LizChatter

My glasses broke! My  rose-colored glasses are broken!!  Could I borrow yours?  You don’t have rose-colored glasses, you say?  Oh, well then - good for you. I jest! I had no literal pair of rose-colored glasses.              __________________________________________________________ Have you ever gotten news that was just really, really super good? Well, recently I got a piece of news that was super good. The sense of relief I felt at hearing the news was nothing short of an answer to more than 12 months of quiet prayer and earnestly seeking the Lord. Not everyone shared my sense of relief. In fact, some stated publically that they were saddened by the news. It was another opportunity for me to see how our personal history/personal experiences influence perspective; good, bad and neutral experiences directly influence our perspective; whatever the circumstance may be. The information was posi...

Seriously though, I have no clue! That deadpan look in my eyes right there... that's a real moment in time. Go ahead, laugh it up! I sure did. You may never get another opportunity to see me purposely post such an absurd picture of myself.  I know there are plenty of gals out there that totally get football speak and can talk it with the best of them, but that is not me. It's all foreign to me except for the basic terms like, touch-down.... that's about it. I know what a touchdown is.  This gets me to thinking about other groups that use terms specific to their community. Like the church community for example.   Church speak, otherwise known as Christianese can be pretty specific all the way down to the kind of church one attends. Those of us raised in and around general Bible-belt church talk, totally get the terms. That's not the case though for many who hear us toss around terms like "slain in the Spirit", "filled with the Holy Ghost"...

We hear a great deal about God loving people and a great deal less about people loving God. I don't have the capacity to totally unpack all that loving God means on this blog entry but I am going to tackle a portion of how we've loved God. For those that do love God I believe it comes down to either a passive love or a passionate love.  It means something... to LOVE God. In this approach I need to look at the action word here, which is "loving", an ongoing state of love. In an honest attempt to keep from telling anyone what to do I'll just state that these are my opinions. If I can stimulate your thoughts about loving God, then my goal has been met. I sincerely want you to come to your own conclusions and your own action plan.  Okay - here I go.  Let's look at the word "loving" and its meaning. I looked at Webster's definition and found it very interesting. So interesting that I have just sat right there - marinating in my thoughts. I saw ...

So many times I have misunderstood, or not even realized that there was a purpose for times of storm/uncomfortable and even painful times in my life. To use the word 'misunderstood' is a bit on the lite side of where I actually find my attitude during a storm. The range of my emotion is almost unlimited. I have gone through all the usual feelings: abandonment, humiliation, loss, fear, anger, bewilderment, etc. I'm sure that you can identify... right? So at what point do those feelings change? For me, it's usually in the hindsight phase. You know, after some of what I've faced begins to make sense. I am not yet adept at plugging into my well of faith and positivity during the big middle of a heavy, heated storm. God knows me well though and without fail, He will send one of his faithful servants to speak truth, truth of the matter, truth about the storm, into my spririt. I'm so grateful to Him! If you are a Christ follower and you are facing a storm, in the m...

"I'm so tired of this!"  or  "I can't believe I said that!"  or  "What did I do to deserve this?"  or  "God do you see what's happening here?" Have you ever said things like this? I certainly have. Usually in response to dissatisfaction on how something ended up. There are times we end up unsatisfied, angry, or embarrassed at the outcome of a decision. Sometimes a decision even results in injury inflicted upon someone we love and are responsible to care for like children or a spouse. Have you experienced this as the doer? I'm not surprised if you answered "yes". It's happened in my life; yes, this happens for those in Christ. If you're anything like me, you've experienced this with outcomes ranging from insignificant to catastrophic. Depending on where you are in your journey with Christ, you may believe that it's luck, chance, or you may have a 'que sera sera' attitude and stick your head i...

This morning I looked out my window for a while enjoying the perfectly blue sky and the gorgeous pine tree that sits adjacent to my office. It was impossible to ignore the many hand and finger prints that accompanied the view. Some may have been put off by this odd addition to the beautiful vista, but I welcome them as part of the beautiful scenery.  Am I being sarcastic? No, absolutely not (a rare occasion, I know).  These human prints are in some ways like the God prints that I enjoy on this bright morning in the valley.  My God created the beauty of nature as a representation of his deeply felt love for me (and you). My students and friends often take time to mime, blow kisses, make blow fish faces at me through my window; it's hilarious and adorable.  These things, like the Creator's creation, are representations of love toward me.  No, the smeared face print and lip prints are not beautiful in the same way that the sky, the tall pine and the green gra...