Author: upliftingterfa

The 12:30 Project – Update

Posted on upliftingterfaPosted in 12:30 Project, Blog

So I’ve been keeping a journal of sorts of the 12:30 Project, and so I thought I’d post an update of this month… If you’ve forgotten, January is the month of water.   I’m aiming to drink a gallon of water a day, which is 128 ounces.  Yeah. It’s a lot.  But surprisingly, not too difficult…
Things I’ve noticed:
I feel better. Really.  And it’s noticeable when I miss the last water bottle or two.  Again, my skin has never looked or felt better, and I haven’t had a headache since I began.  The Amazing Power of H20!!!
It’s not too late to jump into the project with me!  Even half a month is better than not at all!

Days 6-12

Day 6: I’ve done a good job today, but my body still hasn’t figured it out yet. I’m going to the bathroom an awful lot, but on the plus side, it gets me up and away from my desk about every hour.

Water Bottles consumed: 4
Glasses: 2
Lacroix: 1
Total ounces: 116
Trips to the bathroom: eleventy hundred

Day 7: Another good job, though I left my bottle at the office when I left, which took out my drinking on the drive home. Bummer. Still lots of bathroom trips, but slightly less than yesterday.
Water bottles: 3
Glasses: 3
Lacroix: 1
Cups of tea: 1
Total ounces: around 110

Day 8: no water bottle made a huge difference and by the time I realized I hadn’t been drinking water it was halfway through the day! Tried to catch up, but ended back a bit.
Probably most noticeable so far is how I feel great, though more tired than usual. My skin looks amazing. Probably the best in years.
Water bottles: 0
Glasses: 8
Perrier: 1
Total ounces: around 100

Day 9: an ok day today, but it was a busy day with a funeral and internment and running around… So I didn’t have it in my mind all morning. Then I drank beer with dinner instead of water and that set me back too.
Water bottles: 1.5
Glasses of water: 3
Total ounces: 72ish (yikes!)

Day 10: another less than stellar day. Why is it so hard to drink water when I’m home? Strange.
So I did ok.  I could feel yesterday’s drought today, which helped me drink more but still a bit off from my goal.
Water bottles: 2
Glasses: 2
Lacroix: 1
Total ounces: 90

Day 11: better.  Waaaaay better.
Starting off the day with big glasses of water seems to help keep the numbers up.  If I forget that, it’s all downhill. Learning curve is steep, but at least I’m learning. 🙂
Water Bottles: 2
Glasses: 4
LaCroix: 1
Total Ounces: 108

Day 12: Back at the office means back to remembering to drink water more.  Also means I’m running back and forth to the bathroom a lot again.  Bathroom in the house is different than bathroom somewhere in the building.
Water Bottles: 3
Glasses: 3
LaCroix: 1
Total Ounces: 120

Friday Uplift, 1/9/2015

Posted on upliftingterfaPosted in Friday Uplift

So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
(1 John 4:16)

Doing some sermon studying this week, I came across this unrelated verse from 1 John.
And I wrote it down on a sticky note on my desk that said “Friday Uplift.”
Of course, when I came into work today I had forgotten what 1 John 4:16 had to say at all…
But then I read it, and yes, it was exactly what I needed to hear.
And it was a good reminder that sometimes reading a verse quickly isn’t enough.

We might not use the word “abide” all that much in our day to day lives, but it’s a great word.
It means remain, or dwell, or continually be present.
So read it that way – “God is love, and those who are continually present in love are continually present in God, and God is continually present in them.”
Wow.
What a promise that is.
God is love.
When we love, we are present with God and God is present with us.
There isn’t much to add to that.
So I’m just going to put out a challenge today:
Learn this verse.
Don’t read this and forget it like I did earlier this week.
Meditate on it,
Read it a few times,
Write it down,
Maybe reflect with someone or journal on how it makes you feel,
and then just sit with it.
dwell.
Sometimes when we come face to face with this kind of love, all we can do is dwell in it.
Remain with it.
Cry.
Rejoice.
Have peace.
Know and believe in the love God has for you.

Epiphany (the day, not the feeling)

Posted on upliftingterfaPosted in Blog, Meditations

What a day for Epiphany.
It’s eleventy-hundred degrees below zero.
The commute was the worst of the season.
And somehow we have a house full of left hand mittens only.
But still, it’s Epiphany.
A day full of wonder and awe and joy.
Not because of the gifts presented to the newborn king, but because through the 3 Magi, we see God continuing to reveal a light into the darkness.
We continue to see God with us.
Because really, before this, God was with the house of Israel.
God was with the chosen people.
But today, on Epiphany, God chooses to be with all of us.
Epiphany is how we celebrate that God widened the scope of salvation to include everyone.
Those Magi are important, but because of what they mean, not what they bring.
God comes to all of us.

