Tag: joy

Chaplain Contemplations: Freedom.

Dreaming, intuition, Receiving, Vulnerability

I was trying to think of what walking in my calling looks like. So I began to think about for the first time in my life, my ” heart feels full.”

I mean, I get this full feeling sometimes to the point I cannot even explain the emotion, and then I emotionally feel as if I’m about to explode …with sheer joy.

It’s happened more than once. It really has.

And just recently I looked up the definition of heart”; in the Vines dictionary and found this which so explicitly explains my feelings…

Heart is referred to as:

  1. The seat of physical life
  2. The seat of moral nature and spiritual life
  3. The seat of grief
  4. The seat of the affections
  5. The seat of perceptions
  6. The seat of the thoughts
  7. The seat of the understanding
  8. The seat of reasoning powers
  9. The seat of the imagination
  10. The seat of conscience
  11. The seat of the intentions
  12. The seat of purpose
  13. The seat of the will
  14. The seat of faith

ALL of this.. is in our hearts!! No wonder “out of it flows the issues of life!”

Of our sense of purpose , decision-making , our faith and intentions are all tied up in our heart- even our sorrows – that means everything meaningful flows out of the heart!

That why in that same scripture we ask you to “guard it with all diligence”.

What does it look like for you to guard your heart? It means you watch over everything that concerns your purpose and your sense of well-being. All your hope, all your destiny and all your exchanges in life- with people, friends, family and your children .

What’s in your heart is meaningful and should be kept secured in faith.

Because faith has substance you know. It can take root in your soul and change your lifestyle and change your outlook and perspective in life. It can encourage all those around you and help you to become a more rooted and grounded person.

Selah.

#chaplaincy #chaplainlife #lifeofachaplain

“We Are All Like Trees.”

Dreaming, Embracing, Identity, On Being

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“We Are All Like Trees.”

I’ll never forget how her face lit up when she said these words. I was in South Africa, Kuma, South Africa, in fact. I was teaching in a classroom of South African teenagers, and I was on cloud nine, (naw ….101..)

Her words were so simple and freeing.

Powerful, yet pensive, contemplative yet colorful.

Description causes me to attach meaning to sometimes things I barely notice. I know I’d always loved trees. Yet the trees in South Africa spoke to me. I remember having spoke to this classroom brill of teenagers and then coming back to a Johannesburg and spending time with my new friends  and their friends. I stood quietly in the backyard just thanking God for the experience of being in a South Africa, eating dinner with such focused and thoughtful people. There was a tree in that backyard that spoke to me.

Inlistened to her words all over again: “We are all like trees.”

And  then it hit me: Our strength. Our endurance. The people we are, and continue to become. We dream, we hope, we encourage , we teach.

And yes, I am one of those Trees.

Yes indeed I am.

 

saying YES.m To More.

12 Gems, On Thriving

Saying yes.

I was here today. Trying to do that things again.

You , know, say Yes.

It’s like  hard to say that, you know? To say yes when you don’t know what’s behind the door.

Saying YES.. when  all seems to be going against you…

Saying YES… when  I can barely breathe sometimes, You know?

Saying YES… when other things seem to be calling us to higher heights and deeper depths.

Saying YES… to  God. Yes, not No.

Saying YES…  to  everyone  but Him…

Saying YES because I want to …

Saying YES because I NEED to…

But I keep taking risks, and going  there because I want to be there,  so badly.

Yes.

you know that place where grace is always present.

Where ease feels like my best pajamas…

Where hope  rises.

Where peace  rests and rests some more.

In my Yes-es.

Yeah, I want to be there. To see my own reflection and just be that person each and every time, in every way imaginable.  I just want to be there. Where ‘yes’ is.

I want what’s behind the yes.

So….sometimes I see the reflection and grace of knowing yes can help or hurt me.

I see the beauty of yes … although sometimes it still seems so far away sometimes- the power of one little small word.

When I see the sun’s reflection shining through my window, I want to scream “Yes!”

I keep getting these awesome views.

And I rest in them.

The views that reach for me, too.

A few of my Yes-es…

  • Following my dreams,
  • Writing with passion.
  • Seeking God for heart and His desires.
  • Hoping I am fulfilling my purpose in Him.
  • Not getting too caught up in this life,
  • Knowing and understanding there’s another  LIFE to live…
  • Trusting my intuition.
  • Hoping against hope.
  • Sharing and loving on those who need help.
  • Trusting God more and more..
  • Serving.
  • Looking to fulfill, not to take.
  •  Managing what He’s given me, using it wisely, and sowing it back into humanity and lives that never lived… fully.

I believe in more beautiful rays and hopes, and dreams …. deposited in me everyday.

YES!