My Christmas wish is simple. . .
but so much more sincerely extended to you:
MERRY CHRISTMAS~~
may this time give more than Promised
and exceed all you expect
JUST A MOMENT: MERRY CHRISTMAS IN JULY
Some things need no explanation at all. The fact is, it’s kind of absurd almost kind of offensive that every year for many years now we celebrate Christmas in July; come on it’s ludicrous. It’s almost offensive and obscene, but it does make sales go a little bit easier. it’s a great transition from the Fourth of July to the back of the school sales and yeah, come on, who’s not looking for a bargain, right?
Some things need no explanation whatsoever and yet I think some of the best explanations are the ones that don’t need them but are still completely understood without them.
Christmas in July. . .come on who doesn’t need a little bit of Christmas right now, especially if you little candle Of Hope? Seems like the wick is long gone and never can be reignited. Maybe it’s now, maybe it’s always and not just for a season that we need a little Christmas right this very moment. So how about with no explanations necessary we are the explanation of everything that season holds and promises and shares with without the music or the parties or the goodies or all the carols but still contains all of the feels~~yeah be that in just a moment it’s more than just Christmas in July or even in December.
THE ME IN ME
It’s not the first time I have shared a J J Heller song/video on
MONDAY VIDEO BLOG DAYS
and no, it most likely won’t be the last. . .
I loved this for the same reasons
J J herself liked it:
“So I’ll sing a song that only I can sing – A melody nobody knows but me
A million things I could pretend to be – Maybe the best thing I can be is me.”
When I saw the film “Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable,” I cried. Her story stirred something in my heart. Her tenacity and courage in the face of all sorts of adversity is inspiring (to say the least). But I think what moved me most was her decision to keep surfing even after her accident.
She loves surfing. She comes alive when she’s in the water. It’s who she is.
So she made the brave choice to keep chasing what she loves. Even though it’s harder to surf with one arm. Even though there might be sharks in the water.
Maybe you’re facing adversity right now, and it’s tempting to change who you are… to take the path of least resistance and pretend to be someone you’re not.
But please don’t. The world needs who God made you to be.
YOU HAVE A SONG TO SING!
Very special thanks to Bethany Hamilton, her team and Unstoppable – The Film for partnering with us on this music video. Thanks also to the lovely Joy Prouty for the footage of me singing my heart out on the porch and to Jilian Linklater for helping us write this special song.
. . .and so the only true thing that really matters right now
isn’t so much whether or not you like the video or even the song
so much as
YOUR RESPONSE
YOU ARE NOT ONE IN A MILLION. . .
there’s only ONE YOU
and it’s not only
E N O U G H;
but The World is in desperate need of
THE ONLY YOU
y o u
BRING–
THE YOU IN YOU!
FRESH WORDS
Is it
T H A T
s i m p l e:
CHANGE YOUR WORDS
CHANGE YOUR WORLD
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm of the Day :
F I N D O U T
(say it differently)
USE FRESH WORDS
not to be heard
but experienced. . .
HEART and be HEARTED
This is pinned above my desk at Hospice of the Western Reserve’s David Simpson Hospice House where I work with angels and serve patients and their families. . .
I see it hundreds of times a week as I chart, talk on the phone, prepare for presentations
. . .and yet,
I’m not so sure it’s fully sunk in since I put it up there just a little over two years ago;
. . .and isn’t this exactly what it’s all about. . .
not only to LOVE. . .
but to be L O V E D
or as s h e
framed it:
“T O H E A R T A N D T O B E H E A R T E D. . .”
Can you see it?
.
Admitted. . .
you have to look really, really hard and maybe even longer. . .
Look again just ahead of the word
A D M I T T E D
Do you see it now?
Squint
Squint harder, more intently
Ahhhhhhh, there it is right?
What do you see. . .
Here, let me make it easier for you:
PAY ATTENTION, C L A S S :
LOOK BEYOND WHAT’S SEEN;
SEE WHAT CAN’T BE VIEWED
She purposely, intentionally asked to see me. . .
her husband was dying
and her request was almost insulting simple:
“Would it be alright if I could bring a heart shaped stone to honor my husband? In the Meditation Room, I saw that there is a bowl of rocks that have been placed there to remember each person that has died here at Hospice House. I’d just like to bring in a small heart shaped rock to remember him; would that be alright?”
Simple, huh?
He died over the weekend. I never saw her or him again.
When I went into the Meditation room on Monday, I saw in the bowl of rocks a heart shaped one. . .
She said, “It was ‘OUR THING'”
and now, quite simply and humbly without trumpets blaring drums beating she made it MY THING, she made it even further through this Blog, OUR THING
The QUESTION
really is:
WILL IT BE YOUR THING ?
She told me, “It was ‘our thing’ I HEART HIM!”
I stood there Monday morning before really starting my day, my week with a heart shaped stone in my hand and the first thing that I thought was that there was one thing stronger than any shaped stone:
L O V E
And so I’ll ask again:
.
DO YOU SEE IT ?
Look beyond what’s seen:
white space or minuscule dot
SEE WHAT CAN’T BE VIEWED
KNOW WHAT CAN’T BE UNDERSTOOD
EXPERIENCE WHAT CAN’T BE READILY FELT
L I V E
H E A R T S OMEONE
h e a r t
a n d
b e
H E A R T E D
(along your ways)