Slowing down, making myself take time to be still

I don't know about you, but when I don't make enough time (or take enough time) to be still, it starts to take a negative toll on my heart, mind, soul, and body.  I become tired (exhausted even), worn down, irritated, frazzled.  Yep, it happens.  Thankfully, I didn't let it go too long this time before I made time and space to "be still".  But, I had let it get away from me.  It happens all too easily.

The morning times that I set aside for silence, listening, or reading somehow got taken by something else this week.  And, on a morning when I wanted to stop and walk, I didn't.  I went on in to the office.  Yes, there have been things that needed to be done in the work and ministry, yet, I know all too well that if I'm not taking care of myself-- body, soul, heart, and mind-- then I am no good to any one.

Yesterday the message kept coming "be still and know that I am God".  I listened and obeyed.  I spent some time yesterday being still and listening.

In that time, I felt the nudge to share that lesson as the devotion at the team meeting, so I created the hourglass "be still and know" from Psalm 46:10 that I had used before and printed some copies.

In searching my computer for "be still" yesterday I found a picture I had created from a family vacation in 2015.  The beach always brings peace to my soul.  I now have at least a couple of verse pictures from different locations.

This morning I shared the "be still" verse and hourglass devotion with a friend as I had my "chair time" and decided later to post on social media with these thoughts/instructions:

"Find a place to be, to sit, to be in a hammock, or whatever works for you. Take a few deep breaths. Read slowly. Rest with God for a few moments when you are done. Repeat as needed."

I stopped at Wired Coffee Bar for some reading and writing time this morning.  Guess what I found on the white board in the back room?

This morning before I left the house I spent some time outside.  The winds were blowing, there was thunder rolling in the distance.  Hummingbirds were coming to get food.  Two hummingbirds were fighting at one point.  I didn't get as much time as I wanted due to the impending storm and my need to head out, but it was a start.

I am continuing my time today at Wired Coffee Bar, where I will also spend time reading Eugene Peterson's The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction that I started yesterday.  It is about being unbusy, subversive, and apocalyptic.  Being unbusy is something I strive to do and be, but it is a battle.  I will likely be sharing what I learn as I read.

What will you do today to slow down, to make yourself take time to be still?

Blessings on your journey!

Debra

Come and Rest-- hiking, serving, worship, and prayer-- rest and renewal for the soul

Come and rest.

This has been the theme for the week.  It is an ongoing call in my life as I have been learning to live into the rhythms of "be" and "do".

From the "green" book, A Guide to Prayer For All Who Seek God, to a couple of the devotions in Jesus Calling, this has been the theme.

 Mid-week Vespers follows the green book for its weekly theme and I'm used to that.  Last Sunday I received a phone call asking if I could come up to Dayton, TN for the Still Waters Emmaus Community Gathering and lead the devotion time and communion because I am a spiritual director in their community (and in the Chattanooga Lafayette community).  I said "yes" to this opportunity.

As I reflected on Scripture during the first part of the week, Psalm 61:1-4 stuck with me.  That came from the green book's readings.

Not only did I have the opportunity to attend a worship service, but I was going to speak on the topic.  I also lived it out throughout the week.  It wasn't until the latter part of the week, February 6 and 7 that Jesus Calling started off the devotions with the "come and rest" theme.

For me, this week has truly been a "rest" week because it has been my one week off between terms.  I finished my J-term and had this one week off before Spring semester starts on Monday, February 9th.  I was determined to allow my brain, body, and soul to rest this week.  I did begin some of my required readings toward the end of the week, however, upon receiving an email from one of my professors telling us to get started reading such-and-such book if we hadn't yet.

Wednesday night came and it was time for Mid-Week Vespers.

Jim Lewis included a new song in the service that he wrote back in the Fall, "Give Me Rest".  That was a perfect song for the theme and service and a very meaningful song.   We also sang other great songs that allowed my soul to rest: "Be Still", "O Lord, Hear My Prayer", "I Breathe You In, God", "Releasing", and "Surely God".

The back cover of the bulletin from Mid-Week Vespers shows the six points of the Open Hands prayers that Jim shared this past week and the previous week: recognize, receive, respond, release, remember, rejoice.

