Traveling Inward -Labyrinth

There are two underlying themes to the Labyrinth:

journey and relationship.


As well as this there are three themes that link specifically
with the three sections of the Labyrinth:

The inward journey - 'letting go' or shedding
what do I hold onto that hinders the Spirit from abiding in me?
pride, fear, lack of faith, control, image

The middle of the labyrinth - 'centering'
be still and know that I am God, You lack for nothing

The outward journey - 'incarnation'
be Jesus' hands and feet, be His peace, His love

check out Online Prayer Labyrinth
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/paradigm/

Humility

Mother Teresa had this to say. . .

"Let us beg to have our hearts ‘meek and humble’ like Jesus.

We learn humility through accepting humiliations cheerfully.

Do not let a chance pass you by.

It is so easy to be proud, harsh, moody and selfish,

but we have been created for greater things.

Why stoop down to things that will spoil the beauty of our hearts?"

Then today she said,

“Humility always radiates the greatness and glory of God.

Through humility we grow in love.

Humility is the beginning of sanctity.”

Spirit, guard my heart against pride and selfishness.
Let me hold loosely all that you have given and entrusted to my care.

Help me discern your voice and guard

the fragile beauty that has begun to grow within my heart.

Waiting Around

I can’t responsible for other people’s journey. I can only be responsible for myself and what God has called me to. Lately it seems that God is calling me to peace.

To be peaceful in the midst of chaos
To be peaceful within, resting in Him
To bring peace,
To be the presence of peace in difficult situations.

My strength
-- my peace, my love, my joy, my contentment, my patience --
will come from settling down in complete dependence on Spirit, Father God. Vs. 16

God is not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to me.He’s gathering strength to show mercy to me. God takes the time to do everything right --- everything.
Those who wait around for Him are the lucky ones. – Isaish 30.16,18 The Message

These first 2.5 weeks back to school and work have been tough. Randy began to traveling 5 days a week to Toledo to work. Prior to January he worked 3 days in Toledo and 2 days from the house. This change in his work schedule has really impacted me. The first week of the month is always busy, with monthly meetings like

Love Shack – our church’s leadership meeting;
Ganton Center – our kids playing games with elderly folks;
Allie & Jeff’s gymnastics and basketball every Monday @ 4 and 6:30;
I was sick with a nasty cough
I was at the Wharton theater twice to see the ballet Sleeping Beauty (w/the family) and Legally Blond (w/6 of the WWKids leaders)
And in the midst of these first three weeks of school, the kids have missed 3 days of school, we’ve had over 15 inches of snow and attended my spiritual direction weekend class and wrote papers.

Ok, when I look at all this “life” happening it's not to whine (I hate whining). Everybodies life is busy. But being mindful of my own busyiness helps me put things in perspective . . .

I need to give myself some grace and just be thankful that I made it through.
There seems to be a pattern here, like I’m always needing grace. . . duhhh.

The Lord longs to be gracious to you. . . . Lori Ann, his beloved daughter. . . Isaiah 30.18

My Real Mommy is in China

This morning Allie got upset because her daddy didn’t say goodbye to her. He actually did however she quickly forgot his hug and kiss as he left the house. She was kinda sad, so I just reaffirmed to her that her daddy loved her very much! And so did her mommy and brother Jeff.

She then looks at me and says, “My real mommy is in China."

I briefly paused and then agreed, “You are right. You have a China mommy, but I am your real mommy now. Your China mommy loved you very much.”
. . Allie was eating breakfast. . . .
I continued, “Maybe your China mommy didn’t have enough food to give to you, or maybe she didn’t have a warm house or bed for you to sleep in. I think that your China mommy loved you very much and wanted you to have those things in your life.”

I walked around the breakfast bar and hugged Allie. A tear rolled down my check as I told her how lucky and blessed her daddy and I were to everyday get a hug and a smile from her. I told her that I loved her. . . and she quickly began to recite the words from one of our favorite books, “I love you best, I love you deep, I love you wide, I love you thissssssssssssssssssssss much!”

What an incredible little girl she is!

Just wondering

My understanding of Jesus as a fully, developing/evolving human person has been recently rocked.

For years I have consciously held the knowledge that Jesus is both fully human and divine, yet I have been introduced to some new information that has blown up my “box.” I am seeing Jesus to be a lot more HUMAN than I previously envisioned. Having kids and working with kids like I do, gives me perhaps a different perspective on Jesus – the Kid!Things are no longer fitting together neatly like they did in the past.

. . . . . Having said that . . .

The family’s yearly journey to Jerusalem may have been like our family vacation with friends and family. Family routines and rules are relaxed as everyone is hanging out together. It is easy to see how one parent thought the other parent knew where the kids were – over with the cousins in the next “cabin.” I can’t imagine what it would feel like to realize that your kid is missing. He’s not over with these cousins, or that uncle or those friends. Where is he?

At 12 years old Jesus is no little kid (toddler) who has wandered off and is lost. Something has caught his attention and his focus has shifted, he’s distracted and pulled in another direction.
He is intrigued by this group of men in the temple. They appear to be learned men and their discussion is interesting. He sits and listens. How long does a 12 year old sit and listen? In our culture a kid could play a video game for 3 days straight! All this information Jesus is hearing doesn’t make sense, he can no longer only sit quietly, so he creeps in closer to the circle of men. Someone notices that he has been there for quite some time. One of the teachers looks at Jesus and asks, “What do you think about this comment?”

