Maybe it doesn’t seem so bold

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Fran Hart

But I did submit a proposal for another Guidepost article. Hurray! And I hope to get a 2nd proposal submitted by Monday. A trip to Yancey, Texas (BFE, TX) will either help or hinder that goal.

Progress!

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It’s all I’m asking….

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Fran Hart

Please keep me in your prayers while I take a bold step forward.

Thank you!

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Thirst for Wisdom

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Fran Hart
“Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.”
Proverbs 11:28

In these days of uncertainty, our faith is tried. I don’t know about you but my 401K is a 200.5K – suffering mightily from the market downturn. But I am so blessed in my immediate wealth. God has given me more than I ever imagined. It is so easy to take on the responsibility of fretting about our future. I’m glad that is not a yoke I’m tempted to bear. I am not watching the market. I am not weeping, wailing or gnashing my teeth. These words of wisdom from Proverbs certainly help me feel justified in my disinterest.

But am I righteous?

“For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.” Deuteronomy 6:25

Ah! There’s a sticking point. Am I obedient? I certainly try, but I’ve been struggling with God’s desire for me to write. This week marks the 1 year anniversary of the death of my last novel. I’d written all of 3 pages, then I left for a business trip to China. The only copy of the novel was on a traveling USB storage device (“key”). Let us pause for a moment to respect my mourning….the file was unrecoverable….. My 2nd attempt at a “great American novel” was gone. It died a premature death. I wept bitterly.

The journey since then has been fascinating (at least to me). And here I am. Journaling about my journey through life. My search for deeper faith, deeper understanding and a deeper, more intimate relationship with our Father. Seeking words of wisdom.

“But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” Luke 7:35

So, I am not going to worry about money, I am going to focus on being obedient (righteous). If God wants me to write, I will write and I will quit fretting about “why?” and “for whom?” and even “what?” I will write. The proof of the wisdom of my actions will be seen when we look back, even if it can’t be seen now.

Please pray for me. I am unreasonably afraid. This fear is not something God can address. I have to overcome this fear to demonstrate my faith. If I were afraid of something “real” of this world, I could turn it over to God. God can give me strength, yes. But this demon, this fear is mine to overcome – and I will be its master.

Please pray for me. I am not operating in a realm of comfort. I am not able to look back on my track record and presume competence. I have nothing but my faith to push me down the path. And the voice that whispers (and sometimes shouts) when I am still and quiet. “Write. Trust Me.”

And yet, I hesitate.

Please pray for me.

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Tips for Better Living

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Fran Hart
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:27-36)

I can’t add to that.

The first sentence…this is the advice I just gave my youngest in response to a situation he’s having with a difficult teacher. “Love her and do your best. Turn in all of your assignments. Smile and be pleasant.”

I have found this to be extremely helpful in the workplace.

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Words to live by.

Amen.

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Monday Blueprint Madness

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Fran Hart

Technically, this is art.

Sometimes, as I wend my way through life, I feel like I’m living something similar. Ups and downs, not getting anywhere even though my perspective is changing and I seem to be working hard.

I’ve been looping back a lot lately. Playing the same conversations over again. Not replaying dialogues like we do after a weird conversation. No, I mean self-talk … arguing internally. Talking to my soul.

Maybe this sense of deja vu is the result of weeding the same flower beds, pruning the same trees, going over the same ground I’ve gone over before.

Meanwhile, I’m working up the nerve to try something different. To trust God’s guidance as I leave the track I’m on and venture out into new territory. The Holy Spirit gives us power to do things we never dreamed. There’s comfort in the paths we know. The familiar places make us feel strong and confident. But me, I’m talking to myself. Telling my soul, “Be strong. Rest in the knowledge of God’s love. Trust Him. Step out in faith.”

Praise God!

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Stalling

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Fran Hart

Half-formed plots. Glimpses of characters. Random dialogue. Opening sentences or paragraphs. My hands are busy in the garden, my back is breaking under the strain, my mind is wandering, flirting with ideas, picking them up and considering them like river rocks. On the surface, smooth and dull, but occasionally revealing buried pieces with sharp edges that sparkle in the sun.

Later, sitting at the keyboard, staring at the monitor…stalling.

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Kairos

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Fran Hart

My loving hubby spent the weekend in Bartlett jail….as part of the Kairos prison ministry. Kairos is all about God’s time.