At some point during the week I spoke with Valerie Sinclair in Dayton and found out she would be leading music at the gathering Thursday night.  I shared the theme and Scripture with her.  She shared a song with me that was perfect, "I Love Your Presence"!  On Thursday night, she led the worship time with that song she shared with me in the middle of two other songs.  Wow!  What an incredible time of worship!  The other two songs were original songs written by Pastor Bev at her church.  She including a reading of Psalm 91 before the last song which tied in wonderfully.

My main Scripture for speaking on Thursday night was Psalm 61:1-4.  I also read from Matthew 11:28-30 and Psalm 46:10.  Though I had a few notes (literally only words and phrases), I hadn't written much down.  Instead, to prepare for Thursday I had lived "come and rest" during the week and Thursday afternoon.

Earlier Thursday my husband Riley and I took off on a hike on Signal Mountain.  We parked at the Rainbow Lake parking lot and headed up to Edward's Point.  It was a gorgeous day.  Clear blue sky and sunny.  Though it had been crispy cold in the morning, it was warming up.  I hadn't been up to that area in years.  The hike was incredible.  The running water of the creek and the waterfall from where the dam at Rainbow Lake now runs over.  Icicles. The swinging bridge.  The huge rock formations.  The walk along the top of the brow.  The creek with its tiny waterfalls.  Lockhart's Arch.  The point.  The wind blowing through the trees.  The squish of mud at times.  The view of the river below.  The smell of fresh clean air and woods.  Silence and solitude.  Creation.  Time with my hiking partner.  Time with my Creator.  My soul was filled to overflowing!

 

 

  

Alexian Village

As I looked up at those rock formations, the verse in Psalm 61 kept ringing in my head: "lead me to the rock that is higher than I."  There were times that we were below those rocks... and times that we were on top of some of those rocks.  There were some rocks I wished I could explore because they had some pretty cool looking shelters inside them.  It was enough to be there and view them on this day.

That was probably the best way I could have prepared to share with others on that day.  I was able to empty out myself and be filled up by God.  My mind, my body, and my soul found rest, refuge, and strength in God through that 4 mile hike and being immersed in the woods.

It was a wonderful blessing to share with the Still Waters Emmaus Community Thursday evening.  It was neat to be back in one of my former home churches (Dayton 1st UMC) to speak. 

On Friday I spent some time out and about with two other ladies sharing God's love and light, some coffee, and some food with folks in the community.  I had the opportunity to meet a former veteran who is recovering from a serious car accident; speak Spanish with someone downtown who approached us only speaking Spanish and seemed surprised to be greeted in his language; play with two precious little kids; and chat with several wonderful folks.

I didn't quite make it to the Centering Prayer group at Grace Episcopal Friday afternoon due to driving time to get there, but that's okay.  I spent time on the sun porch in centering prayer.  I will get back to community time of centering prayer, but it didn't happen yesterday.  That is another way of resting my soul.

This truly has been a week of rest for my soul, mind, and body.  Good thing too.  On Monday, bam!  The semester begins.  Three difficult graduate seminary classes to finish out the M.Div., plus my interview with the Board of Ordained Ministry.  Monday is going to be a great day.  Next week is going to be a great week.  The semester is going to be a great semester.  It's just going to be a busy day, a busy week, and a busy semester.

I think I will get out some more today and enjoy this great weather.  My soul can always use more rest and my body can always use more time out in creation.

What about you? When you hear the call "come and rest", how do you respond?  How do you find rest for your body, mind, and soul?

Blessings on your journey,

Debra

A mid-day moment to refocus.... some words from Jesus Calling

Do you ever find yourself going along pretty good and then all of a sudden you're spiraling down out of nowhere to nowhere?!?!  If not, that's wonderful for you!!  Today, I had such a moment (and I get them from time to time) as I began to see how much reading I have to catch up on in my John Wesley course and how much reading I need to do in order to earn the extra credit, which I feel I so desperately need.

I started out decent this morning, focused even.  I started on my to-do list (though I still haven't emailed folks about the May retreat) and dealt with a variety of other things that came my way.  I read the sermon for this week's topic and wrote and posted my response to the question of the week. 

I even made homemade chocolate chip cookies for the Wesley Center while doing these things.

