Random Musings

For the next 31 days, I will be dedicating myself to the Proverbs and the wisdom found there. I will be sharing what particularly strikes me. I'd love it if you join me on this journey seeking wisdom. I will begin tomorrow, March 1st, with Proverbs 1 and read and respond to a chapter per day. I'm excited to see what I will learn!

As a single person, I tend to stay away from offering any advice on marriage. For me, any such advice would be all theoretical (having never had a spouse of my own). But, I do, however, listen to marriage advice often and tuck it away for possible future use. This week I had the opportunity to "get" some advice from one of my married friends. And, since I loved it so much, I thought I would share it here. My friend started out by telling me that all marriage counselors should tell their clients in pre-marriage counseling that they "WILL get divorced". I laughed a bit until I realized she was absolutely serious. She continued, "Seriously, they should tell young couples that they can see the future and they WILL get divorced". She then went on to expound upon her thought and I loved it. She told me that if I could look forward and know that my marriage would end in 5 or 10 years, it would give me the opportunity to change that future. And, the truth...

I'm in a weekly Bible study with the most amazing collection of women. We're all joined by a relationship to one woman, but come from different areas of her life. This Bible study has been a huge blessing to me in the short time we've been meeting. One of the ladies has been employing a method of studying the Bible for years that seemed interesting to me. She has gone through and written her own paraphrase of the books she's studied. She shared some of it with us last week, and it struck me as such a good way to really understand and get the words into my heart. Being able to put an idea into your own words shows a strong understanding of the idea itself. I've been thinking a great deal about I Corinthians 13 since pastor Greg's message a few weeks ago. So, I thought I'd try my hand at this new technique of Bible study. So, before I share my venture with you, a word of caution: This is my paraphrase and understanding of this passage. I haven't gone to th...

1 Corinthians 13 (The Message) The Way of Love 1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others ...

A recent sermon by my pastor and a blog post from my friend have me asking some questions about love and what I don't understand about it. If you have a moment, take a break from what you're reading here and read Rachael's Blog: We Don't Fully Understand Love If you can't access it by clicking above, you can access it here: http://rmirabella.blogspot.com/2011/02/we-dont-fully-understand-love.html It won't hurt my feelings if you don't make it back to this blog after reading Rae's. She gives her readers a great deal to think through, and I am still chewing on what she said. But, I would love to see some discussion about it, as it always helps me to hear what others are thinking. At Word of Life , we are currently enjoying a series based upon the book "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom. There are so many examples of love and faith in God in that book that it is at times overwhelming. To see love in action in the lives of the Ten Boom family...

Every Sunday, almost compulsively, I visit www.postsecret.com . It's been a tradition for me for quite some time. And yet, every week, I am struck by how much we have in common as human beings. Postsecret began as a community art project where people were asked to mail in their secrets on a postcard and present them in a creative and unique way. The result has been an amazing collection of secrets that reveal the most interesting and universal of human emotions. Sometimes, the secret isn't immediately evident. This week, there was such a secret. You can view that secret by following this link: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVesPZW0-6gFd9ggtJVNBgvwmrFH0L4SzSt2b7HWL9oVs511d5MDZeS3Bw0ZlK7ZhyphenhyphenCWrU3jfj96mvhGGVlDCEIdFNaFvngKmN5E2fA2idquAtW83-mDSZM260Z8LGKnvmi6jQPw/s1600/deweysaysburnout.jpg I was reminded, once again, of a sense of greater community when Frank Warren posted that this one secret had triggered enough hits on Google that it was actu...

I've been thinking alot about the people who have made an impact on me, in some way or another, throughout the course of my life. A conversation that prompted by last blog post , also prompted this line of thinking. There are people who seem to own pieces of me, pieces I've given away, or that have been taken from me over the years. I had a very visual picture of it in my mind this afternoon as I started to think about the pieces of me that have someone else's name tatooed across them. There's a piece of me that will always belong to my first love; a corner of my heart that seems to store the momentos of that time in my life. There's the smile that belongs to the friend who always knows how to evoke it; the only one who knows. There are pieces that are ugly and scarred by people who have wounded me with words and actions; their names scratched into the jagged tissue. There's the side of me that is reserved for the one who always seems to make me go a little cr...

I had a conversation this morning with a friend who knows me well. In fact, this friend is one of those precious few with whom I can immediately reconnect no matter the time or distance between us. And, sometimes he knows me better than I'd like. With friends like these, it's hard to hide. It's nearly impossible to pretend you're having a good day when you really aren't. This was the case for me today. I wasn't having the brightest of mornings and this friend could hear it in my voice. God was sending me a blessing, and I didn't even know it. I needed some great laughter today, and that's exactly what I got from my friend. He doesn't even have to try, he just lifts my spirits. There's something to shared experience, authenticity in relationship, and a sense of humor between two people that can just make all of the difference. So, in honor of my friend and his ability to brighten my day when I needed it most, I'd like to share some of t...

Max Lucado is one of my favorite authors. He has a way of telling a story that just really grabs my attention. I've read this one a few times this week and wanted to share it. I needed the lesson; maybe you do too. The Woodcutter's Wisdom by Max Lucado Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before—such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength. People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. “This horse is not a horse to me,” he would tell them. “It is a person. How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?” The man was poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse. One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. All the village came to see him. “You old fool,” they scoffed, “we told you that someone would st...

I had the honor, today, of attending the funeral of a man who walked 93 years on this earth. I can't even begin to imagine the things he saw in his lifetime. I wonder what he must have thought as he saw the world go through so many changes. His obituary stated that he had nine hobbies: his wife, his seven children, and his church. What a legacy to leave. He was a military man, a business man, and a community leader, but what he loved was his wife, his seven children, and his church. I am blessed to know one of his children and two of his grandchildren. I can see his legacy in them. What touched me the most, this week, as I heard stories of his passing, was of a comment his wife of 70 years made to him in his last days. I'm told that she told him it was ok to let go, not to worry because, "I'm right behind you". How beautiful. I'm sure that is not a comforting thought for their children who are still grieving the loss of their father, but somehow, it r...

I've been thinking a great deal lately about the power of words. As a person who loves words, it's not an unusual thought for me. I'm often looking for just the right one to express what I'm feeling. I'm processing something that was said to me yesterday, a message actually, that I believe the Lord wants me to hear. But, in that journey of processing, I've been stuck on this thought all day. It's interesting to me how some words take on a life of their own and seem to have power just in the utterance. "Cancer", for instance, is one of those words. That's the one that keeps reverberating in my mind as I chew on these thoughts. In many cases, people have difficulty even saying it, relegating it to "The 'C' word" so as to not have to name the terrible thing. The lady who shared with me last night actually battled cancer. She was given a 24% chance of living as the disease ravaged her body. To someone who has faced those...