This is about my thoughts, my life and my journey. I am always striving to choose "The Better Part". That better part is Jesus!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Another quote was a paraphrase of what Jesus said. "Love God, Love People." Thats what we should be doing. I want this to be a part of my life, so much so that when people talk about me long after I'm dead they will say I loved God and I loved people. That is a challenge everyday because I act like I don't love God at times because I'm so selfish. And loving people is hard, especially the people who are hard to love or a pain in the neck, or just plain unlovely. Yet God commands us to to do just that. You know in my 47 years of life I have met so many Christians who make themselves to be so spiritually superior to others that they forget to humble themselves like Jesus did. Including myself on this one. I struggle sometimes to put others needs before my own. Wow what would my life truly look like if I loved God and loved others everyday.
I could ramble on about this book and it had so many good points in it. But the goal is to live a transformed life by abiding in Him. And if we try to do it in our own strength we blow it. In fact we blow it every time.
So let me leave you with this thought and this is not from the book but maybe a concept I deducted from the book. The spiritual disciplines come in many forms. We can pray and read His word, we can journal, we can even stand on our heads, but if we are doing it out of duty rather than love WE BLOW IT! You see I love God and I want to spend time with Him. I want the HS that lives inside of me to change me the way that He wants me to change. And when Jesus was here on earth, He loved the Father and He loved people. So much that He gave up being in the constant presence of the Lord in the heavens. So much that he took on a human form and became a man. So how much does it take for us to die to ourselves to become closer to Him. All I know is I want to pursue that. I want to love Him with all my heart, mind and soul. But ME, MYSELF and I get in the way of that!!!!!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Monday, April 05, 2010
Living Beyond the Irreducible Minimum
With this being said I love my dog but he is not your typical definition of a Yellow Lab. And the picture above is an example of that. We went to the doggie park to run!!!! Did you hear me to RUN! And after running a bit. He lays down in the middle of the field. Like he wants to take a nap. I am just not feeling this at all. So I throw the ball and he just stares.
So Lori, what is your point. He (my dog) has accepted the Irreducible Minimum. The bare minimum, he ran briefly, he fetched the ball twice and he was done. He was not concerned about being the best dog in doggieville. He was just okay with being below average. Not being exceptional, just existing. And for us we sometimes do life this way. Accepting the bare minimum. As CS Lewis puts it "we are far to easily pleased". You see, Cooper was easily pleased, according to his minute doggie brain he measured up, and now it was time to take a nap. Blahh Blahh Blahh.
Well I want more, in life, more from life, more from my dog, more from everything I do. I want to be exceptional. I want to make a difference, not settle for second best, Especially not in doggieville. So it's to the park everyday until he gets it right. And as you see below, I think he's got it!
Monday, March 01, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Where have all the socks gone?Long time passingWhere have all socks gone?Long time agoWhere have all the socks gone?Not Covered with flowers Im sure!When will we ever learn?When will we ever learn?
Not sure if we will every learn
where they have gone,
but I do know one thing, they are not
covered with
flowers somewhere! And they are
gone for sure!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
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Monday, January 25, 2010

