The Chosen Ones...

I went to an amazing retreat/conference/seminar last week that has recharged, renergized and reframed the way that I look at the world, my life and my work.

We all need times like that- to be surrounded, to be filled to the brim, to be revitalized, to remember why it is we are doing the hard work of mending broken souls, of healing hurts and helping to find new paths for our clients.

As a result as a gift to myself and the participants I wrote and shared this poem...

Our time together was a reminder that we all brings so many gifts, and that we all are called to use them! Not to just let them ramble around in our hearts and minds- unseen, unshared and unheard- but to let them spill out onto paper, through our voices and in our touch. It was a reminder to me to share the gifts I have been given, and in turn, frees others to share their gifts as well...

The Chosen Ones

I have touched the edge of your pain.
I have seen the tears hidden behind your eyes.
I feel the tears in the fabric of your heart.
I feel the doubt that rises up from within.

And yet,
I hear the power of your voice.
I see the strength you have to keep showing up.
I feel the vitality that resides deep within you,
the spark of light in the midst of darkness,
the seeds of hope you tend to so carefully.

I want you to know.
I see you.
I will stand with you.
Step into your power.
Trust your heart.
Follow your vision.

Your voice is needed,
to be added to the chorus of the healers who have gathered.

I invite you.
I dare you.

Stand in your truth.
Stand in your power.
Stand strong in your love.
You have been given all the tools you need.
Your journey has come to this point.

Go out:
choose love,
cultivate hope,
offer grace,
speak with compassion
love fiercely.

You have been called,
you are one of the chosen ones.

Kind of shy...

I wanted to take down my previous post, not because I don't agree with it, because I do, but because it could sound boastful... and to a Midwestern girl, well, that's just not what we do!

We don't talk about ourselves, our gifts, we don't take responsibility for our own growth... no matter how hard we worked to get there... somehow it just magically happens I guess :).

And what if someone is offended by my use of the word God... because they probably are.
And what if someone doesn't understand what I am trying to say... because they probably won't.

And after a deep breath I remembered...

People filter through their own lens, their own experience, they may attach meaning to things where I have assigned none, and may totally miss the meaning I am trying to convey... and for the most part- with a few exceptions- I have resigned myself to that. I have realized that it is so much less about me than I ever realized... no matter how often I start a sentence with I. Whoever reading it is the star and will mold the words and experience to fit their needs. And on a good day, that is actually quite liberating.

So for now I will remind myself:

Showing up, sitting down and writing out what is written on my heart.
There is bravery in showing up.
There is courage in sharing.
There is a lesson in letting go when you allow others to interpret as they will.
There is comfort in the sharing and finding you aren't as alone as you felt like you were...

That is why we try... we show up, we make statements, we take what works, and we leave what doesn't. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't... and for a recovering perfectionist the hardest thing to do is to leave on the table something that is unexplained, that may not be the perfect representation of me, of my abilities.

But that is part of the thrill of writing, of sharing, of showing up... you never know what you will find on the next page.

Diamonds...

Every day I am amazed at the gift I have for finding diamonds in the rough...

I have always been good at in minimal amounts of time pulling out the perfect quote, passing along just the right book, finding a great article that is applicable to a conversation...

it lights me up to be able to share with people what I have found, to let them know how much I value them, how much I appreciate their presence in my life... a quote in and of itself won't do that, but when picked just when ripe, plucked from the vine and given to the right recepient... that can be the work of God, with my hands... a balm to a bruised soul, wings to a broken heart, a rush of peace that all is as it should be...

When I remain open and allow the goodness of life to flow through, it rushes in, wisdom is shared, information is gleaned... and suddenly I am given things to share with others, which always brings me great joy...

But it is truly not me, there is a divine compoenent... I am the net that catches it... but I am grateful for the opportunity to fish.

"When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.

The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits - islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides."
— Anne Morrow Lindbergh (Gift from the Sea)

Ready...

Ready for life to take on a lighter feel.
Ready for the feeling of the sun on my face and the freedom of driving on the open road.
Ready to sit next to a campfire artfully turning the white lump of sugar into a perfectly toasted masterpiece.
Ready to hear the waves gently lap on the shore.
Ready to see the stars light up the evening sky.
Ready to feel summer all the way to my toes.
Ready to breathe deeply.

Tiny Miracles

It just occured to me as I was driving home from work, and looking at the beautiful flowers...

what an amazing miracle it is that they slowly unfurl all across the area at the same time.

Cosmic instructions imprinted in this little seed that pushes slowly open to reveal the secrets held within, growing, stretching and bursting forth with energy.

Sharing it's colors, beauty and scent so freely,

we are free to soak it all in and be renewed.

We are surrounded by these tiny miracles...

You just never know...

I wrote this as a response to an experience I had at a recent conference that I attended... just sitting down in front of the computer hoping I had something somewhat interesting or compelling to say.

Then I shared it in a small group during my sharing time...
and the group wanted to have copies...
then the pastor of my church wanted to share it during the sermon...
then she passed it to another group of people...
and all of a sudden something I just jotted down is being passed along...
funny how life works like that...
sometimes it can be just that simple...
sitting down, showing up and letting your heart spill over onto the page...



Called to Love

I believe we all bring something to the table.
I believe that who we are together is better than who we are alone.
I believe in building community.

I believe we are here to support one another,
to love one another,
to hold one another in the midst of darkness
and to dance together in the light of the sun.

I believe that life is full of moments we are called to express God’s love to one another in large ways…
but more importantly I believe we are here to express love in the small, tiny ways that pad our life with comfort, that line the walls of our heart-
often in preparation for the earthquakes that happen when your heart is broken open by loss and grief.

I believe that each moment is a call to love,
the opportunity to live out our faith,
to hold close the ones that we love,
to find ways to love those we would rather hold at arms length
and to continue to stumble along making the most of each day,
each night resting in the arms of God, covered in grace and filled with peace.