Tag: faith

Resurrection Sunday

Happy Easter! What a glorious day, but also a glorious time to Easter. The time leading up to Easter, the Lenten season prepared me to receive Christ like never before. You see, for the last 40 days I fasted from social media and found myself in a period of discovery and wonder. When did we stop wondering? When did we stop discovering ourselves, our surrounding, each other?

Yes, there is beauty right in front of us that we sometimes fail to see because we are consumed with all the information in our world, the lives of the people we know, and perhaps being sold on the idea that our day to day lives are mundane and insignificant. We have learned to wonder and discover on things beyond our very selves and our immediate surroundings. This I discovered steals my joy and the gift of the very present moment that soon seizes to exist.

For 40 days I woke up to the chirping of the birds, to the scripture taped on the wall on my side of the bed “Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge” -Psalm 16:1., to my own thoughts, hopes, and God’s voice speaking subtle, can-do words to my heart. I enjoyed the drive in to work with my coffee and my mind on the road and the possibility for the day. I got to work with an uncluttered mind, ready to show up as the day presented itself. There were no preconceived thoughts or images, just what was in front of me. It was beautiful.

Those yearnings to do more, go more places, change this or that, dissipated. I was running my own race, not anyone else’s. What a novel idea! Most of us yearn for things beyond what we have and that can be a good thing, but when it blurs the present moment with it’s gifts, opportunities, blessings, and challenges, we miss the only thing we truly have and that is the present moment, the day at hand. This day won’t repeat itself. It’s here today, gone tomorrow. Sounds cliche, but it’s packed with truth.

I want to move to the South some day, have a bigger house, live in a quiet small country town, and be surrounded by nature. This is the goal of the Bond family and one we feel God calling us to at some point. But, my 40 day journey helped me uncover that I have nature at my footsteps. I can marvel at the trees lining the streets, my neighbors gardens, the park up the street, the multitude of hiking trails, and within a few hours drive, the mountains, ocean, and desert. Yearning for something that I see on social media or televisions is a joy zapper because it frames all things to that image or idea. Yet what is right in front of me has many of those elements and best of all, it’s tangible right in the present moment.

In a world filled with information at our fingertips, I chose to silence it for 40 days as a posture of respect, honor, and preparation for Resurrection Day. I practiced the sabbath, read my bible, journaled, went for walks, talked to my family, shared meals together, and just invited God into a space he is often secondary. A had unlimited margin for God and this brought peace and healing to a soul that needed to stop wondering on the outside and spend time at home with Christ. Home is where I calibrated the thoughts and habits that for so long clouded my mind. I can’t tell you how many times my mind and body reached for the phone to check IG or Facebook when I was bored or with nothing to do. It was crazy, yet fascinating.

It’s Resurrection Sunday. I can get back on social media, get sucked back into peoples lives or the next product to buy, or I can sit back a moment longer and just breathe, posture myself in continual gratitude, and hope that new habits were formed, new connections were made, and the present moment became enough for this season of life. I am inspired and I hope to inspire someone else to see the beauty that embellishes our life right at this moment.

Take a deep breath, look around, and be thankful that the colors, smells, and sounds of this moment is just what you need. All is good!

Ready or Not…..

This is the title of our current series at church. It’s so timely as we enter a time of fasting and prayer leading up to Easter. For me, Lent has always been a special time of year. My granny Lila honored this time of year. She brought our family together in community and over good food. I still remember everyone crowded in her small home, but with so much joy. Every corner of her home was unoccupied by someone talking, laughing or eating. It was truly a home filled with love, community, and Jesus.

I’m reading a book called “Practicing the Way” by John Mark Comer and it speaks to all these spiritual practices that I saw in my granny’s home for so many years. I didn’t think much of them then, but today I know that it was part of my granny’s spiritual formation. She practiced what Jesus practiced in his ministry. Jesus spent time with his disciples, shared meals with people, even tax collectors, stepped aside to pray, and made his ministry about helping and bringing people together.

Did you commit to a spiritual practice this Lent? Are you fasting from something that perhaps like me has taken you away from community and spiritual formation? I am fasting from social media. I’m not on it all the time, but I reckon enough to notice that it isolates me and others because we feel that connecting through a post is enough to build meaningful relationships, but this is a lie the enemy wants us to believe so that we achieve isolation, his point of entry.

My hope is that as I learn to practice the ways of Jesus, I can begin to open my heart and home to build community with others in a society that prefers to see us busy and achieving. There are several spiritual practices that help us live like Jesus, but it all starts by eliminating something in our life to make room for new spiritual practices. For anyone on this 40 day spiritual journey to Easter, may you be encouraged to persevere in your efforts to get closer to Christ.

If you feel called, please share if you are fasting or engaging in a spiritual practice to get closer to Jesus. I’d love to hear how you are seeking a more rich and fulfilling life. I hope my granny inspires your journey!