I am translating the upside down wisdom of our God for you because the world often taunts and mocks His ageless wisdom as lacking and shallow. I pray you always find true life giving wisdom when you seek with your heart and mind and soul the everlasting words of wisdom.
May you embrace the beauty in the blemish, the bruise, the ugly, the damaged, the lost. Don't be distracted by the shiny, but be startled awake by the lovely in the low and deep and wide and hard places.
May your hands always be dirty with the work that serves others' needs. There will be long tired days that will hurt your muscles, but your heart will sing strong for joy.
May worry and sleepless nights submit to an assurance of purpose that God will sing over you.
May you breath life into others with words that judge others as God sees them: holy and worthy creations.
May your tired and bruised soul only be blemished from the love you have given over and over and over. May you not count the days of sacrifice but count on sacrifice.
May the day you leave home you realize that your home may be where you are without a roof, without a chair, without a bed, without a door. May your home be a heart lassoed to Him no matter the circumstances and finery. May your home not be sturdied walls but sturdied by a steady lean into Him.
May the foundation of your life be stones of forgiveness that are dug hard in the earth, never slung at another.
May you strive for less of the need for the immediate, less of a desire for what others want, less of the search for the popular and trendy.
May you seek the turmoil and deliver peace with a sword of thankfulness.
May you gain peace only by warring with the truth.
May you count the cost and decide it doesn't matter but count the cost by what really matters.
May you lead without selfish ambition. May you never have that haughty attitude that seeks to push ahead of the others around you but count others more important than yourself. The humble path always causes others to question your motives and a genuine attitude of caring causes others to want to follow. The way we treat others impacts everyone. That is the ripple effect of great leadership.
May you react in heated moments with honor and not out of raw emotions. Don't assume what you immediately see is the most accurate perspective. You cannot know another's heart and mind except with a dialogue without gloves and guarded hearts. Even when offended, attempt to answer with honest grace, gentleness, and peace. It will be the only path to true resolution. It might seem like our job is to set others straight, fix them, prove them wrong, respond in like anger so they see how they are acting, but in the heat of the moment, they are probably not listening. Our job is to maintain perspective and respond with a gentleness that turns their wrath away. The truth is that if you respond in like, you trade your peace for anger.
May you always believe you have something to offer. May you always act from this knowledge. Count your gifts around you and then be the blessing by blessing others with grace and the gifts you have been given. Holding tight to what we have been given squelches, but letting go allows it to multiply through others.
May you learn in life the difference between God-sized dreams and man made dreams. Go BIG but it may appear small.
May you experience work that is God-given in the midst of the man-driven. One will make your soul grow dry and weary and the other will energize you for the day and others, satisfy your mind, send your head to your pillow with a good night's rest and wake your eyes to believe in it for the next day.
If you want to be heard in this screaming, noisy world, lower your voice and whisper grace. When the crowd is loud, one ear hears and quiets to truth and obedience and the impact catches like fire. The loud people are used to the noise; the quiet is the rarer noise.
If you feel least and small and purposeless, remember that comparison to others is as a mirage. There is no comparison in this world that matters other than living a life well for God (and He always smiles over you).
Jesus is never lost to you. When you look and your eyes do not see and you seek answers that you can't find and feel empty in your search, He is there. He holds you strong through the journey so that you see what He has set forth for you, not your own desires that are shortsighted and limited in their reaching.
Don't try to be a hero by seeking glory from those with power and position. You already have a Hero who is wanting to make you a hero to those near you that He has called you to serve.
There is no special age for gaining wisdom, but there are eyes and hearts and souls that gain it because they seek it from the Source it can be found. You were made for a time and place such as now. Seek it all your days because it can be found.
May you always know you are loved.
Love,
Mom
May you embrace the beauty in the blemish, the bruise, the ugly, the damaged, the lost. Don't be distracted by the shiny, but be startled awake by the lovely in the low and deep and wide and hard places.
May worry and sleepless nights submit to an assurance of purpose that God will sing over you.
May you breath life into others with words that judge others as God sees them: holy and worthy creations.
May your tired and bruised soul only be blemished from the love you have given over and over and over. May you not count the days of sacrifice but count on sacrifice.
May the day you leave home you realize that your home may be where you are without a roof, without a chair, without a bed, without a door. May your home be a heart lassoed to Him no matter the circumstances and finery. May your home not be sturdied walls but sturdied by a steady lean into Him.
May you strive for less of the need for the immediate, less of a desire for what others want, less of the search for the popular and trendy.
May you seek the turmoil and deliver peace with a sword of thankfulness.
May you gain peace only by warring with the truth.
May you count the cost and decide it doesn't matter but count the cost by what really matters.May you lead without selfish ambition. May you never have that haughty attitude that seeks to push ahead of the others around you but count others more important than yourself. The humble path always causes others to question your motives and a genuine attitude of caring causes others to want to follow. The way we treat others impacts everyone. That is the ripple effect of great leadership.
May you react in heated moments with honor and not out of raw emotions. Don't assume what you immediately see is the most accurate perspective. You cannot know another's heart and mind except with a dialogue without gloves and guarded hearts. Even when offended, attempt to answer with honest grace, gentleness, and peace. It will be the only path to true resolution. It might seem like our job is to set others straight, fix them, prove them wrong, respond in like anger so they see how they are acting, but in the heat of the moment, they are probably not listening. Our job is to maintain perspective and respond with a gentleness that turns their wrath away. The truth is that if you respond in like, you trade your peace for anger.May you always believe you have something to offer. May you always act from this knowledge. Count your gifts around you and then be the blessing by blessing others with grace and the gifts you have been given. Holding tight to what we have been given squelches, but letting go allows it to multiply through others.May you learn in life the difference between God-sized dreams and man made dreams. Go BIG but it may appear small.
May you experience work that is God-given in the midst of the man-driven. One will make your soul grow dry and weary and the other will energize you for the day and others, satisfy your mind, send your head to your pillow with a good night's rest and wake your eyes to believe in it for the next day.
If you want to be heard in this screaming, noisy world, lower your voice and whisper grace. When the crowd is loud, one ear hears and quiets to truth and obedience and the impact catches like fire. The loud people are used to the noise; the quiet is the rarer noise.
If you feel least and small and purposeless, remember that comparison to others is as a mirage. There is no comparison in this world that matters other than living a life well for God (and He always smiles over you).
Jesus is never lost to you. When you look and your eyes do not see and you seek answers that you can't find and feel empty in your search, He is there. He holds you strong through the journey so that you see what He has set forth for you, not your own desires that are shortsighted and limited in their reaching.Don't try to be a hero by seeking glory from those with power and position. You already have a Hero who is wanting to make you a hero to those near you that He has called you to serve.
There is no special age for gaining wisdom, but there are eyes and hearts and souls that gain it because they seek it from the Source it can be found. You were made for a time and place such as now. Seek it all your days because it can be found.
May you always know you are loved.
Love,
Mom
Comments
Blessings to Daniel as he graduates!