knowing all the ins and outs of making love but yet… all around the world, the multitudes are clueless about how it’s really supposed to be done. All joking aside though, my last few posts on this subject revealed that undercover is where I will go to uncover the truth on love.

At the heart of the issue, what we do in anything is linked directly to what we think on. That which we actively love is connected to what we mentally invest in. Which leads me to the real motivation behind my many questions about love. YOU!

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There is a time and reason for every season and you are it. What I mean to say is; of all that I love and savor on my whole plate… what consumes me the most, is that which I long to serve… to you.

You may humbly ask…”Why do you think so much of me?” Well you do have a lot going for you! However, it’s actually His greatness that fuels my love for you, not yours.

God said… “above all have love for one another” but more than just saying it, He shows by example how love is done.

He is the mastermind behind this undercover search and He wants us to discover exactly what’s covered! The obvious, is the second half of the aforementioned verse, but we are searching for the not so obvious.

For God so loved the world… He did what I could have never done. He thought so much of you and I, that He gave the life of His son. When it hit me that Jesus really died to fulfill His father’s will, for the love of my soul, the three words “It is finished” were all I could think of. What was finished were my thoughts of me, myself and I alone.

Thought #1 out of 101:

Love is actively being thoughtful of others.

In thought of you, I reflected on what was originally written and humbly bowed down. I needed to make a change. This post has been edited. In my sinful nature, I selfishly want to uncover the truth about love for me, but His love is for you too. With that in mind, I am longing to hear what you want to discover in this undercover search for love.

I hope you’ll find the next thought on love I share to cover more than a multitude of sins.

Second Guessing the Guests

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When is it too early to talk about betrayal? Do we have to wait until after supper?

Still open? Trust that I am not trying to close the door on any extended invitations but we have been on a getting to know one another basis for almost two months now and I am not one to wait until all the guests have had their fill to bring out what’s best for all at the table. So, let me just say; I keep trying to put this behind me but from where I am sitting betrayal is not a thing of the past.

The question of the day; when I know I have let go of what I lost and I have put the circumstantial evidence of how it was lost in its place (the past) why does the betrayal remain? Is the one who betrayed me still seated at the table or worse… on the throne of my heart?

Break it down…Who betrayed who?

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“I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart” as Michael Corleone plainly put it in the movie “The Godfather”….

….It was not God, The Father

We all want love that is true, right? The first step to discovering the truth about love is to reveal who the liar is. When dealing with betrayal the concern most of us immediately address in our mind is “who done it.”

When someone has done me wrong I want to pin point where the fault lies so I can put more than my finger on them. (cough-cough) When I discover who did the dirty deed, with an extended index finger I bring it to my attention to make sure I don’t forget. However, when pointing out the fault of another, there are three other fingers pointing right back at me.

Know this…

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

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As a result, I feel exposed, busted and disgusted with the thought that the real culprit is me. The questions that follow go something like this. “How could I be so naive? Where did I go wrong?” and finally, “What did I do to deserve this?” The last question made the list by popular demand.

When wanting to learn more about love, questions are good, but the most important question of them all (I’ve had to ask myself) “Who are you asking?” When inquiring within… who am I expecting to get the answer from… me or Him?

Let me just put it all out on the table.

True story… if you’ve already had the misfortune of experiencing betrayal, like I have… it’s near impossible to reverse it. Whether you were betrayed by yourself or by another, it will be constantly in the rear view. Anytime you reflect, it’s right there to skew your view of love for yourself, others and God in the future. So how do we see past it? We have to remember two things: Who prepared the table we sit at and where they are seated.

Jeremiah 17:10 “I the Lord search the heart…”

Knowing someone is capable of betrayal is inescapable, each and every one of us is. Our own hearts tell us we can never trust ourselves again, much less anyone else. It’s a lie meant to decieve us into believing there is no hope. What I am trying to get the answer to is….how do we protect ourselves from the enemy that lies… if already inside the gates? Here is the whole truth…

Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know…

Getting back to the bread about to be broken… God knows what is about to be served. If we are able to recognize that we need to feast on what he has for us alone… He can handle everything else, liars and thieves will get their just dessert!

Just trust who is on the throne of your heart. Jesus, the chosen gatekeeper, is seated at the table with us… right in the place we have given Him. He knows us and our guests better than anyone. No need to worry. If you have invited Him… there is no second guessing!

