laundry blogging.

I'm long overdue on laundry. And blogging. 

Today, I do both...at the same time. (Thanks to available internet at the laundromat.)

I sit near a wide open door breathing in the hope of springtime breeze flowing into this place as I watch my clothes spin around in circles.

So seems life lately...surrounded by and breathing in hope-filled air as a myriad of thoughts, ideas, lessons learned (or in process of learning), encounters, dreams, expectations, and stories spin around inside me...

The thought of spinning around in circles is usually seen as a being stuck. But not in this case. It's good. It all seems so purposeful right now. The hope that fills my lungs and the rest of me is saturating all of those spinning things. 

And it's hitting me right now that much like the air and heat to the clothes spinning in that dryer and making them ready to be worn again, so is this hope making all these spinning things inside of me ready for something more, too. 

Did I just make a parallel between my damp socks spinning in circles and what God is doing in my life right now? ...yep. Sure did. God makes me laugh. 

My guess is that there are people feeling like they are stuck and spinning in circles lately, but God is actually declaring this season as incredibly purposeful. He's getting you ready.

Ask God, "What are you doing? How do you see this (situation, problem, circumstance, person, etc)?

Before turning to another person, learn to seek out God's heart on a matter first. (One of the lessons spinning around inside me lately...)

Knowing and hearing God as His Kingdom comes more and more in this world is vital...press in to He who knows you more than you can fathom...

Thank you, God.       

Hmmm, well my clothes stopped spinning. Time to fold...

Peace and Life to you this Easter weekend!

who are you?

Being it's Valentine's Day, I expected to see more Facebook statuses displaying the unofficial renaming of February 14: Happy Single Awareness Day! 

I only saw one so far. And it didn't end with an exclamation point. I actually sensed a sarcastic disappointment behind the words.   

Maybe most of my Facebook connections are now either married or in a relationship? 

Or maybe people don't care to announce their singleness to the world? 

Either way, this day has me thinking about something.

And it's not chocolate hearts, dinner for two, or my relationship status.

But rather, identity... 

  
Before I move on, I'll take this time to be honest with you. My own journey in singleness has had it's times of disappointments, tears, and struggles. I've made some choices that invited hurt into my life. I have made some choices that hurt others. It's been a bumpy ride at times, but I have learned a lot through some of the most challenging times. Thank you, God, for grace and restoration!

While every step along the way has been a part of the learning, these last two years something extremely significant has been happening...

I'm learning about identity.

True identity...I'm learning to live from my true identity as a daughter of God.

This identity...this role...will never change...no matter the season of life I find myself in. Just as God is steadfast and unchanging, so can be my embracing my identity as a daughter of God. 

When we find our core identity in anything other than being a child of God and seasons of life change, we will move into a new season and will struggle because we won't know who we are anymore.

For example - If my sole identity is, "I am single" and I enter into a relationship and get married...I am no longer single. The things that defined my singleness are no longer reality. Now I am married. I am a wife. And I don't know what that means or looks like because I'm not single anymore. If my core identity was in my relational status, I am not going to know who I am or how to "be" or what to "do" in this new place.

This isn't just in our relationship status. It applies to all realms of life and any transitions. From junior high to high school. High school to college. College to whatever you want to call this time after college. Job transitions. You name it.

I was thinking about this post earlier today. It was written as I transitioned jobs a couple years ago. I wavered because I didn't know who I was. I wasn't rooted in the identity God had given me. 

But when our sole identity is rooted in being a son or daughter of God...in Christ...living our lives believing who God says we truly are...we can be steadfast no matter the season of life.
No matter our relationship status. 
No matter what career changes come our way. 
No matter what is going around us.

We can know who we truly are.
And live from that place to influence this world for generations to come.
We have a purpose beyond the titles and roles the world gives us.

So whether you are single, married, divorced, in a relationship, in your teens, in your 90s, living in this city, living on the other side of the world...who are you? Do you know that Jesus has made the way for you to have a restored relationship with Father God? That you were born to be a powerful and free son or daughter of God? Do you embrace it? Has that revelation changed you from the inside out? 

Because it will when you invite God to:
talk to you about it...
reveal it to you...
guide you into encounters with Him
teach you to activate the truth in your life...

YOU were created with purpose, a world changing identity, and with such brilliance...

Happy Valentines Day!

burning. [continually]

"As soon as you stop learning, you stop growing. And as soon as you stop growing, you start dying. ...The goal is to continually learn." -Kris Vallotton

Continually learning keeps us alive and wholly healthy to who God created us to be. It empowers us to live out what He uniquely destined each of us to do.

Learning, getting strrrrrrrrrrrrrrretched, growing...it's so purposeful!
Keep pressin in...

YOU were born to do great things...So what are you learning as this new year is underway? How will you keep growing?

You manage you.
Take responsibility. It's up to you to keep your fire burning.

Ask God how to keep it burning. Ask Him to show you what to press into.

There are endless possibilities ahead that can turn into world changing realities if you choose to learn, grow, and move with God...

blue skies, megaphones, and spotlights.

Blue skies smiling at me::Nothing but blue skies do I see::Bluebirds singing a song::Nothing but bluebirds from now on::Never saw the sun shining so bright::Never saw things going so right::Noticing the days hurrying by::When you're in love my how they fly::Blue days all of them gone::Nothing but blue skies from now on:: "Blue Skies" written by Irving Berlin

Thank you, Mr. Berlin, for this toe tappin' tune indeed.

There is a certain irony to jamming out to this song in misty filled air and falling rain; hence the sky is full of clouds and the land is blanketed with a light fog...yeah, no blue skies.
...at night; hence it's dark out...yeah, no sun shining bright.
...while driving down a dirt road that has turned to mush; hence you're pretty much muddin' in your Bonneville....yeah, a good ol' pick up truck would have seemed more fitting as waves of muddy water splashed Bertha (my car).

