Today's Reverb 10 Prompt:
December 31 – Core Story
What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world? (Bonus: Consider your reflections from this month. Look through them to discover a thread you may not have noticed until today.)
(Author: Molly O’Neill)
I think this prompt is my favorite of the questions that have been posed over this month of reverb10.
The central story at the core of me is this:
I am known and loved by the creator of the universe, a God who heals and who offers wholeness, who is perfectly constant, unchanging, and desires to draw all of creation into a deep joy and to bring redemption and resurrection to broken and dead things.
It's quite the story, and I've been years learning it, and expect to be learning it for the remainder of my life.
That part about being not just known, but loved - that was big this year.
I've also discovered that what I thought healing, redemption, and resurrection looked like, is quite often not at all what they end up looking like.
I've seen this story play out in crazy ways this last year.
In the unexpected way in which I suddenly found myself duckless, with no ducks left to gather in a row.
In a job loss and a housing change and a total change in career directions.
In a car accident.
In a house church that turned out to be a safe place to land.
In a funeral, and a wedding.
In a road trip with my dad, and a week in California.
In visits to the zoo.
In books I've read. Especially a kid's book.
In celebrating the fifth anniversary of my healing from depression.
In conversations over tea and phone calls and emails and blog posts.
In unexpected decisions and actions taken.
I've seen redemption and resurrection and healing in the most unexpected places.
And I'm so grateful for them.
Because they are at the core of my being, and are making themselves at home there in new ways that excite and challenge me.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Do it Differently
I have long proclaimed New Year's Eve to be my least favorite holiday of the year. All of the other big holidays tend to be about family, but New Year's is about partying with friends. This is challenging when you don't particularly like to party, and the vast majority of your closest friends live far away.
I've spent most of the last 5 New Year's Eve's alone, and tonight won't be any different.
However, this year I've decided that lonely and melancholy can take a hike!
I'm quite looking forward to a quiet evening alone at mom and dad's (my parent's are going to a party - they have more of a social life than me - how funny is that!)
My plans for the evening involve a Top Chef marathon on the Food Network, maybe a funny movie or some Grey's Anatomy on DVD, Vietnamese take out, cozy pajamas, writing, reflecting, dreaming, a cup of tea, puttering around online, maybe painting my toenails, and maybe even a bubble bath.
I'm actually almost giddy with anticipation at the prospect of a nice evening in, alone, with a show I like being played in marathon format on the Food Network, and just chilling and having time to be peaceful and reflect and pray and plan for the year to come.
This is a day that finds me smiling, and not dreading the evening ahead. I don't know when that happened, but I'm rather delighted to be doing it differently this year!
Stay tuned tonight for the final reverb 10 post, the final daily 5 post of 2010, and tomorrow for posts about my one little word, and plans for the year to come!
I've spent most of the last 5 New Year's Eve's alone, and tonight won't be any different.
However, this year I've decided that lonely and melancholy can take a hike!
I'm quite looking forward to a quiet evening alone at mom and dad's (my parent's are going to a party - they have more of a social life than me - how funny is that!)
My plans for the evening involve a Top Chef marathon on the Food Network, maybe a funny movie or some Grey's Anatomy on DVD, Vietnamese take out, cozy pajamas, writing, reflecting, dreaming, a cup of tea, puttering around online, maybe painting my toenails, and maybe even a bubble bath.
I'm actually almost giddy with anticipation at the prospect of a nice evening in, alone, with a show I like being played in marathon format on the Food Network, and just chilling and having time to be peaceful and reflect and pray and plan for the year to come.
This is a day that finds me smiling, and not dreading the evening ahead. I don't know when that happened, but I'm rather delighted to be doing it differently this year!
Stay tuned tonight for the final reverb 10 post, the final daily 5 post of 2010, and tomorrow for posts about my one little word, and plans for the year to come!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 137
Today's Daily 5:
- Not having to drive on icy roads (the upside to my bad luck with car accidents)
- quick and efficient packing for the weekend when I was running behind this morning
- a sweet banana and a cup of pomegranate green tea for breakfast
- donating the leftover toys from work to an agency that will make good use of them over the coming year
- "Apparently not in Canada!"
- watching and transcribing the monologues from two episodes of Grey's last night
- a good last day at work
- making popcorn and watching food network while puttering online all evening
- the gift of a SAD lamp from mom
- having the house to myself for an evening
Reverb 10: Day 30 - Gift
Today's Reverb 10 Prompt:
December 30 – Gift
Prompt: Gift. This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?
(Author: Holly Root)
Is it lame to talk about an emotional gift to myself as being the most memorable?
Because if we're talking about emotional gifts, the gift of allowing myself to rest and be cared for (by myself and others), and also to believed that I am lovable and loved top my list for this year. Honestly, I can't quite describe the difference that that has made in my life. Nor can I describe the wonder at discovering that I am loved, and then being able to begin to love myself.
