Telling Stories

Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of history keeping and communication of which we know.  I love hearing a good story, reading a good story and telling a good story.  Having children settle all around this great world I am thankful for the advances of technology that allow me to stay connected with my kids and grandchildren.

Recently when we were skyping with our grandkids in Australia I told them about meeting an Australian in a Kohl"s department store.  I drew the story out.  I made them an important part of the story. I told it well.

I met a cashier in Kohl"s that had an aussie accent, so I asked where she was from.  She said Australia, and I mentioned that I go there every year.  I told her where Cory lives and she got so excited, commenting, "You not only know where Sydney is, you know the suburbs!"  I told Lilah how she lived near Manly Beach and went to Macquarie University, how she knew right where they lived, and how excited she was to talk about "Home" with someone who knew her area.

When I got done telling my story Lilah asked, "Do you have another story?"  She wanted more! Stories connect us with one another.

I love telling stories.  Every time we skype, at the end we give a blessing, and now I want to make sure that each time I talk to the grandkids I try to have a story to tell.  Even if it isn't long or of great significance I want a story to share.   We all love a good story.  We are people of the story.

One of the great challenges of us "more mature" members of the family is being "keepers of the story;" both our own family stories and our FAMILY story of creation and redemption and sanctification and salvation...and all that lies within and beyond.  We need to tell the stories, not just of what God did in Scripture, but what God is doing today...in our lives, communities and the world!

One time when teaching an advent lesson in a children's program at a church in Michigan a neighborhood child said, "I've heard about Jesus.  Didn't he get hit by a car?"  Boom!  Reality check! We need to be telling stories!! We need to look for opportunities to tell THE STORY.

Ps. 78:1-4  O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.  I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things from of old...what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.  We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

Keep My Tongue from Evil!

Once upon a time I overheard a conversation between two "church" women at a restaurant.  Let's call them Pearl and Vivian.  Pearl declared, "Well that's my gossip for today."  But the conversation continued and soon she announced, "He's not a very good deacon.  He shouldn't be on the board."  If I could hear this conversation in a crowded restaurant so could several others.

My immediate thought was, "And she is not a safe person.  This is not a woman you can trust."

It made me think of how easy it is for us to criticize others.  We are so quick to ignore the warnings of Scripture to STOP gossiping, and yet it is so dangerous to the Body!  It is easy to make a "humorous" comment at the expense of another.

One of the prayers we may hear in church before the sermon is, "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord."  I'm thinking we should all pray that prayer a whole lot more!  How often do we drop a comment, make a judgment, call into question someone's character, say things that tear down, rather than build up?

I wonder if there are people who have heard me say things that make them cringe and think, "She is not a safe person.  I can't trust her."  This conversation made me recommit to being the kind of person others feel is safe, and they can trust.  Conversations...words...comments are so slippery.  They have a way of slipping out without us meaning to let them go, which is why making sure our hearts are meditating on the right things is even more important.

Ps 34:13  Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.

I think we would be amazed if we knew the impact our words have on others and the kingdom.
Lord, let the words that come from my mouth bless others and glorify you.  So be it!

Here's Me

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The next book on my reading list is Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown.  I've been told it is excellent.  I've been told vulnerability is about courage, and trust, and making relationships more real.  I'll let you know what I learn after I read it.  In the meantime I'm giving this vulnerability thing a whirl.

The past couple of months I have been in a bit of a spiritual crisis.  I know what I believe, and I know that what I believe is true. I also know that I don't know or believe nearly as much as God wants me to...keep going Holly, keep growing! I know that I know, that I know God has created each one of us; that God has a plan and a purpose, which we need to live in to in order to experience the abundant life Christ came to give us.  I know this!  But I'm not feeling it lately.  I'm not experiencing it.  "I can't make it happen."

Integrity is one of my core values.  I need to practice what I preach, and I want to do that faithfully. On the one hand I have had such a powerful "calling" into this Midlife Momentum ministry; on the other hand nothing has been coming together for this next year.  I've been trying some new avenues, and maybe it is too soon to see where it is leading, but it feels like a dead end.

