Shine... Make 'em Wonder What ya Got!

Last Sunday morning we had a guest speaker. He spoke about how we are to shine to those around us and he read from one of my favourite verses from the Sermon on the Mount:

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and then hide under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Coincidently one of my favourite songs by the Newsboys is called Shine.
The chorus goes like this:

shine
make ´em wonder what you´ve got
make ´em wish that they were not
on the outside looking bored
shine
let it shine before all men
let´em see good works, and then
let´em glorify the Lord

I had the feeling that God was trying to tell me something and that's the trouble... I'm not feeling very shiny these days.

After church, during coffee time, I had a great conversation with Carolyn. We talked about two people in our lives that are living very similar, and troubling, lives. We talked about the frustration of not being able to get through to them and not being able to say the things we want to say. I told her about the few things that I was able to do and how it didn't seem enough... and she said, "But you are shining!"

Thanks Carolyn for that encouragement! (See? This is why we have a church family!) I guess what I needed was the reminder that regardless of how I feel there are people in my life that will always be watching and even through the "dull & dingy" times, with God's help, I can continue to shine!

Parched, Dry and Dusty

Yes I know... I've neglected this blog lately. I usually wait until a lightning bolt hits me, a thought that springs to mind, and then I write about it. The words seem to come like a downpour and it is easy. But I haven't felt a storm coming... no lightning bolts in quite a while now. If anything it's been more like a bunch of teeny zaps of static electricity in a dry, crackly desert.

Here are a few of the zaps I experienced in the past month:
- Pain is not fun. It's even less fun to watch in someone you love.
- 50 is suddenly a pretty young age.
- The West Coast smells amazing in the Spring.
- Is there such a thing as a "soulmate?"
- Dirt is meant to get under your fingernails.
- There is no replacement for wonderful friends.
- I don't have enough money to explore like I want to.
- We are so blessed to live here.
- Clean windows are highly over-rated.
- Greed makes people do horrible, horrible things.
- Daffodils are my 'happy flower'.
- The older I get the less I care what people think of me.
- Life can be so unfair.
- Green is God's best colour.
- I don't read my Bible enough.

When I read this list I see that my thoughts lately have been disjointed and disconnected.
Maybe this is a dry season for me.... Lord, bring on the rain!

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.