Lisa notes

Share Four Somethings—June 2022

By LisaNotes June 24, 2022 Life updates 23 Comments

Near the end of each month I share four somethings with others at Heather’s.

And here’s my latest One Second Everyday monthly video . . .

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Something Loved

GPS VOICE OPTIONS

I love using the Waze app on my phone to give me turn-by-turn directions when I’m out and about. GPS apps have been life-changers for me.

But lately I love an added bonus: I switched to the “Headspace” voice option offered free by Waze. She still gives me the basic directions but she also tells me these things periodically:

“Enjoy the journey.”
“This is a great time for a deep breath.”
“Sometimes the journey takes you back from where you came.” (She says this when I miss my turn and have to backtrack.)

The soothing voice may be a small thing, but it makes navigating a little less stressful for me.

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Something Gleaned

SPIRITUAL RESILIENCE

To invest in your spirituality, one of the tips in this book is to:

Nurture the practices of spiritual resilience.

It takes work to be resilient, but it is possible even in hard circumstances. For inspiration, McLaren reminds us in the book (and gives lots of resources in the footnotes) to look back at our ancestors and neighbors who have shown resilience through the years.

“Their legacy teaches us to see each intensifying episode of turbulence as a labor pain from which a new creative opportunity can born. Life will be tough; the only question is whether we will become tougher, wiser, and more resilient.”

In my own current difficult situation, I look to the resilient women who have walked this path ahead of me and have remained strong and gracious in their spiritual journeys with God.

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Something Braved

SIGNED UP TO BECOME A POLL WORKER

Granted, I’ve only taken step one—I mailed in my application to help staff our local polling places on election days here in Alabama.

But it took courage for me to do even this baby step. So I’m pausing to acknowledge it.

I don’t want to lose our democracy, so if this is one small thing I can do to help keep it in place, I want to step out of my comfort zone and do it.

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Something Achieved

MET A NEW FRIEND

I’ve not been looking for a new friend, but I won’t turn one down if she arrives. Finding new friends in adulthood is not as easy as in younger years.

Shannan, one of my newer friends the past couple of years, met a new friend Cathy. She recognized Cathy and I had similar interests. So Shannan set up a meeting for all three of us to meet for coffee on a Sunday afternoon.

It was delightful! Shannan was right. Cathy and I do have a lot in common. I look forward to developing my friendship with both Shannan and Cathy.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Tell Us Again Why You Chose Your One Word {June One Word Linkup}
—One Word Linkup

By LisaNotes June 22, 2022 One Word Community 33 Comments

Share Your One Word Update

Link your blog post below about your One Word and share an update about your One Word in the comments.

You’re at the halfway point with your One Word for the year. Do you remember why you chose it?

Below are 3 questions for you to consider. Can you give a one-sentence answer for each one?

Three “WHY” Questions

How would you answer these questions?

Think about them this month. Talk them over with fellow One-Worders or with a friend. Pray for wisdom in how you’d like to answer these same questions at the end of the year.

1. WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS WORD?

2. WHY IS THAT GOAL IMPORTANT TO ME?

3. WHY IS THIS WORD HELPING ME THIS YEAR OR NOT HELPING ME?

This One Word linkup will remain open through Thursday night, June 30, for your One Word updates.

The next One Word linkup will begin Friday, July 22 (every One Word linkup in 2022 opens on the 22nd).

Why did you choose your One Word for 2022? Leave a comment here about your One Word.

Get more One Word ideas here

Link Up About Your One Word!

Do I Stay Christian or Not?

By LisaNotes June 20, 2022 Book reviews 22 Comments

He was sitting in the front row. He was waiting his turn to speak.

I was sitting in the second row behind him, waiting to hear what he would say, along with a couple hundred other people also waiting in the audience.

I watched as he discretely pulled out his phone. Maybe he was answering a text. Maybe he was typing a note.

And something about this made me smile as he typed . . .

Because he was typing on his phone with just his pointer finger.

Not texting with both thumbs. Not swiping. Not even using both pointer fingers.

He was just using one lone index finger to strike one tiny letter at a time, like many of us do in our generation who didn’t grow up texting like today’s kids.

He then finished his note. And put his phone away.

It turns out Brian McLaren is just as normal as the rest of us.

It was endearing. Because it was so human.

Stay or Go?