But, then, all of a sudden, the overwhelming stress of all these pages that I need to read hit me, along with some arrows hitting me in other areas.

I finally needed to get my cup of Kenya tea and pick up Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.   These are the words that I read:

From April 21: "LET ME CONTROL YOUR MIND.  The mind is the most restless, unruly part of mankind."  [Tell me about it!]  "Open yourself to My radiant Presence, letting My Light permeate your thinking.  When My Spirit is controlling your mind, you are filled with Life and Peace." 

Ah, peace!  That is what my mind, heart, and soul need..... and in order to get it, I need for the Holy Spirit to be in control of my mind.  Whew!  Easier said than done.... at least for me at times. 

From April 22: "LISTEN TO ME CONTINUALLY."  "Walk with Me in holy trust, responding to My initiatives rather than trying to make things fit your plans." "When your mind spins with a multitude of thoughts, you cannot hear My voice."

From today, April 23: "KEEP YOUR EYES ON ME, not only for direction but also for empowerment.  I never lead you to do something without equipping you for the task."

In the midst of my re-focusing time, I got a call from my stepson.  That caused me to lose focus for a mintue or two (or 15), but we did have a good conversation about housing and possibilities.  So, it wasn't too bad of an interruption. ☺

Now that there is peace restored into my spirit, it is time to read sermons and books for class.

How do you handle those moments of crazy stress?  Are you able to find peace in the storm and refocus your mind on the Divine Creator? 

Being able to decipher through those multitude of thoughts in order to hear the One Voice of Truth is not necessarily easy, but it is worth the work of trust!

Blessings on wherever you are on the journey!  May there be peace in your heart, mind, and soul!

Debra

Cleaning out the shack...there can be healing from the hurt

Last night I went to a LifeTree Café (www.lifetreecafe.com) for the first time.  I have seen the ads in the paper for a while.  Many of the topics have grabbed my attention.  I've just not gone or haven't been able to go.  This week's topic: "Can God Love a Mess Like Me?"  It was a video interview with William P. Young, the author of The Shack.

I read The Shack back several years ago, actually as required reading. :)  It was one of the first novels I actually took notes in.  Then, in the summer of 2009 I was invited to a Book Club where they were going to be discussing that book.  Since I had read it, I went.

Now, before I get too far into this post, this isn't going to be about The Shack. (Well, not the book, maybe the image it represents.)  It's going to be about William P. Young, LifeTree Café, and who knows what else.  We'll see.

So, back to the café.  Our local one is sponsored by Dallas Bay Baptist Church (DBBC) and is located at their Northgate Campus, right behind Chuck E. Cheese and near the library.  It's the old Service Merchandise building for any readers who've lived in the area a while.  Then it was a furniture store, etc.  (I got to go check out a jewelry robbery one night when it was still Service Merchandise!   It's a long story, but the robber had left part of his finger as evidence, if I remember correctly.)

The café has a great atmosphere to it, very "comfy".  Cool lighting above up front (should have gotten a picture) with wavy fixture and lightbulbs.  Round tables that seat four to facilitate conversation.

Per their website, the LifeTree café is a "conversation café".  It's a place to explore life, talk with friends, and hear from God.  One of their slogans is: "Doing Life.  Doing God."  As I mentioned, our local café is sponsored by DBBC.  A quick search showed me some LifeTree cafés sponsored by these churches: Lutheran, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Methodist, and probably others.

One of the signs on the wall that caught my attention was this one:  "You're welcome just as you are.  Your thoughts are welcome.  Your doubts are welcome.  We're all in this together.  God is here, ready to connect with you in a fresh way."  That's a breath of fresh air for some folks who don't have places to share their thoughts and doubts, or don't really feel that they are welcome as they are.   I think folks are finally coming around to the fact that doubts are okay and are a necessary part of life.  Anyway, the café offers that hospitality.  Not only is it a saying on the wall, you can tell by being there that it is true.

So, I've got my nametag, my cup of java, we have a full table of four, I'm ready to connect with God in a fresh way.  Roll film.