As I contemplated and prayed about it I have found myself, on a couple of different occasions, throwing my hands up and saying, "I can't make this happen."  And immediately I sensed God saying, "And that surprises you?"  Of course I can't "make this happen."  It is the work of the Spirit and the timing of God.  I wrestle with "Letting go and Letting God" and trying to understand what my part is in developing this ministry. But I am still stuck with my frustration.

Then last week in a conversation with a good friend I shared my frustrations and some new things I was thinking about doing, rather that focusing on Midlife Momentum full time.  I was feeling guilty, that it might be leaving what God had called me to.  She challenged me to see how it might fit together; how it might be the next step on the journey.  It drew me back to something I had written 4 years ago...that basically once we figure out what God has called us to it isn't a "done deal."  The call of God is evolutionary.  We continue to grow and change and the "call" continues to build on what God has been teaching us.  I know the need to provide transformative opportunities for midlifers is important for the individuals and for the kingdom, but what will that look like?

So I feel a bit like I am wandering around in the wilderness looking for the next oasis.  I would appreciate your prayers as I seek to live faithfully and peacefully into all God has in store.  

Isaiah 40:38  Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

I need this verse, and I "can't make it happen" on my own...we all know that, right?

Boom...and it is fall.

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I don't think I have ever experienced a year when Labor Day weekend was like flipping a switch quite so much as this year.  It was uncanny!

I was driving down the street on Tuesday taking in all the sights (the flowers, weeds, tips of colored leaves, children with back packs heading dow the sidewalk) and sounds (cicadas), and smells in the air that are just uniquely fall. The slanting of the sunlight is different; the breeze feels different. Boom! From summer to fall, just like that!

It got me thinking about seasons of change, and how in our lives those of us in midlife are in the fall season as well. It too sneaks up on us, catching us unaware. But there it is, with all the adaptations we need to make. There are things we need to leave behind, things we need to pull out of the closets and decide if they are still useful, still fit our personalities and needs, still need to be refreshed, or passed on, or just plain dumped.  What will we hang on to, and what can we let go of?  

It has been interesting this week to also have those days that feel like flashbacks to summer, with 90 degree days...but it is still defintely fall. (I know, not technically.)  Transitions!  Changes! Celebrations for what has been and is now...preparations for what is to come.  What are the important things that are happening inside us, around us?

In this midlife season we look at our calendars and realize we have options about how we will fill these days, and weeks, and months, and years. Will we wake up each morning and ask God what should be on the agenda, or will we let other people or circumstances dictate what takes priority? Will our time be lived out wisely? Will we live intentionally, or by accident? With peace, or anxiety?

Fall is my favorite time of year, though I'm not certain why.  It might be that sense of new beginning that comes with a new school and church year.  It might be a return to a rhythm.  I might be the sense of maturity and productivity, fields and trees ripening, apple cider and pumpkins, or simply the beauty, the colors and light. 

"It is good," as the Creator might say. 

Will I relish this fall season of life as well, paying attention to the colors, the winds of the Spirit, the relationships that evolve, the opportunities to ripen into mature godly people? Will I carry the presence of God and the Spirit of peace and joy into the rooms I enter? Will I be there to lift up, care for and listen to those in their winter, as well as being there to bless and feed and nurture those in the spring and summer of life?

Rather than deny our age and idolize youth we have the chance to model a healthy midlife that embraces all of the blessings that come with years of life, experience, growth, relationships, and relationship with the God who created us...for just a time as this.

IT IS GOOD!

Qwerky house

There was a crooked man
Who had a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together
In a little crooked house.
Sometimes I feel like that man, only my house isn't so much crooked as it is qwerky...if that's how you spell it.

I really like our house, but it is a bit strange.  When you enter the front door the living room/dining room is to your right.  Ahead of you in a beautiful entryway is a huge built in mirror.  To you left is a beautiful open staircase which one would assume leads to a large upstairs...except it doesn't.  They did a really good job on this entryway!

The upstairs has lovingly been dubbed our Oompa Loompa rooms.  So named after the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which had very small people working at it.  Our upsatirs bath has about a 2 square foot area where the ceiling reaches a magnificent height of 77 inches.  The bedroom , which is fairly long has a 1 foot stretch down the middle that is also 77 inches.  The rest of the area has sloping ceilings. Plus, the bedroom has track lighting with 3 lights right down the middle.  Thus they are named the Oompa Loopma Bathroom and Bedroom.

