Joyfully Becca: remember these words

Showing posts with label remember these words. Show all posts

our little israelite

Ivar has learned two new words this week: more and banana, which he pronounces, "nana"

But today he morphed the two words together and now, when he wants more food, he yells from his high chair, "Manna! Manna!"

And you know, food always shows up on his tray. Like it just rained down from the sky.

how he loves us

On Friday night I started singing to Ivar as we lay on the bed together, “He loves us, oh how he loves us…” and as I sang this refrain over and over again Ivar began to join in. He was singing the sweetest coos, looking right at me and joining in my song. We sang for a long, long time, his sounds sweet and pure.

His song was indescribably beautiful to me. I could have lived in that moment forever. I sang my lyric about how much God loves us, and I had this powerful moment of understanding why we sing praises to our God. Because in that moment I was so pleased and delighted in the song of my son and I realized that God shares this delight when we offer our sweet songs of praise to him.

It made me want to worship.

wisdom from sonna

Last night I had the following conversation with my 3-year-old niece, Sonna (in this picture she is sitting on top of her sister, Mara.)

B: So did you have fun in the paddle boat?
S: Yes. You don't even have to wear a seatbelt in a paddle boat. But you do in cars.
B: That's true. And you don't wear a seatbelt on a train, but you do on an airplane.
S: (thoughtful pause) And you don't have to wear a seatbelt on a rainbow.
B: Did you just say rainbow? Like up in the sky?
S: Yes. You just look at them, but you don't have to wear your seatbelt.

forgiveness

I've had two remarkable experiences with forgiveness in two days.
Both times it was me asking for forgiveness.

The first was to a friend I've just been cold to. Icy, really. And I've known I've been behaving this way and just kept acting icy because I still felt icy. I even felt justified in my reasoning for feeling icy. But Rory and I had a good talk about this situation, and in the end, whether I had reasons for being cold or not, it was just time to be kind. And to apologize for my unkind behavior. And to ask for forgiveness.

Funny thing is that this person played that they hadn't noticed and told me not to worry about it. But I think that was just a nice thing for them to say. Because in that moment I could feel the room warm up a bit. Whether it had been felt or not on their part, my icy ways were melting and I felt forgiven.

Then today I had a conversation with a friend about a situation that happened almost a year ago. It's a series of events that has stuck with me and I've always been bothered by how it all played out since there never was an opportunity for resolution. But today I had the chance in this conversation to explain my regret, explain how I wished things had played out, and essentially ask for forgiveness, but done so with a 30 minute conversation surrounding the whole ordeal. And again, I felt the air clear.

It's so strange how this biblical principle, is just so, so good for us. So much of the Bible is like that... You might not know why this has been commanded, but once you error on the other side, you quickly learn "oh, this is for my own good. God knew this is for my own good." God knows it's not good to be icy. And that it's not good to think about something for an entire year after the fact. But I'm human, and humans do these things. The redemption in this story is that we were made for forgiveness, for having our wrongs taken away, and for feeling the freedom of a clean heart after hard conversations are had.

It's risky living. Honestly, it would have been much easier for me just to stay my same cold temperature. But in the end, I was wasting SO MUCH ENERGY...because I was created to live in the freedom of forgiveness.

Jeremiah

I had this verse read at my confirmation. And I've always liked it because I like knowing that God knows the plans he has for me.

But sometimes this sort of thinking can actually not be all that helpful. It can actually make every decision a bit too huge. I remember making my decision of where I was to go to college. And the weight I put on that decision was ridiculous. I was deciding between two almost identical schools but was waiting and begging for God to tell me which school to go to. And honestly, looking back on it, there wasn't a "right" or "wrong" place for me to go. In the end, I just had to make a decision and go.

I do believe that God does call us to particular people and places at certain times. I have stories unending from my own life that confirms this is truth. But I also believe that we probably could sit still for a whole lot of our life waiting for direction as to what to do next, when God has also created us to be creative with our gifts. We're called to step out in faith, even if we haven't heard a difinitive word from the Lord.

Not sure I'm getting this all across how I'd like...but I read a post a few weeks ago from Donald Miller and I've been thinking about it ever since. Take a minute to read it.

ephesians

henri nouwen

My friend Shannon sent me the following words recently. It made me pause, and I thought a lot about my motives in life, and why I do what I do. I hope you enjoy these words as much as I did.

beth moore

margaret harrington

My mom wrote a comforting email to me yesterday and she signed it with these beautiful words. I actually could take a deeper breath after reading this line. And I spent some time thinking through the beautiful, undeserved reality of eternal life.

I still can't imagine what Renee is going through. But I do know that she and Ben serve a loving God who has promised eternal life for all who believe in Christ Jesus. And in Him alone is peace that passes all understanding.

