Thursday, January 26, 2012

Signs of LIFE

It is the chill of winter that lulls the earth to a much needed rest, so too it lulls me.  "Signs of Life" hardly seem fitting for the long days of January.  As snow blankets the earth and naked branches twist heavenward frozen in time, the silence is almost deafening.  
Schedules go on and duty calls, but the EUCHARISTEO kind of thankfulness never ceases.  The 24/7 making of my "1000 gifts" list surely breeds a unique quietness, an authentic "soul-kind-of-rest". 
One, that just like winter....is necessary.  As I humbly yield, signs of life are everywhere, signs of life that run deep.


75.  A dirty kitchen floor.
76.  A few morsels and an empty bag from the chocolate dipped oatmeal cookies.
77.  Lanterns in the window.
78.  The inspired and Holy Word of God that lays open and invites.
79.  A half empty container of peppermint lotion that soothes.
80.  A college-occupied sister, making time for her high school brother.
81.  The random amaryllis bulb out of the trunk of an old car (yields),
82.  A reminder of spring, on a gray winter day (see pictures).

unfolding...thankful...drawing near...growing in grace...thanksgiving...to the core...steadying....focused... preparing....thankful...roots going deep for seasons yet to come. 

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.  For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living...How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.              
PSALM 116:7-13


It won't be long now. The earth will thaw, and even more "signs of life" will awaken to herald the coming of spring.   Won't you be waiting ready.....RESTED and THANKFUL!

                                            
                                                  Crystal

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Daring to LIVE FULLY, right where I am!

For me, LIVING FULLY isn't so much about doing, (deeds and accomplishments) as it is about being (living, being alive)!    As I continue my journey along the road to 1000 gifts, the fullness of life cascades.
#32.  A midweek train ride to New England.
#33.  A view of Manhattan from the cafe' car on Amtrak.
#34.  Quality time with my 18 year old daughter. 

A spontaneously planned trip on Semester Break that began with “doing",  very quickly becomes all about “being”.   
     
#40.  My husband's 50th Birthday Celebration

As friends gathered from near and far,  no one could deny the fruit of his life is more about “being” and less about “doing”.  Pondering how one finds and keeps that necessary balance leads me to...                  


#41.  Wisdom for the way.
#42.  Practical application. 


You see, many important things in life do require doing, but many more of the important things also require being.   As we practically apply wisdom for the way in doing, the natural outflow is being.     
                        
Living Fully, on my way to 1000 Gifts,
Crystal

Monday, January 9, 2012

One Thousand Gifts

The  VALUE  in time spent with a friend, can’t always immediately be calculated.    Such was the case for me a few months back.    Sitting amongst the stately furniture she reads to me…. “One Thousand Gifts beckons you to leave the parched ground of pride, fear, and white-knuckle control, and abandon yourself to the God who overflows your cup.”   Instantly I know it is a MUST READ. 
Not long after arriving back into town, I purchase a copy for myself.   It will surely be the perfect mother-daughter read over Christmas break.  However, in a moment of spontaneous gratitude,  I gift it away to a lifelong friend.  I wonder what One Thousand Gifts will become to her. Christmas is just around the corner now when my sister arrives with shopping bargains in hand.  I am ecstatic to find a copy for me and a copy for her.  What will One Thousand Gifts become to us?
Christmas passes, a New Year dawns and we relish the evenings for reading, my girl and I do.  Almost finished with the book now, One Thousand Gifts is real, it’s deep, eucharisteo, becoming personal.  We are counting our gifts, with gratitude, one day at a time, One Thousand in all.  At the very top of my list….…. The value of time spent with a friend.
Crystal

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Celebration of Expectation

It's a New Day....It's a New Year!

I look with careful eyes through  the cluttered markings and ink splotches all over my 2011 calendar.   365 days gone by and a great sense of nostalgia ensues.   The battles fought, the failures tasted, the victories won, the tears of pain and the tears of great joy ready me with wisdom.  Wisdom that will carry me into the 365 days that lie ahead.  
Although I relish the clean, unmarked pages of 2012, they beckon to be filled.   Filled with a life lived full of thanksgiving and purpose, a life lived full of hope and expectation,   A life lived full of wonder and adoration.    
There is something so inspiring about a new day, a new year, a fresh start.  
Just as each new year brings a fresh start----those clean calendar pages, may each new day (all 366 of them this year) bring with it a celebration of expectation for a life lived to the fullest.    

  I have come so that they may have life, and have it to the full.             JOHN 10:10

Crystal