Stephanie’s Blog

You should be in church. Then, you should teach Sunday School. You should be in the choir. You should …fill in the blank here.

Did you notice all of the shoulds? It’s one thing to want to do something. It’s another thing to feel that you should or that you just have to. Let me explain.

In 1904, the country of Wales experienced an amazing phenomenon. It has become known as the Welsh Revival. Newspapers reported the outbreak and the results. Here are a few:

Soul winning spread through the coalmines. Profane swearing stopped. Even the miners’ horses were confused when their masters stopped cursing. They did not recognize the new, kinder commands. Bible verses covered the doors down in the mines. Coal miners crowded into prayer meetings that lasted till 3:00 a.m. and then washed, ate breakfast, and returned to work.

In 1905 the London Times reported that huge crowds were attending the meetings.

On January 11th The Times noted that David Lloyd-George, who later became the British Prime Minister, said the Welsh revival gave hope “that at the next election Wales would declare with no uncertain sound against the corruption in high places…” Lloyd-George…also said in one town the tavern sold only 9 cents worth of liquor drinks on Saturday night!

The Times observed that people had “gathered at crowded services for six and eight hours at a time. Political meetings and even football matches were postponed…quarrels between trade-union workmen and non-unionists had been made up…”

According to the Times on February 2nd, 1905, many men abandoned dens of iniquity. Employers noticed a great improvement in the work produced by their employees. A judge named Sir Marchant Williams said that his work was much lighter especially regarding drunkenness and related offenses.

At Bangor University “only a third or fourth of the students attending some of the classes… Beginning with a spontaneous outburst of praise and prayer among the men students, the movement spread…at a united prayer meeting…some…broke down sobbing.”

Here is the thought for today. Many well meaning people have vision and passion for how the church, a ministry, and it’s attendees or members should work. But sadly, the hearts of many believers just aren’t there. What you need to know is that prior to this revival, thousands of prayer circles had been covering Wales for about 18 months. The revival did not inspire hearts. Preaching and programs did not draw the people. The many and committed prayers prior resulted in a moving of the Holy Spirit. Which in turn resulted in packed churches and changed lives. Those people just “had” to go. And that is what “should” happen to be sure. If you are praying for revival, pray on. And let the Spirit lead.

S.

The press is abuzz today about the surprise splash that Governor Sarah Palin made onto the political scene last night. No matter what side of the aisle you claim, we all know, that speech created a surge of its own. No one saw it coming. If anything, we expected some slight swirls. But no one predicted the tidal wave that slammed onto the political shoreline of the Twin Cities.

Speaking of coming out of nowhere, I got to thinking about another analogy today. That of planting bulbs, roots, or seeds. As you know, once something is planted, an entire culture begins to get busy at work in the dark. Then suddenly, at a given time, unsuspecting and without any notice, a beautiful tulip might emerge from the bulb, or a fascinating flower bursts forth from the earth and into bloom.

Like the roots hidden beneath the ground that finally produce a rose, I doubt that Gov. Palin, or the country for that matter, ever expected Alaska to produce such a show. It’s dark. It’s cold. And for that matter, who even goes there? But working quietly away, thousands of miles from the heart of our nation, sight unseen, a woman was at work. And when the time came for her to burst forth onto the national scene, she was ready.

There are probably times when you feel alone or forgotten in the quiet of your own little world. You too work busily away in the dark, where no one seems to notice and you wonder when your time will come. Perhaps you have found that you were overlooked for that prized project or promotion. Maybe a friend has gotten engaged, and you sit alone once again on Saturday night. Only you know. But the point is, you are waiting for your time. And you want to shine.

Maybe, just maybe, it’s because the timing isn’t right. Could it be that some other experience you will need down the road has not yet crossed your path or been completed on your part? Perhaps the soil you are in isn’t quite right and some adjustments need to be made. And too, the feeding process could be off. Whatever the case, regardless of the circumstances, something is going on the dark. And in due time, when all the elements come together and align, the roots beneath the surface will produce an amazing display. Much like the one we saw last night.

So, my dear friend. Don’t fight the darkness. Keep working. And when your time comes, simply take your moment and burst forth.

Hugs,

S.

