Thursday, April 29, 2010

Just remember we are supposed to SHINE!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
~ Marianne Williamson

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Finding the life in my life

Through this season of transition and transformation, I have found so many realizations of how I want the path of my life to go. I grew up fearful that I would become my mother, more specifically, that her weaknesses would consume me. Once I stepped into adulthood and claimed autonomy, I realized that magically transforming into my mother was not likely to happen and I was so overjoyed that I forgot to look after my own shortcomings.

Having the dubious luxury of a dramatic life-change like divorce has really stripped my beliefs down to the core. There can be no more excuses, everything must be re-evaluated, inventory must be taken and the trash must be dumped. I have my own waste products that are a result of things that festered in my marriage, and those things need to go. The other stuff, the waste that belongs to another is not my responsibility. The strange revelation is that I am not responsible for anyone else's introspection or personal growth. Not that I ever truly was... but a part of me went to the places of self-righteous piety. If I could could just earnestly do IT right enough, then the multitude of sins would be covered and life would go on, hopefully for the better.

Life does go on, and it is better. I am trying to regain my spiritual gyroscope so that I can feel that firm grounding in Christ once again. I am looking forward, seeking Him in all of my relationships and in the moments of quiet where I can reclaim myself and who I am supposed to be. I am looking for the guidance and direction to find a new church home that will be a reflection of God on earth for my new family. I am still struggling with how to set down the sadness that I feel over the loss of my church community. It is difficult to know what the right way is, I feel like there is an unfinishedness about that community but I don't know how to resolve it.

So I keep railing at God... if anybody know what needs to be done it would be Him. I actually was yelling in the car, at God. Seriously, I can choose to set down my feelings of abandonment and try to pick up forgiveness... but there is an intervention needed, and I don't know what to do. I look up to my Father and say "HEY!! You see this mess down here??" These broken pieces of my heart where there was once a solid connection keep poking me until it hurts. This spiritual wound of disappointment feels at times a distraction from the moments of pure joy, like it is only coming out in my consciousness to dissuade me from moving forward into a fullness of being.

This ever-present God of mine has been busy distributing the blessings in my life and growing giftings in me that have been long neglected. Out of the ashes of my old life, I begin to flow into the abundance of His plan for me. Reclaiming my voice, His voice, to write again about the miracles of nothing and everything in between has been long overdue. There is a passion being unleashed to create something tangible about truth and His word... and all of the fingerprints He leaves behind.

I lived in the darkness, in a desert and convinced myself that I could truly see Him in all the barrenness. Now today I can see so much more, and the horizon is infinite. I limited God's ability to move in my life past a certain point because I couldn't see past the box that I put myself in. God can move mountains... but sometimes things have to be drastically altered before you can see that the landscape is changing. And so, out of the darkness I stand, moving forward towards a brighter day. In the little things there is life, and the big things just follow along.

I am finding the life in my life... every breath draws in the newness of recreation, and the old ways just fall away. There is a covering of protection around all the new seeds of change He has planted, and there is an abundance of peace, even in the moments where I feel the broken pieces of loss. His peace surpasses all understanding and endures when I think I cannot.

Psalm 138:3-8
3 When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. 8 The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever-- do not abandon the works of your hands.


Friday, April 9, 2010

My Life Redefined

It has been nearly a year since my last post, my life has become a liquid shifting place. Change and transformation have been my current path. Since I last posted, my marriage collapsed on itself. We were both to blame for how we got to the point of impasse, and then my ex-husband went too far and verbally attacked me. I tried to move past it, I tried to forgive it, I tried to set it down... and in the end it was too much. My safe harbor within the sanctity of marriage was shattered, and I was done.

My decision to divorce sent shock waves through my personal community of friends, family and church family. Everyone was shocked and some were horrified... in the end, I stood by my decisions and I lost many friends and my church home and those losses were heartbreaking to me.

I felt God's continual presence with me as I moved into the new chapter of my life. Where I felt the church abandoned and forsook me, God never left me. As I vented to my small group of friends, God stood by me and offered His everlasting support. For every friend that walked away, He replaced them with stronger more life-giving relationships. For every judgement that was cast on me, He offered me compassion and solace. He has been my rock... through this wilderness, He is my guide and I do not walk alone.

There have been several things that I have learned about myself through this process. I learned that I am the only one who gets to live my life, and if it isn't working for me, it doesn't matter what other people expect me to do, at the end of the day I have to do what I feel is right. I have learned to love completely those around me, I am learning to go with the flow, I am learning to let go of things that I cannot change and I am reconnecting with my inner artist. And that includes, reclaiming the writing of this blog... which I have missed terribly.

I am a daughter of God... He has called me out of creation and I am His beloved. There is nothing that I can do to make Him love me less. He is the original artist... from His hands he drew the heavens into being. I am so blessed with my walk with Him and I am grateful for His discernment and wisdom in my life.

SO.. I begin my new life. As a mother, sister, daughter, cousin, pseudo-auntie, and a friend. My identity is in process as I learn who I am as a person who is no longer a wife. My path has changed from small and narrow to being so wide I cannot see the edges in any direction... it if full of life and potential, discovery and healing, forgiveness and acceptance and mercy. I am finding that the person I am is strong and reliable, creative, vibrant and powerful... I have found my voice once again. And I am glad to be me.

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.