And so the questions and answers begin to flow. Hours fly by. Maybe this is one of the first times Jesus has sat with a formal group of teachers. Food is brought in to the group of men and Jesus eats with them. The sky is light, then dark, then light and dark again, but they are inside the temple and no one really notices. I imagine it is a like a young kid on an adventure in the woods – following a trail and then all of sudden realizes they have been gone for hours/days.

There is some commotion, there are some voices, a woman’s voice, something not often heard in the temple. It’s not just any woman’s voice; it’s his mom’s voice. What is she doing in here? All of sudden Jesus is not just “one of the guys” that the teachers are quizzing, he’s someone’s son – a son that has been missing, not just for hours but days! Oh crap – he’s in trouble!!!

His mom is angry, upset, emotional, astonished and relived all at once (women are such complex beings!) What are you doing? Why did you go off and not tell us? We have been so worried about you. . .

Jesus is 12 years old – he just got “caught” messing up. I think he knows that he messed up and comes up with the best possible answer he can quickly find. . . “Like come on Mom? Don’t you know that I’m special – Did you not know that I would be in my Father Abba’s house?” Geezz – he got out of that one. Pull out the big guns – I’m in my Father’s house – the trump card.

I think that religious answer just saved his butt!I can imagine Mary thinking, “I don’t care if you are special and are the Son of God, you better listen to me – your mom – because I’m the one that is HERE in your face!!

Kids are so amazing. Just when they are ready to send you off the deep end, they say something that blows you out of the water. I seriously wonder if Jesus’ statement was a great escape clause (get me out of trouble with mom) – BUT was also an incredible moment of truth. Truth that was for the first time spoken out loud!

Ever have those moments that you finally say something out loud, something you’ve been thinking about for a while in your mind. As soon as you say those words out loud you know that it is a true statement. Perhaps Jesus’ statement was like that. A statement that was Spirit lead. Perhaps this was a profound moment in Jesus’ spiritual formation.

Anyways they went home. So they went home where they all pondered and tried to make sense of this odd incident in their family’s journey.

Season for Everything

Ecclesiastes says that there is a season for everything.

This week after Christmas has been a time of rest. I've not gotten up early once and slept in til 7! My body and soul needs this rest and it's important that I take care of myself.

I've watched movies with my husband.

I've taken the dog for walks.

I've played in the kitchen with Allie.

I've played new games - NCAA 09, NBA 09, with Jeff.
I've learned new things on my DS, thanks to Jeff and Allie.

I've exercised and taken naps.

I've had a couple of good cries.
I've drank good wine and ate popcorn (not at the same time!)

I've played in the snow and built a snowman (sorry, I'm not politically correct!)
I've read Mother Teresa and prayed.

I've celebrated our 11th anniversay with dinner and movie.

All is gift. I pray that I will hold loosely to all things, enjoying each precious moment and believing that in difficulties and uncertainty that they will pass and in the midst of it God's gentle Spirit will carry me.

At WW on Cxmas Eve we took a special offering for lifestraws.com. Check out the video to find out more about it.

After a Fusion I was talking to one of our moms. She and her three kids have been attending WW for almost a year. It's been a very tough year for this mom and her kids, but they faithful show up and have gotten the kids involved.

When her little boy, age 6 or 7, heard about the special offering for the lifestraws, he wanted to give all his money- almost $100 - to help these other little kids who did not have clean drinking water!

What a BIG heart on a little guy. His mom was so proud of him and said that was the greatest gift she could have ever hoped for. In the midst of his own family challenges he is thinking about others.

. . . . our mission for WWKids to help our kids to daily respond to God's invitation to be part of their life.

Goodbye to my friend

“Our only desire and our one choice should be this

I want and I choose what better leads me

to God’s deepening his life in me.” - Ignatius

Dear Randy, While this statement would be reflective of John, Dave, Ben and others at WW, you live it in a way that is uniquely yours and your way drew me to you. I desired to be with you and learn from you because I instinctively knew it would connect to my soul and change my life.

Thank you for encouraging me to pursue my Spiritual Direction degree.

Thank you for helping me think creatively about the different learning styles and environments which is the foundation of the K6 Experience Studios.

Thank you for allowing me to do ministry and still be a wife and mom.

Thank you for encouraging me to live a healthy lifestyle.
Thank you for showlng me what it means to be really present with someone.

Thank you for encouraging me to check out the Godly Play and other similar programs. (Timing is everything; I’m still working that material and hopefully will make some big changes in the preschool age program during 2009.)

Randy the way you live life, is a source of encouragement and challenge to me. The Spirit can influence and guide us only to the extent we are in touch with our inner self. You have had the courage to personally journey inward and in turn have challenged me to go deeper and to answer the tough inner questions for myself. That is living a reflective life.

Through you I have learned that God is always present, I just need to become aware of him. You have helped me learn to look for Jesus in ALL places, people and circumstances. You helped me learn that “everything is sacred” – my time with my kids, a walk in the woods, lunch time, encounters with people serving the public -- not just moments that happen in the church building, with other Christians, or discussing Bible things. This deeper understanding of my Christian spirituality has totally changed how I live my life.

Someone I know said. . . . there is much to say, but few words. . . . so thank you. I love you. And not that you care. . . but I quote you all the time.
Your friend and fellow sojourner – Lori

Randy moved further inward and upward on his journey with Jesus on Monday, December 22. I can't imagine what my friend is experiencing, but I'm happy for him.