Thursday, January 21, 2010
Some thoughts and ramblings, I don’t know when it happened. Perhaps I think it all began when I was an 8 grader singing folk songs during a Roman Catholic Mass. Perhaps it was when I was doing Choir under Steven or Leon, (prior worship leaders at HOPE) But I really can’t pinpoint when it all began but I do know that something began to change under the leadership, direction of the director now. The challenges that I faced and how my life has been transformed by worship. Essentially this is what I learned about worship from behind the Mic in our church and it has changed my life.
I am serious about my walk with the Lord and I feel that I am the most serious person behind the mic sometimes and have been known at times to cry during songs. The Holy Spirit really convicts me of so much during practices and on Sunday. Most of my life I have been a word person. So for me it is the words and the musical arrangements that do it for me. I totally get lost in the words and music that I often ask myself. Do I believe what I’m singing? Have I lived that out today? Is it really all about you Lord!
The most important thing I have learned about worship from behind the mic is…It’s not about me. Worship is about the Lord of all creation. It’s not about me or trying to draw attention to myself or how loud I can sing or how soft or if I smile enough or raise my hands enough, but how I can give more, how I can become less, and how I can let God become more. When I allow the Spirit to work through me, I use the gift He has given me to bring Him Glory. I can therefore take no credit for what He does through me. I become an instrument of His will. Paul did that and talked about it in Romans. He said he was a bondservant or slave of God. The servant, slave thing I just realized this past week. He gave everything to Jesus, even his will. Wow
This mind set and some of these thoughts have changed how I worship. I now want and seek a deeper more meaningful worship experience but mostly because I want an even deeper, intimate relationship with God. It starts by not so much seeking to be filled, but seeking His presence. One thing I try to do when I come to practice is leave any wants or worries, the stressful events of life at the door. And believe me I have had some trials and tests and disappointments over the years. Especially in 2007, and worship team and brotherhood and sisterhood of our team members got me through it. The fellowship was so deep and the support was so great. I made a conscience effort to walk into church with the single focused desire to please God with my Worship. I focus my thoughts on loving the Lord, singing or praising Him, to give God my full and undivided attention. I want to love Him more seek Him more, desire Him more. 2007 some verses that were so prevalent to me was Habakkuk 3:16-20ish. I am so blessed by this.
Other times, there are times when I worship and I don’t “feel” it. But this feeling thing sometimes I struggle with because I’m expecting something all the time. I don’t want to expect I just want to praise Him and have no expectations. I am so overwhelmed on How “Great is Lord” during our time of worship. When I go in with no expectations it seems like I experience God BETTER.
There is so much else I could say but I know for myself that when I turn my attention to Him and seek His face, and worship and love him, my experience with God is much deeper. I believe that I should look to my relationship with God to fill me, not just in church outside of the church with regards to worship experience. When I rely on the worship team to fill me, or the message to move me, or singing a song or whatever, I can pretty much guess that eventually disappointments will come. How about this, maybe too many of these echoes in our lives as worship team members. . I just know when focus on seeking God’s face, his presence only, there is no expectation.
One other thought is that my experience at church with my fellow believers in Worship team with your encouragement has allowed me to take my Christianity further in my life. Everything I do becomes worship, how I work, how I walk, how I breathe….if I am focused on pleasing God, it all becomes worship. Still working on that though, I get easily distracted…but again, God’s not through with me yet.
So recently, this summer I have fond memories of my contemplating the whole issue of church and worship and I why I go to church and why I worship God. And I discovered that my True worship is not confined to singing in church or open praise (although these things are both good and we are told to do them in the Bible), but it is the heartfelt acknowledgment of God and all His power and glory in everything I do. To truly worship God, we must know Him and not be ignorant of His good and glorious nature (Acts 17:23). In a nutshell, I have discovered that worship is to glorify and exalt God; to show our loyalty and admiration to our Heavenly Father! And Loyalty and admiration to God is really what it’s all about. This week I discovered also the more I anticipate Him that God anticipates me anticipating Him. More than anything we can ever imagine. He is so faithful and active in my life. I once had the opportunity of teaching a Womens Sunday School Class at Hope and one time I did a study with the women on Worship. And I used a book by Dr. David Jeremiah. And he defined worship of giving Worth back to God. In my worship I want to give Him worth back to God.
I’m not sure why I am rambling on about all this but I am sure about one thing, I am very passionate and sincere about worshiping God.
Monday, January 04, 2010

I wanted to start 2010 off with this Blessing for year for both my readers and myself. This is not my creative Idea, 3 of my friends over the past years have posted this in their blogs. May you be blessed by these words.
A Four-Fold Franciscan Blessing
May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
And the blessing of God, the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Savior, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
So this is my last blog entry of 2009, writing it from the Hilton in Durham. We arrived I don't even know because I am in the midst of the stomach bug. Spent the whole day in (no need to describe it) But here are some thoughts as I close this year.
1. I made the world a better place by participating in acts of kindness.
2. I loved and served God with all my heart and soul and mind when I was in focus with the least distractions. Was I perfect, heck no, but my heart was there.
3. I influenced others for the positive.
4. Spoke less,Listened more
5. Blogged more than ever this year, journaled less.
6. Had major quality time with my family and good friends. Love them all.
7. Mended any fences that I needed to and still have a few more.
8. Gave my Husband 100% and my Husband gave me 100%
9. Read some crazy, some good, and some thought provoking books.
10 And my favorite and only dog Cooper was loyal to me. He loves me unconditionally. At least I think.
11. I went into Christmas 2009 with great expectations of something magical happening and guess what, nothing magical happened. But what did happen was the realization for me of God's power in sending Christ to live among us. Yes I know the story, backwards, frontwards and sideways. But I never meditated and realized the power. Totally Awesome.
12 The End
Not really, God has been tugging away at my heart, changing me. I think differently now. I can't imagine doing life any other way even sitting here being sick now, without God. I can't get by one single minute, second without HIM.
As I rode up in the elevator earlier today, to rush to my room to get this bug out of system. I tearfully wept to my husband, "It's going to be a Charlie Brown New Year" And then we looked each other and laughed. And then Bill said, It's going to be alright. And I'm sure it will be. Blessings to all who read this and a very Happy New Year but hopefully you make 2010 about your relationship with God.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
My favorite time of the Christmas season is being able to sing the familiar Christmas songs that we hear imediately after Thanksgiving. So a bunch of us went around my neighborhood and sang those songs tonight.
So we went to about 10 houses on very cold night and we sang. We made merry. We even put smiles on the neighbors. Oh and my little ones Robert and Corey came and it was such a family thing to do and it put me in the Christmas Spirit.
This night brought me back to when I was in my teens going caroling with my friends. We went to so many homes and sang melodies and harmonies and laughed and had so much joy. One time we went on a back of truck and we were singing.
So if nothing else happens this Christmas Season at least I went caroling. And least I did something for mankind. Oh Come Let Us Adore HIM!!!!!
Sunday, November 29, 2009

