How to Become a Cloud Chaser

Do you remember how when we were children we would watch clouds with an intense interest and imagination?

We would rest on our backs on the cool grass on a warm summer day and examined God’s blue pallet. 

“Look, there is a giraffe.”

“Over there, a speeding car.”

“And if I squeeze my eyes till they are almost close, I think I see a marshmallow being stretched apart by two gorillas.”

Meteorologists tell us that every cloud contains a weather message. God sculpts all types of clouds as messengers of hope from Him to help us weather the storms in life.

I love looking up each day and seeking what God is telling me in his heaven.

You see, I am a cloud chaser.

·      Cloud chasing involves looking up. This physical act of raising the chin lifts the spirit and provides a momentary pause by focusing on new possibilities instead of our problems.

·      Cloud chasing invites us to look inward and to indentify what is churning within our hearts.

·      Cloud chasing reminds us to look beyond our momentary problems and negative emotions. We find hope in knowing the sun does still shine on days when can’t see its light.

I have been working on a book proposal about cloud chasing and the lessons God sends us in all the various types of cloud formations. There are extraordinary lessons in the ordinary daily backdrop we often complain about or ignore. God’s canvas is full of inspiring and uplifting lessons that when observed renew our spirit and remind us of His loving presence. I thought I would share some of what I have been learning with you in this series about Cloud Chasing.

So the next few posts I will invite you to become a child once again and capture the wonder as a cloud chaser. God’s canvas shows us surprises every day if we just take the time to look up, look inward, and look beyond our ordinary day-to-day drudgery. Cloud Chasers see God’s lessons in the sky.

Join the conversation:  Are you a cloud watcher? What do you learn when you look up to the sky?

My Utmost Prayer

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here.   It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

This fun meme has now progressed to the letter U and that leads me to think about the word:

UTMOST

Utmost is not a word I have thought about much. 

Utmost does not rank high on my vocabulary list.

Daily I read Oswald Chambers well known devotional, My Utmost of His Highest. I study this classic each year and continue to find gems I never noticed before or words that warm my heart in new ways.

Chambers coined the phrase, “My Utmost for His Highest” and used it in his writings and talks so much, when his wife compiled his thoughts into daily devotionals; she knew it had to be the title.

Utmost? What is my utmost? Why is this word calling me and causing me to let its meaning twirl on my tongue and meander through my heart?

Utmost means most extreme, greatest, the maximum, the highest degree, and to the best of one’s ability.

So today I ponder the word, utmost.

·      Loving God to the utmost  - like He love us – is living on the farthest fringes of our faith. We take that next step not knowing where the path leads. We rely on Him to lead us. We trust God to the utmost.

·      Utmost edges of our atmosphere hold little life giving oxygen. Utmost living leads us into unknown territory where we need to breath in God’s spirit for strength and health.

·      Often I take the easy way, the more comfortable path. I allow my habits of ‘being good” to become excuses and obstacles that stop the stretching my heart to be more like God. Chambers wrote, “The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best.”

·      Dare I pray this every morning?  

Lord may I live each day giving You my utmost.

All I can be for all You are, Lord.

 My all. 

My everything.

My utmost.

What does the word “utmost” bring to your heart?

God's Spirit is Right Alongside – Lectio Divina

The moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8: 26-28 (The Message)

God's Spirit is right alongside

Come Holy Spirit. Come.

You are our Helper. 

Our Companion. 

Our Light in our darkest moments.

You are our Guide. 

Our Protector.

The barely Noticeable Nudge on our shoulders and Quiet Whisper in our heart.

You are the Soothing Breeze refreshing our soul.

And You stay right alongside us always helping us along.

When I am tired – You lift me up.

When I don’t know how to pray – You pray for me.

When I can’t even find the words – You connect me to the Word.

When only my tears flow and my head shakes in disbelief, You gather my sorrow and lift it up into the Father’s hands.

When I am lost, You protect me, guide me and show me my next step.

You see to every detail from the feather on hummingbirds to the Milky Way.

Yet You stay right alongside me.

