Make Me Your Deepest Desire...

 

Grief...

 

What an emotionally intense week this has been.  In our office and around the world grief is a very real and present factor.  May all who are grieving find the safe people and safe places necessary to be able to mourn their losses and heal their hearts.  

30 Inspirational quotes from Dr. Suess...

Who doesn't love Dr Suess?!  

His books have been read by millions and his words can inspire us to try new things, or think in new ways, or even go new places.  Honestly, I don't think I really 'got' Dr. Suess when I was a kid.   But, I get him now.  One of my favorite quotes is #17 "a person's a person, no matter how small".  I'll be thinking about this today as we are in the counseling office working with those who have been mistreated and abused. 

 #14 was part of our homeschooling philosophy...we wholeheartedly believed in the importance of knowing how to learn.  And  hopefully we instilled that in our sons.  And I can remember quoting #18 to my kids a lot when they were small...actually I think my mother may have even said it long before I knew Dr. Suess did! 

So which one is your favorite?  

Lolita's broken life...

 Excerpt from Lolita,
 by Vladimir Nabokov                         

"I'll die if you touch me," I said.  "You are sure you are not coming with me?  Is there no hope of your coming?  Tell me only this."

"No," she said.  "No, honey, no.

She had never called me honey before.

"No," she said, "it is quite out of the question.  I would sooner go back to Cue.  I mean-" She groped for words.  I supplied them mentally ("He broke my heart. You merely broke my life").

                                                                     

It took me years to face this book.  Other books by Nabokov are not so difficult to read.  I knew that it was about a middle aged man and his relationship with a 12 year old girl.  I didn't think I had the strength to make it through a book like this.  I read it while we still lived in Russia.  It was a difficult read.  It broke my heart.  It moved me to tears and it made me angry.

Vladimir Nabokov is quoted as saying:

Some people, and I am one of them, hate happy ends.  We feel cheated.  Harm is the norm.

I disagree.  Harm should never be the norm.  

But, sometimes it is. Each week there are children and teens whose lives, hearts and spirits have been broken. Some of them are brought to their knees by their life circumstances. Others were abused or mistreated by someone who was supposed to care for them.  These dear ones often struggle to conceive of a power great enough to mend their lives, heal their hearts, replenish their spirits and redeem all of the suffering they have faced.

I still believe though...that healing can begin with a whispered prayer calling forth the Light of Healing.

Join with us in prayer for those who are still victims.

Please remember the Lolitas of the world.  

thought for today

A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.
Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh

thought for today

Folks always say, "You come in this world alone, and you must leave it alone."  They ought to know better.  Because it isn't so.  It's not that way at all.  The child comes to life very much attached and stays attached and is mired all its life in a soup of relations.

River, Cross My Heart

by Breena Clarke

As we pack to move this soup of relations we are in feels warm, savory and comforting. Five years of building friendships and making connections seems like such a short time.  But, I am sure there will be much grieving ahead once we fully realize how much life and relationships here have impacted us.

thought for today

"What am I afraid of?" began Mack.
"Well I am afraid of looking like an idiot. I am afraid that you are making fun of me and that I will sink like a rock. I imagine that--"

"Exactly", Jesus interrupted. "You imagine. Such a powerful ability, the imagination! That power alone makes you so like us. But without wisdom, imagination is a cruel taskmaster."

excerpted from The Shack by Wm Paul Young


I realize that not everyone is happy about some of what is written in The Shack. However, coming from a recovery point of view that teaches 'take what you like and leave the rest' this is one thought that I will take with me:

"Without wisdom, imagination is a cruel taskmaster"

If I dwell too much on the past or on the future I will cause myself pain. If I focus on every 'what if' I can think of I will cause myself pain. I bring pain upon myself when my predetermined view of how life's events unfold fail or people do not react/respond to them the way I imagined they would.

My prayer is for wisdom to balance out my powerful imagination and lead me to the full life that was promised to me in John 10:10.

thought for today

Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more."

~ Dr. Seuss (1904-1991), American author of children's books. From 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas'.

thought for today

Curiosity is one thing; wisdom is another. Maybe neither can fully cover the territory. Maybe one is meant to drive us, the other meant to beckon us.

Sidney Poitier, from his book The Measure of a Man

The youthful exuberance of curiosity partnered with a wisdom that can only come from experience guides me out of my comfort zone to take on a new project or learn a new skill. As I learn what I am and am not capable of I grow as a person. My desire is to always possess a healthy dose of human curiosity balanced out by heavenly wisdom.