Surrendering to Sabbath – Week 8

March 1, 2013 by 20 Comments

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When I crawled into bed last night, H asked me if I got Murielle a card for her birthday. “No,” I said, “I didn’t have time and this weekend is about her friends. I’ll get her one on her actual birthday.” And you can’t hear the tone, the way I responded to him, but it wasn’t nice. His question, it was the last card collapsing the house of guilt teetering in my mind. Of all the ways I failed this week.

While her birthday used to be a backyard carnival and face painting, baking a cake seems to require the same amount of effort lately. But really, this feeling of not measuring up to the lofty stick of my own acceptance, it’s about more than failing to achieve the perfect birthday party for my daughter.

Self-doubt is a neglected open wound. The acrid smell of simulated self-worth festering. And Sabbath, it is the index finger over my mouth, shushing the accusing voices.

This weekend, may we all kneel on the banks of still waters and listen. Long enough to clear muddy water, gaze upon our true reflection. And recognize truth when it floats to the surface.

Happy Sabbath Friends!

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For your weekend reading:

Why I Stopped Feeling Guilty About Stupid Things by Emily Freeman – the title says it all.

Who Do You Think You Are  - a Simple Mom podcast with Emily Freeman and Holley Gerth about their recent writing exploits and struggles.

How Becoming a Good Christian Made Me a Bad Person by Allison Vesterfelt at Prodigal Magazine

A Response to the Complaint: “I Don’t Think Reading the Bible is Accomplishing What You Want it To” by Margaret Feinberg – The best thing I read all day.

Why We Write by Shauna Niequist – if you are a writer, this is convicting.

When I Feel Small by Sarah Richardson for SheLoves Magazine – because I do, feel small lately.

Winter Wonderings at Healthy Spirituality – Jean is a Sabbath sister sharing about her gradual and surprising transformation. (And this ties in to this week’s email for those of you in the sisterhood.)

And from one of my biggest cheerleaders lately for which I’m grateful,  I’m Having a Baby Girl Today. You just have to get this book.

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Surrendering to Sabbath – Week 7

February 22, 2013 by 25 Comments

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Time is a strong current pulling me downstream in turbulent wind. When I arrive on the shore of the weekend, I can’t remember how I got there. I was singularly focused on keeping my head above water.

On Saturday, I stand in morning drizzle; shake the world off like a wet dog ready for supper. Circle the landscape to find my way back home. At sundown, my wet thoughts drip on the clothes line of drenched distraction, puddle in a hollow of loamy soil beneath.

Sunday, I awaken to slanted light, cerulean sky and sprouts poking through the hollow place. I can’t identify the flora or name it. But their lime green spindles widen my eyes to wonder.

By sundown, my favorite flowers stand sturdy beneath the empty clothesline of pins spinning wildly in the breeze. A sweet fragrance wafts from their vibrant budded stocks and lingers like fog in London through the rooms of my house.

On Monday, I stand on the sunny shore of calm water and empty boats. Holding an oar in one hand, a bouquet of hope tied with white satin ribbon in the other, I straddle the new week. It looks like fair weather. But then again, time is fickle, like a strong current pulling me downstream.

And Sabbath, it helps me to remember where I’m going when I lose my way. It’s an unexpected gift blooming in the hollow places.

But God, dear Lord, I only have eyes for you. Since I’ve run for dear life to you, take good care of me. Psalm 141:8

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For your weekend reading:

Art for the Common Good: Scott Erickson by Laura Boggess – “Our truest songs—there are two of them,” he says. “And Jesus reveals both of them to us.”

Kingdom Come: On the Mind, the Wait, and the Delight by Amber Haines at (in)courage

The Scars We All Wear by Duane Scott – Warning: you may need tissues nearby.

When It’s Okay Not to Have Joy by Kelli Woodford at Imperfect Prose

Dear Poet, Writer, Author, Friend by Elizabeth Marshall

Wisdom and Sabbath Rest by Tim Keller – I like what he says about approaching Sabbath as an introvert or an extrovert in this one.

And finally if you want to know more about joining the Surrendering to Sabbath Society, learn more here. Join the community of Redemptions Beauty and subscribe by email here for new posts every week.

Welcome to the weekend friends!

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My Soul Waits

December 1, 2012 by 24 Comments

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I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6 ESV

Travel is waiting. It’s the phrase H repeats whenever I get impatient with delayed flights and traffic jams on long road trips.