Listening to Brian speak at the Christian conference we were attending lit even more fire within me about his latest book, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned.

In person and in writing, Brian infers that the American Christian church is in trouble.

Doesn’t everyone see it? I sometimes wonder how much further back into the pews Christ can be shoved until he is eventually kicked out of the door altogether of many Christian churches, just another unnecessary hindrance to the latest Christian agenda.

Who is ready to walk away from this troubled Christianity? And who is determined to stay?

And for those who do choose to stay, can their Christianity include more Jesus, more grace, and more love?

Part 1: Do You Stay Christian? No

These are the types of questions that Brian poses to his readers in Do I Stay Christian. He divides the book into three sections: reasons not to stay Christian, reasons to stay Christian, and how to be good, honest, and loving regardless of what you decide about staying Christian.

In Part 1 of Do I Stay Christian?, Brian lists 10 reasons why many people choose not to remain Christian.

Here are five of those reasons:

Because Christianity has been vicious to its mother (anti-semitism)
Because of Christianity’s suppression of dissent (Christian vs. Christian violence)
Because of Christianity’s real master (money)
Because of the white Christian old boys’ network (white patriarchy)
Because of Christianity’s great wall of bias (constricted intellectualism)

Behind each title is a wealth of information included in each chapter, plus five more chapters.

Part 2: Do You Stay Christian? Yes

But what are some reasons you would want to stay Christian? In Part 2 of this book, Brian lists ten reasons.

Five of these reasons for staying are:

Because leaving defiantly or staying compliantly are not the only options
Because where else would you go?
Because of its legendary Founder
Because you’re human
Because Christianity is changing (for worse and for better)

Again, these titles alone don’t tell the story. Brian goes into depth inside every chapter and the remaining five chapters.

Part 3: How to Be Loving, Whichever You Decide

In Part 3 of the book, Brian writes about how to live in a loving way that is good for ourselves and for our fellow human beings, regardless of our decision to stay a Christian.

Some of the ways include:

Start with the heart
Create positive alternatives
Prepare yourself for turbulence
Nurture the practice of spiritual resilience
Stay loyal to reality
Stay human

But the book really doesn’t even end there. If you stick it out to the end, you’ll also find five appendices, including this one: “Do I Stay in My Denomination?”

All Humans Together

In the end Brian decides for himself, “So, no. I will not quit. Not today. Today I will stay Christian.“

I appreciate this humble, intelligent, kind, and spiritual leader to listen to and learn from.

I also like having a leader like Brian who isn’t afraid or ashamed to share his doubts, disappointments, and disillusionments. Like the ones I have. Perhaps you, too?

As Brian says, we aren’t looking for a cure for being human; what we need is help to become humane.

“Our problems are not just religious problems. Nor are they merely political, economic, or scientific problems. Our problems are human problems.”

Being human by ourselves can feel exhausting. But true spirituality is meant to bring people closer, not push them further apart.

When we see our own humanness in others—even in the smallest ways, such as texting each other with our pointer fingers—we smile in recognition.

We’re all humans together.

I highly recommend the book Do I Stay Christian? for those who are prepared to ask themselves the hard questions, and who don’t give up even when there aren’t clear answers.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Romans 8:26 – Memory Verse for June 19-25, 2022

By LisaNotes June 19, 2022 Memorization No Comments

This week’s memory verse for the 8-8-8 Bible Memory Challenge is Romans 8:26.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:26

SCHEDULE

June 5-11, Romans 8:1
June 12-18, Romans 8:15
June 19-25, Romans 8:26
June 26-July 2, Romans 8:28
July 3-9, Romans 8:31
July 10-16, Romans 8:37
July 17-23, Romans 8:38
July 24-30, Romans 8:39

What Will You Do This Juneteenth?
—Grace & Truth Linkup

By LisaNotes June 17, 2022 Discrimination, Grace & Truth Link-Up 5 Comments

I don’t know when the tradition started with my in-laws.

But long before I even married into the family (which has been almost 30 years), my in-laws have hosted a huge July 4th picnic at their home on the lake. Friends and family (and friends of families) are all invited, come one, come all.

We know what to do on July 4.

Our newest national holiday, Juneteenth (“America’s second Independence Day”), is Sunday, June 19.

I don’t have years of traditions celebrating Juneteenth. Yet.

