Quote Site

I'd use these for women too! Great words!

Wholehearted Men Quotes

Seeing Rightly

The story of your life is the story of the journey of your heart through a dangerous and beautiful world. It is the story of the long and sustained assault on your heart by the Enemy who knows who you could be and fears you. - John Eldredge


If the enemy (satan) knows who you are and fears you...isn't it time to start taking your life more seriously?? You are a precious gift...steward yourself well. :)

Wonderful Quote

It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. - G.K. Chesterton

The Battle for the Heart

Fighting for the freedom of the heart is a phenomenal, amazing and beautiful thing to behold. God's heart beats for the freedom of humanity...the cross provided the victory...and we, along with the Trinity, have the privilege of walking with each other towards "more". Watching someone step into their own battle...taking their own heart seriously...believing there's so much more...well, it's a fantastic journey to behold. Breathtaking. Granted, it's hard work...it usually involves facing pain...but it's WORTH IT!!

And so...with that I give you a scene from Kill Bill 2. Disclaimer...this movie is NOT for everyone...but this scene really inspired me some years ago. ;)
 

Oh, the stories

I love stories! Lately, I've been thinking about the stories I love and why I enjoy them so much.

First of all, stories tend to point to the bigger, eternal story that we are living within. You know...all was wonderful, the villain came, evil ruled the land, the hero came and sacrificed himself, the battle for good was renewed, hope was restored... It's the truest story written on the human heart, and we can't help but subconsciously retell it...over and over and over again. :)

The other things that our favorite tales reveal are some beautiful portraits of ourselves...our story within The Story. I was realizing this about my Dad the other day. His absolute favorite historical story is the one about the Minnesota regiment in the battle of Gettysburg. The crew that sacrificed all to hold the line. Goodness...is that my Dad or what? He's totally a "hold the line" kind of man...believing so much in things that sacrifice is well worth it.

So...try it for yourself...God has some beautiful things to reveal to you about Himself and who you are made to be...and even your mission...all in your favorite tales. :)

Words to Live By

G.K. Chesterton is on my Favorite Authors List. He, much like C.S. Lewis, saw the greater story written out in the fairy tales...making myths our truest stories. Oh, my heart resonates with that so much. Here's a quote I stumbled on...

"Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

Yep...words to live by.

Watch Your Footing

I've been noticing something during volleyball. It involves my feet. :) I noticed that my reaction times are way better when I'm standing on the balls of my feet. Little weight on heels. Most on toes. When I'm on my heels, it takes that much longer to react in a play...get my body moving.

Of course, the decision to actively be "on my toes" carries a little discomfort at first. My calves and quads feel a bit of a workout. ;) With some time, though, the position feels just as natural as any other. My legs have grown accustomed to the change.

Not that I'm a perfect player. Oh lord...not close. I'm more prepared, though. Better footing, better position, better reaction...

I'm pretty sure there's an application here. Hehe. "Leaning in" instead of "leaning back". I bet a life lived with better footing has similar results. :)

Volleyball Invigorations

Last night was a sand volleyball night. Not the league game...just a time to play as long as we want. ;) Oh my goodness...it was such a blast! It's so much fun to play with that particular crew of people!!! We all are looking to learn and improve, and everyone just lets loose and goes crazy! Goodness, I wish we could figure out how to play like that on league nights. Sigh. Oh well! I'm still on a high from it! What an absolutely amazing time!

Spike!

Huh?

I'm finding it necessary to remind myself to look for the question behind the question. Every now and then, I find myself experiencing an odd question from another. Totally out of left field. My initial reaction is to wonder what in the world is going on...as in..."what's the color of the sky in your world?". That followed by an internal roll of the eyes. #oops

Truly, most odd questions are really a revelation of something underneath. The truer concern. Considering that usually reveals a snapshot of someone's "grid"...the things they tend to speak to themselves that skew perspective. 

A great deal of sympathy can arise in such a "pause"...and maybe some direction on how to respond to the real question. Maybe some understanding. Maybe some challenge. 

