awake!

Summer mornings - sun rising, heat quickly coming, a little more relaxed living, something out there calling me to get away, leave, get some R and R… slow the pace.

My thoughts quickly go to, “Am I asleep?”  “Has summer put my soul to sleep?”  What exactly does this mean? I think William Wallace in Braveheart said it the best, 

”Every man dies, not every man really lives.”

Asleep could be synonymous with death … I want to live awake and fully alive deep from within.  I want to really live!

What puts me to sleep?  What kills my soul?  The swirling waves around me of the day to day, the pull to make life all about me…self-satisfaction.  These thoughts come from no where, thoughts that say, “Happiness comes from living for yourself. Go out there and find something to make yourself happy”  Killing soul thoughts.  This mindset calls me to quick joy, temporary satisfaction.

Oh there is so much more.  Awake my soul!

Need to Breathe declares it perfectly in their song Slumber - 

Days they force you Back under those covers

Lazy mornings they multiply

But glory's waiting outside your window

So wake on up from your slumber, baby, open up your eyes

Tongues are violent, Personal and focused

Tough to beat with your steady mind. But hearts are stronger after broken,

So, wake on up from your slumber, baby, open up your eyes

All these victims stand in line for the crumbs that fall from the table, just enough to get by.

All the while your invitation

Wake on up from your slumber, baby, open up your eyes.

Take from vandals, all you want now

Please, don't trade it in for life -  Replace the feeble with the fable

Wake on up from your slumber - Baby, open up your eyes

Come on, Sing like we used to - dance when you want to - taste of the breakthrough

And open wide … Come on now and open your eyes

take a listen, let it move you.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbx_qFSCd7M

Our greatest satisfaction comes in life when we are fully alive and investing in making a difference in the world through our gifts, our resources -  doing what we love and do well.  

So wake up, really live, get outside yourself even in the tiniest of ways…today.  Don’t hear the falsehoods of, “Well, nothing I do really makes a difference.”

Ask for it!  Look within.  

“Am I dying? Wake me up!”  

“Awake, awake, put on your beautiful garments …

Shake yourself from the dust and arise … loose the bonds from your neck! (Is.52)

If you look for it, it will come.  Seek and you shall find.

Don’t just - "Stand in line for the crumbs that fall from the table - just enough to get by …

Remember -  "All the while your invitation -wake on up from your slumber, Baby, open up your eyes!

outside the door ...

I love to go out of town on trips!  I've always dreamed of having a job that allowed me to travel.  I've heard it gets old, but for now, to me it seems dreamy.  I love hotels.  I love slipping my feet down into clean sheets, the smell of the bath products, the noise of hustle and bustle outside the door.  The beam of light coming in between the blackout curtains in the morning beckons me to want to discover a new view that is awaiting as I open the curtains. The anticipation of a good cup of coffee calls me to adventure out the next morning. So many unknowns on a trip.  I'm finding as I get older that I do love an adventure and exploring. This is new for me.

The journey...the trip...the path...that's all of life, isn't it?

If only our journey in life brought so much anticipation and excitement as a trip.  I'd love to wake up fresh, new and excited to explore the unknown every morning.  Life is like an exciting exploration for some but not for others. What's the difference?  I am convinced it has everything to do with purpose.  Today at Beacon Group we heard about a physician who retired from his career as a doctor and poured himself into a life in the outdoors and hunting.  Pretty soon he became bored.  His trip became uneventful and it lost its newness.  He returned to work as physician and purpose has returned...happy and fulfilled once again.

What is your purpose?  What are you living for? 

It may be time to consider your own journey... if you lack zeal for the trip it might just be time to re-evaluate.

Listen and be excited about the hustle and bustle outside your door.  Open it and enter and join a world who needs you and all you were created to be.

Stand still and shine ...

photo by lesliebrown.com/

“Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.”  ― Anne Lamott

At one Beacon Group this strong young woman Jamie of Ornaments 4 Orphans shared this quote to challenge us.  As she stands and shines we were all ignited by her story and mission.  

Disturb Us...

Sir Frances Drake was  an adventurer in the 1500's.  He wrote the following as he departed to the west coast of South America.  Just a few months ago before Beacon People was even birthed a close friend shared this with me. As I look back now I see that it was part of the heart preparation for me as well as others around me for Beacon People.

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

attributed - sir francis drake -1577

These thoughts move me when I don't know north from south.  Help me remember the WHY... so that I won't miss the stars...

Thanks, Mama!

When I would have a bad day as a little girl, my Mama would always tell me, “If you want to feel better just go do something nice for somebody else.”  Funny, this always worked.  I would make my sister’s bed, write someone a note, set the table for dinner without being asked and slowly the blues would fade away.  

An old Proverb says, “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”  Hmmmm…maybe Mama was on to something.

Now, years later I’m realizing this on a much, much larger scale.  All of my life…every day, hour and minute is spent either investing or spending.  

Jim Elliot puts it into words best…in fact here it is in his logbook. 

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

When I thought about this quote it was in a very broad general sense…like the whole of my life…like the eternal life.  Well, what if we asked ourselves the question, “What would it look like if I lived each day based on this principal?”  Oh my, now there’s a convicting question! 

What am I holding on to tightly that ultimately I will not be able to keep? 

What did I do yesterday or am doing today that can’t be lost?

Is there some avenue I could pursue that intrigues me which would have eternal value?

Again, as we have said so many time before, this doesn’t have to be some HUGE movement/mission/calling.  I’m talking so very practically here.  You never know how just one little thing done may be a puzzle piece for something of great impact in this world.  

I like to think that if I’m able to make a difference in just one person’s life each day by the end of the year I would have made a difference in the lives of 365 people! The souls of people will last forever.

You know that feeling of significance you feel when you know you have made a difference for the better?  Ahhhh. Pursue that tomorrow.

p.s.  Thanks, Mama.