Song Is a Joyful Noise and a Whole Lot More!

Song

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;  

Psalm 98:4

I grew up singing. Me and my four sisters. We had our singing leader…my sister. She loved to organize us and get us harmonizing, to get us all singing together, each with her own part, together. We had a ball. We sang in the car, in our rooms, in the kitchen, on Cape Cod.

And we sang at weddings, at a few funerals, even had a few concerts, cut a couple of CDs. 

Song is a way of expressing, of loving, of telling, of sharing. I love song. I love worship and I loved singing to my little ones. Tons and tons of evenings and naptimes filled with songs. Songs have carried me through the tough times. And they’ve helped me celebrate the best of times. Song has spoken deep into my heart. As though someone can see and hear my beat, the beat of my deepest parts and heart.

Song is now something I hear from my daughters. 

Each one of them blessed with the ability to make a sound to make a joyful noise, to sing!

Oh what joy. To be able to hear the gift repeated. To share the gift with my daughters. To share this legacy of love and expression and joy and emotion. I still hear my daughter in my living room. And twice a week I hear her a cappella group making songs in my home. 

Those songs will be quieted as she leaves for college.

I just can’t get away from this right now. She’s leaving. This house will be so much quieter. I will carry her like a song my heart always. I will carry all my daughters in my heart always. They are my love song…so is my husband.

Song is a gift from God.

Click Here to Hear Vesper and The Daly sisters with their daughters...

This post is inspired by a prompt at LisaJoBaker.com. Come join the fun!

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What Part of Life's Journey Are You On?

Being on the Other Side of the Journey

Those who sow in tears will reap a harvest of joy.    Psalm 126:5

I woke up feeling low. No particular reason I could identify. As Chris and I headed out on our walk, I pushed back my sadness and embraced the crisp beautiful day.

There had been a mighty wind blowing the night before, so our walk was littered with fallen branches, large and small.

Toward the end of our walk, we came across an adorable petite thirty-something who was hauling a very large heavy limb off the sidewalk.

Chris commented, “That’s quite a twig.” Continue Reading...

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What Will You Do for Comfort...and What Will Comfort Do For You?

Comfort

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you…”  Genesis 12:1

Comfort...

It’s something I want, sometimes desperately.

It’s something I seek through the wrong things sometimes…food, wine, procrastination. It’s a bit like looking for love in all the wrong places.

It can be a beautiful thing. Comfort from a beloved friend, my good husband, my sweet sisters. When I’m sad, comfort can bring me back.

But comfort is something I can also get too comfortable with. The comfort of staying where I am. Doing what I’m doing. Not pushing past the obstacles. Not trying something new. Not daring.

Comfort can hold me back. I know discomfort can expand my boundaries. Expand my territory, my thinking, my feelings, my relationships.

So if I’m clinging on too hard to comfort, instead of being comforted, it becomes a hindrance to the more that awaits, the more that broadens, the more that God offers.

Oh I am a creature of comfort believe me. I like the routine. Like the same. I resist change.

I know not to get too comfortable with comfort because then I’m in danger of never doing, never knowing, never grasping all that is here for me, for you.

I’m uncomfortable in a room full of people I don’t know, but If I push past, I experience new.

I’m uncomfortable trying to write a new thing, but if I stay where I am get to keep what I’m doing.

I’m uncomfortable putting myself out there, but then I’m the one who loses.

Comfort is sometimes full of false promise. A little overrated…

Every Friday LisaJoBaker.com hosts a 5 Minute Friday prompt. Come on over and see how many fascinating words can be written on one word Comfort.

photo credit: `James Wheeler via photopin cc

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How Can We Pay It Forward

How Can I Pay It Forward?

They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green…

                                                                                                                        Psalm 92:14

It was kind of funny…in a way that wasn’t all that funny.

Opening night, I walked into the big social media/writing/blogging conference. There was something different about it that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I felt slightly out of place. We were gathered around big round tables, women were friendly and a little nervous, many of them first-time conference attendees like me.

