Never, Never, Never Give In

Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. ~Winston Churchill, Commencement address at Harrow School, 1941.

In 1913 Jean Giono, a French author, was climbing in the French Alps. Deforestation had striped the mountains, leaving them bare of trees and people. Villages, streams, and forests were devoid of life.

One night, Giono was offered the hospitality of a shepherd. He sat in wonderment as the shepherd sorted through countless acorns. He shared with Giono that for three years he had faithfully planted 100,000 acorns.

Roughly 20,000 had taken root and were growing.

Time went by and after more than 30 years, Giono re-visited the shepherd. New life surrounded him!

A vast forest filled the barren land and bubbling streams curved through the once-again populated village. All thanks to the efforts of one man planting one acorn at a time after time after time. Talk about perseverance and grit! I haven't planted an acorn. But I have gardened. Hot days, bent over, knees digging in the ground...it's hard work people!

How about you? Have you been "planting" for years? Praying for a friend to come to know the Lord? Keep planting those prayers and moments you get to just "be" with them. Maybe you've waited for a job. I know it's discouraging, but send another resume, make that one extra call. Or perhaps you're longing to be married. It may be time to try a new single's group at church or ask a friend if they know anyone. Not every seed we plant will sprout. But some will...yes, some will.

Check out Churchill's address again and imagine he's speaking those words to you: Never, Never, Never Give In!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. ~Psalm 119:148

Who Do You Love?

"Give me a place to stand, a lever long enough, and I will move the world." ~Archimedes

Read this today and loved it. You know I'm all about changing the world.

But
I
Don't
Want
To
Change
The
World
until I change the world of the one in front of me. By my love. My time. My peace. My Jesus.

I just don't. It's not fair to them, and I have a feeling I'll be cheating myself too.

This reality smacked me upside my heart today. With an ache for someone I love to my core. She's hurting. Bad. Real bad.

And I know...I coulda/shoulda/woulda loved her more, deeper, better.

How desperately I want to. I sit here and grieve. Grieve the hours glued to the boob tube; or stuffing my face in a fiction; or clicking on photos ofafriendofafriendofafriend on Facebook. Wasted hours when I coulda/shoulda been loving her.

So here I am...asking humbly, Give me a place to stand again in her life Lord. Help me take hold of the lever. Cause now...now I see the vitalness of moving her world. With love. With time. With peace...With Jesus.

Maybe there's a knock on your heart's door about someone. Maybe that means turning off the tv. Putting down the Kindle. Picking up a ball. And opening your heart to loving, eyes to seeing, arms to hugging, ears to listening and mouth to speaking kind, gentle words.

Remember, conviction to act is different than acting out of guilt. Sit with the Lord and ask...how can I move her/his world today? I bet it'll be sweet and amazing. I'd love to hear about it...

Memory Jar

I want to catch certain memories like fireflies in a mason jar. And set them on my night stand, gazing at their flickering joy throughout the dark night. I would poke holes in the tin cap, and let their sweet scent of warmth radiate throughout the room.

Yes, there are certain memories I wish I could capture. But that possibility would negate those bright fleeting times from becoming memories.

So I create more memories to fill my precious jar.

I sing songs.

Pour over photo albums.

Bake sweet treats. Especially in the fall and winter seasons.

My family lived 5 hours from my grandparents. Trekking there after my dad got off work guaranteed an arrival close to midnight. No matter the hour, my Nanny always had a pot of spaghetti, New England clam chowder, baked beans, brown bread, and cookies waiting for us. Walking into my Nanny and Grampy's was walking into a hug. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and even strangers were welcome to sidle up to the table and partake in the bounty all throughout the day.

My mom has carried on the extravagant feasts for the multitudes. We used to set an extra plate at the dinner table for the not officially invited, but always welcome, anticipated guest who would "just happen to show up" at dinner time! (usually a local college student). In autumn, our guests were treated to my mom's scrumptious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert! My memory bank is full of these delicious goodies! Soft and sweet, these babies are dee-vine!

