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Posted: March 26, 2011
We are obsessed with knowledge. Then why, to recapture an old phrase, are we “going to hell in a hand basket?” I won’t list all the statistics and atrocities; but you know from your own area of influence what I’m talking about. We seem to be getting smarter but yet insensible. The answer is really quite simple. Knowledge without action = zero. When we come to an intersection in life that begs action, simply knowing the right answer but not doing anything about it perpetuates more pain, rejection, disappointment, anger, and resentment. As Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” You can talk about writing a book year after year, but if you don’t hit the SEND button on your computer, you will never know if you will be a published author. You can speak endlessly about being a better mother,…
Posted in: Beauty through Boldness, Encouragement, Fear, Finding Truth, Forgiveness, Friendship, Hope, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Resentment
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Posted: March 16, 2011
Many of my readers know that I have shown up at work wearing two different shoes. Obviously I was still sleepwalking. I had a boss that constantly reminded me, “The best way to succeed is to PAY ATTENTION to the details.” That expression resonated in my brain and to this day I focus on having a curious perspective on life. Try to focus in on details when you are on an airplane flying at 30,000 feet. All you can see is blotches, lines and squares. Travelling on a hi-speed bullet train in France allows you to see clearer outlines and pictures but no details. Driving slower in a car; is better. Walking is good. Stopping is vital. We have to remember that to succeed, emerge and blossom in our spiritual journey we have to pay attention and “taste and see that the Lord is good…” (Psalm 34:8 NIV). SEE AND…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty Unleashed, Encouragement, Expectations, Finding Truth, Freedom from Busyness, Hope, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles
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Posted: February 25, 2011
These words made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Loneliness is ignorance. What an irreverent and accusing comment about one of the most painful and heart wrenching human conditions. This citation (which came out of a commentary) had such a huge impact on me that I chose to study it in greater depth to try to understand the author’s point of view. It has been a startling revelation. Loneliness is in fact ignorance. We were created to be connected to our Heavenly Father and to other people; that is the only way we can function in this world if we want to live fulfilling, joyful lives. Nature abhors a vacuum and will do anything to fill it. Water flows into any empty crevice. Fires explode with a vengeance when it has produced a vacuum. When you and I are hungry we need food. When our souls…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty through Boldness, Encouragement, Finding Truth, Friendship, Hope, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Fear, Overcoming Struggles, Resentment, Uncategorized
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Posted: February 18, 2011
January is an insane month in the gym; people are falling all over each other in the cycling classes, racquet ball court, on the cardio machines and pumping iron. There is a tension and a determined resolution to get in shape and become a “new you” after the Christmas over-indulgence. I can only surmise that many of those people looked in the mirror on January 2nd and were horrified at what they saw. With their new runners and their fancy new Adidas bag, they are off to the gym to make that much needed dramatic change. It is only February 18th and right now you can shoot a canon in the gym and you wouldn’t hurt anyone. What happened to all the enthusiastic people who wanted their new bodies? I can just imagine the language in their head, “I had no idea it would be such hard work; I’m too…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty through Boldness, Encouragement, False Belief Systems, Finding Truth, Friendship, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles
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Posted: February 7, 2011
Connie Cavanaugh’s latest book, Following God One Yes at a Time, has just been released by Harvest House Publishers. This book tells you how — one simple, immediate, possible yes at a time – to do what Jesus commanded when He said, “Follow Me.” This is “following God for dummies”; it is a simple way for ordinary Christians to follow Christ through the maze of our complicated lives. Q: You begin by saying “God has a dream for every believer.” Could you explain that? God does have a dream for every believer. In fact He has many overlapping, interlocking dreams for us: some big, some small; some lifelong, some seasonal; some manageable, some seemingly impossible. When His dream looks like a mountain we can’t climb, because we lack faith in ourselves and in Him, we think: This dream is too big; I don’t have what it takes. The process looks…
Posted in: Uncategorized
