From the inside out

I have to start this post by saying that – over the past two days – I have once again been reminded of just how blessed I am by the friends that surround me. Thank you for love, for honest talks and for the inspiration and wisdom you bring into my life. I am VERY lucky to be able to call you “friends”! Anyhoo, back to what we have been honestly talking about.

I have always been “not too shabby” where communication is concerned – it is one of the few things that come naturally for me. I have lots of words, I can put them in straight lines and logical arguments, and I usually do not stumble over them when talking. It is only in the past week or so that I have realised that exactly this natural aptitude has made me lazy…and has made my ability to communicate devolve…

The strange thing is that, when the realisation finally hit, I wanted to sulk. This is something that I'm good at; it's not supposed to be so much work…demmit! I want to quote Strengthsfinder and say that we shouldn't be focusing so much energy on things we have to work too hard at, things that aren't our natural strengths. But then good friends remind me that that isn't exactly what the Strengthsfinder team had in mind (or communicated, if I'm being honest). And (of course) I watch a show about professional sports and realise that, even though an athlete obviously has to have a natural affinity for the sport, that affinity sans daily practice and honing of the skill doesn't mean much for long. It might even mean that someone that's less talented, but more dedicated, replaces you.

My (unwilling) conclusion? Being good at something does not mean less work. Focusing on your strengths does not mean less practice. It just means more effective work and more efficient practice. And so I am pulling myself back - with a LOT of help from my friends - from the ever-present abyss of: "It must be that I am not good enough and that this is not a strength of mine." And I will daily be replacing that falling thought with: "I am honing my skill and perfecting my strength." What a difference that makes!

"Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways." - H Jackson Brown 

Risen indeed!

He is not here!

“The story of Easter is the story of God’s wonderful window of divine surprise.” – Carl Knudsen

“There is not room for Death,
Nor atom that his might could render void:
Thou – Thou art Being and Breath,
And what Thou art may never be destroyed.” – Emily Bronte

“Easter is not a time for groping through dusty, musty tomes or tombs to disprove spontaneous generation or even to prove life eternal.  It is a day to fan the ashes of dead hope, a day to banish doubts and seek the slopes where the sun is rising, to revel in the faith which transports us out of ourselves and the dead past into the vast and inviting unknown.” – Author unknown (as quoted in the Lewiston Tribune)

He is risen!

“The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world.  Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice.  But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice.” – Henry Knox Sherrill

“Ye sleeping buds, break
Open your green cerements, and wake
To fragrant blossoming for His sweet sake.” – Margaret French Patton

What Christmas should boil down to

My best friend shared this with me, and it is SO beautiful and SO precisely the essence that I wanted to share it with all of you as well 

When the song of the angels is stilled
when the star in the sky is gone
when the kings and princes are home
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all people,
to make a little music with the heart…
and to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.

(Author unknown)

When the star fades, does our light shine one?

May this Christmas inspire us all to start the real work (of Christmas)! Talk to you again later in the week…