ALL OF US.

And so it’s worth taking time out today to celebrate, to remember, to pause in the cold of the day and the stress of the commute and busyness of life and be with the Magi as they first encounter Jesus.

So… how might we celebrate Epiphany today?
Because the Magi brought gifts, we might assume that we should too… that it’s another day to give gifts to one another.
But no, I think Epiphany is more about recognizing God’s gifts to us.
And our gift from God is Jesus.
“the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8)
This is what inspires the awe and wonder of the Magi.
Our gift from God.

So today, on Epiphany, here’s what we can do to celebrate:
Take a minute.
Light a candle.
Pause.
Breathe.
Say thanks.

OR – if you want to do something more… here are some other ideas from around the world to celebrate Epiphany:

1. In some church traditions, families gather at the door of their home on Epiphany to bless the home for the following year. One person writes over the doorway No. 2, then the letters C, M and B, and finally the last two digits of the current year. Between each letter and number is a plus sign, signifying the cross. The letters C, M, and B represent the names that tradition has given to the three wise men — Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They’re also the first three words of the Latin phrase “Christus mansionem benedicat,” which means, “Christ bless this house.”

2. In many countries, the Feast of Epiphany includes a delicious cake that is cut into pieces and served to everyone present. The cake’s ingredients differ from country to country. In France, the cake is a puff pastry filled with “frangipane” or sweet bun. In Spain and Mexico, the “rosca de royas” is made of sweet egg bread and is typically layered with frosting and fruit slices. Inside these cakes, a tiny bean is hidden representing the Christ child. When the cake is carved into pieces, whoever finds the bean is crowned king of the feast.

(info from http://www.ehow.com/how_9405_celebrate-feast-epiphany.html)

I love both of these, blessing the house seems like a lovely tradition to do each year, and despite finding a hidden and baked baby Jesus kind of creepy, I can always get behind any tradition that involves eating cake.

However you do it, celebrate today.
God’s plan includes YOU.
That is worth a celebration.

Happy Epiphany
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January (Water): first days

Posted on upliftingterfaPosted in Blog, Meditations

So drinking water is a lot harder than I thought it would be.
I’ve figured to get the 128 ounces I need to drink 5 of my water bottles in my day.
I got to four yesterday.

So yeah, I got a LOT more water in me than usual, but not the gallon.
It’s not habit yet, to pick up the water bottle.
In fact, it felt like all I was doing was drinking water!
But I felt good.
Alert, healthy… good.
Yes, I’m in the bathroom more than usual, but I think it will calm down once my body knows what the heck to do with everything.
Yoga this morning felt better too.
First impressions, it’s tough, but I can feel the difference.
Soldier on.

The 12:30 Project

Posted on upliftingterfaPosted in 12:30 Project, Blog

So it’s the new year, and like a lot of people, I like to use it to get back in the swing of things after two weeks of traveling and eating and getting out of the routine.

Last year, I started daily yoga, and have only missed a few days since then, mostly because of illness or travel.  It has really changed my life.  I know that sounds SUPER cheesy, but I feel better, look better, I’m stronger, and healthier, and more aware of how I feel and what I’m doing to my body.  It’s been amazing.  It all started with a 30 day yoga challenge, and then, well, I never really stopped.  It changed me so much that I didn’t want to quit.  And I still haven’t.

This is what I’ve been thinking as I’ve pondered the new year and resolutions and what it might look like for me.  I think one of the problems I have with New Year Resolutions is that they seem to be a life change, and almost always set me up to fail since I don’t have an end date and it seems impossible.  But 30 day things, that I can do.
So was born my New Year’s Resolution of 2015.  I’m calling it The 12:30 project.
Each month, I’m going to try something new for 30 days.  It might be related to my health, well being, relationships, spirituality, or because I’m interested in growing, but I’m committing to a year of this.
I’ll blog it as I can, and hopefully most of these things will impact me in the same way that my initial 30 days of yoga did.  I’ll keep doing them, or at least I will have a changed perspective.

So here’s the plan:

January: Water
February: Sex
March: No Sugar
April: Prayer
May: Gratitude
June: Rest/Sleep
July: Kindness
August: Creation
September: Bible
October: No Meat
November: Service
December: Joy

Some of these are obvious, like no sugar in March, or no meat in October, and some are less obvious, like what I mean by sleep in June, or sex in February.
Rest assured, I’ve got them all figured out, and you’ll have to pop back over to find out what I’m doing those months!  🙂

This month, January, I’m beginning the whole project with water. I’m going to aim to drink a gallon of water a day.  That’s 128 ounces.  Science says that I should be drinking half my body weight in ounces a day, so that’s my minimum, in case I don’t quite hit the 128 that I’m aiming for. But I AM hoping to do it.
I know I don’t drink enough water.
I also know that it is the number one way to increase my overall health.
I know all this, and then I saw this a few weeks ago and it blew my mind a bit.
So that’s where I’m starting.  Drink up!