We all have those questions. We all encounter another's. God is wanting to move us all to operating from His "grid". Let the questions take us there. :)

Intimacy Inspires Mission

Intimacy with the divine and mission within the world are NOT exclusive of each other. However, I bump into a "worry" of sorts that too much focus on intimacy creates a self-focused individual who expresses very little mission. Maybe because intimacy with God tends to lead to wonderful self-discovery...the "realer" you. Hmm...but I guess there can be a propensity for fallenness to be expressed in one's pursuit of relationship. The same is true for the pursuit of one's mission though. Feeding identity wrongly turns either into less than its divine design ordains.

*A person experiencing their journey of wholeness/becoming in God in the context of intimacy is a beautiful thing. That hindered by a sin of narcissism, selfishness, etc...Yikes...yep, that leads to a life marked with little compassionate service.

*A person pursuing their mission/purpose with God is a beautiful thing. That hindered by a sin of feeding own worth/value...Yikes...yep, that leads to a life that sucks the "life" right out of the mission.

The more a person steps into their destined relationship with the Trinity, the MORE they can't help but see their mission...a lifestyle, opportunities, assignments...all to inspire, invest, steward, bless...OUTWARD. The more we see God...thus, the more we see the true "me"...thus, the more we see the true "them". That intimacy inspires a passion for others, for nature, for enterprise, for wonderful blessings for all of the lesser kingdoms we operate within... Missions we desperately long to pursue...

Oh, how beautiful!!

Maybe in the "worry" the question isn't "How can we give "equal time" to both intimacy and mission?". Maybe it's more "What aspects of my fallenness are hindering the fullness of my journey?". I'd imagine God would love to show us the things that hold us back so we can know Him more deeply and love more fully.

Get Moving!!

I have a difficult time dealing with people and their issues sometimes. Not all people. And not all issues. Goodness, I have my own, so I understand the challenge. But there are some particular situations that I really wrestle with...especially with the "how to's" of sensitivity yet challenging the construct that permits the dysfunction. I don't want to enable it...so...sigh. Maybe it's really that I wish it could be less messy and uncomfortable...which just plain isn't going to happen.

So...I'll just present this out to the blogosphere. We DON'T have to stay trapped in our lesser ways of seeing things...our shame. We can FIGHT and walk out the other side.

Do it! You can! Get moving!

Standards, You Say?

Wow, oh Wow!! At church, we've been discussing the Trinity and their beautiful culture of honor. It's been just changing my world!! Such a beautiful relationship that the Trinity share...and such a marvelous grace that They invite us into it. It's the "With-God" life we were meant for...the kind that ushers in a whole gospel that releases us into true life...the kind that blesses, stewards, invests...Totally amazing stuff!

So lately, I've been thinking about how the Trinity (relational at the core)...and their honor (assumed, innate value) for each other, us, etc...impact a life of "standards".

God is certainly not a legalist. Rules, rules, rules...for the sake of rules...really??...NO! Yet, in stepping more deeply into the Trinity's honor, I can't help but feel an imperative towards the honorable life. Honor God, honor self, honor others, honor the environment, honor the marketplace...

And, in fact, it's putting a different spin on the presence of sin for me. My propensities to sin don't simply reveal my fallenness. They show the areas that my identity isn't anchored in beautiful divine relationship and the subsequent release of life and strength.

And here's my latest realization...the more I'm stepping into the real life that exists FOR TODAY with the divine, my personal ethics are changing from "because I said so" to "because WE are so!"..."WE" being the love-driven Trinity but also suggesting our designed position with the WE too.

It isn't simply that lying is bad...it's that humanity is worth truth!! And on and on and on... And you and I GET to be agents of that honor...anchored in divine love...releasers of blessing, inspiration, truth, value...standards.

Oh man...I'm going to nestle into that for a while. I think there's something more there. Excited to find out!

I Love, I Love, I Love You.

Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Probably my favorite scene of all time. Romantic, for sure. Messianic, for sure. Honor, Baby...it's the world at its best.