One of my favorite memories of the summer is Diedrick and Annika just belly laughing as they told me the story of Papa being up there with them, standing up to leave, promptly hitting his head on the first light, ducking for the second and standing up again too soon and hitting the third.  Sooo funny.

What is just as qwerky, is me.  I find myself taking guests and friends up there all the time to see what we have done with the Oompa Loompa rooms.  Often I come downstairs thinking, they must think I am really weird.  Why would I be excited about this qwerky little house?  Why would I think it is anything to show to others?  It's not big, or decorated well, or great in any way, shape or form.

Then I got a birthday card from Caleb and Sonja with a picture of a dog with his/her head out the window of a car, enjoying the ride.  Inside it read, "It's the simple things in life that make it good!  And Caleb wrote, "Mom, you're good at that--celebrating the simple things in life.  I'm thankful for your optimism and joy."  That rather made my day!

Some days I do that much better than others.  But it is a goal...to see the blessings all around...to celebrate the goodness and grace of God.  To pay attention!!  That is a very hard thing for us to do.  Richard Rohr says, "We don't know how to take joy in the simple things anymore because, frankly, we are sated."  We are full, stuffed with too much...too much food, too much stuff...too much to experience and do.  Rohr goes on to say, "I think of all the pwerful experiences that I've had.  But only when I taste my experiences enough so they become realizations, do I change.  That takes time and space."

That is part of the reason I blog...to stop and think about the little things and how God speaks through them; how I can be changed by what seems like an insignificant story or experience...and how I can grow.  So thank you for listening to me and sharing my learnings, through whatever ways God chooses.

Shortest blog

I broke my toe.  God said, "Holly, sit down."  I'm sitting, Lord.  What next?  "Holly, listen."  I'm listening, Lord.  "Peace."

1 am and Singing

Charlie sent me a text at 11:45 pm.  Now it is nearly 1:00 am and I'm still awake.  Charlie is 20 something...I am not.  Charlie, 11:45 is too late to send your best friend's mom a text.  But I love you anyway.

Charlie was part of the 20 something gang that descended on Holland this week for Amanda and Nate's wedding.  This wedding also brought our son Caleb and wife Sonja to town.  We got to play host to several of their friends.  This meant our house was filled with fun and laughter, comings and goings.

There was a campfire in the back yard Thursday night as people gathered for the weekend.  Good food and drink, and life stories to share.  Ten people crowded the breakfast table on Saturday morning and we heard more about the life of these 20 somethings:

Kelly has just returned from a year with YWAM in Bolivia and Brazil...what's next?
Stan finishes up law school in December and wonders, what's next.
Lindsay reported on life in Atlanta, working for DOW Chemicals.
Skates just got back from touring with a jazz band in Italy and France, and talked about the music he is making and writing.
James is hunting for the next job after interning and working with SoJourners in DC.
Kelsey is finishing up at Hope this year.
Charlie shared his engagement story, and about life on the farm in Virginia with Katie...and then?
Sonja helped us understand her work with Arabella and philanthropists and non-profit organizations.
And Caleb talked about The Table, the new church plant he works with in DC, and Williams wedding in Uganda.

This is an amazing group!  They are each so unique and gifted in such different ways, but they are united in heart and by the Spirit.  They are a Christ Community spread around the United States and at times the world.

These young people inspire me to greater things!  They witness to the wonderfully diverse ways God engages His people in the world.  They challenge me to embrace life in expectation that God has more in store.  They also give me the opportunity to be an Elizabeth in their lives.  Remember how Elizabeth, Mary's older cousin, was given to Mary to mentor and encourage her when the angel came along and told Mary she would carry the Christ child?  Mary needed someone to believe in her when no-one else would.  I believe in what God is doing in these young people!

Not much gives me more joy than loving, and encouraging, and being with young folks.
My heart Leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. PS28:7

Lord, I thank you for the witness of your presence, power and purposes in the lives of your servants young and old.  Expand our vision of what you are and will do in and through each one of us. So be it!