Happy New Year!
The 12:30 Project begins now!

(Anyone want to join me?)

Friday Uplift, 1/2/2015

Posted on upliftingterfaPosted in Friday Uplift

Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—  in peace because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever,  for in the Lord God  you have an everlasting rock. 

(Isaiah 26:3-4) 

Happy New Year! 
If your past two weeks have been anything like mine, it’s been hectic and busy and wonderful and crazy.  I’ve been eating and traveling and eating and traveling some more.  When things get this way, sometimes it’s tough to find my center, to come back to the foundation of me.

The holiday season can be a distracting and chaotic time of year, and I know a lot of people do resolutions and start new things when the next year begins.  

It’s a jump start of sorts.  
And usually after a month or so we kind of fall back into old patterns and old ways. So how helpful is it really?
Can we really trust that it is those things that will make the new year good?
Maybe, more important than starting new things and getting better, is just remembering who we are, and sticking with that.  
That stick-to-it-ness is sometimes called being steadfast.  
It means remaining true and unwavering.  
At this time of year a lot of things are telling me I need to look somewhere else to find peace. And I don’t really feel all that steadfast.   
But Isaiah reminds us:
“those of steadfast mind you keep in peace.”
And boy, I could really use a little peace right about now.  

That’s why these verses have been a good reminder to me at this beginning of a new year.  It’s a reminder that being true to myself, to who God has created me to be and staying resolutely firm in that is more important than any fad diet or exercise regime I might think I need to start.
I think this is what Isaiah means by “steadfast.”  Be who you are, and who you are is a child of God.  You can trust in that.   Remain steadfast in that truth.   And the result of being steadfast is having peace.  Peace.  Not peace because you lost weight or ate better, but peace because of trust.
You trust that being a child of God means that God has your back.
No matter what.

And sure,  if you want to diet or exercise or eat better, go for it… but all those things won’t bring you peace.  God will.
So start with being who you are.
And go from there.

Happy New Year, Child of God.
Peace be with you. 

Friday Uplift, 12-26-2014

Posted on upliftingterfaPosted in Friday Uplift

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16 So the shepherds went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2)

I’ve been thinking about this set of verses for a few days now, and the two words that have kept popping out to me as I’ve read them and thought about them are “treasured” and “pondered.”
Being kind of a nerd, I looked the Greek translations of these words up to see what Luke was getting at when he wrote this version of the Birth of Jesus.  While treasured isn’t a horrible translation, a better one might be “kept”  or “preserved.” Mary kept these things.  Mary preserved these things.  And the word we translate as “ponder” actually means “brought together.”  So Mary kept these things she heard about Jesus from the shepherds, and brought them together with the things she already knew in her heart.

I think this is what we’re supposed to do too. 

No matter how many Christmas Eve services I have been a part of, no matter how many times I hold up my candle and sing “silent night, holy night,”  something new happens. 
Some new feeling is stirred up, or I hear some text differently, or I hear the carols in a new way based on things I’ve experienced in the past year.
No matter what, each year I experience Emmanuel, God with us, again.
I’m reminded that light has come into the darkness.
I’m reminded that God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to ME. 
Little ol me.
“For unto YOU on this day a child is born”  
For you. 
For me. 
God with us.
And I feel it.

And this is when these words about Mary mean something to ME.
Because when I have that moment of God with me, I preserve it.
I keep it.  I hold it close.
And like Mary, this new experience of Christ is added to all the others I’ve had and makes it more.
A little deeper, a little more full.

Today, the day after Christmas, take some time and think about the ways in which you experienced Emmanuel, God with us, in the past two days.
Keep it. Preserve it. Hold onto it.
Then add it into all the other ways you’ve also experienced Christ in the days, months, and years before this.
Put them all together and you too will get a greater picture of God at work in you and in the world.
It’s a powerful exercise, and one that I challenge you to do today.
Write it down, or talk it out with someone.
It’s a stunning reminder of how present God really is in our lives.

God before us. God behind us.  

God above us. God below us. 
God beside us. 
God with us.

Friday Uplift, 12/19/2014

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17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. (Ephesians 1:17-19)

I’m sitting in my office, about to officiate a funeral of a young man, and I’m reminded of a phrase from my ever-favorite, Glennon Melton.  It’s time for some perspectacles.  I think it’s easy to get caught up in the negatives, the bad things that are happening, in the world and in our own lives.  Honestly, it’s sometimes hard NOT to get caught up in the bad stuff.
But then I come in to church and prepare to do a funeral for a 44 year old young man.
And I gain some perspective.
AND I am reminded once again (by Sue today, in fact) that every day is a gift.
Bad news and all. 

