ramble
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Reach!
My word for 2012 has arrived.
REACH
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
~Harriet Tubman
I wasn’t initially impressed by this word. It’s not as flowery off the tongue as other words. When you repeat it over and over, it begins to sound like my geriatric cat when she’s about to give me a mess to clean up.
But as I thought through the meanings of the word, I began to understand.
I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:14 (NLT)
A person can reach, as in reach for a dream. I’ve been stangent in this area for a couple months. Reach for me can mean to relight the fire that fuels my passions.
To reach a port, we must sail – sail, not tie at anchor – sail, not drift.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt
We also reach out for help. I’m so bad at this. Being a bit independent (okay, maybe more than a bit), I tend to try and fix situations on my own. This year I’ll focus on reaching toward God and accepting His hand rather than my usual, “I can do it myself!” plan.
Reach can refer to our own choices to reach out to those around us. In this way, reach is similar to compassion. I can offer mercy, grace and help to the people in my life.
Reaching out with forgiveness is a blessing for both participants.
Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.~Muhammed Ali
This post wouldn’t be complete without one more quote.“Reach for the sky!”~Woody (Toy Story) -
Searching for my word
Searching for my word…
It’s a tradition I’ve never participated in. With the year coming to an end, many of my friends and acquaintances will be choosing a word to focus on during the 365 days of 2012. Granted, many of my friends are writers, so this may not be as common a tradition as it appears to me to be.
This year, I’ve decided to find my word. Some change in my life seems like a solid idea. Things haven’t exactly been going in the direction I’d like them to. This year has been filled with loss. Some loss of relationships, some realization of the fact that there never was a relationship to salvage, and much loss of security. I’ve struggled with fears and anxiety, disappointment and sorrow.
I’d like my word to be something like…HOPE. But I’m not convinced yet that this is the one.
2011 wasn’t all bad, and in the end, I still have an amazing husband and my children are healthy. So maybe GRATITUDE should be my word. I’m sitting here in my darkened living room, still able to write this post with the electricity out. There are so many things that I’m grateful for, and shouldn’t that be our focus every year?
I’ve watched helplessly as circumstances around me have taken seriously wrong turns with no way to stop the runaway train. Maybe SURRENDER should be my word…but maybe FIGHT would be better.
What about COMPASSION. There’s something this world is greatly lacking. I do hope I can be a person of compassion, FORGIVENESS, STRENGTH and MERCY. All wonderful words.
There are so many words to choose from. Each seems right in its own way. So I’ll wait a while and hope the right word makes itself known.
What’s your word for 2012?
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That’s just how it is
My husband recently bought me a fun, Christmas-themed blanket for our bed. You wouldn’t believe how soft this thing is. Well, Hank (our aging yellow lab) and Azalea (our geriatric, balding cat) discovered the comfort of the new blanket and proceeded to spend every moment they could manage sleeping on our bed.
It didn’t take long for the new cover to be littered with critter hair. YUCK!
I pulled the blanket from the bed to wash and dry it. Now that may sound simple, but we’re having trouble with our dryer, which makes each load a test of my questionable patience.
That night we slept cozy with the fresh scent of dryer sheets filling our room. Awww.
The next morning my youngest daughter drug herself down the stairs. The fact that she had gotten herself up was a miracle in itself. Mornings are not her thing. I asked her why she was up already. Oh, how I wished I hadn’t even asked.
Apparently the sounds of the cat puking had disturbed her dreams. Yep, right there on my freshly washed blanket. Not only that, but it had gone all the way through to the sheets. I keep plenty of blankets on the bed so that was an accomplishment for the puker.
So I started and ended my day washing blankets and fighting the dryer. How fast things change.
That got me thinking, and you know when a puking cat gets you thinking, it’s probably not a good thing.
Last December everything looked perfect in my life. My career seemed to be swaying in a positive direction. We were all healthy. My relationships were strong. I was happy.
This December feels a bit like finding the cat has vomited on my fresh bedding.
But there will likely be another December in twelve months and maybe that one will find us in a easier time. I’ve been through enough to know that life goes on and good time show up again.
So we’ll enjoy Christmas regardless of the mess, and I pray you will have a sweet time this year too.
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How did Mary survive?
This is the question my mind slipped to during the meditation last Sunday. Claudia was talking to us about joy, but I couldn’t help but ponder how Mary must have felt. The sweet baby in her arms would be persecuted, shunned, and brutally killed.
Nothing hurts a mother deeper than the pain of her child.
I wonder how she managed to breath. How she was able to let him run down the street with the other boys. How she was able to paste a smile on her face and raise him without her fears and grief taking over.
Maybe she didn’t know the extent of her son’s future.
It seems that Joseph would have known. Did he share the future with his wife, or did he protect her?
But we know that in the end, she was there. She saw her child suffer for the sins of the world, and I wonder how she was able to bear the pain.
This video says it all.
So this is what I’m pondering this week. What do you think?