But if we're talking about tangible gifts, well, I'm going to go with a few different options. I have two hoodies (both of which I wear at least once a week) that were given to me by my brothers and the women in their lives. One was a birthday gift from all four of them. The second was a Christmas gift from two of them. A dear friend sent me a beautiful book of art for my anniversary of healing in November - art that so perfectly suits that occasion. I got two fun and memorable gifts in the last week as well - the first was a Konad stamping nail art kit from my parents for Christmas. I'm looking forward to many hours of playing with this, since one of my favorite ways to pamper myself is to paint my toenails. It's going to be even more fun now that I have this totally slick way to add art to the pedicure. The second gift my mom handed to me today when I walked into her house after work. It was a SAD lamp, and I'm excited to see if it does make a difference in the way my mood and energy levels tend to lag in the long dark winter months.
There you have it, tangible AND intangible!
December 30 – Gift
Prompt: Gift. This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?
(Author: Holly Root)
Is it lame to talk about an emotional gift to myself as being the most memorable?
Because if we're talking about emotional gifts, the gift of allowing myself to rest and be cared for (by myself and others), and also to believed that I am lovable and loved top my list for this year. Honestly, I can't quite describe the difference that that has made in my life. Nor can I describe the wonder at discovering that I am loved, and then being able to begin to love myself.
But if we're talking about tangible gifts, well, I'm going to go with a few different options. I have two hoodies (both of which I wear at least once a week) that were given to me by my brothers and the women in their lives. One was a birthday gift from all four of them. The second was a Christmas gift from two of them. A dear friend sent me a beautiful book of art for my anniversary of healing in November - art that so perfectly suits that occasion. I got two fun and memorable gifts in the last week as well - the first was a Konad stamping nail art kit from my parents for Christmas. I'm looking forward to many hours of playing with this, since one of my favorite ways to pamper myself is to paint my toenails. It's going to be even more fun now that I have this totally slick way to add art to the pedicure. The second gift my mom handed to me today when I walked into her house after work. It was a SAD lamp, and I'm excited to see if it does make a difference in the way my mood and energy levels tend to lag in the long dark winter months.
There you have it, tangible AND intangible!
The End is Coming
I find it incredibly hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of 2010.
It seems like this year has held a multitude. Like it has been the longest, and perhaps also the shortest year on record.
It's definitely been one of the crazyest.
It hit me this morning that I need to find time in the next 48 hours or so to sketch out a framework for the year to come. I'm going to participate in the one word challenge spurred on by people like Alece and Ali Edwards. (I'll reveal the word I've chosen in a day or two.) But, participating in that challenge requires creating a framework for how to do that. How to live that word for the next year.
It helps me to have a framework.
So, sometime tonight or tomorrow, I'll sit down with a pen and a journal and create that, on paper first, and then likely transfer some of it to the blog. I've been reading (as I'm sure many of you have) article after article about living more meaningfully, about making and keeping resolutions, and about goal setting as the year draws to a close. I have some thoughts and ways to make some commitments more tangible that I'm working on too. Ways to chronicle the journey more intentionally than haphazardly.
In the meantime, the end is coming!
I can't believe the year is ending.
I can't believe a month of writing reverb 10 posts is also drawing to a close. I'm going to miss having those daily prompts that forced me to stop and reflect, sometimes from angles I wouldn't have considered.
Has 2010 flown by for anyone else? It really does seem like only yesterday that I was staring at a screen making a list of goals for the coming year. And now I'm doing it again, only they're going to look immensely different. Crazy.
It seems like this year has held a multitude. Like it has been the longest, and perhaps also the shortest year on record.
It's definitely been one of the crazyest.
It hit me this morning that I need to find time in the next 48 hours or so to sketch out a framework for the year to come. I'm going to participate in the one word challenge spurred on by people like Alece and Ali Edwards. (I'll reveal the word I've chosen in a day or two.) But, participating in that challenge requires creating a framework for how to do that. How to live that word for the next year.
It helps me to have a framework.
So, sometime tonight or tomorrow, I'll sit down with a pen and a journal and create that, on paper first, and then likely transfer some of it to the blog. I've been reading (as I'm sure many of you have) article after article about living more meaningfully, about making and keeping resolutions, and about goal setting as the year draws to a close. I have some thoughts and ways to make some commitments more tangible that I'm working on too. Ways to chronicle the journey more intentionally than haphazardly.
In the meantime, the end is coming!
I can't believe the year is ending.
I can't believe a month of writing reverb 10 posts is also drawing to a close. I'm going to miss having those daily prompts that forced me to stop and reflect, sometimes from angles I wouldn't have considered.
Has 2010 flown by for anyone else? It really does seem like only yesterday that I was staring at a screen making a list of goals for the coming year. And now I'm doing it again, only they're going to look immensely different. Crazy.
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