If you find yourself shouting to be heard, maybe it's time to start whispering God’s name instead.

It's not about you. It's about One all-knowing, almighty God. Take the focus off your own problems and shine your light on the Lord. Your blessings will multiply.

BEING VS. BECOMING
 

"God is going to use the craziest circumstances to grow you up." 

 

I made dinner for a friend yesterday and we sat down on my big couch after licked our plates clean and talked about life lately. 

She told me she has been reading this book recently on “being.” It’s a book about not missing the moments because that’s really all we get on any given day. We get this stack of beautiful, hard moments. Some we want to forget forever. Some we want to hold in our hands or stretch out like putty so they never leave us and always last. We would all be wise to document these moments, scribble down the hues of them in a journal. 

She told me she finally got the chance to reflect on 2018 and it was hard. She cried. I was amazed by my friend, amazed that she would reserve the whole space of a day just to look back on the year. I was more amazed that she chose to do this so late into January. I tell myself I am going to look back and then it’s suddenly January 14 and it feels silly to go back to 2018 and try to assemble the pieces. 

She said it was good for her to look back and see the beautiful and the hard sitting in one place. It was good to realize how far she’d come because hard things have the power to blur our vision or only make us see things a certain way. With an unbiased eye, she sat for the day and sorted through the mess of the last year and then said her proper goodbyes. 

If I am being honest, my 2018 was distorted by a thick coat of disdain up until I talked with her. Disdain because I didn’t fully “become” who I wanted to become. Yes, I made progress. Yes, I did some truly amazing things. Yes, I loved people well. But no, I didn’t check off all the boxes and arrive at this sweet spot where no more work or progress needed to happen...READ MORE

 

 

 

FROM GILL K.
Hi Susan, 
First let me say thanks for God providing the vision and your following his leading to create and sustain Prayables. So many  of the prayers and stories have blessed my life, and I have likewise shared with others.

 

I do have one point of concern regarding an article entitled The Weight I Carry. I believe it was date Tuesday Jan. 22 2019. I was taken back by the author taking Gods name in vain on at least (2) occasions. I quit reading the article after the 2nd GD.

 

Granted the article may have had exemplary content beneficial for someone struggling in this regard, but to take God’s name in vain is totally unacceptable. I thought maybe you should be made aware of this in that you may not actually vet every article.

 

Hi Gill,
Thank you for your words of encouragement and for taking the time to share your thoughtful comments on the article. Here's my take.

I totally get your offense in the use of the Lord's name in vain. However, I pick my issues. I would not want to miss out on an important message, or lose an opportunity to make a friend with different values or habits than my own. So, I do my best to brush aside the quirks and even the beliefs of others to be a more global citizen. It's not for everybody, and yes - it's a struggle for me.

In the case of the story by Tommy Tomlinson, his perspective on obesity was so deeply personal - that I had no problem I overlooking the occasional lapse in "proper" language. I was simply filled with compassion and a brand new understanding of weight loss issues. For me that was a win, and that's why I chose to publish it in the Daily Blessings.

I choose to listen to all of God's children. We all deserve to have a voice, even when that voice makes me uncomfortable or sounds different than how I speak.

I respect your point of view, and I am thankful that you sent me this email. I'm guessing many others felt as you did reading the article. With your permission, I would like to share this exchange with the community and open a healthy and holy dialogue.