My prayer is that this month will serve as a reminder for those of us who claim to be God’s that we are called to love and not to judge.
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Also “…God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.”
If we keep up our desperate search for control, all we may end up finding is an anxious and empty-handed shell of ourselves. #LetGo
As a survivor of pretty intense bullying as a child from K-12 and some other trauma in my adult life, I am very familiar with the term “triggers.”
But it is only recently that I have started seeing a term out there for a precious gift that has helped me navigate through those triggers and live a beautiful (though sometimes messy) life.
In the same way triggers can transport us to a place of panic and survival mode, glimmers transport us to a place of thriving, peace, joy, and a greater connection to the deep inner strength of our Maker.
The best thing about glimmers?? You can choose to surround yourself with them and train yourself to see them.
We really can’t control triggers since they are so specific to the way we are individually wired and can be something we face often in day-to-day life.
But glimmers?? We can stir those things up!
There is good reason you see so many photos of sky and birds and such on my blog and social media feeds. Yes, I’m glad other people are blessed by them sometimes. But those are glimmers I seek out for myself…. Medicine for the depths of my soul.
My challenge to us today: Let’s focus so much on the glimmers of grace and beauty our Maker so masterfully surrounds us with. In doing this, those glimmers will begin to soften the blows of the triggers.
Peace, friends!
If your heart hasn’t settled on the truth that God is good, He loves you, and He is more than enough – you are likely to settle for less than the beautiful and abundant life God designed just for you.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” – Jesus (John 10:10)
“God, my heart is steady. I will sing and praise You with all my being.” – Psalm 108:1
For me, my favorite gift of this season – of this year – was nothing tangible. (Although it is represented by a cute little necklace I found at the hospital gift shop where I work).
I’ve seen a post flying around Facebook asking people to describe their 2015 in one word. Well, I’m a writer… so it is difficult for me to even say “Hello” in one word. (And since Adelle and Lionel Ritchie both needed an entire sing to say “Hello”, I really don’t feel bad about that). So I will use two words to describe my 2015… and they also describe my favorite Christmas gift this year: “Growth” and “Grounding”.
The word “growth” speaks for itself I’ve been stretched and challenged and changed this year like never before. And I needed to be stretched and challenged and changed! I feel like I’ve lived most of my 40-something years sleepwalking through life and now I’m fully awake and loving it.
But the word “grounding” may need a little additional explanation. I’m not referring to the grounding of being sent to your room as a kid or getting the car taken away as a punishment. Rather, I’m referring to the process of becoming grounded and centered in the peace of God in such a way that I am no longer pushed over by the strong winds of the messiness of life or situations. Rather, I now bring the strength and the peace of God into those situations.
Although some situations in my life look the same as they have for years, thanks to the faithful leading of my Amazing God and the people He’s surrounded me with to help me grow, I am facing everything with a strength and unwavering deep-down peace like I’ve never known before. This is the first Christmas season in years that I have actually enjoyed rather than endured through a fog of depression. And that, my friends, is a beautiful gift!
Wishing you Peace that passes all understanding,
Ragamuffin Oasis: Finding Our Places to Just Be 