Keep Your Powder Dry

If you have not used this statement before, chances are pretty good that you have at least “heard tell of it”, as we say down here in the south. I always thought it meant to simply stay calm and remain cool when under pressure. Never let them see you sweat, kind of thing. So you can imagine I was a bit surprised when I learned that the saying originated during the Revolutionary War period.

The phrase actually goes like this, “Trust in God, but Keep your Powder Dry.” (Not too surprising that over the years we’ve dropped the “Trust in God” part, but let’s get back to the topic at hand.)

I am a huge American History buff. And George Washington crossing the Delaware (then taking out the German mercenaries on Christmas Day) is one of my absolute favorite stories. A remarkable event.

Legend has it that General George Washington said to his soldiers before they began to cross the river in boats with their rifles in hand, “Trust in God, but keep your powder dry!” In other words, if we have come this far, and if all we have are our guns to do the job on the other side, do not, I repeat, do not let that gun or the gunpowder get wet! Protect your gear and your ammunition. It will be what leads us to victory or it will lead to our demise.

What in your life needs to be ultimately protected? Is there something that you need to focus on completely that could either mean life or death to a particular moment or situation? Maybe it’s mental, emotional, physical or spiritual. Only you know. It could mean a marriage, your job, a relationship, an event. It can be many things. And it might not be easy, but you know deep down, you’re going to need it down the road.

My thought today is, when you get to the really scary part of whatever it is that you have to do, Trust God. Trust Him to help you cross that river, in the dead of night, no matter how tired you are or how dangerous the task. Just keep going. Do what you have to do, and above all else, protect and keep your powder dry. Whatever that precious commodity is in your life. It’s all you will have with you when you land. And it is what you will desperately need with you when you come to the other side.

A little deep today, but I think you can navigate the literary waters.

S.

Some of you may have seen the recent Obama/McCain Forum that took place at the mega church known as Saddleback in California.  The pastor of that church, Rick Warren, moderated the event.  For those that watched, you may recall an amazing story that John McCain shared about one particular Christmas while held captive in Vietnam as a prisoner of war in the 1960s.

Mr. McCain shared how prior to one holiday, a guard had entered his chamber, loosened his ropes, put a finger to his lips, then left.  Before the guard’s shift was over, he returned, re-tightened the ropes, and departed.  Sometime later, it was Christmas day. During roll call, this same guard approached prisoner McCain, took his foot out of his sandal and in the sand formed the shape of a cross with his toe. Calmly, he then erased it. “Just two men. Worshipping. On Christmas day.” I think is how the now Senator put it.

For those of you familiar with the Christian faith, you are aware that the shape of a fish was used similarly by first century Christians. They were known to draw symbolically in the sand to communicate their faith while under vicious Roman rule. A believer would draw a semi-circle.  If the receiver of the art was a believer as well, he would respond in kind, and complete the form. The finished product was that of a stick figure, but in the shape of a fish. Early Christians referred to it as the “sign of the fish.” (When you have a moment you might google it for some background info.)

The secret sign that was exchanged between the Vietnamese guard and the American prisoner some 2000 years later was much more blatant and daring. It was the sign of the cross.

As I walked my sweet, Labrador retriever this evening, I kept noticing the beautiful sky and continued to marvel at the perfect weather. Nearing the end of our walk, I looked up, as I had been doing, but this time noticed up in the blue the perfect shape of a huge stick figure fish.  Obviously made by airplanes as other white paths in the distance were visible. This blatant image, however, was too clear to miss.

I was struck. Now please know that I am not one to make a scene over such moments, but it was definitely special. I couldn’t help but wonder if the Lord was perhaps smiling down with a simple, “I see you. And I am here.”  I don’t know. But it was my moment, and I will keep it in my heart.  Maybe not as dramatically as that of Mr. McCain’s, but one that was meant for me to be sure.

<><

Stephanie

One of the definitions of the word “treasure”, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is “to value highly.” I have been impressed of late to take a deeper look at the people that I invest my resources in and spend time with.  Now, mind you, don’t get the wrong impression of my intent here. Let me divulge my wisdom of the ages (of late) upon you. If you will humor me.