Part of creating new memories to fill our jar is inviting others into our stories; sharing our history and what makes us who we are. Cooking and sharing family recipes is part of my story. So I shared my mom's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with LeAnn Rice at She Cooks! LeAnn's heart is also to share her story, her life, and her Jesus with others. She does so with the warmth and grace of a true servant and she whips up love and memories to share not only in her kitchen, but every where she goes. Visit her blog, She Cooks, for the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and bake a batch for yourself tonight! While you're there, make sure to check out LeAnn's other recipes.

I'd love to light up my memory jar a bit more with a memory with you! Please leave a comment with your favorite family recipe! It just might make it to my table one night!

I Won!

I won! I won! I won a "Lovely Blog Award" from the sweet Stephanie at Journey of Healing! Thanks girl! Reading her blog is like pulling a page out of my own journal. She's real, honest and God is taking her through some similar things as me!

This award comes with some fun 'rules'
1. Accept the award and acknowledge the person who bestowed it. {see above}
2. Pay it forward to 15 blogs you enjoy.

Easy! Here goes...in no particular order:
1. My dearest sweetest bestest sister/friend Joni's blog. A steady, rich relationship with the Lord weaves its way into her words which challenge and encourage me constantly. Plus, she's more fun than the state fair!! Love this girl!

2. You might have heard her on 106.9 FM...if not, 12-3...tune in! Carol can give you a side stitch from laughing till you can't breathe and give you a good cry from pondering the depth of God's mercy all in one conversation.

3. Whether you are a wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend...Melissa is your gal to hang with! She's real, honest, relatable, & funny! Say whatever you want...you'll be loved and accepted.

4. Dreamers, Believers and Faith Filled Girls...you won't want to miss Nicki's blog! She knows God is big and able and spurs you on to remember the same!!

5. Okay, I'm not a wife or mom yet, but Sharon is already mentoring me in those areas through her thoughtful, humble, soulful words. I want to be like her when I grow up!

6. When looking for a shot in the arm of Truth (hard as it might be to hear) I look no further than Lisa's blog. She's just keepin' it real and I'm better for it.

7. I'm sorry to say I don't know the name of the writer behind the words on this blog. What I do know is she's a real gal, living real life, with a real God and sees Him in the every day. I appreciate that. Think you will too.

8. This guy's a poet. His words fluid, compelling, picturesque. Though his posts are far and few between, Jacob's writing is worth waiting for.

9. An escape for your spirit & mind, Elizabeth blends heart-changing/wrenching/reviving photos with eye-opening words that mix in a lovelycan'tlookaway collage.

10. Her art tells stories of the soul. Her words do the same. Her heart comes through in both. And it's a thing of beauty. Just like Laura.

11. Tuck your feet up under you, wrap your hands around a hot mug, and chill with Shannon. You're invited into her life...with herself, her hubby, her friends and her God. Her words are comfortable and real.

12. Simply sweet. Simply giving. Simply kind. Simply generous. Simply abundant in love. Lisa at Simply His blog is simply wonderful and elaborately loved by everyone who meets her! Read her blog...you'll see why!

13. LeeBird shares life's journey with grace, wisdom, humbleness and humor. You'll instantly feel at home with her!

14. I just started following Eileen's blog and look forward to her wisdom and funny quips already!

{And because I can't resist promoting these folks who are making a HUGE difference in the world...}

15. This is hard. Gut wrenching. Fall on your knees. Weep till you're spent hard. But we can't turn our backs on the reality that this is reality. LOVE146's blog. Get involved.

15. Do you want a new perspective on the poor? Here you go! Compassion International spreads it's arms across the world and gives you and me the chance to hug kids 1000's of miles away.

15. What if you could round-table it with C.S. Lewis, Jonathan Edwards, and Tozer? Well, that's not possible, but Desiring God's blog comes pretty close!

There's your sneak peek into the lovely blogs whose writer's words challenge, comfort, inspire and entertain me! Hope they speak to you similarly! Adios!

Now ... Then

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ~Genesis 50:20

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ~Jeremiah 29:11

The whole time Joseph was a slave and prisoner...God saw him as second in command over Egypt.

When Ruth was a homeless, barren widow...God saw her settled, a wife, and grandmother to His Son.

When Lazarus was wrapped in grave clothes...God saw him breathing new life.

When David was running for his life...God saw him running Israel.

