Reflections on 2009

I love the word reflections. It brings to mind the verse in James where he asks what good is it if a man looks into the Word of God and doesn’t do anything with what he reads or hears. It’s sort of like that song, “You’re So Vain,” if all we do is gaze and not take any action as a result. What’s the point of reflection if we’re not going to do something with what we see?

After my previous post, a friend invited me to spend some time sharing with her about our experiences in 2009. This was a good challenge because it forced me to review 2009 in a little more detail. It was good to look back at some of the thoughts, books and even songs that influenced me over the past year and I thought I’d share some of my reflections as a way of wrapping up the year.

A few of the influential books I read this year:

• The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield – a great book my pastor mentioned during a message series on Esther entitled Overcoming Resistance.
• Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen – another read inspired by a message series on the Prodigal Son (and our prodigal God)
• Sacred Echo by Margaret Feinberg
• 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin

A few of the thoughts that influenced my thinking this year (those not in quotes are either messages notes or my own questions for personal reflection):

• “Never wait for a miracle. Go after your dream. Do your part to the very best of your ability and ask God to make up the difference. He won’t act until we step out in faith.” (from one of those inspirational page-a-day calendars, source not noted)
• “You are offered the dream of a lifetime. Say yes!” (Chinese fortune – see why I like Chinese food, it’s inspirational!)
• “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Wayne Dwyer (from a colleague’s email signature line, and I would add . . . and you look at different things!)
• How do I create environments where discovery and creativity can happen for myself and others?
• Am I more concerned with keeping others from seeing the untransformed parts of my life than I am with allowing God to transform me?
• “Each [changing life situation] gives us a chance to examine where God is in that experience and what gifts God is offering for our growth. (David Benner)
• “Do a little more today than you think you possibly can.” (Dove wrapper – proves inspiration comes in many packages!)
• Savor the goodness! (my sacred echo after reading Sacred Echo by Margaret Feinberg)
• How does my life work connect me with the creative and redemptive work of Jesus?
• “Encourage the deepening of your creative potential by anchoring it in your daily life.” (12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women)

Lastly, a few of the major life lessons I want to carry with me into the future: (and this question comes from Michael Hyatt’s post and was shared with me by a friend)

• God always meets me when I move ahead in faith – the unknown is not so unknown, knowing God is already there.
• I’m an introvert – I need to live into and accept who I am.
• I can learn anything I want or need to; I don’t have to let lack of knowledge intimidate me or hold me back.
• It’s my responsibility to look for opportunities to live into my strengths.

So here’s to 2009 – thanking God for a great year, full of rich learning and growth. There were, of course, tears and struggles along the way, but God wove them into the tapestry that was 2009 and I’m thankful for all that he brought to pass this year. Thanks for sharing the journey here with me.

The Calendar Dilemna

I always have calendar dilemnas as one year winds to a close and a new one shines bright on the horizon. Usually it’s just me being cheap and not wanting to pay full price for one until they go on sale after Christmas, at least where wall calendars are concerned. And since I used to be desk-bound, in a former life, and had to stare at a calendar for many hours each day, it was very important to pick the perfect calendar to provide inspiration during the work day.

I still haven’t picked a new wall calendar yet, although I’ve been eyeing up a few artsy ones. I did jump the gun and purchase a 2010 Moleskine Weekly Planner way back in November. I even cracked it open a few weeks ago, and marked down one appointment for January. Gosh, I feel so ahead of the game!

This past year I went back to a paper planner, after doing the PDA route for years. I did so because my penchant for note-taking by hand has exceeded my love for technology. I noticed I was always writing something down, and always in different places – journals, notebooks, whatever. Then when I wanted to recall something, I first had to remember where I’d written it. So I went to a Moleskine Weekly Planner, that has the calendar spaces on the left page, and a ruled page for notes on the right page. Each week, I usually began with jotting a few notes down during the Sunday message, so I was able to refer to them throughout the week, along with prayer reminders, etc. And I liked being able to scribble notes and quotes and other little reminders and have them all in one place. And of course I filled the back section with miscellaneous lists, etc.

So now I’m having a hard time parting with my 2009 planner, because it holds so much more than just a record of my comings and goings. And I realized both planners cover this last week of December. Do I fill up 2009, based on economy and principle? Or do I use this week to ease into 2010?

And then a friend pointed me to this post, where the author quotes someone named Appelbaum as saying “Between closing and beginning lives a gap, a caesura, a discontinuity. The betweenness is a hinge that belongs to neither one nor the other.” And I realized I too am in a beautiful place of betweenness, in this week between the old and the new. This dilemna may be more than just an organizational quirk; perhaps it’s an invitation from God to spend some time in silence this week, reviewing this past year. What do I want to hold on to, as I flip through the pages of my old planner, and what do I need to let go of?