I think this is what Paul is talking about in this Ephesians text.
Paul is praying for us to have our eyes opened, and not our physical eyes, but the “eyes of your heart.”
You might not have known this before now, but you have regular eyes (the ones on your face) and heart eyes.
Heart eyes are different, because they see different things.
Physical eyes see nature and people and news, but heart eyes, they see HOPE.
When God is present in our lives, when God makes himself known to us, our heart is opened and though we see the same bad things, we see them in a different way.  Those are perspectacles.

We talk a lot in Advent about Christ coming into the world and breaking into the darkness with light.
That darkness is everywhere, including our own heart eyes.
It’s time for some perspectacles people.
It’s time to open the eyes of our hearts today and see the power of God’s greatness in the world around us, and within us.

Light is breaking in.
Heart eyes are opening.
Hope is peeking out.  

AMEN

The sermon I didn’t preach yesterday…

Posted on upliftingterfaPosted in Sermons

“Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.”  Isaiah 40:4

Yesterday (Sunday) I came into the office early to prepare for preaching, and read verse 4.  BAM.  Lightning struck.  Or the Holy Spirit.  Either way, I read the above verse in a totally new light.  If it hadn’t been an hour before I was supposed to preach – then maybe everyone would have heard a totally different sermon.  And I’m not sure people would have loved it.

Because this time when I read Isaiah 40:4, instead of the good news I preached it as yesterday, I read it as a warning.

In light of the events of the last week, the continued injustices, the protests, the fear, the hate… this verse meant something different.

In light of more news about people being killed for standing up for what is right or challenging cartels in Mexico, this verse meant something new.

In light of my own ability to jump online to my instant access internet, in my heated home, after a nice hot healthy meal, and purchase Christmas gifts with little or no thought to the cost of any of it… this verse was drastically different.

See, what I read differently yesterday wasn’t so much about the people in the valley being brought up, or the people in rough ground being given smooth paths, but about the earth being made level.
Christ is coming into the world and everything is going to be made equal.
See if you’re in the valley, this is great news.
But, I’m guessing that’s not most of us… most of us are on the mountain.
And if you’re on the mountain, looking down into the valley, this new Kingdom that is coming will bring you face to face with those whom you perceive to be below you.
And God will ALWAYS take the side of the oppressed.
Which is really good news for the oppressed, but really dangerous news for everyone else.

As I said yesterday, Isaiah is a prophet, and the job of a prophet is to hold up a mirror and force us to be honest about what we see.
And for most of us, we are on a mountain.
We are not the oppressed, we’re the oppressor.
And I know, we don’t want to admit it.
But it is most likely true.

In these next few weeks… look in that mirror that Isaiah is holding up.
Be honest about how you really, truly treat those around you in the world: those who are different than you are, those who occupy a world that is not like your own.
And then ask yourself, when Christ comes this Christmas, where do you want to be?

Do you want to be lowered from your perch up on the mountain?
Or do you want to be raised up from the valley? And not raised because you’re suddenly oppressed but because you are down in the valley WITH those who are being oppressed.  Fighting for them, caring for them, being with them.

I know which one I want to be…

Friday Uplift (December 5, 2014)

Posted on upliftingterfaPosted in Friday Uplift
“My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” 
(Song of Songs 2:14)
Song of Songs is often misunderstood as a love poem between a man and a women, but the book in it’s entirety is one giant metaphor, a love story, between God and us.
And it’s beautiful.
This small verse is one of my favorites, and it’s one that I bring out when I’m feeling “less.”  It’s a call from God, to come out of hiding and speak, to show my face, to be present.
See, when things aren’t going my way,when I get bad news, when I’m feeling hurt or beat up by the world, my tendency is to hide.  I want to crawl under the covers and eat chocolate and never come out.  And while that might feel nice for a little bit, it’s not the full life that God has in mind for us.
God wants to see your face.
God wants to hear your voice.
Not for any other reason than because we are God’s beloved.
That’s it.
Notice in this verse that it doesn’t say our words are sweet, or our facial expressions are lovely.
Nope.
Your voice is what is sweet, your face is what is lovely.
God just wants your presence.
God just wants you.
A relationship, with you.
So even if you aren’t feeling the best, or your face is sad, or your words are angry… God says your face is lovely, and your voice is sweet.
When God can see our faces and hear our voices… when we aren’t hiding –  it means we are together, with God.
No matter what you are going through today – God is with you.
And God wants you to stop hiding and let him have it.
Anger, sorry, love, joy.
God wants it all.
Don’t hide.
YOU are God’s beloved.