Dance
A song - Home is where your story begins ...
And you shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your
strength. Mark 12:30
all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your
strength. Mark 12:30
Dance: to be interwoven in a divine presence.
The shadows are long. A sweet, gentle fragrance drifts in ever so softly. The scent of Jeffrey Pine draws me back. It is a motion intertwining the past, present and future into an unveiling of a story. An open-topped jeep and music sets the stage for an old wooden planked floor firmly settled into dust. Under cathedral skies of cloud and rain, it is here my spirit is free to wander and to dance a divine presence of the lord.
The shadows are long. A sweet, gentle fragrance drifts in ever so softly. The scent of Jeffrey Pine draws me back. It is a motion intertwining the past, present and future into an unveiling of a story. An open-topped jeep and music sets the stage for an old wooden planked floor firmly settled into dust. Under cathedral skies of cloud and rain, it is here my spirit is free to wander and to dance a divine presence of the lord.
|
|
|
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 |
|
|
Inspiration
Song Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers |
|
|
|
In the fourth grade, I scribbled new words to an old song. It was to bring light to the darkest, farthest and coldest planet in the universe. I guess you could say, I am still that little girl with 1/2 century of time, space and distance; the horizontal and vertical beams of a cross have set in motion an invitation. It is an invitation to change and as a result reach - through words, music, pictures, videos, quotes, stories and scripture; the result is a deeper faith. Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven Matthew 18:3 |
|
|
|
|
|
Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter. John Muir |
|
With an intensity of shadows, the illumination brings light into darkness; it is an invocation of prayer ... like a faint, sweet fragrance that hints of jasmine, thoughts linger with a mysterious perfume of peace. The process of unveiling pictures ignites my imagination. Out of the dark, black page emerge a brilliant moment of color. God reaching into the depth of our souls for the purpose of transforming us into something new.
I remember hearing Watergate on TV as well as watching the news clips about the Vietnam war. Schools were embracing an "open concept" where there were NO walls. I watched the launch of the space shuttle at school in front of a large box tv. The memory still bringing fascination to the stars and universe and the possibility of something more.
I had the great blessing of maternal and paternal grandmothers who prayed. Jesus was a commonplace conversation. Their faith taught me reverence, obedience and trust. They carried the torch for a previous generation that worshipped through the father, son and holy spirit.
It was a generation of kids on bikes until dusk with open fields and water tunnels, hopscotch and tree houses. It was the days were we didn't complain about life. If school was tough, we handled it quietly. If our home life was a struggle, we worked to make our parent's lives easier. Our dreams were quiet and introspective. It provided God with fertile soil.
Wednesdays were the best day of the week because it was the day my Italian grandmother or great-grandmother came. I felt safe those days; they became my safe post. If my external and internal worlds were chaotic, they were the calm in a storm. Wednesdays are still the best day of the week because on most nights, I am hanging out with teenagers as a volunteer youth leader but it is in the community of leaders that I find my tender heart of a child; their presence is again a deeply rooted post I trust.
It is through the cross, a community of people in relationship and the relationship of Jesus Christ that I write and live out my days in ministry - alongside a busy full-time job.
I remember hearing Watergate on TV as well as watching the news clips about the Vietnam war. Schools were embracing an "open concept" where there were NO walls. I watched the launch of the space shuttle at school in front of a large box tv. The memory still bringing fascination to the stars and universe and the possibility of something more.
I had the great blessing of maternal and paternal grandmothers who prayed. Jesus was a commonplace conversation. Their faith taught me reverence, obedience and trust. They carried the torch for a previous generation that worshipped through the father, son and holy spirit.
It was a generation of kids on bikes until dusk with open fields and water tunnels, hopscotch and tree houses. It was the days were we didn't complain about life. If school was tough, we handled it quietly. If our home life was a struggle, we worked to make our parent's lives easier. Our dreams were quiet and introspective. It provided God with fertile soil.
Wednesdays were the best day of the week because it was the day my Italian grandmother or great-grandmother came. I felt safe those days; they became my safe post. If my external and internal worlds were chaotic, they were the calm in a storm. Wednesdays are still the best day of the week because on most nights, I am hanging out with teenagers as a volunteer youth leader but it is in the community of leaders that I find my tender heart of a child; their presence is again a deeply rooted post I trust.
It is through the cross, a community of people in relationship and the relationship of Jesus Christ that I write and live out my days in ministry - alongside a busy full-time job.
Wednesdays are still the BEST day of the week because it is Youth group Wed!
|
A litany of good deeds and strict guidelines, I tried in my own strength to figure out what a relationship with Christ looked like. I walked away when I didn't measure up and filled the void with empty things.
But ... God reached in.
As if a forgotten thread of colors, the conversation began anew years later with other sojourners on the journey; it was here that words, a God Shaped Hole echoed through the cavernous space of a universe. |
|
A step
A woman's voice is suspiciously missing from the pulpit. When I started this website a number of years ago, it was in a quiet, humble prayer that I began.
It was a desire for my faith to be lived and the story to unfold and a belief that we each are designed with a type of hole that only God can fill.
It was a desire for my faith to be lived and the story to unfold and a belief that we each are designed with a type of hole that only God can fill.
This website is a story, my story reaching into your story through a greater story.
|
|
Inspiration
Song: Have I Told You Lately by Van Morrison from the 1989 album, Avalon Sunset |
|
I was a young mom, burdened with the demands of a job, marriage, parenting,
health, finances, ministry, church, friendships, relationships. It was early
morning when I heard a song and walked out
to the most perfect dozen, long-stemmed pink roses on an
ordinary rose bush outside my window.
I smiled at the simple perfection of love.
health, finances, ministry, church, friendships, relationships. It was early
morning when I heard a song and walked out
to the most perfect dozen, long-stemmed pink roses on an
ordinary rose bush outside my window.
I smiled at the simple perfection of love.
|
|
|
|
|
In my zealousness to live a Christian life, there was a time when I threw out all my old music replacing them with worship songs. I dove into religious life like I do everything else, 100% passion, ability, intellect and heart ... until I stopped, listened and mumbled the words, I just can't do it on my own.
That is where the true work began and begins. #lifefail - a sigh and with open hands, I reach for a savior.
That is where the true work began and begins. #lifefail - a sigh and with open hands, I reach for a savior.
|
|
Time and time again heart shaped leaves, a single flower, a color, a song randomly materialize at just the right time. A quiet and humble smile at the dance of my heart. |
|
|
|
|
The simple truth is we are all
imperfect. There isn't a single one of us that merits favor from God. |
|
Inspiration
UTube: Les Miserable_I Give You Back To God Movie: Les Miserable directed by Bille August (1998 movie Release) |
God sees us from the inside - out and shines the flashlight on our heart's possessions.
In Les Miserable, the bishop simply invites the prisoner into
a journey - to become free.
|
|
|
|
Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume
made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with
it, wiping his feet with her hair.
The house was filled with the fragrance.
John 12:3
made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with
it, wiping his feet with her hair.
The house was filled with the fragrance.
John 12:3
|
A Color. A journey. A hope. A dream |
|
Faith, Hope and Love but the greatest of these is love. |
timbreNote
It takes courage to dance |
My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth's loveliness.
Italian sculptor, painter,poet,engineer, Michelangelo |
May you be inspired to see faith through a new lens.
