"Sweet Girl"

And he says, What do you love to do?

Outside your world, who spends time with you?
Whom do you love when you're not working?

Sweet Girl....

Where would you go, If you had the time?
Crossing some crazy State-line somewhere?
To whom do you cry? people are unkind,

Sweet Girl...


But I chose to dance across the stages of the world.
Everyone said I'd never learn...
And I still hear your words, Well, I waited all my life for you....

Sweet Girl...


I did try to come back and listen...
you never knew it...
I didn't wish it...
And I did hear every answer of every question...
It's all about possession....
Still through the sun lighted days I wait...
Track a ghost through the fog....

The sun is burning me...
And you come runnin' out...
In the wind with me...
The ocean is your blanket...

But I chose to dance across the stages of the world...
Everyone said I'd never learn...
I still hear your words, Well, I waited all my life for you...
I watched you fly through the world.
In a golden ball...
Many are the cities that I never saw at all...

Sometimes I feel like I was always on-call
Sometimes even I am allowed to fall...

He says,

Come down here for a minute...

Well, come down here for a minute...
He says,

Come down here for a minute,

Sweet Girl...

Sweet Girl...

(words by Stevie Nicks)

Do You Dream? part 2

Listen to the words of Psalm 121...

I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

David Benner concludes,

"The God I am trying to orient my attention to is a God whose attention is continually on me. He never sleeps, nor does he get tired, now or forevermore! My attention to him is not needed to make him take note of me. It is merely a way of increasing consciousness of his loving, constant, attention to me..."

~Sacred Companions (116).

Do You Dream?

I don't dream every night.
I don't even sleep every night...let alone dream.

So, when I do dream, I usually wake hazy with the fine points still swimming around in my thoughts.

What am I to do with my dream details?

Are they important?

Should I write them down to remember them for later?

David G. Benner is the Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Spirituality at the Psychological Studies Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. He has written many books, one of my favorites is Sacred Companions, where he gives readers a basic 'dream works exercise' to help attend to a dream and its significance in our lives.

"Dreams provide us with an opportunity to know what Daniel called our 'inmost thoughts' ... dreams are most useful in spiritual growth when we prayerfully listen to them rather than seek to interpret them. We should receive them as gifts from God, asking him what he wishes to draw to our attention through them..."

The exercise can be summarized under the mnemonic TTAQ created by Louis Savary.

T~(title) give the dream a title

T~(theme) note its overall theme

A~(affect) note the dominant emotions in the dream and now as you prayerfully reflect on it

Q~(question) note the potential questions the dream poses for you.

Here is a dream I had on January 7, 2008.

Murphy and I were looking for a pontoon boat in someone's back yard while driving through a neighborhood we were unfamiliar with. As we're driving, looking right and left for the pontoon boat, he drives off the end of the road. The immediate drop off sends us free falling into a dark pit, we are spiraling hundreds of yards downward.

Suddenly, he reaches out the car window, grabs a large vine, and pulls us to safety. We see our pastor friend, Tim, who has witnessed the entire incident. He excitedly begins to tell us about his new blue cowboy hat ~unaware of our recent brush with death.

Apply this exercise...

T=(title) Going places

T=(theme) Looking for something in uncertainty

A=(affect) I don't always need to know where I am going. God is watching over me. I shouldn't panic when I can't find my way. Not everyone will show interest or walk with me on my journey with God.

Q=(question) Will I ever comprehend or understand my destination? Is my objective to obtain the facts and control every situation at every moment? Can I walk by faith? Will God save me if I fall?

My role?

We all play multiple roles in daily life. You may talk baby talk to your dog (as we do) and be the 'big cheese' of an important company. In one day, you may be a student, a mother or father, a best friend, a counselor, a customer, a stranger in the crowd. Exploring the many roles you have, the multiple 'shoes you wear,' can be fun.

Try this exercise: List your various selves, (past, present & future) including your hopes and fears. Here is my list.

Past:

• the 4-H student is introduced to yeast.
• the teenager who fights with her father over an older boy
• the college student who doesn't study
• the newlywed who cooks everyday
• the pastors wife who doesn't sing & play the piano
• the unemployed young mum who's overwhelmed
• the Bible study leader who dreams a BIG dream
• the busy mum becomes a home educator

Present:

• the insomniac writer blogs in the middle of the night
• the teen-counselor that speaks wisdom into her girls
• the "texting mama" that stays in touch
• the home 'project manager' that feels her duties are almost over.
• the unemployed (for 16 years!!) older mum...looking for a job!