There’s nothing like a “captive audience” for receiving the message of love and brotherhood. This was my fourth closing ceremony and I must say, I love hearing the men talk about how they were moved during the weekend. Sadly, out of the almost 40 men who participated, statistics indicate only one will *really* be affected (as in “life changed – the future that would have been, will not be. This is truly their last time in the pen”) by the experience. But almost all of the men got up and spoke a few words about how much the weekend meant to them. And the Spirit in the room was palpable.

Praise God for the one man. I don’t know which man but I know he was there and his life will never be the same. Let there be much rejoicing!

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Then Sings My Soul

Posted on March 21, 2009 by Fran Hart

I’ve been reflecting on my fear of failure. When we step away from an area of competence and confidence into an area where we lack competence and confidence, we have to confront our fears.

The song I’ve selected for today is Brave, by Nichole Nordeman. I’m ready to be free from my fears and free from the road that is paved in moderation.

The gate is wide
The road is paved in moderation
The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in
Welcome to the middle ground
You’re safe and sound and
Until now it’s where I’ve been
‘Cause it’s been fear that ties me down to everything
But it’s been love, Your love, that cuts the strings

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave
Brave, brave

I am small
And I speak when I’m spoken to
But I am willing to risk it all
I say Your name
Just Your name and I’m ready to jump
Even ready to fall…

Why did I take this vow of compromise?
Why did I try to keep it all inside?
So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave
Brave, brave

I’ve never known a fire that didn’t begin with a flame
Every storm will start with just a drop of rain
But if you believe in me
That changes everything
So long, I’m gone

So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave
I wanna be brave
The way it always was
Is no longer good enough
You make me want to be brave
Brave, brave

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Café Chat March 21st

Posted on March 21, 2009 by Fran Hart

Today’s chat topic is based on Galatians 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
After looking at the verse in Galatians, what specific “fruit” (love, joy, peace…) do you find yourself lacking in your daily life? Give an example if you can.What circumstance in your life shows your weakness with the specific “fruit” you mentioned above.

Although I recently lamented my tendency to be impatient, after some introspection and time spent with my young-adult children I’m cutting myself some slack on that one. Thinking in terms of days recently passed I see that I am struggling with faithfulness. Or maybe I should say “faithfulness in all things.”

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10)

God gives us gifts and lets us choose how we will use those gifts. In the Parable of the Talents we learn the importance of using our gifts and the consequence if we choose to bury our gifts. Bury your gifts and you can look forward to weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I have been whining and complaining (weeping and gnashing teeth) in my prayers because I’m trying to be obedient with the gifts God has given me, but I’m looking for earthly reward and not finding satisfaction. This morning I woke up knowing I will continue faithfully doing what I’m doing. I look to God, who is eternally faithful, to recognize and reward me in His way. I long to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

So, even though I’ve been weak in my faith, I feel much stronger today and I trust that next week my answer to this question (if asked again) will be different.

Praise God!

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Judicious pruning

Posted on March 21, 2009 by Fran Hart

Lent is my favorite season. Lent falls in the Spring – a season for judicious pruning. Similarly, in our Liturgical calendar, Lent is a season of judicious pruning.

It is telling that God indicated his displeasure with the Israelites in the “Song of the Vineyard” by creating a wasteland, neither pruning nor cultivating, allowing briers and thorns to grow and withholding rain. In Lent, we should seek a closer relationship with God, allowing him to prune and cultivate our lives.

I’ve spent the week pruning and cultivating the flower beds in my garden. Pulling weeds. Cutting back unwieldy growth, spindly branches. I have years of experience at this and still I consider myself a tentative novice. Pruning is my least favorite part of the process. Sometimes it’s easy. Branches that are clearly dead must go. But often the tough decisions involve cutting off branches that are producing.

Here is a Lantana that needs to be cut back in order to produce healthy spring growth. Oddly, there is a long spindly branch that has grown up into a non-flowering hedge. There is a beautiful cluster of flowers mysteriously blooming a few feet above the ground. I was tempted to leave it alone, if only as a reward for its tenaciousness. But it is better for the plant to cut it back to its core. So, the branch and its flowers were eliminated along with the rest.

Similarly, I feel like I’m looking within myself this year and studying aspects of my life that appear productive and seem to be bearing fruit but perhaps still want some pruning. All I can do is seek God’s blessing and pray that He prunes and cultivates me to bear His fruit and ultimately be pleasing to Him.

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