Abridged or Unabridged?

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How we get where we’re going…

Which version would you like? The truth or the lie? How many factors are required to make the decision? Does it depend on the book, the subject interest or lack there of… the author?

What if it was the book of love?

Or Life…???

In a fiction world, I’m an unabridged type of girl. I want to soak in all the sordid details. But when reality sets in… I admit that there are days, seasons, spans of time and definitely subjects where I just want to cut to the chase and skip to the final chapter already. However, the true story about finding love in life that lasts is… there are no short cuts.

Bridging the Gap… crossing state lines!

As I sit and get consumed in my mid-day lunch hour, I begin to digest the issue on my plate. Staying engaged in my love story is always hardest when I feel like I am on a bridge over troubled water to nowhere. Going from point A to B is not hard, (map please)… it’s connecting each D-O-T and making sense of where I am, in relation to where God says I will be in the end, that I struggle with. The inner child of God in me is whining from the back seat, in agony with stomping feet… crying out “Are we there yet?!” Then suddenly…

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

1 Corinthians 13:4

Turning the page, I’m on the other side “you’re not in the same place you used to be…” says He. I suddenly see… there was more than just water under that bridge. I used to get myself in deep trouble being in such a hurry. Let’s just say… lesson learned… gates exist for a reason. Me being eager to get somewhere… avoiding the gate and crossing the bridge at the unappointed time caused me to wind up on board whatever vessel happened to be passing through. Can you say detour to the deep end of the emotional ocean? Now… patience is a virtue that this “virtuous woman” hopeful is definitely working on.

Skipping to the final chapter…

Perhaps the problem has always been that I’m still a prepper at heart. Sometimes I can think so far ahead that I completely miss the fact that in traveling the distance over the bridge, I cross over into a different state.

Don’t burn that bridge!

Occasionally, I have to look back at the road I’ve traveled to remind myself how far I have come. That’s why the bridge is there. It’s not there for you to go back… it’s meant to give evidence that you’re in a new place and there is something that separates where you are now from where you once were.

In the end… we all want to know what’s coming but focusing only on the destination means you can miss out on all the details. Sometimes, the very chapter we are stuck in, is where the plot thickens and the truth and beauty of all there is to love is revealed.

My revelation… in the story of my life, I know… the truth about love is not written by me.

If I stop and plan to jump in the middle of the bridge, the chance of surviving the fall are slim to none. I must wait and trust the author, for He has the final word.

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This is just a taste of the love that makes up… His-story.

Love at a Table for One

“It Is Well With My Soul”

“When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll,

Whatever thy lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well with my soul..” Horatio G. Spafford

In my browsing through past articles of my not so memorable prior life, I came across an article I saved for when I was ready to learn how to deal with what I thought I lost… in the death of my marriage. It was written by PH. D and posted in The St. Augustine Record found at St.Augustine.com, the story is told of the detailed events in a life that led to the lyrics of the well-known hymnal mentioned above. In my daily reading there are occasions where the written word will jump of the page and leap into my heart, but none quite like this one did. The words revisited made me dive down deep to my own well to check what they, when read out loud, mean to me… “It is Well with my Soul”

It was a gut check…

When I heard of the life he lost. I could feel it in my gut. All that I lost. If anyone out there is listening…. REAL LOVE HURTS and I know I am not the first to say so… but, when loss in love has reduced the fighting force behind the beat of the drum you march to, from any other number, to an army of one, the resulting pain can be devastating… gut wrenching so to speak. I used to say (to myself); whoever said “it is better to have loved and loss than to never have loved at all”… must not have known what it really felt like to experience true love that was truly lost. It’s like that blow to stomach that you can’t quite recover from, the one that knocks the breath right out of you. The breath of life.

More than Love Lost

When you’re suddenly empty because everything that once fueled your spirit and drive to keep going has been removed from the table, you’re at risk of losing more than you think. The truth is, what’s really at stake is your appetite for life as you know it. Most can identify with knowing something major is lacking in life but can you identify with being satisfied with starvation? When you have succumbed to the fact that you’re no longer getting what you need (that is what’s going on)… you’re starving yourself and that can be a dangerous place to be.

“Done waiting on life? I don’t blame you.”