Yet, even without being behind the wheel of a pickup, there was a certain kind of spunky, fun irony as this song was the soundtrack playing in my car to the scene described above while driving home from a friend's house last week. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation in my car or at the irony of what I was feelin' around me.

Hmmm...maybe irony isn't the right word here.

I'm thinking that shifting atmospheres is more like it. I laughed partly at the irony but mostly because I knew a shift was in process.

Yes...shifting atmospheres...

Ya know, like changing the mood or the vibe of what's going on in and around you. Or choosing a new outlook. Not coming under that dreariness of the day but standing over it. Not partnering with "blah" but linking arms with "blue skies" instead.

Bottom line is that it's choosing to ask God what He's doing in a circumstance and choosing to live from His truth and reality...not the dreariness of what we see or feel around us sometimes. That dreariness...that's not God, fyi. So no linking arms with it. The things we say and speak over ourselves, others, our circumstances...this is what we are agreeing with. The things we fix our eyes on...this is what we are linking arms with and this is what we are becoming. This matters...big time. More on this later.  

The sun hasn't shone here for over a week but "Blue Skies" has been playing frequently. In my head. Through speakers in my apartment. In my car as I drive from one place to the next. Through headphones as I run around town.

Surprisingly, I'm not sick of it. That's good news because there's something about this song right now that God is using to keep me connected to His perspective on things. In recent weeks, there were a few times I almost let myself get stuck in a pit of yuck while clouds of discouragement and depression hovered around me.

But blue skies are what I'm declaring and choosing to see.
 

"Nothing but blue skies do I see..." *toes-a-tappin* Have a listen. It's hard to sit still.

Choose not to give the junk you might be sensing around you right now your megaphone...aka your voice. Or your time. Your attention. Your focus.

Choose to stop shining a spot light on the negative. Yes, even what can seem like the smallest of things. If the spotlight is on those things, large or small, that means the spotlight is not shining on God, who is the One truly deserving of the spotlight and who has the solution to shift the atmosphere into something of Him. He wants to show you how to partner with Him to bring a change!

I'm not saying to ignore stuff you may need to deal with. But we need to position ourselves by focusing on God's perspective so we can release the qualities of the Kingdom of Heaven and change some atmospheres...

eager expectation.

Sons and Daughters of God - Arise and Shine 

"For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed." 

Romans 8:19

a quest to understand purity. [part 1: questions]

What is purity?
How does it impact and influence us?
Why does it matter?

I'm incredibly intrigued by these questions lately and I am officially on a quest to answer them along with many more.

I've been curious about mindsets regarding purity...starting with my own. What do I think or believe about purity and what it means to live a pure life? (Reflections will come in future posts. Stay tuned.)

What about you?

What is your current mindset regarding purity? What kinds of things come to mind when you hear that word? What do you think it means to live a pure life?

Okay, now let's step outside our individual mindsets.
  
What is the current mindset about purity in our family or community of friends?
In our workplaces?
In our cities?
In our countries?
In this world as a whole?

Lastly, though not of least importance just because I'm mentioning it last, what is heaven's mindset about this? What is God's perspective about purity? Truly?  

Note that my question isn't what I (or you) think God's heart may be regarding purity. I want to know the answer to that question as if sitting face to face with God and him speaking straight from his mouth what his heart and mindset is regarding this.

So yep - lots of questions...stirring things up a bit...getting us to think...  

This is just the beginning - much more to come about something that I'm increasingly believing is a big deal in our lives and in our world...

a large man in flannel and his (also large) blue ox.

I have 24 blog post drafts so far. At one time or another, I had a burst of inspiration to write about something going on inside or around me. Some of these posts only made it to the title life stage of a blog post. Others have a few smatterings of sentences underneath the title. I just spent awhile looking through them thinking maybe tonight was a night to dive back into one of them.

  

Nope. Not feelin' it.

  

So here's another burst of inspiration of a post that I'm believing won't become the 25th in my list of drafts... 

  

Today was great. Full. Eye opening. Challenging at moments. Emotional at others. Inspiring. Lots of thoughts, ideas, hopes, and questions floating around me right now. I know that things will filter into place in God's timing. So much is happening in this city. And inside of me.

  

Out of numerous reflections from the day, here's one: 

  

It's incredible how many people not from the area pass through Bemidji. 

  

Seriously.

  

I heard someone say the other day that the Paul and Babe statues are one of the most photographed touristy...things...in the country. (I apologize for my lack of correct words to describe this right now. It's late. Ha.) I had a hard time believing that, honestly. I could see that being a possibility for the state of Minnesota. But the whole country? It got me thinking.

  

Could there be some truth to that (possible) "fact"?

  

Today I met and prayed with a beautiful gem of a visitor from out of state who had never been here before and asked how to pronounce "Bemidji." I sat on a bench and talked with another visitor from out of the country who had never been to Bemidji and was just passing through as well.

  

For at least an hour, I watched as numerous people posed by Paul and Babe to take their picture with the large man in flannel and his (also large) blue ox. I have a growing curiosity about where everyone is traveling from to spend an hour, a day or two or more in Bemidji, MN. And what's drawing them here?

  

I have a few ideas. But that's maybe for another time and for another blog post. Or at the least a draft with a clever title of sorts.

  

Oh, and the word I was looking for earlier was tourist attraction. Ha. Figured that out as I did a little research to either confirm or deny the statement about Paul and Babe's popularity with cameras.

  

Wikipedia did have something to say about this. Maybe there's some truth to their being known around the country?

  

Regardless of just how many people come and take their picture with the dynamic duo on the left, I'm thankful people are setting foot in this city, even if just for an hour or two.

  

There's a reason...