"Bless the moment... and the years will be their own blessing. Many of us
live life in a rush because it allows us to believe we are going somewhere."
-Jacob the Baker-


Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Twenty-Eleven

[Vision board: a board which visually captures the things that you hope for yourself for the year to come.]  Thanks to Karen from chookooloonks for the idea, a stack of magazines for image-fodder, and a strong 16 year-old with an honest and open heart for sharing in this creative evening.
Having decided that this is something I wanted to try during the Christmas chain-link between December and January, fall and winter, 2010 and 2011, I decided to share the joy of magazine-flipping, cutting, pasting and painting with one of the youth at the shelter.  I was deeply impacted by her insight and resilience.
 May I learn to see the wholeness in the people around me in spite of their brokenness.  May I begin to see the wholeness in myself in spite of my own brokenness. Imperfect and whole.  If you want to be humbled and inspired, complete this exercise with a child or a teenager.
Three words sum up the images and words that popped out at me as I sifted through our stack of magazines:
Roots.  Deeply rooted.  A sense of security and home; physical, metaphorical, and spiritual.  Can one sink roots into two places at once?  My compadre had the same concept on her board - she called it "dropping anchor."
Wings.  Free to fly.  A fresh sense of vision and purpose, equipped with the tools to pursue it well.  Emotionally, intellectually... in every sense of the word.
Fruit.  Crop happens.  Every year, apples sprout from apple trees!  The overflow of our lives if we have our roots in the ground and our leaves in the sky manifests itself in the growth of our character, and in deep investments in the lives of the people around us.  And yes, crap happens too... our investments don't always end up the way we want them to.  Crap happens; life has no guarantees.  Except one.  Guarantee: if I don't plant, I won't reap.  Risk nothing, and nothing will come out.  
May you be richly blessed this year!
May light leak through the cracks in our souls, and hope spill over the top of our fragile clay pots when we are overwhelmed by life's downpours.  May we be content in both giving and receiving.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i thoroughly support the cutting and pasting of old magazines. mine usually end up on the covers of journals and time keepers because they travel and my life is one of movement.

may you have a year filled with rooted moments...if that's making new ones or strengthening old ones. a year filled with newness even if it's over old things and the freedom to live through them and constantly learn. and finally, but certainly not least, a year where God produces so much fruit in your life and in the lives around you that you don't know where to start your harvest.

much love.