My Journey

Monday, March 22, 2021
My need to pray for my nation
Friday, January 15, 2021
Leading during trying times
I'm grateful for all God's blessings. I'm healthy, God meets me during times with Him, I've a husband who loves me, my sons are successful adults, through this entire pandemic I've had consistent work....how can I not be grateful!
None the less, these Covid times wear on one.
I see it in the people with whom I work too. At the end of the AM meeting today we all sit and just look at each other. Finally I get up and then they all do too; we're just tired. I know it's a Friday, but I know that it's really all this COVID stuff - it's a lot. Today at the end of that meeting I felt like they were all looking at me, but I don't know what to give them or do for them. We have 3 give aways this month; today was Bagel day so we had Bagels for staff. That's great and all that, but they need more from me then Bagels...
Father, please show me what I can do to empower, encourage and inspire my people.
Saturday, November 14, 2020
An experience with the examen prayer
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Photo from Fine Art America |
Friday, November 13, 2020
Experiencing God through prayer
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Photo from Stained Glass Painting Techniques |
But God's been so good, so gracious to me. It's like He's been drawing me to Himself. Not because I've done anything right at all...just because of His goodness.
I hadn't been able to make myself start a daily practice of the examen prayer. I'd read about it and it just seemed like too much, so I couldn't make myself do it. I've also struggled in this same manner with silence and solitude; it just loomed up so big and unattainable. I was forcing myself, using a 3 minute timer, to have a time of silence.
Then I participated in an online course where the facilitator did this thing where he'd start by letting us all be silent and he'd speak Psalm 46:10:
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know
Be still
Be
Between each section he'd give us some time of silence.
I found that exercise an effective way to enter into silence. To detach from the world around and start a time with God.
Then I read Pete Grieg's book How to Pray and nothing seemed so difficult. All types of prayer seemed more accessible.
The real clincher with regard to examen came when I shared the goal of praying the exam in my book club and a woman, Amanda, recommended an app called Reimaging the Examen. For me, this has made all the difference. This app guides me into going through the examen. It also has quite a number of differently focused versions that help keep it fresh. I haven't gotten super lengthy or deep yet. But I'm establishing the pattern. It's becoming a part of my life. I find that I'm looking forward to it each day.
Another thing I've noticed is that I've struggled with being exhausted all the time for years now. But lately I've been more energized. I know this is gonna sound cheesy, but you know how when you're in love and you start dating someone how all of life just gets brighter and you're happier? How you just want to be near them every chance you get? Well that's kind of the experience I've been having with prayer.
It make me think about Matthew 11:28-30. I've been pondering this passage for the past few years as I've been struggling with fatigue. I've been especially drawn to the way it reads in The Message paraphrase:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.
Monday, November 9, 2020
Resources
I'm thinking about how thankful I am for the resources that God's give me:
* The Renovare book club
Adore the emails, podcasts, and most of all the actual group of people with whom I meet once a week. It's a somewhat eclectic group - 7 individuals; 2 males & 5 females, ranging from mid 30s to mid 60s in age. Ethnically there's 1 African American, 1 Indian, 1 Japanese, and 4 Caucasians. All Christians; including Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Evangelical non denominational, Presbyterian, and Baptist. These people like books just like me and they're interesting. Their ideas stimulate me.
* Some really good books I've read lately - White Awake, How to Pray, and Jesus and the Disinherited being the most recent.
* The Lectio 365 & Re imagining the Examen apps.
The Lectio is adding a fresh new perspective to my morning time with God. I've been trying to figure a simple way to add the Examen into a time in the evening and this app guides me through it.
* The people with whom I work - My job is hard. I'm so grateful for the humor and camaraderie that I have with the people with whom I work.
* John & I's relationship - We really seem to have grown closer in these last few months. I can honestly say he's my best friend.
* Asian dramas - Sometimes I get an immense amount of enjoyment out of these things.
Graphic from Banzai
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Blessings upon blessings
I've got so much to be grateful for.
Saturday, September 12, 2020
God Sightings
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Sometimes I go through life like a horse with blinders.
Graphic from Crosspoint Community Church |
Lately I've been seeking to change that. I've been seeking to engage in God sightings (if I'm transparent I've been doing this on and off). What I mean by that is noticing God at work in creation, people, events throughout my day, and in my life. It's kind of like how bird watchers are looking for certain types of birds and then when they find them it's like - aha! I'm trying to incorporate the God sightings mentality into my every day life. Every time I do this I realize how much God is doing that I typically fail to notice.
It's interesting because the God sightings practice has made me realize that I'm living with some of the answers to my prayers from years ago, and hand't even realized it.
One such prayer was to get to belong to a book club. Years ago I watched a chick flick entitled The Jane Austin Book Club. At the time I watched that movie, I remember thinking Gee, I want to have friends and belong to a book club where we share. I love to read. I want to hang out with other readers and read and talk about books.
About a year ago God blessed me with a book club.
I joined through Renovare. Two years ago I'd done a book club through Renovare but it was online, and although I enjoyed the specific books, didn't get really get much out of the group. Last year I determined to either find an in-person group or not do it at all. So I took the leap and met up with total strangers at a location very close to my work. It was a small group of people, 5 people plus me. They're all passionate, intelligent, people from various walks of life. One's a seminary professor; another is a nurse practitioner; 2 are educated, relatively financially well off, home makers; another is a just retired inner city ministry leader; and I'm a SNF administrator running a 43-bed facility that serves schizophrenics. It's been intellectually and spiritually stimulating to get to meet with them once a month. Very slowly, we're getting to know each other too. I think some of them may be becoming friends quicker than me; I'm slow to truly open up to people and feel comfortable - but we're getting there. This year just a few more newcomers are joining too.