Juneteenth National Independence Day is also called Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, or Black Independence Day. It became an official holiday for everyone last year on June 17, 2021.

But Juneteenth has been celebrated by generations of African Americans for years. (I’m genuinely hoping we white folk won’t mess it up for them now that we’re getting involved in the celebrations.)

It marks the symbolic end of enslavement in the United States. The story goes that while President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation into law on January 1, 1863, the news didn’t reach the southernmost outpost of slavery in Texas until two and a half years later on June 19, 1865, two months after the Confederacy surrendered.

The cities near me will each have celebrations on Saturday and Sunday to mark the significance of the day, and also to remind us that racial equity still hasn’t been fully achieved. I like what historian Mitch Kachun has said the three goals of Juneteenth are: to celebrate, to educate, and to agitate.

While we’ve made definite progress since 1865, we still have white supremacy implanted in many of our institutional structures and often still rooted in our hearts, consciously or unconsciously. This must change.

So taking time to look back to 1865, to acknowledge the journey we’ve been on, is critical if we want to move forward from a foundation of truth.

I’m looking forward to attending my first Juneteenth celebration this year. In addition to the celebration stuff (food and music!), they’ll also be offering voter registration, a blood drive, covid vaccines, and more.

Who knows? Maybe this will begin a new tradition for my family for years to come.

Featured Post

Is today a dot or a dash for you?

In our featured post this week, Robin Gonzalez says,

“The Holy Spirit works within you and changes you by the dots and dashes of ordinary life-every situation, circumstance, and relationship.”

The small dots are everyday life. The larger dashes are challenges in life. They both can be times of growth in our relationship with the Lord.

__ __ * ___ ___ ___ __ ** ** *** * ___ ** ___ ___ ___ ***_ *

Read all of Robin’s post here, then link up your own blog posts below.

“Dots and Dashes”

Thanks for sharing your post, Robin! Here’s a button for your blog.

Have you celebrated Juneteenth before? Share your thoughts in the comments.

I’m linking at these blog parties

Review the rules here about adding your most recent Christian Living posts and how to become our next Featured Post. Visit all four hosts’ social media here or websites here: Maree Dee | Lisa notes | Lauren Sparks | Tammy Kennington.

Now Let’s Link Up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Can You Let Go of How You Want Life to Be, and Accept Life as It Is?

By LisaNotes June 14, 2022 Encouragement, Release: One Word 2022 21 Comments

The Questions I Ask Myself

The title of my own post makes me uncomfortable:

Can You Let Go of How You Want Life to Be, and Accept It as It Is?

For me, it begs the questions:

If you accept life as it is, are you implying that everything is fine as it is?
If you accept life as it is, are you giving up on changing bad situations into good situations?
If you accept life as it is, are you admitting that nothing can improve?

If there are things I don’t like about life (and there are things I don’t like, such as, mass shootings, religious infighting, racial inequity, relationship conflicts, debilitating illnesses, on and on…), isn’t it counterproductive to “accept” them?

The Answers I’m Finding

No. Acceptance is not counterproductive.

In my year of Release, I’m learning more and more that I need to let go of my discontent that life isn’t fully how I want it to be right now.

I need to stop fighting against accepting things as they are.

I can never make things better if I’m not first willing to accept them as they are. Even if I don’t like them.

Before we can apologize, we must accept we’re wrong.
Before we can heal, we must acknowledge the wound.
Before we can grow, we must recognize we’re stunted.

Trying to change the future before we understand the present doesn’t work well.

And we often get too far ahead of ourselves in our rush for improvement. When our thoughts drift too far into the future, we’re wise to acknowledge them, notice them, but then return again to the present moment. Without avoidance. Without suppression. Without denial.

Facing reality is the necessary first step. This is what acceptance is. This is the foundation. Until we know where we are, where we’re starting, as accurately as our minds can allow, we can’t map out proper directions to get where we want to end up.

And then, based on this knowledge, we can more clearly pursue God’s wisdom and more accurately understand God’s guidance to set goals and take action:

to restore relationships,
to make the world safer for everybody, and
ultimately to grow into more loving human beings.

It still won’t be easy. And it might not even be successful, especially if it involves other people and things out of our control.

But it’s a path worth pursuing.

Face it first. Move forward second.

How do you handle facing reality? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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