Einstein

my word for the year

Ali Edwards is a digital scrapbook rockstar whose blog I have read for years now. Every January she picks a word that she uses to be her focus for the year...sort of a word to guide her priorities, choices and attention. Last year I tried this, but I chose four words, and honestly, that just isn't that effective. This year she wrote a beautiful post about the word she chose and why she chose it. And recently she posted a huge list of words to choose your own word from.

So I read through the list, and the first time through the list the words that stood out for me were: relax, calm, renew, and peace. But see, that's four words again. And honestly, not one of them really sums it up.

Yesterday in church we sang a song we have sang a lot lately. It's a slower song that sings the words of the 23rd psalm moving into a chorus that sings slowly, "And I will trust in you alone. And I will trust in you alone. Your endless mercy follows me. Your goodness will lead me home."

And I found my word: trust.

The roots of this word are found in my relationship with Christ, and it brings peace to my heart, renewal, rest and causes me to breathe deeper and relax.

If you'd like to listen to a version of the song from church, click here.

crushes and boyfriends

I recently had a conversation with a friend who I grew up with at church. She's in college and she's got a crush. She told me every detail of every encounter she has had with this boy. And as she talked I got so excited for her and my tummy started tying itself in knots. And I felt giddy and nervous and hopeful and so happy for her.

It made me think of how fun crushes are. Every single thing she told me brought me back to that place where I would look for any excuse to "need" to call Rory. Or how I would check my email every three minutes just to see if he had dropped me a line that day.

It's amazing how comfortable I am with him now...so much so that I forget to date him. When we were on our 6600 mile road trip a year ago, we downloaded a lot of Dr. Laura. This is a radio program where people call in with their marriage/parenting/relationship issues and Dr. Laura basically tells them the very blunt truth about how they are messing up their lives. We didn't agree with everything she said, but honestly, she's got some good and painful things to say to the world and it made for fabulous car entertainment and the best conversation starters you could ever hope for while driving across the country.

I mention Dr. Laura only to say that she makes a big deal to tell women they need to be their husband's girlfriend. Even while happily married, they need to do all the fun girly things they did to get their husband's attention while dating. (and she has advice for husband's too, but now I'm just talking about the wives...) I hung up the phone with this friend, so excited that she's smitten, and decided I am going to kick it up a notch. I'm going to be Rory's girlfriend again.

yes, please.

I remember when my parent's dropped me off at the airport before my semester abroad in India. My dad said, "Just remember, wherever you are, that's where you're at." And I thought it was such an odd thing to say. He went on to explain that no amount of homesickness or wishing to be somewhere else would do any good. It's okay to feel those things, but don't miss what you're experiencing because you're wishing to be somewhere else.

I can't tell you how many times I repeated these words of wisdom while I was there. There were horrifying things we were confronted with: slums and sickening poverty, child labor, bride burnings, a caste system that convinced human souls they were lower than feces. But I never wished to be out of that country. I loved India. I loved the people we met, and the brand new experiences we lived fully every day. I never wished my experiences away and now I look back at those extreme highs and lows in India as some of my most formative experiences that shaped who I am today.

The words above are available for print on wrapped canvas and I love everything about it. It's sort of a different spin on Dad's words of wisdom, but holds the same security of being right where you're supposed to be.

Anne Lamott

Isn't this thought humbing? In a hundred years from now, most every person we know at this moment will be gone (unless they are a baby now and end up being one of the few who live past 100, of course).

I think this quote is especially sobbering when thinking about the process of passing on the faith. If in 100 years there are all new people, and if 100 years ago, there was an entire different group of people, then the importance of every single person serving as a faithful storyteller of the gospel from one generation to the next just can't be underestimated. It actually blows my mind that God entrusts human souls with such an enormous responsibility...to tell the story of Jesus with conviction, with belief, with joy and with sorrow. And that with the Holy Spirit, this holy story takes root in some human hearts within every generation.

This is my favorite topic lately. I have been holding and planning retreats based on this theme of passing on the faith. And the stories I have heard from faithful storytellers are so real and honest and true. I've heard absolute miracle stories. I've heard redemption stories that came on the heels of dark valleys. Our God is alive and living and moving, from generation to generation, and he uses us, like little threads from one generation to the next to spread His good news of Jesus Christ. Just think of that. He takes us way more seriously than we take Him.

Rich Mullins

"The Bible is not a book for the faint of heart- it is a book full of all the greed and glory and violence and tenderness and sex and betrayal that befits mankind. It is not the collection of pretty little anecdotes mouthed by pious little church mice- it does not so much nibble at our shoe leather as it cuts to the heart and splits the marrow from the bone. It does not give us answers fitted to our small-minded questions, but truth that goes beyond what we even know to ask." -Rich Mullins