Pride and Prejudice

Geocaching

Oh ya, Baby! The geocacher is back in business!!! I absolutely love the adventure...fit for a nerd! ;) Turns out there's an app for the iPhone, so now I can go anytime!!! If you see "EdenHeart" in a cache log book, I've been there! That's me. :)

Fun Science

My bro-in-law posted this on Twitter this morning. I can't believe someone actually thought this out!! Gotta love the science!! :)

Relativistic Baseball

He's BACK!!

Oh my goodness! He's back! My little bro is BACK! I mean that in every sense of the word. He's come "home"...heart, soul, mind and strength. Praying great things for him as he continues this journey. And...wishing I could put him in a headlock (because I'm strong like that...ya, right.). ;)

He's writing music again. Trinidadian flare. :)

God Is In Control

"But that's not what I'm gonna do!"

The "Ah-Hah"

I was listening to a friend's heartbreak the other day. Boy stuff, you know. Oh man, if I may be so bold...that dude was an unimaginable schmuck. I'm not sure there's competition for the selfishness and arrogance of that guy. Blech!! And, of course, he doesn't think so in the least. Sigh...typical of that sort.

As she was lamenting the demise, I couldn't help but have a personal realization. One of those "Ah-hah" moments that hits you like a 2x4...

Realizing how differently two people can look at the same experience. My propensity to see things through the lens of "potential"...that even the worst is redeemable (with a minimum reference to lessons) versus another's propensity to see things as regrettable, shameful mistakes. Not just actions...and here's my realization...but that you, yourself, are seen as the mistake...and any time associated with you...

Oh my gosh...subsequent interactions and conversations make SO MUCH MORE SENSE!! I mean...I've known that things are seen differently, but I've never understood the icky feeling that I also feel after the discussions. Like I'm to be ashamed of, the cause of embarrassment both past and present, the burden...on and on. And I...perhaps stupidly...am proceeding in the manner of minimal to medium friendship...all the while very confused...because God helped me return to the place of delight in the other...

I'm not sure I could have more clarity right now. Goodness! And I'll tell you what??...while initially humiliating to acknowledge, it's something that awakens the heart in this girl. I don't need to receive that! True honor...that kind that assumes immense, divine value...releases me to see myself, the other, AND THE PAST as God does and act accordingly. NOT taking shame BACK UP on self is a big, contributing step.

Time for one of those grand "exhale" moments...Sigh.

I'm telling you, people. It's ok to be on a different page than someone else. And, it's ok to let people process out situations that you were involved in too. BUT...in the so-doing, YOU (as in, your identity and worth) don't have to be in that.

You. Are. Not. In. That.

Oprah said it...she was right. ;)

Yaaaa...about that.

“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.”  Oscar Wilde


“One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.”  Mother Teresa


“The one who loves the least, controls the relationship.”  Robert Anthony 

Judging Bell

Quote I posted on FB today: "God has been looking for partners...who will take seriously their divine responsibility to care for the earth and each other..." - Rob Bell (A quote that I wholeheartedly agree with!!!)


Comment from friend: Isn't Rob Bell one of "those" pastors who have gone off the deep end--like "caring for mother earth-and global warming"?


Comment from me: Some think so. I find him to be a good challenge...gets me thinking...not afraid to ask questions. Man, I've found a very real and relational God on the end of those journeys. Even if I don't always reach all of the same conclusions that he does, he has some good wisdom. I'm all for loving nature, being a good steward of the environment, etc. Some would argue that I'm "off the deep end" too though...but I like it there. Hehe. ;)


I'll tell you what...while I appreciate people like this that actually want to discuss things they've heard said about the beliefs of others...I still find it so sad that some of the "brothers and sisters of Christ" find it so necessary to pigeonhole others and then exact judgment. Sigh, sigh, sigh...


Gotta be honest though...I've done it myself. I had the privilege of taking a Christian Theology class in college by Greg Boyd. One of the best thinking-promoting classes I've ever taken. At the time, John Piper took it upon himself to basically conduct a witch-hunt against him. Dr. Boyd took it pretty graciously. I did not. People, as my Uncle John would say, should be able to have respectful conversation instead of the opinion grandstanding that is more the norm. To this day, I find any "wisdom" from Piper to be hard to swallow. I actually have to discipline myself to not instantly judge everything he promotes because of the judgment I formed from my dislike of his behavior. I have the same reaction to Mark Driscoll, any "word-faith" preacher...Ugh. So...I guess it's a good reminder for myself in my rush to defend Bell's free space that I have areas to improve as well.   