So I’m receiving this calendar dilemna as a gift from God this week, and intentionally living into this gap. And as I review the past year, already I’m  thankful for his abiding promise to be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow . . . even as life is constantly shifting and changing.

Happy HOLIdays!

Yikes, did I just do what I think I did? Did I title a post “Happy Holidays” instead of the preferred “Merry Christmas”? What is this blog coming to?

Perhaps I’m a bit of a rebel but the holiday greeting, sanitized as it may seem to some, doesn’t bother me much. My logic is slightly subversive and I’m crediting that to my uncle, who instilled in me a love for etymology. At the root of the word “holiday” is the word “holy.” Before holidays came to mean time off from work, and exorbitant amounts of food and gifts and decorations, holidays were simply “holy” days, or days set apart. God, of course, instituted the first holiday by gifting his people with a day of Sabbath rest, and I should add, a gift that was given prior to the giving of the OT law. Although there may be little that is “holy” about many of our modern holidays, as far as the acknowledgment of God goes, even this innocuous greeting proclaims the eternal truth of a holy God!

But we can take the “holy” idea one step further. The word holy is related to our other English words “whole” and “health.” So often we think of something that is holy as being so set apart that it is out of our reach. I think nothing could be further from the truth. In giving us the gift of Sabbath, by setting apart days as holy days, God was giving us an invitation to be restored to wholeness, the wholeness that can only be found in him. And at Christmas, what greater reminder do we have than that his Son came to restore us to the life God intended for us, whole and eternal and abundant life!

So that’s the subversive part for me. When someone wishes me a politically correct “happy holiday,” they may not know what they’re wishing for, but I am reminded that they are a beloved creation of God whom he longs to save and I can pray that God will work in their lives to bring them to a full understanding of his truth.

And now I’ve done entirely too much thinking and I’m just going to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas AND a Happy Holiday as well!

2009 Fall Into Reading Wrap Up

It’s that time of year. No, not Christmas, although that is certainly coming. It’s time to wrap up my participation in Katrina’s Fall Into Reading Challenge. But this kind of wrapping is much to my liking!

Suffice to say, the operative word for my fall reading has been quality versus quantity. I was surprised that I only actually finished two books from my original fall list. But of course, my list morphed as I picked up and finished several others along the way, which I’ve noted below. And as usual, I’m partway through several other books but in keeping with the contest, I’ll refrain from mentioning those until I finish them.

From the original list:
The Good and Beautiful God – James Bryan Smith – finished and reviewed here.
Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone - Jennifer Ferrari-Adler – finished as much as I could take of stories of people who cook and eat alone.
A homemade life : stories and recipes from my kitchen table – Molly Wizenburg – finished and reviewed here. Totally enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys either eating or preparing food, which would mean just about anyone!

Additions:
Escape from Cubicle Nation – Pam Slim
The Introvert Advantage – Marti Olsen Laney
The 12 secrets of highly creative women : a portable mentor - Gail McMeekin.

The best thing about the reading challenges for me are always the new authors I “meet” along the way. I realized I want to do better at reading a variety of genres; I so easily get stuck in reading ruts. Already I’m working on a list for the next few months. Planning my reading though always gives me a starting point, and for that reason, I’m always appreciative of Katrina’s reading challenges!

Book Review: The Good and Beautiful God

We are story people. From the time we were small children, we learned to appreciate the value of story. Stories are the threads that bind the moments of our lives together. Whether it be fairy tales or the retelling of family traditions or the recounting of daily experiences, stories help give shape to our lives.  And yet, as vital as these narratives are, it’s important to make sure the right narratives are forming our lives.

In The Good and Beautiful God, James Bryan Smith challenges us to examine the narratives we believe about God. Many people have unknowingly adopted some false narratives about God, such as believing that we can earn his favor or that God only loves us when we’re good, or even that God overlooks sin. Many of us would disagree with these ideas and yet our lives might demonstrate otherwise. It’s easier than we realize to allow our life experiences  – our family, cultural or religious narratives – to shape and form our view of God. If the stories we listen to are indeed forming us, it’s critical that those stories are based on truth. And Smith suggests that we need to consider the narratives Jesus told and lived in order to “fall in love with the God Jesus knows.”

Each chapter presents one of these common false narratives, which the author then counters with a look at a gospel story which illustrates what Jesus knew to be true about God. Through real life stories and a deep commitment to truth, Smith invites us to become deeply acquainted with the God whose love is pure and holy and good. He then invites us to engage these truths by suggesting a “soul-training” exercise at the end of each chapter, to collaborate with the work of the Holy Spirit in the transformation of our souls.

Although I read this book on my own, it would be a great book for a group study and includes a format for such use. It’s the kind of book that lends itself to good conversation with others. I’m ranking this as one of the best books I read in 2009. I’m glad it was unavailable through the library system, as my copy is quite marked up. It’s a book I think I’ll refer to again, and would recommend to others without hesitation.