Never leaving.

Always leading.

Eternally loving.

Thank you for coming beloved Spirit of God!

God’s Delight – Quote of the Week

God made the world for the delight of human beings-- if we could see His goodness everywhere, His concern for us, His awareness of our needs: the phone call we've waited for, the ride we are offered, the letter in the mail, just the little things He does for us throughout the day.

As we remember and notice His love for us, we just begin to fall in love with Him because He is so busy with us -- you just can't resist Him. I believe there's no such thing as luck in life, it's God's love, it's His." 


— Mother Teresa (A Simple Path: Mother Teresa)

Five Lessons about Discernment

Each January I record in my journal a list of spiritual hopes, dreams and goals for the upcoming year. Then throughout the year I try to reread this entry and reflect on what is holding true, what is growing deeper within me, and what died on the vine and disappeared.

Many times ideas on the list come from my ego driven self-centeredness.  On January 1 this year I actually read a quote from Tozer that echoed this confession: 

“What a pity when we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.”

So true.  I wrote this quote in my journal. But it is the two next entries that have driven my year and shaped my plans.

Right after I read and recorded that quote, I wrote “Lord I want to be open to God-sized dreams and impossibilities this year.” (Watch what you pray for, right?)

Then I wrote one word. A word that dripped from my pen uninvited by my ego.  A word that has continued to surprised me this year and has pursued me by popping up in unexpected places.

Discernment.

I pause this May morning and reflect what I have learned so far about discernment.

1.   “Decision making has its limits. We make decisions. Discernment is given. The Spirit of God, which operates at the deepest levels of the human psyche and within the mysteries of the faith community, brings to the surface gifts of wisdom and guidance which we can only discover and name.”  — Danny Morris and Charles Olsen

Discernment is the capacity to be aware of and respond to the presence of God in the ordinary moments of everyday living and in the life changing choices we make.

2. Discernment at its root means, “to separate.” I sort out possible answers by asking questions:

What draws me closer to God? Would this lead me away from God?

How does this decision match how God wired me and use the gifts He gave me?

Deep down what do I feel I really want when choosing?

When sitting with one possible answer do I experience the fruit of the Spirit? (peace, joy, self control, love, etc.)

 Does this next direction energize me or drain me?

3, The problem challenge for me with number 2 above is this takes time. I want a quick answer and want it right now. I am learning to trust the “slow work of God.” Not an easy task for someone like me used to quick decision making.

4.  Once I perceive an answer I hold it lightly with open palms. A few months ago I really thought that I discern God didn’t want me to take a summer spiritual growth opportunity. It cost quite a bit and would involve the inconvenience of being away from home two weeks. I set it aside. Yet just last week, obstacles came tumbling down and I found out I could attend. When I received the material in the mail, I felt my heart leap and my enthusiasm soar. As I wrote the questions today listed above, the answers confirmed this is the right step for me. And would you believe one of the main topics of this experience is? DISCERNMENT! 

5. I continue to be amazed at the power of writing and talking through decisions. Finding the words to describe my feelings, to weigh choices and to test if I am hearing God comes through my journal and from my spiritual direction group. The outcomes are clarity, focus and possible options I would not have considered.

I sense I have a long way to go in learning more about discernment and this topic will probably reappear again in this blog.

Thomas Merton wrote a wonderful prayer about discernment:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.  I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know for certain where it will end.  Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.  I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

I am interested in learning your thoughts about discernment!  Please leave a comment and add to the conversation

A Powerful Response to the Question: How Are You?

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

This fun meme has now progressed to the letter T. The letter T starts my answer to the question:

How Are You?

We all do it. We pass each other with the causal, not expecting an honest answer, to the question of “How are you?”

I read recently some blog conversations challenging us to answer honestly. To stop and really listen.  I wonder how many of us answer exactly how we feel. Do we in truth want to slow down and hear someone’s reply?

Do we say?:

To be honest, I am not feeling well. 

Or I feel alone and abandoned today and cried myself to sleep last night.