“I’m done.” That’s what they say. I’ve said it too. We’re all at a loss. It’s a toxic view to have on life… and what’s worse, is that according to you and everyone else, the view isn’t changing. When you’re at a loss and nobody has anything to offer to meet your need… the biggest problem is… no-one will blame you. Everyone tiptoes around the table and dares not to ask if you’d be interested in anything further on the menu because they know what you’ve been served. So with a pain in the pit of your belly, you just continue to sit.

Getting the Guts to Let Go!

Why is it so hard to let go of something that causes pain? The most common response I have heard myself and others say to that question is “I just want to understand why.” We all want to know why everything happens to us, because if we can learn the reason then maybe we can make sure it doesn’t happen again or at the very least we can be better prepared the next time, but we’ll be waiting at a table for one forever for the answer to arrive because everything is not about “us”. The painful truth is… the reason for your loss may have nothing to do with “Y-O-U” but the pain you’re continuing to experience over it is due to nothing but you. I’m not saying you asked for it but you can’t ask for anything else because it’s taking up all the real estate on your plate.

Go on and help yourself! Life after loss.

Looking back at when I was living with all that I lost… the “self-help” I sought, when I was at a loss is laughable to say the least. If you’re trying to help yourself… can I just say… you can’t give what you have not received. If you’re running on empty… you have to go to another source. Who better than the one Horatio G. Spafford turned to when he sought to be well… when all was lost.

You’re invited!

I know this may be hard to believe but once upon a time… I was at a loss for words. I felt like I was losing it all, including my mind… until someone gave me an invitation like no other. There is a table I sit at now… with one that can truly meet every need. His name is Jesus. He found me when all was lost and I was left alone.

From one more single Christian soul to another… I repeat, as Anna Spafford said in two telegraphed words. I am “saved alone.”

Won’t you join me and come open…

He continues to stand and knock at

THE DOOR!

Old School Love

Back to School

Rock and Rule!

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I’m sorry for the break but we had to get ready for school.

Are you ready to rock this school year?

Ready or not… the bus is here. It’s time to get back to class, hit the books & earn more from the teacher than dirty looks. Some think school rules. They love the challenge and welcome the change of facing another school year. While others feel it’s totally lame and to them going back to school is like going against the grain.

So, what goes through your mind when thinking about heading back to school?

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Are you the “ho-hum” summer daze dreamer saying “I March to my own drum and don’t want the end of summer to come.”… just wishing that, with one giant exhale, you could wish the present a few more months away?

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Maybe you are the “hi-ho” personality type ‘A’… that’s saying “Carpe Diem! I have waited all summer for the chance to seize the first day…” and you’re staring at the vision board of every achievement ahead already hanging on your bedroom wall.

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Or perhaps you’re the “oh-no” which way will I go type, saying “I can’t go back but don’t want to see what’s next… now I’m stuck on this emotional roller coaster track…” and you’re flinching with every step you take in fear that it’s not what’s best.

Don’t believe the hype… You’re not alone!

Don’t be fooled… you’re not the only one that feels the way you do about school. After all, we are all learning every day, whether we like it or not. No matter how you approach back to school season …when it comes to learning lessons in love and life no one is absolutely in love with getting schooled, but going back to school can be cool if you know someone who makes the learning meaningful and fun. That’s right! You guessed it!! You are one smart cookie! The key to making learning special is found in relationships.

Whether you’re just jumping in or you’ve done it before and now you’re at it once again… the process of learning something new… even if it’s just about you, is constant and never-ending. If you say you’re a pro and there’s not much you don’t know then you’ll soon have another thing coming. In other words, for you to really rock and rule in school you’re going to need to do more than just look sharp. You need to get sharp and stay sharp!

Proverbs 27:17 (KJV)

¹⁷Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

B.I.B.L.E. = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

I don’t mean to take it so far back in time but I always have to go there… “staying sharp” way back when the bible was written was best achieved with the help of another. That’s some real old school love for you to carry in your backpack on this lifelong journey of learning.

Friends for lifelong learning

I made mention before about the importance of having friends in your life that feed you what’s good… and we’ll be defining “good” food as we get to know each other more but what I am hoping you will chew on today is… we all need someone.

Whether the grade level you’re facing today is…Pre-K, Middle school… or Senior year, always keep in mind that to be at the head of the class it means you will always need the others behind you.