Which Game Do You Bring?

So...sand volleyball always has me thinking. Somewhat born of frustration but more from the fact that I'm so stinking strategic and can't stop...I'm always looking for ways to improve. The one lately???...the kind of game we tend to bring.

Lately...we default to a defensive game. We receive a serve and immediately hit it back over so the other team can set it up and bring an offensive move. We play a defensive game. Unfortunately, it puts us in the position of hoping we make no mistakes in defense or hope they do in the offense. We aren't bringing the game to them as often as we could. With enough control and planning...we could really bring the offensive game again.

And, of course, I'm thinking beyond the game...there's a life application in there. Are you living in such a way where you are bringing it??? You should. Note to self: I should!! :)

Sigh

‎"I stopped waiting a long time ago, Love. I don't fit in the boxes anymore. I looked back and I grieved but there's no sense in the linger. There's only dancing through the new open door."

I stumbled on these words this morning when I was fumbling once again with puzzlements. I couldn't help but see how they represented my reality as compared to some pretty inaccurate assumptions. Wanting to clarify what life today is really like beyond another's perceptions but knowing that it's absolutely pointless to do so...and so mad that I even care in the first place. Always feeling the fool for friendship...wondering if that's no friendship at all. Goodness...where's my inner Diva when I need her? ;)

So...instead...perhaps I'll just speak to my own heart...remind this girl what's true...and then commence the life that's through that "open door". 


Yep...moving on. :)

Destiny

There's a kiddo (ok, like 21...but to this oldie that's kiddo) in my life that tends to text me in the middle of the night with questions about life...and the occasional hormonal girl. So we discuss different thoughts on those subjects...and then I go back to bed. ;) One of those topics was destiny...and boy, does it have me thinking.

I used to believe that destiny was a very specific plan or order of events that a person was meant to experience. Screwing things up at any point, then, could mean that a person missed their destiny. It made sense at the time because my understanding of God was very much influenced by performance-orientation. He was solely about the mission...and thus about tasks in moments.

God, Himself, threw a wrench into my whole theory about destiny though. He revealed that He is centrally relational...and beyond that, interested in a "with" sort of life with humanity. Emmanuel, "God with us", after all. Mission, obviously, was important, but it seemed now to most naturally (and supernaturally) flow out of knowing God in the relational sense.

And so destiny...

...as framed in that context...seemed to necessitate a different explanation.

Instead, it seems to be more a call to divine relationship...a destined knowing...one where two hands write a marvelous life story. One author being God. And the other being...You. A story written with Him.

Clearly, there would still be the monuments where a soul knows it is meant for a moment...but now there is an added element...essential to true humanity...Creative License. Yep...grand permission (out of the powerful divine experience) to explore.

Which means...in your story with the "With-God"...in the midst of the life that He shares with and through you as you step into the adventure...where you are at any moment is exactly where you should be.

I'm starting to see it less as something you see ordained before you and more as something you see left behind you like footprints indicating presence.

Hmm...more thoughts to come, I'm sure. ;)

Amazing Kite-Flying

Let Him Live

A man without his mission is a dangerous thing.

Never be the man who thinks it impossible that God would have one for him. A life marked with that shame or apathy is far beneath the destiny written out for him.

And...never be the woman that robs him of it. You'll be resented for it. "Tame" was never in his blueprint...

Enough of the Critical

Hanging out with critical people...not really a ton of fun. It's pretty much a guarantee that they are critiquing your words and actions as compared to their standards of "normal". Duh...it's what they do to feel better. What shocks me to this day is my ability to think that they actually aren't doing the very things that they can't help but do...judge, judge, judge. Shocks me because it's such a let-down to me when I realize that, in fact, they are assuming, criticizing, comparing, cramming into "boxes"...Sigh. No chance of really being seen/known around those people. Sad realization, once again.