Or even I can’t believe you are asking me when I know you really don’t care or don’t have the time to listen anyway.

I know I should listen closely and compassionately when asking that question of someone else.  Even when someone answers the standard “Fine” I know the non-verbal tone of voice often indicates otherwise. That is IF I chose to listen closely.

“How are you?” is a sacred, intimate invitation into another person’s soul.

How do I answer that question?

“How are you, Jeanie?” You ask.

“Terrific!” I respond.

I started to answer that question a number of years ago with this energetic, positive reply of “Terrific!” I love how people react to my enthusiastic answer.

·      Many people stop with surprise at my answer. I giggle when I hear the silence, anticipating the often-asked following question, “Do you really feel that way?”  I tell them I learned a long time ago I am either terrific or trying to work myself back to that level. Either I am up or climbing up. 

·      I find I become more optimistic when I respond this way and truly begin to feel Terrific even on gloomy days.

·      Not only does it affect me, but also others will smile in return after hearing my answer. My answer lifts their mood too. 

·      Is it really being honest? I do believe so. I am sincere in my decision to live this way: choosing a positive outlook. I have learned to listen to my self-talk. If I say and tell others I am tired, then I feel more tired.  If I say I feel Terrific, I begin to feel better.

·      Terrific is contagious. I like leaving a trail of joy and enthusiasm behind as I walk through my day, instead of the despondent droppings of doom.

So I challenge you to try being Terrific and see if it makes a difference in your life. It did in mine.

How do you respond to the question of “How are you?”

All I Have is Yours, Lord – Lectio Divina

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me,

for they are yours. 

All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.

John 17: 9-10 (NIV)

 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.

Lord I absorb Your words from this week’s Gospel. I am awed with Your prayer for Your disciples…for us… for me.

What a prayer of loving surrender: 

All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.

May this also be my prayer from deep within me: 

All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.

All I cling to within my soul.

Everything my heart cherishes.

My treasures I think I must need.

 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.

I love the intimacy of this prayer, Lord.

Its words draw me near to Your welcoming arms.

My heart beats in unison with Yours as I breath this prayer.

All I have is yours, and all you have is mine.

All I have is yours, Lord.

Patience – Quote of the Week

"Patience is not waiting passively until someone else does something.

Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are.

When we are impatient, we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else.

Let’s be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand."

- Henri Nouwen

A Lesson in Counting

The Warlpiri are a group of Australian aborigines who have a simple way of counting. 

Their words for numbers are “one, two and many.” 

I read that last week and that phrase really stuck with me. I laugh because when someone asks me how many years I have been married, I either answer “many” or have to quickly subtract in my head. Quick hand me a calculator!

I think even Erma Bombeck would have liked the Warlpiri’s method of counting when she wrote, 

"One thing they never tell you about child raising is that for the rest of your life, at the drop of a hat, you are expected to know your child's name and how old he or she is."

I listened this week to what I count: 

My sins.

My excuses.

Things I am thankful for.

Yep, the Warlpiri are right.

One sin, two sins, then many more.

One excuse, two excuses, and so many more.

One item to be thankful for, then two appear, and wait: many, many more.

Is it just me or is this beginning to sound like a Dr. Seuss tale?

I guess we could play with these words and say easily we have, “One two (too) many sins and excuses.” 

“Many” is a simple word meaning an indefinite number. I think its use is more poetic than a left-brain exact calculated number.

Sometimes we focus only on one type of sin or think two kinds are worse than others. Sin is sin. And we have many sins.

Our minds become numb to our many excuses. Unless we deeply listen we miss the many times we lean on false reasons.

We grow in gratefulness when recognizing the many small touch points of thanks we experience. We number what we are grateful for each day, joining Ann Voskamp in creating a list of 1000 things we notice each day. Once we reach that enormous level, we continue to count to “many.”

I am glad God isn’t a bean counter of all our sins and excuses. I am grateful for His many acts of love and many moments of grace. He forgives many times. He loves indefinitely.

I think God may just agree with the Warlpiri and count:

One, two, and many.