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Posted: January 29, 2011
The feeling of being barefoot and squishing sand between my toes evokes a giddiness of freedom. If I nudge near the ocean just near enough to get the occasional splash of gorgeous, turquoise sea water, and the sun warming my cheeks; I feel like a child again. Free to frolic, run, laugh and giggle. Being barefoot in the sand unleashes a brazen abandon that I find in no other place. I cannot get this freedom when I wear shoes. It is blatantly unrealistic of me to think that I can frolic in the sand and not expect to get sand in my shoes. Those irritating grains of sand that will find that little crevice and rub away at me until I either take off my shoes or leave the beach. Annoying, hurtful and disappointing! An unrealistic expectation is like an irritating grain of sand-a silent thief that will rob us…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty through Boldness, Expectations, False Belief Systems, Finding Truth, Hope, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Struggles, Resentment
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Posted: January 21, 2011
I yearn to be radiant. Not the kind where I walk into a room with the perfect outfit, a forced smile and all the right answers; but a radiance that has the effervescent glow of something more powerful, beautiful. I crave a radiance that does not scream my obvious striving, or cover my messiness and grittiness. I am helpless to attain this but I am on journey and quest to find it. Every morning I start by talking to God about my plans for the day and off I go to embrace the day with a smile on my face. Grittiness sets it. I get irritated, people let me down, and I compare and feel insignificant and wonder if I will ever get it right. I’m not the only one; I hear weary sighs and laments from people everywhere. Demands and expectations have clogged our days and we lose sight…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty through Boldness, Encouragement, Expectations, False Belief Systems, Finding Truth, Freedom from Busyness, Hope, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Fear
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Posted: January 9, 2011
At times we all feel grumpy, resentful, jealous or shameful. There are days when the “grittiness” in our lives can bring us to our knees with feeling overwhelmed with too many obligations, and we wonder if we will ever figure out this complicated, demanding life. Someone needs to point us to a blueprint for choosing rejoicing over regret, freedom over resentment, radiance over shame and finding intimacy in our relationships. We are all on a relentless quest to know we are loved, to have value and to feel pleasure. Most of our choices are made to fulfill those cravings. We will do almost anything to overcome our obstacles just to feel better. We tell ourselves: If I had a better upbringing, I would have achieved greater opportunities and success. If I had more money, life would be easier and I would feel more content. If I put my children into…
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Posted: December 11, 2010
On of our favorite activities is whitewater rafting on the Flathead River, Montana, in June when the water level is high from the snow run off. After slipping on our wet suits and unsightly water shoes, we all grin at each other as we sit and wait for the guides to finish giving us our instructions. “Beware”, they say, “of a sucking, swirling mass of water that churns like a rotary beater. Especially be aware of the eddy called Could be Trouble.” As we start out, I make sure my feet are tucked tightly under the ropes as we all begin to paddle furiously to guide the raft through the boiling water and away from the swirling eddies. Then I see it and my heart starts to palpitate. Black, angry water that is swirling, boiling and the roar is deafening. I know we have encountered the most dangerous of…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty through Boldness, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Fear, Overcoming Struggles
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Posted: December 3, 2010
The Christmas Season has many women struggling with a love/hate relationship. The first Christmas carols playing in the shopping mall get their hearts pounding, they break out in a sweat and their minds unravel like an out of control scotch-tape dispenser. The next minute they see a new purse or pair of earrings and they find themselves humming to “Deck the halls…” It’s strange and yet I know. Christmas is filled with tension. Will we have enough money to make it through the season? How will our marriage survive the holidays? There is no way we can fit all these activities into 23 days-absolutely not. I hate wrapping. All these expectations are killing me. I have nothing new to wear. Do we have the family gift exchange-give individual presents and to whom? It’s all too much I can’t handle it. I know that you and I do not want…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Encouragement, Expectations, Freedom from Busyness, Friendship, Hope, Overcoming Struggles, Uncategorized
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