The Purpose Driven Life

I know it may sound cheesy, but I saw the quote below on Facebook today and fell in love with it.  It spoke directly to me, not only as I embark on another semester at Messiah, but about life’s principles in general.  Coming upon this quote seemed auspicious at this juncture in my life as I anticipate what my final fall semester will entail.  I thank everyone for their support as they continue to follow my unending journey.

"You know you’re surrendered to God when you rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda, and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don't have to always be 'in charge.' The Bible says, 'Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him,' Psalm 37:7a (GWT). Instead of trying harder, you trust more. You also know you’re surrendered when you don’t react to criticism and rush to defend yourself. Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships. You don’t edge others out, you don’t demand your rights, and you aren’t self-serving when you’re surrendered."

From The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

If

Today, I read this poem by Rudyard Kipling and it somewhat exemplifies my feelings as I embark on my final fall semester.  I hope this speaks to you as it does me!  Thank you for your continuing support.  It really means a lot as I prepare to embark on another leg of my unending journey.

If—

By Rudyard Kipling

(‘Brother Square-Toes’—Rewards and Fairies)

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Complements of http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175772

Summer’s End

Today, I sadly admit is the last day of my internship with UCP.  I thought I’d celebrate with a poem.  Again, thank you for your support.  I'll return to my Friday schedule next week, so keep your eyes peeled for more of my ramblings!  And now, my poem!

The wind in the trees tells of summer’s demise,

like a long-lost-friend beckoning to come home again—

I pause, knowing this is the end—

the end of a mystical, magical time—

I try to grasp harder, try to get a better hold of it all—

but time, time in its infinite wisdom says it is all for not—

I grasp to no avail—

“Was it “A Midsummer Night’s Dream?” I ask, slightly confused—

No, I realize—

it’s that brief time when everything’s right in the world—

a utopia of sorts—

soon to be gone—

Only to be spoken as myth to the young—

To be forgotten—

A brief time, indeed—

Never to be rediscovered—

To be remembered as a time in the sun—

There’ll be other summers certainly—

But this, this one is etched on my mind

For all time—

Eternity—

The winter wind will not erase the joy

felt in my heart—

My very being—

For this brief time

Indeed, summer will come again!

From a Cocoon to a Butterfly

Today, as I reflected upon my internship with UCP during this summer, an image of a beautiful butterfly floated into my brain.  It seems to me, at least, I finally broke out of my tightly wound and protected cocoon and emerged as a free, unfettered butterfly; able to affect change wherever I go.  I must say my time at UCP afforded me the biggest gift of all, the gift of confidence.  As I embark on my final fall semester at Messiah College, the wondrous image of that unfettered butterfly will stay at the forefront of my mind, but more importantly, in the center of my inner being!

Thanks to UCP’s staff for letting me be that butterfly…You’ll never know how much that means!

Reaching New Heights

Today, while perusing the Internet, I found this very inspiring news clip.  As I embark on the last week of my second internship at UCP, I’ve heard countless amazing and inspiring stories during these short months.  I feel honored to be a part of this and be able to help raise awareness in some small way during my time working for this organization!

Enjoy the video!

The Key to Happiness

“Independence is happiness”

~ Susan B. Anthony

Today, I stumbled on this quote by accident and thought it would be good blog fodder.  I’ve always been an admirer of Susan B. Anthony and her quest for women’s rights, but this quote stretches beyond her cause, I think.  If there is independence of the mind itself, it causes the greatest happiness—the greatest worthiness in oneself.  Sometimes, we lose that happiness—that omnipresent freedom we only find in the celebration in our uniqueness.  So, honor your independence, for it is the key to happiness!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Gift From the Sea

Today, I’m posting an excerpt from one of my all-time favorite books, Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  Even though I first read the book a long time ago, its words always remained with me and served me well in life.  I hope this has the calming effect on you that it does me. 

“When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.

The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits - islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

A Critique of Monet

As a follow-up on last Friday’s commentary on Monet, I thought I’d post one of my favorite poems I’ve written over the years about him.  Trying to capture the beauty of Monet’s brushstrokes is very difficult, in my estimation, but this is my young attempt to do so.  I hope you all enjoy!

How precisely his movement of brush glided over the canvas as he worked.

The beauty of the objects which he saw captures the entire being.

A sparkling lake, a bubbling spring, and a garden filled with colorful, but

Delicate flowers.  Red roses, white lilies and purple asters create a sense of utopia.

It is intense, yet subtle.

The masterpieces transport one to another time and place.  To another century.

It is a place where only beauty remains, though tempered by the reality of the world.

A pastoral, sweet existence for which one yearns.

The man fades, but the image remains of pictorial visions in the sky.

A little girl sitting on a bench in the park, a flower covered wall and a cornfield are

All familiar objects in his imagery.

One is left to wonder if that sense of pastoral passion will every be captured

again.

Or is the spirit too wistful, too unique?

Monet’s Garden

Today, I came upon an article I thought fit nicely with the post I wrote about Emily Dickinson’s garden a few weeks ago.  As we try to calm ourselves in our fast-paced world, it is nice to know nature is always there, waiting for us as a refuge.  I have always loved Claude Monet’s artwork and found a certain peace, as I look at his various works.  I hope this article speaks to you as it did me!

Have a good weekend, and if you feel so compelled, comment!

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/homestyle/what-we-can-learn-from-monets-garden-20130721-2qces.html