Where Are My Shoes??

     Photographer: Lindsay Coleman

     I had the strangest series of dreams this morning. But it was the last dream that really lingered with me:

     I was in a Payless Shoes Store, somewhere in the City (Felt a bit like NYC...) and I had been trying on loads of shoes. I was just about to buy a particular pair of shoes, but then something compelled me not to. I can't remember if they were too expensive or what. But all to say, when I went to go put my own pair of shoes back on, I couldn't find them!

     I was frantically looking through all of the aisles. The sales people (One woman and one man) were kind in facial features, but didn't really offer to help me find my shoes and just stood back from a distance.

     The store was just about to close. I was the last customer inside the store. I could tell the sales people were anxious to go home. But I just kept trying to find my shoes...

     And then I woke up.



Wisdom's Knocking:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference..."
--Robert Frost




Once Upon a Surprise

     Photographer: Bethany Mossburg

     Why is it, when you least expect your Field of Dreams to manifest, it suddenly appears. I feel like it's a part of some heavenly agenda. Because, surely, when you are watching the clock, waiting for that gift to appear, it seems to make itself scarce and unseen.

     But the moment your attention is diverted towards other matters. The very things that you have been waiting for begin to appear. And you know that they appear because they no longer present themselves as a mirage, but truly something you can touch and feel.

     I had one of the best Wednesday-Fridays (I mean, what do you call that? It's not technically the weekend...) ever. Leading up to those past few days, I had been working my butt off with administrative duties, curriculum planning, tv production work, screenplay writing, and learning the art of joy (Once again). My mind space was full. Like very full. So when it came time to actually set sail to an island with 15 folks of which about 80% were teenagers, I was super intentional about not bringing make-up or trying to go out of my way to look cute.

     So of course, that would be the time in which I would run across chemistry. Yeah. You know. Like, uh-oh, I think I want to hang around you like all the time and I don't know why.

    Now, don't get too excited. As you know, I usually have about 1 crush a week. So time will only tell what will happen next. But of course this would all happen when I was looking like dirt. Perhaps it's better that way. Ha.

    Nevertheless, I'll keep you updated.


Wisdom's Knocking:

"One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do." -Henry Ford 



What Causes Drive?



     I just tried to Google the phrase: "The Cause of Drive" and "The Cause of Determination". Google had nothing legit for me. Wow.

     I was thinking today about my own drive and determination. Most of my life, I never waited for someone to tell me I could do something. I just went out and did it. And that outlook and action has profoundly impacted my life. In fact, it's pretty much shaped my life and its journey. Where does that kind of drive come from?

     And if one doesn't have drive and determination in life are they pretty much screwed? Or how does one acquire Drive and Determination. It's such a necessary life commodity.

     Looking around, I notice not everyone has it.

    It frustrates me as well when I try to impact teenagers within my ministry that simply have no drive and determination for life. It's like a language I don't know how to speak.

     I'm motivated by love, but not simply as an ideology but as an action. But I'm also aware that the future is always ever approaching whether you're ready for it or not. So why not seize the opportunities of today and even factor in some risks and adventures. Because today will never ever happen again.



Wisdom's Knocking:

Seize the day.




Sand Paper


     Do you know that there are parts of you that are abrasive? As much as you and I might like to think we are perfect and fun loving, we must be aware that there are areas of our personalities that still need to be sand papered--smoothed out a little.

     It's those current areas of roughness that often rise up when we feel nervous, threatened, confused, or tired. But it's also those things that turn people off...More specifically turns them off from being able to intimately know you. And I've also noticed how it shuts down opportunities of all kinds.

     I know. It's a hard truth. But someone has to tell you.

     It's not about becoming a people pleaser, but just being hip to the fact that you and your friendships and relationships could be flourishing in a whole new way.

     Just try and see yourself from the outside, sometimes. Would you want to approach you? Would you want to hang around you? Be honest.


Wisdom's Knocking:

Don't try and remove the speck of dirt from your neighbor's eye when you have a plank in your own.




Let Your Yes



     Oh my goodness. Fickle people drive me crazy. (Looks who's talking.)
   
     But seriously. I am surrounded by teenagers and celebrities in both my vocation and ministry and their constant see-saw of making choices makes me want to hit them upside the head.

     Like really. First you said yes, then you said no, then maybe, then back to yes, then no, but wait, kind of, no, no, okay, but this time it's really yes. Oh wait. No.

     Ahh! I'm going to punch you. You just took me on a roller coaster ride that I did not want to go on.

     There is something to be said for commitment. You have to buck up and take responsibility at some point. That's a part of growing up. You have to be fearless (Or learn to be so, in most cases), to see your decision to the end. And above all, remember your choices are not just affecting you and your own world.

     But then again, if you continue to be fickle, what you're telling me is that you are a professional and scared liar. One that is afraid to live their own life. And with pathetic attempts to preserve your life through wavering decisions, you are actually losing and forfeiting it. Meaning, you'll die many deaths before you die.

     A life lived in fear is truly a life half lived.

     So let your yes be yes. And your no be no. Let your words count for something other than air. Let your words be a continuous expression of your integral character. Or you'll find yourself alone and bitter, wondering why no one is able to truly "connect" with you.



Wisdom's Knocking:

If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.