Then I had a realization took me maybe a little longer than it should have...I shook off my feelings of discomfort and followed the schedule to attend the workshops I had selected. The conference was full of life, and faith, and women, mostly, who were cheering each other on and sharing with each other generously.

Then there was one keynote speaker who was a little older…59, I believe. She was lovely, full of grace, wisdom, and a peace that had been refined through the years.

Then it hit me…She was the first woman I had seen who was closer to my age.

Everyone else was about 20 years younger than me. Funny, but it really took me almost 24 hours of being at the conference before I realized why I was feeling…different. I could’ve been a mother to most of the attendees!

“I’m old!” It was a moment of reckoning.

What am I doing amongst all these beautiful, young, tech-savvy gals? I surely don’t belong here. Though I’m way past most of them in years, they are way ahead of me in this world of blogging and social media. Was I barking up the wrong tree? Running in the wrong race? Out of my middle-aged (at least) mind?

I had to process this for a while because I hadn’t thought much about being old-er.

When I returned home from the conference, I told my sister that I seemed to be one of only a handful of women over 50 at the conference. (And several of the older women came just to take care of their grandbabies.) My sister encouraged me, “I hope you don’t feel bad about this. I’m so proud of you. This means you’re doing something that most women your age aren’t. You’re cutting edge. Good for you!” Well, that was a different way of looking at the situation.

It also dawned on me that I was almost 20 years older than Kimberly Amici, the Cofounder and Managing Editor of our Contributor/Community website Circles Of Faith. Hmmmmm…

And most recently, I spoke at a MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. I was definitely an older woman speaking to a room of fresh-faced, young (and maybe a bit sleep-deprived) moms about how to stay married.

Then I was asked to help with MOPs Leadership as a Mentor. Is there a common thread here?

God is so good…He knows my youngest daughter is on the brink of leaving home for college this Fall. That means I’m on the brink of a home no longer full of kids…on the brink of, as my husband says, “Not an empty nest. That’s too negative…a successful nest.”

But what’s next? So far I’ve had a rich life. A life full of ups and downs, twists and turns, good and bad, tears and laughter

How can I pay that forward?

As God opens the door for sharing my stories of raising children, marriage, friendship, fellowship, life lessons, aging parents, I pray I can use it all to bless, encourage, edify younger women…and to glorify the God who has given me this wonderful life.

What stage in life are you in? How can you pay it forward?

Today I’m linking up on Holley Gerth’s site…Lots of inspiration. Join me!

 

photo credit: Martin Gommel via photopin cc

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A Few Thoughts on Friends for Five Minute Friday

Friends

Oh friendship. What would I do without friendship? 

It sustains me. I am such a people lover, and well, I guess I also have such a need to be loved.

I have been so blessed with such good friends. There are my three sister/best friends. There is my beloved college roommate. My moms in prayer friends. My friends I left in Boston one hour before the terrible bombings. 

My dad was a wonderful friend.

So many, really, so many. And of course there are my girls, now older, and still my girls, my daughters, they too are friends.

My very best friend? Definitely my husband.

What makes a friend?

I think it’s someone we can be ourselves with. Someone who genuinely cares…and I care about deeply. Someone who will walk through life with you. Through thick and thin. They’ll show up in person or by phone or whatever, when you most need it. They’ll get the tissues or blow out the candles with you.

They are there through time and place and ages and stages. As I write so many more run through my mind. My beloved stepsisters. My MCC bible study friends. 

Oh what richness friends add.

Thank you God…I have been blessed. A friend is someone I can trust, who loves me and really knows me. Who forgives me even for big wrongs and who loves me no matter what.

Yes, a friend does life with you…A friend shows up day after day time after time year after year. 

Linking up with Five Minute Friday...Come on over!

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I Got a Letter from God...

BEING STILL AND KNOWING HE IS GOD

My Recent Retreat Experience 

I was thrilled and intrigued when I received the email from my stepsister Susie Minno inviting me to celebrate her 60th birthday by joining her for a day of retreat. What a unique idea! I’ve been to plenty of exciting, wonderful, blessed birthday festivities, but I knew this one would be a gift to all who could attend. I marked my calendar right away…

The day was bright and beautiful. Click to continue reading...

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