One line "Im desperate for changing
starving for the truth." Oh Lord
I am so surrendering to the changes you
want in me.
I am "Starving for truth" I seek you everyday for truth and
you always give just enough I can handle. Thank you for that. Another line I love is "I'm closer to the where I started" In this fantastic healing journey that I have taken on I am closer to the truth. But in this journey, "I'm chasing after you", and "I am falling even more in love with you" Thank you. Again along with truth, you put your arms around me and help me embrace it thank you. Another line is
"Completely Incomplete" Oh how true that is, complete me Lord even more than I am now. Cause sometimes I feel Incomplete. Like there is a piece of me hanging on so I can't see what you want me to.
And one line that I am completely doing and continuing to do is
"Letting go of all I hung onto" Everyday I'm letting go realizing that it doesn't help to hold on to things. And for whatever reasons that I have held on to things let go has been so Freeing and so Exhilerating. And I am hanging on this Moment. Thank you Lord. And so my questions is
What are you hanging on to?
And Lori, what am I still hanging on to?
And listen to the Song and the lyrics and what needs changing?
Thursday, November 26, 2009

Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? Matt. 6:26
I don't know, I've been learning alot about myself lately.
These are my bird friends I met down in Florida. Now before you cast me off as some lunitic who befriends birds on vacation. Just hear me out. This was taken at Universal Studio's. I found it to be strange that as I got closer they didn't fly away. They were pecking away at the morsels of droppings on the ground. Wow, what a concept. I thought. It was like this place was a banquet and not even the big, bad human can chase them away.
But as I look back on this picture as I seem to be looking back on a lot of things lately. I marvel on how much God takes care of these birds. And then I marveled on how much God has taken care of me and has had his hand on past, present and will continue to have His hand on my life into the future.
I am worth so much more than these little birdies. He so loves me! I believe that. I do. But sometimes I get disappointed. And sometimes I feel like He is disapointed in me. But he still loves me.
What I was thinking lately about is the deep trauma's of these birds in their birdie life. I don't know where they came from but who knows, maybe they had a brother or sister or two and as they were flying to this random destination maybe one flew into a window. Or maybe another bird ate the birdies siblings up. Maybe they were nesting somewhere and mom and dad birdie fell out. Maybe they lost there little baby birdies or maybe they are not connected at all. Maybe they are bad birdies. Maybe they really aren't birds at all and I'm just hallucinating. No matter how you look at these two birds they have a story to tell. They have memories. They have had close encounters with death and with trauma. The have encountered hurt in their birdie life. And God cares for them!
My point is we all do. I'm learning about my life, eager to find out why I do the things I do! Why I fly like the birds to some random destinations in my thoughts and in real life. Sometime I am reliving the hurts of my past. Wishing that I can have some of those moments back. Wishing I could have made different choices. Wishing I really knew who I was and getting over where I came from. And looking forward to discovering it. Maybe, Maybe it will be on day on a random day when my life and the birdies life will intersect again. And it probably won't even be the same Birdies. But it will be the same me secretly hoping it will be the real me! Back again and vibrant, embracing life the way it should be embraced.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009

I dare ask!
Serious questions!
Of the past!
Why!
Disappointed sometimes with the ONE I Trust!
Why!
Not really sure Why is what I want to know!
But maybe just how come?
Or where were you?
I want to know why
Bad things do happen?
But somewhere in time
It does and it comes with
No answers
No explanations
On the other hand
Please do tell me
Why all the sickness
And why the hurt
Why all the pain!