Before the interview starts, there is a video clip of a beautiful house on the outside with a host talking about all the improvements he has done and is doing.  The camera person keeps asking to see the inside.  The host keeps putting him off.  Finally, he opens the house's doors and allows him in.  The inside is much different from the outside.  It is cluttered, messy, hard to get around and literally, the host kept falling over all the stuff.  It hindered his every move in one room.  Finally, after showing a few other rooms, he said that the inside is all messy and that no one can be on the inside any longer, they can only see the outside because that is pleasant to look at and is neat and tidy.

That clip in itself gives one lots to think about, to chew on, to peruse, to allow to flow throughout the heart, mind, and soul.

William Paul Young.

What he shared was powerful.  He gave his background, the background of The Shack, and talked about how the shack represents the house of the soul.   The hurt, pain, and damage in his life to his heart, mind, and soul began at an early age and it continued to stockpile throughout his life as he learned survival techniques.

Some quotes that caught my attention:

"If God is to heal us, he has to take things away from us-- but he won't yank them out of our hands.  We have to participate in the process."

"Suffering does not have to be shame-based at all."

He talked quite a bit about shame.  Because shame is what caused him and causes us to keep our "shacks" closed off from others.  We are ashamed of the things that have happened to us as well as the things we've done.  We come to believe that no one, not even God could love us through that crap. 

Young talks about how powerful shame is and how it distorts our views.  He said this: "Shame destroys your ability to distinguish between a value statement and an observation."  He gave an example of his wife telling him to sort out the laundry, the colors from the whites.  That's what she said.  What he heard was a string of condemnations about his lack of abilities, attacking his character, etc.  Shame controlled his filters and continued to cause more damage, even when none was intended.

Young said that most of our hurt comes from relationships, but that healing also comes from relationships: "Hurt comes through our relationships, and I believe our healing comes through relationships as well.  That includes our relationship with God and with the people in our lives."

He reminded the listeners that each person has worth, that their life has meaning, and that they are loved.  He said that God will come into the shack to love and heal, if we allow.

It took a crossroads encounter in his life for him to face all the secrets, all the shame.  But he did it.  He said: "When the façade is gone, all you have is the shack.  The stuff you hate."  That's where it gets hard.  Dealing with that stuff.  But, we don't have to deal with it alone. 

Young talked about letting people "in" the "shack" helped the healing process. 

He mentioned that "seeds grow good in this kind of stuff". :)  Meaning that there was quite a bit of fertilizer (so to speak), so seeds of hope and healing and life were able to be planted and grow.

Cleaning from the inside out.  Through relationships.  With God and others.  Pretty cool stuff. 

One of Young's quotes that he says over and over: "There's nothing so dead that God can't grow something in it.  There's not anything so broken that God can't heal it, and there's not anything so lost that God can't find it."

Is there a "NO TRESPASS" sign on your shack (your soul) for God and/or others?  Or have you let God and others in for cleaning and healing?

Young said: "Shame is what causes you to hide."  Hmm.... reminds me of a couple that hid in a garden once, a long time ago.  Young said that love will pursue us because that is what love does.  Hmm.... that also reminds me of that couple.  Hidden in shame, God pursued them out of love and desire for relationship.

God still does that today.  God still pursues out of love.  God desires our shacks (souls) to be cleansed from within, not covered up on the outside. 

Three more quotes from Young:

"God does nothing that's not motivated by love."

"God respects his creations--us--way more than we do."

"To love, you must have the ability to choose."

Thankfully, God does give us the ability to choose. 

Well, those are my notes and thoughts from last night's video interview with the author of The Shack.  It gave me much to think about.  At one point Young said about himself: "No secrets."  I thought, 'integrity!'  

We can all relate to façades, shame, secrets, hurt, etc.  Those façades don't really protect us, they just keep us from beginning to heal.  Learning to live without masks isn't easy, but it is possible.  Allowing God and others into our "shack" isn't easy, but it is possible.  And, you know what?!?!  God loves us through into healing!!  And, when God sends folks to help out, we can trust God's judgment. 

May seeds of love, joy, and healing grow from whatever crap is in your shack.

May you allow God and others to be with you through the cleansing process. 

There is freedom when the bonds of shame are broken.

This isn't an easy part of the journey.  It's painful.  But it's a type of pain that leads to healing.  It's worth it.  I've had a lot of the crap cleaned out of my shack over the years.  God and others are still working to help it get clean and stay clean. 

May there be healing in your soul this day on your journey,

~Debra