Future:

• the home school mum watches her brood graduate from college (...as nurses??)
• the National Blog Award winner thanks for family for daily inspiration
• the bread maker opens her own store
• the Bible study leaders publishes a book!
• the mum who becomes a GRANDMOTHER!

Make your own list. Reminse about the past, contemplate the present, and don't forget to stop and DREAM about the future!

Let me know...

What's on your mind today?

If you were president...

TIME magazine article dated Monday,
February 21, 1927


"If I were President, I'd call out the Army and Navy, yes, sir! and I'd close the dance halls, the sinks of iniquity, and I'd enforce Prohibition and all the other laws."
(Read rest of the article here.)



What would be your FIRST official act if you were president?

What would YOU DO if you went to work every day in the Oval Office?

Unforgettable, that's what you are

What is your most treasured childhood memory?

Does it start out...the summer I turned eleven? Or if only I had an inkling it would...?

What magical moment completely swept you off your feet?

To Possess Other Eyes-Part 2

In Gail Blanke's REAL SIMPLE column, The Motivator...a Fresh Perspective, she has developed a 'page of possibilities'--a five step exercise that requires only a pen and some paper. With flip chart or paper and pencil in hand, divide it into five columns.

Column 1: What's the situation?

State the issue at hand.

Column 2: What are we losing?

Write down everything that comes to mind.

Column 3: What's a new possibility?

Talk it over and write down everyone's option.

Column 4: What would our new possibility look like if it were really, really good?

"Here's where we get creative," Blanke said. "Here's where we think way out of the box. Here's where we adopt new eyes. Take another look at..."

When brainstorming this area, Blanke hands out four rules:

1. Create; don't critique.
2. Remember--there are no dumb idea's.
3. Get carried away; you can always rein yourself in and cross things off the list later.
4. The only thing you're allowed to say when someone else comes up with an idea is "GREAT IDEA!" I don't care if you say it through clenched teeth; you just have to say it.
   

Column 5: What did we discover?

Ask: What did we learn that we never would have learned if we hadn't tried something new or if we had just done it the old way?

---REAL SIMPLE magazine, July 2008

summer reading list...part 2

The cover is creased and the edges slightly
curling, but otherwise....

For me there is an overwhelming satisfaction in setting out to enjoy a long awaited book. I’m the kind of person who wanders around a bookstore picking up books just to feel them. I love to open a book that’s never been opened, to run my fingers over the crisp pages. I love to breathe in their inky perfume.

I never feel lonely if there are piles of books in every room. In my comfy chair or at my office desk, I am perfectly happy just gazing sideways at my bookshelf, admiring the various titles and fonts, the colors of the dustjackets, the publishers’ symbolic logos on the spines. I can wallow for hours in happy anguish over which book to start next. At some point, I choose one. After consuming every word on the dust jacket, examining the front matter and table of contents, and leafing through a few pages, I finally begin to read.

So reading for me is an experience of physical comfort as well as intellectual stimulation and emotional contentment--all provided by a handful of compressed wood pulp covered with tiny black symbols. (Bookwoman Jan)

I thought you might like more options for choosing your favorites or suggestions for titles that might interest you...here are several websites to browse.

www.whatshouldireadnext.com
Enter a book you like and the site will analyze our database of real readers'
favorite books (over 47,000 and growing) to suggest what you could read next.

www.literature-map.com
Discover new writers you will like, travel the map of literature and discuss your favorite books and authors.

www.goodreads.com
Have you ever wanted a better way to:
*see what your friends are reading?
*keep track of what you've read and what you'd like to read?
*get great book recommendations from people you know?

www.novelaction.com
Select any books you want from the site and send in an equal number of your books in exchange.

Questions to let your heart dream

• What will it take to achieve my dream? What are the major steps that will be required?

• What can I do to save? Are there financial goals I need to set? Realistically, how long will it take to reach those goals? What can be done to speed up the process?

• Do I need any special education? Do I need to take classes or can I read books on the subject?

• Do I need any special equipment? If so, where will I get it, and how much will it cost?

• Whom can I go to for advice about my dream? Whom can I trust to give wise counsel?

• What are some of the roadblocks I may encounter? What are some possible ways I can get through these?

• How dong do I think it will take to achieve my dream? What can I do to keep going when it gets hard? At what point should I stop?

---Debbie Macomber