What do you think?

The Spirituality of Friendship

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here.  It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

This fun meme has now progressed to the letter S. The letter S reminds me of the priceless spiritual lessons from friendship.

The Spirituality of Friendship

 I like to give, but find it so awkward to be on the receiving end. Do you ever feel like that?

Maybe it is my ego and pride. Probably more like me wanting to keep up the false pretense of self-sufficiency.

Fear is another reason: What if people find out I am not perfect? Oh, no, they may reject me or make fun of me.

Friendship holds many lessons for us spiritually and lately gifts from friends have brought these lessons into focus for me. 

1.  Sacrifice - A few weeks ago we traveled to Texas. Our friends there were such gracious hosts all week long.

  I hated to ask them for one more favor. My brother lived in San Antonio and I hadn’t seen him in more than 8 years. Would they mind if I contacted him and set up a lunch or dinner with him?

   Not only did they encourage me to go for it, they offered to hold a cook out in their backyard. What a gift.

   To my surprise, not only did my brother come over, but his fiancé, his ex wife and her friend, and my nephew, his wife and their four kids. We had a wonderful reunion.

   At one point during the party I looked up and watched my busy friends – the ones who hosted the party, our traveling buddies from Ohio and my precious hubby, working their tails off, welcoming these strangers, serving food, and cleaning up the mess as the party wound down.

   How could I ever thank them for this sacrifice of friendship, this priceless gift they gave me? Sighing, I simply received their offering with a grateful heart.

   “God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.” ~Billy Graham

2. Social – Friendship gives us opportunity to reach out and share our lives with one another. Last week I had the gift of meeting fellow blogger, Nancy Franson, when she traveled on the Ohio Turnpike on her way to Chicago. 

   Nancy brightened my day. I so appreciated her taking the time to stop and deepen our friendship beyond cyberspace.

  God meant us to live in community but this takes time, effort and risk.

“The reality of all life is interdependence. We need to compose our lives in such a way that we both give and receive, learning to do both with grace, seeing both as parts of a single pattern rather than as antithetical alternatives.” ~ Mary Catherine Bateson

3. Sacred Surprises – I think some of the best surprises God sends us is through friendship. When I attend writer’s workshops, my agenda is full of topics to learn, agents and publishers to meet with, books to buy and resources to acquire. God then surprises me with new friends. 

    My online writer critique group, the Kindred Heart Writers, met at the 2007 Florida Christian Writers Conference. We held in common as desire to grow as writers, but never in my wildest imagination would I have guessed the gifts of prayer, support, encouragement, resources and companionship I have received from these four ladies.  I know they are a gift from God.

"Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same." Unknown

Thank you Lord for friendship and all the very special spiritual lessons that bloom from them.

How have your friends enriched your life?

Pick Me! Pick Me, Lord – Lectio Divina

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit —fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 

This is my command: Love each other.

 John 15: 16-17

I chose you

Pick me!

Pick me, Lord!

I want to be part of Your team.

What do I have to do to qualify?

Maybe if I lose more weight, You will choose me.

What if I tried my hardest to do everything just perfect?

I wonder if I read my Bible everyday, never missed church, and always smiled at my family, then would You tap me on the shoulder and say come?

What is this You are saying?  You don’t choose Me, but I chose you? 

But I am not ready yet.

I haven’t accomplished what the world expects of me yet.

I haven’t finished with what I have planned.

Even my hair is a mess today. And I really should quit biting my fingernails before joining You, Lord.

Me?

You chose me?

Like I am?

Sinful and unclean?

Incomplete and far from my best?

And You want me to bear fruit for You? 

Me?

I can’t do this, Lord.

I can’t do this without Your help.

I can’t do this without Your love.

I can’t do this without You.

Maybe that is why You call me now to be with You.

Only with You, can I be who You made me to be.

Unfinished without You.

Incomplete without Your wholeness.

Never enough for the world, but accepted and loved by You.

Thank You Lord for calling me.

Thank You for bringing me into Your forgiving and loving arms.

Thank You for choosing me.