Jan at RevGalBlogPals writes:
Jennifer recommended this book, which I got because I always value Jennifer's reading suggestions. The author of Life is a Verb, Patti Digh worked her book around these topics concerning life as a verb:
Say yes.
Be generous.
Speak up.
Love more.
Trust yourself.
Slow down.As I read and pondered about living more intentionally, I also have wondered what this Friday Five should be. This book has been the jumping off point for this Friday.
1. What awakens you to the present moment? Being outside in nature - harder to do right now with heat index 100+ most days. There is a park near my house with a creek and big trees and no playground (quieter that way). Great place to go.
2. What are 5 things you see out your window right now? Sunlight, green leaves, people scurrying off to work, a porch light left on through the night, a spider web shimmering between the leaves.
3. Which verbs describe your experience of God? release - as in free, embrace, send (sometimes push), nag, call, love, caress, teach, inspire, delight
4. From the book on p. 197:Who were you when you were 13? Where did that kid go? I was growing - 8 inches in one school year - from abnormally small ("Are you in the right school?") to just short. Being stretched. Socially awkward, trying to find my way. Incredibly insecure. Miserable in home life as parents' marriage began to crumble. Yet, growing my interest in working with children with special needs. Being encouraged in my intelligence/ scholarly pursuits. Seeking a spirituality that was all my own and a release from home distress. Today that kid is all grown up - many of the seeds sown still blossom. Occasionally the incredibly insecure 13 year old peeks out, but less and less often. I'm being stretched in different ways as I'm learning to think more about the big picture in my conference level position. While I don't feel like I've grown 8 inches taller in the last year, I feel like I've grown emotionally, mentally, spiritually at least 8 inches in the last few years.
5. From the book on p. 88: If your work were the answer to a question, what would the question be? How can "The Church" best help local congregations bring God to the world - make disciples? Do we just need to get out of the way?????
9 comments:
Love your God-verbs! And yep, see that growing, too.
I can SO identify with the 13 year old "are you in the right school" to just being short. It's nice to know I wasn't the only one...
And yes, the other kind of growth shines through.
I loved the image of growing 8 inches when you were 13 and again in the past year or so.
I was also quite short, but I never grew 8 inches in one year; that sounds painful!
Wonderful play. So glad to read the continuity between that 13 y/o and the present you!
I found myself thinking about she-verbs and then GOD-verbs as I read your post: God nagged, God called, God loved, God caressed, God inspires, God teaches, God....uhm, sounds like an active God in your life....
"release" awesome!
wonderful play
That idea of the nagging God really appeals to me - and helps me with some stuff!
You know, in Spanish, John 1 says, "In the beginning was the Verb, and the Verb was with God, and the Verb was God..." Interesting to think of God as a verb. Reading that chapter in Spanish really, really changed my perspective. And of course, the small ounce of analytical-type in me began to think about action verbs and verbs that express state of being, both deep ways to think of God. BTW, I REMEMBER you at 13. That was not an easy year for either of us...
Lifelong Friend
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