Think about it.  If you are spending precious moments and energy with people who “need” you and do not invest back into you, I’d bet you are pretty tired at the end of the day or week.  If you find that you socialize mostly with people who drink heavily, you are probably finding that your bar tab is higher than you’d realized or even liked.  If your time on the phone consists mostly of those who see only the negative, you probably aren’t feeling too bubbly and chipper when the calls end.  You get my point.

Who we spend time with, invest in, and adore, really matters. Take the Olympic athletes for instance.  If they spent most of their time with people who eat junk food and don’t exercise, it would most likely limit their resources and their energy. I highly doubt that those fast–food friends would be the ones that drive them “closer to the gold.”  And so it is with you.  If your goal is to save money, and you find that your weekends are spent burning up the credit card out of mere peer pressure, you’re in for the shock of a lifetime down the road. You and I both know that.

 So, if you want to head in a particular direction, you really need to sit down and take stock of the people in your life that you invest the most time and resources in.  Make a literal list.  Write it out in front of you. And stare at it. Then make a a list of your passions, goals and dreams.  Are the the people that you are investing the majority of your time and resources in truly moving you farther down the path that you personally want, or know, that you should take?

Selah!

Stephanie

Had the distinct privilege of sitting in on the taping of an upcoming PBS special for Dr. Daniel G. Amen (of the book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.) It will air this December.  I highly suggest it!  Wow. Talk about enlightening.  I had no idea people could scan your brain, diagnosis a situation, and then work with you to correct and improve it.  And what I am referring to is ADD, ADHD, Depression, Drug Addiction, Mental Illness and more.  It was amazing.  You can find what the brain needs in regards to repair, and actually assist the brain in the repairment process.  It was truly stunning. They are experiencing unbelievable results.

I realized that we take our little cranial organ quite for granted really. I have to admit, brain food now means more to me than it did 24 hours ago. I literally got into the car after the taping and headed to the grocery store. You should know the list I now held in my hand was not the one that matches what usually goes into the cart. And I eat healthy!  ”Let me see, Zinc, Fish Oil, Sage, Lavendar Oil, Omega 3 supplements, Green Tea…” and down the list I went. (If you don’t have a Whole Foods…good luck! The Apple Farm didn’t quite cut it at 10pm at nite.)  But I digress.

One of my favorite lines from the evening was that Dr. Amen will require men who date his daughters more than 4 months to have a scan! That is awesome. Don’t you wish we could scan the men that come into our lives?  It would make life so much easier.  Well, Ok, maybe not. But it’s a GREAT thought.  Just think about it for a minute. The future of dating, (or social networking) could include a requirement (or option) to post the results of your scan!  That would limit your “connections” you can bet. Talk about weeding out!

For now, those of us not willing to shell out the $3,000 for the scan (and make the trip to his clinics) will have to wait until they are available at the local clinic or Red Box. (just kidding.)

Just some food for thought.

Hugs,

S.

I just wrapped up taking part in a taping for an upcoming television show this past week.  13 shows were taped in four days. Yep. It’s a bit crazy. A show is taped. You go and change clothes. And you start all over again. The star of the show is a marriage seminar leader and pastor from Wisconsin, Mark Gungar. (You really should check him out on YouTube).  Not nationally known, but most likely a very up and coming personality on the national stage. He was engaging, funny, and easy to listen to. If there is one thing this guy has down, it is getting the male population to “tune in” to what he is saying and connect!  And too, he makes some great points to the women in the audience.  Basically, we girls just plain don’t get men, as we know.  But what we forget, is that half the time, we punish men for not “thinking” like women, not “understanding” women, not “relating” to women, you get the picture. All the while forgetting they are NOT women.  :)

It saddens me that my generation of women missed out on the tutoring from older women that men and women are different. And that it’s ok. That it is not something to fight, but rather understand and embrace. But nope. We were the generation of unisex haircuts and clothing. It was cool to be “likes”.  To prove that we were the equal. Differences were an “archaic” way of thinking. And we were above that.

We can see how well that worked.  The divorce rate and homosexuality skyrocketed during that period of time, families fractured, and the list goes on.  We were left wondering why and how this could have happened. What went wrong during this modern, intellectual way of thinking?

It’s pretty easy.  The Bible has lasted for a few thousand years.  Its principles (which were deemed outdated and unrealistic) were tossed out. We would find a better way. But we didn’t. 

My challenge to you this week is just to simply strive to notice the differences in men and women. Embrace them.  And work to understand them. It can be a beautiful thing.