When Paul crucified Christians...God saw him preaching the crucified Christ.

When Sarai beat Hagar...God saw her beating her jealousy, pride and doubt with the birth of Isaac.

When Esther was an orphaned girl shaking in fear for her life...God saw His daughter shaking the kindgom and saving the lives of His people.

When Rahab welcomed men into the shelter of her bed...God saw her sheltering the spies on her roof.

When Peter lost faith and denied Christ...God saw him bringing many to faith in Christ.

When Moses killed with his own hands...God saw him chiseling the Ten Commandments with those same hands.

When Mary Magdalene saw Jesus die...God saw Him resurrected and seated on His heavenly throne!

Oh what God can't reverse, redeem, restore, revive, renew! Trust Him that He can take any circumstance and use it for your good and His glory.

ONE - ME, YOU

The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' ~Matthew 25

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one. ~Mother Teresa

This week the thought of ONE is still pinging around my insides. Insides of my mind...what can I do? Insides of my heart...who can I serve? love? cherish?

How can I be the ONE to love the one in front of me?

My friend Elizabeth has had moving convictions on this...

Anything pinging around your mind/heart too?

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little. ~Edmund Burke

Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him. ~Albert Schweitzer

Sam in Real Life

If you're visiting from Rachel Olsen's Blog Carnival, welcome!! If you'd like to know more about linking up on this fun ride, visit Rachel's blog.

Instead, it is you - my equal, my companion and close friend. What good fellowship we once enjoyed… ~Psalm 55:13-14

Friendship is a diminishing of distance between people. ~Keith Richards

Text messages, Facebook updates, Twitter tweets, blog posts... they sure can fool you into thinking you know a person. Truth is, anyone is allowed to be, well, anyone on social networking sites! Slap on a few pictures of the kids smiling, add a funny quip, stir, and zippitty-do-da! out comes the illusion of a fairy tale perfect life.

Now, I appreciate social networking. Hours of clicking photo after photo of my best-friend-from-third-grade-but-we-haven’t-talked-in-20-years proves it! If a picture speaks a thousand words, then I’d say a thousand times over she’s happyhappyhappyhappy….

Facebook and Twitter made me believe another friend I grew up with had a life full of sunshine and butterflies too. After reconnecting and talking over email, we got our old gang back together to do a Bible study.

And there is where the walls tumbled down. All the pretty pictures of her kids on the first day of kindergarten didn’t show the ten meltdowns they had that morning. Quips of the romantic get-away with the hubster didn’t tell of the months of marital counseling to save their marriage. And all the status updates could never relay the depth of depression or insignificance she felt.

If not for our Bible study, I would not have known the real story behind the story. I would have missed the opportunity to encourage and cheer her on; to live the daily ups and downs with her.

Now hear me on this. Keep posting your cute pics and funny sayings. I enjoy them as much as the next gal. But please do not start spilling your innermost secrets on Facebook or reveal every emotion you ever felt on Twitter. You want to protect yourself and your family. Living room couches, coffee shop tables, and park benches, not social networking sites, are the places to share!

We were made to do life with others. We need friends who know us and can look us in the eye and read our expressions. Our souls crave to take off the mask, let our guard down, and pour out the depths of who we are to a safe, confidential few. Relationships sustained by status updates and retweets can only go to certain depths. Real life is lived in real conversations had in real time.

It’s been two years since that Bible study. My friend and I continue to live life—real life—together. I hope you have someone(s) you can do that with too. If not, can I encourage you to find a few friends who you can just "be" with? Here are some thoughts to get started:
~ Reconnect with old friends or ask newer friends that you talk with often over Facebook or Twitter who live near you
~Start a group through church, neighborhood, etc. You could do a Bible study {all P31 resources are 31% off this week!!}, dinner club, weekly park outings, coffee over conversation…
~Commit to confidentiality and be willing to open up and trust. My Bible study group has a confidentially agreement, which includes not sharing with husbands, parents or best friends, even if they don’t know us.

If you already have a group of friends you share with, please leave a comment! We’d love to hear about how you became friends and what you do together! Oh, and don't forget to visit Rachel's blog!



Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. ~Ecclesiastes 4