We’re travelling every day on this pilgrimage of faith, resting on the wall of whoa, waiting for the fulfillment of promise. The slow rise of hope glowing golden on the horizon.

As we enter the season of Advent tomorrow, may He give us a sense of wonder in the wait. Little crumbs of hope along the journey reminding us we are on the right path leading home.

Looking for  some Advent reading? I’ve got some new treasures in my reader by some of my favorite authors: Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent by Enuma Okoro, Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas by John Blase and the Jesse Tree Advent Family Devotional by Ann Voskamp.

 Welcome to the Weekend Friends!

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Surrender

November 10, 2012 by 22 Comments

Thy saints are comforted, I know,

And love Thy house of prayer;

I therefore go where others go,

But find no comfort there.

Oh make this heart rejoice, or ache;

Decide this doubt for me;

And if it be not broken, break,

And heal it, if it be.

~WILLIAM COWPER (English, 1731-1800)

As you walk into the weekend, may He hale a cab for you before you give up, lay crumbs of certainty when you lose your way, embrace you with a warm hug from a fellow pilgrim. And when the sign creaks, swinging in the chilly howl of night air, may the sound be a reminder that he is with you. He is faithful. Always.

Thanking God for each of you. Welcome to the Weekend Friends!

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Welcome to the Weekend

November 3, 2012 by 37 Comments

It’s far more exciting to be enthusiastic about the real book that deals with life in all its particularity than to allow ourselves to be dazzled by the cheap substitute that tickles the palate for the moment but leaves us with a hangover. And all we have to rely on to tell the difference is ourselves, not a computer.~Madeline L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet

May the voice of the Holy Spirit speak with crystal clear clarity, reveal deceptive voices that stand in as substitutes when emotions teeter in circumstance. Stand amidst the mess of life strewn on the floor knowing your feet rest in the imprints of grace, the exact spot he carved out knowing this day was coming. Trust in what you know to be true despite the howl of the wind blowing the shutters open.

Welcome to the Weekend Friends!

I’ve let go of words here for the past two days to celebrate finishing 31 Days of Letting Go. I’m excited to share what I’m dreaming up next, just for you. Hope you’ll come back on Monday to join me.

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Acceptance

October 27, 2012 by 26 Comments

I am a part of every place I have been:  the path to the brook; the New York streets and my “short cut” through the Metropolitan Museum. All the places I have ever walked, talked, slept, have changed and formed me. ~Madeline L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet

Wherever your plans take you this weekend, may you remember that every moment is significant to the story He writes for you. And sometimes the first step to letting go is accepting that.

Welcome to the Weekend Friends!


This is #27 in the series 31 Days of Letting Go. You can read the collective here. If you are a writer, I invite you to link up any post you’ve written on the theme of letting go in the comments on Friday. Subscribe to receive the series in your inbox or feed by adding your address in the side bar under Follow Redemptions Beauty.

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When Letting Go Seems Foolish

October 20, 2012 by 18 Comments

Perform impossibilities

or perish. Thrust out now

the unseasonal ripe figs

among your leaves. Expect

the mountain to be moved.

Hate parents, friends and all

materiality. Love every enemy.

Forgive more times than seventy-seven.

Camel-like, squeeze by

into the kingdom through

the needle’s eye. All fear quell.

Hack off your hand, or else

unbloodied, go to hell.

Thus the divine unreason.

Despairing now, you cry

with earthy logic – How?

And I, you God, reply:

Leap from your weedy shallows.

Dive into the moving water.

Eyeless, learn to see

truly. Find in my folly your

true sanity. Then Spirit-driven,

run on my narrow way, sure

as a child. Probe, hold

my unhealed hand, and

bloody, enter heaven.

 Luci Shaw, The foolishness of God, 1 Corinthians 1:20-25

May we each remember the unfathomable ways of God cannot always be explained and often seem foolish to the hearts of men. And perhaps sometimes, and most of the time, and always, we must let go of what feels counterintuitive. 

Welcome to the Weekend Friends!


This is #20 in the series 31 Days of Letting Go. You can read the collective here. If you are a writer, I invite you to link up any post you’ve written on the theme of letting go in the comments here on Friday. Subscribe to receive the series in your inbox or feed by adding your address in the side bar under Follow Redemptions Beauty.

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