Life’s good.  Let’s work to make it even better.

S.

Well, it’s good to be back. Hard to believe so much time has flown by and gotten away from me.  And for the very long absence, I do apologize profusely. But, life happened, and so the silent departure. But now the grateful return.  In the days ahead I will attempt to get us all back on track with the Saga of the Solo Sisterhood. However, I just have to take a few moments to tell you briefly, that the last few months would not have been possible (and I probably would not even BE back) had it not been for the amazing family and friends that are in my life. From gifts of massages, to late night visits to my house to take the food from my freezer due to the power outage (caused by the tree that ripped out my power meter and fell on my roof), to the rides to and from the airport, the dog sitting, the lawn mowings, the dragging in of boxes left by the UPS, the watering of my flowers…I could go on and on and on.  These and a myriad of other tasks were graciously undertaken on my behalf by the wonderful people in my life while I was navigating the swirling waters of the last couple of months.  I truly was in awe of their generosity, their phone calls, their emails and text messages, and their cards.  Words could never express my gratitude to these incredibly dear people (and you know who you are!)  But a simple blog will have to suffice for tonight and a very heartfelt and sincere THANK YOU.  To all of you out there, please know that I am looking forward to getting back in the groove of our time together in the days ahead.

Hugs to you and chat soon!

Stephanie

If you haven’t seen the movie, Cheaper By the Dozen, you should. It travels through the journey of a family with a very full house. And if you don’t remember this old saying, “With six you get egg-roll”, that became the name for a movie as well. Check out those two flicks some night. They’re just cute. And of course, what girl doesn’t love to catch My Big Fat Greek Wedding when she can. All that to say, there is just something to be said for big families. We love stories about bustling kids with mishaps and victories, harried moms and ultra cool dads. The excitement, the drama, the angst. Whatever the case. We can’t seem to get enough. For some reason, many girls grow up planning for or dreaming of that very big family. Angelina Jolie is on that track of late I would think.

If anything, I can give it to my children someday. Thus the words that exited from my single friend’s mouth when I casually asked her about the craziest purchase she made while on her dream trip through Italy and France awhile back. She had just recently told me that she didn’t see herself ever marrying by the way.  (This from a size-2 cutie pie.)

So. What exactly was my single friend’ss zaniest purchase?  ”A gorgeous table cloth with matching linen napkins  – for12!  she exclaimed. (What is it with us single gals and the party of 12 thing?)

I smiled when the words about posterity slipped from the mouth of this non-married, childless beauty. But I didn’t say anything until much later. I didn’t want to lose the moment. She didn’t even catch it at the time. And, I didn’t bring it up until months later. So, I just nodded and smiled and encouraged her to talk. Why? Because that story was a reminder to me of what is inherently in us as women.  We don’t plan to grow up and get single. We just do. And if the truth be told, we plan to have families.

See you tomorrow.

S.

Some people can just chalk it up to bad karma I guess.  I don’t know. But things happen. Life happens.  Just because we get engaged or married, does not mean that happiness is part of the contractual agreement. This true story, relayed to me by another single friend really shocked me.

A 37-year old working girl finally met Mr. Wonderful Man.  They dated, got engaged and began planning their wedding. One day while he was at the gym Mr. Wonderful heard a loud pop in his brain.  Heading home, to do a bit of research, he went online only to discover that it was an aneurism. Walking himself immediately to the nearest hospital upon arrival, he went into comma. And died.

 This is not something we can understand or explain.   Trying to figure out why things happen or why we are single is beyond our finite minds.  This woman did nothing wrong.  And there is nothing odd about her. Circumstances happened and her journey took a very surprising path. In that same vein, Singleness is not something we can necessarily understand or explain.

 This woman, and all of the women I have introduced you to thus far are attractive, smart, talented, fun. They love life.  So, don’t beat yourself up trying to figure out the formula. And don’t wear yourself out trying to plan the future.  If you want to read The Rules and Mars and Venus on a Date, do it.  But don’t continue down the path of “Why oh, Why?”  It will only drive you crazy.

 Congratulations. You have made it to the half way point of this little experiment. 

I hope you will take time to review back through any of the entries you may have missed.

It’s all for you!

 

S.