Vibrant Lives

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Inspiration Corner
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Inspiration Corner

Belonging...

8/21/2018

1 Comment

 
Written by Denise Meyer
Confession time! This has been a rough week for me and honestly I can’t exactly say why I have been feeling unsettled, anxious and discombobulated. Yes that is a word. Even the guy in Starbucks noticed that I did not respond to his, “how are you” greeting with, “Pretty darn good!” So during my devotion time, I grabbed my journal and worked on the question: “What’s going on Denise?” Do you ever have days like that when you can’t quite figure out why you are struggling for no particular reason? I tend to call these times wilderness wanderings because some days it feels like I have lost my way and need time to regroup. That is one of the reasons why I journal. When I write out my feelings in black and white, it is easier to identify what is going, and how to adjust and realign my thinking for a healthier attitude. One of the best ways for me to readjust my attitude is to open a well-known book, the Bible.
While writing in my journal, I was reminded that we can get bogged down with life’s struggles, or frustrations and I lose track of God’s presence. My whole life I have known and believed that I am part of God’s family, however there are times when I take that belief for granted. Because of my life-long faith journey it is easy to shift into autopilot with God. Yes I have faith and go through all of the motions like, attending church, praying, doing Bible study and yet feel disconnected in our relationship. When I don’t nurture a real relationship with God, life can be filled with anxiety, restlessness and doubt. It’s like any family relationship; despite the arguing or teasing between members, they are still family and we are loved and accepted by them. A healthy relationship with God can mirror the same familial experience so that when we have doubts, fears, and disbelief, we can be confident that as family, God still loves us and remains near. As a chaplain in a hospital, part of my job was to pray with people undergoing surgery or medical procedures. After each prayer, I encouraged them to take a deep breath and lift their hand to their nose to feel the air expressed on their hands. This was not so much to get them to relax, as it was to give them a tangible feeling of God’s presence. This idea comes from the Bible’s creation story; God’s Spirit hovered over the chaos. In the Hebrew language, the word for God’s Spirit or Wind is “Ruach.” This same term is used when God breathes into the first humans as well as when Jesus breathed His Spirit over the disciples as he prepared to leave them. I believe it is that same breath or Spirit that resides within us. When I shared this with the patients especially when they were feeling very vulnerable, they too were comforted knowing that God was a close as their breath.
For one of my devotions this week, I read from Ephesians 1:13-14, which says, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” The words of Ephesians reminds me that by faith I have been marked by the seal of the Holy Spirit and that I have been included in the family inheritance. And yet, even with this promise of God’s nearness, we still have off days. Our spirits are inundated with broken relationships, hurts, bad habits, death, and unhappiness. It can feel like we lose our way in hopeless negative feelings and lose sight of what gives us joy. When we focus on our anxieties we can miss the sun that shines, the water that glistens, and flowers that bloom in a plethora of color, the joy of a really good cup of coffee, and the delight in a child’s laughter. Even though some days are a struggle, I don’t have to doubt God’s presence. So today I leave the restless spirit behind and hang on to the promise that I bear the seal of the Holy Spirit and as a member of the holy family, I am loved.

Picture
1 Comment

What is Beauty?...

10/30/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture
​What is beauty? We have often heard the old proverb, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” which is so true because our emotions play a factor in how we identify beauty. Magazines are filled with beautiful people advertising products to make us prettier, more handsome, thinner, stronger and faster. There have been exhaustive studies about how we, especially women, compare ourselves to the pictures we see and strive to live up to or into who we see as the ideal person. All of the comparisons to the unrealistic photos can be damaging to a person’s self-esteem. The magazine models do extensive touch-ups to ensure the models are a perfect size with perfect skin and hair and this perfection has led ordinary women to believe their value is based on who they should be or look like rather than who they are. The pressure to be thin, strong and pretty has hit close to home as I too have compared myself to 30-year-olds who look good in anything they wear.  Many confident older women claim their aging skin and graying hair are a badge of honor that they have earned. I am proud of them but honestly the desire to claim that badge escapes me. I admire their confidence and acceptance of who they are as well as their comfort level and peace of the aging process. 

Read More
2 Comments

To Fit or Not to Fit, that Is the Question…

8/1/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Have you ever felt like you did not fit? I know it is a strange question but it is one I have come to realize works for me. Have you ever been in a room with friends or family and you realize something in your relationship either changed or are just not the like they used to be? Life is not stationary. Everything changes and evolves. Some people struggle with change and fight against it and never adapt.  While others thrive in the uncertainty of it. Sometimes the changes are under our control and other times we are completely at the mercy of the events that happen to us. Change can make us stronger as we adapt or it can throw us into a tailspin. Either way, we can count on one thing; everything changes.

Read More
0 Comments

What's in a Name?

4/4/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
What’s in a name? We have all been given names that are uniquely ours. Some names have special meaning when given in honor of a family member like a grandparent, aunt, or uncle. Some people have a suffix like Sr. or Jr. or even a number such as III added to their name.  From a very early age we recognize when we are called by our name, we respond accordingly. Our names connect us to our family, our friends, community and the world. There are generic titles like mom, dad or grandma that fulfills us in a different way but being called by our name gives us our identity.


Read More
0 Comments

To Please or Not to Please

3/28/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sometimes I just can’t get it right! Have you ever felt that way? No matter how confident I am in my decisions, someone always thinks they know a better way to do it. Recently, I was reminded of an old fable that addresses this very issue. It is a cute story that expresses a moral ending that reminds me to just be true to me and trust that I have made the best decision possible with the information at my disposal. Here is the story…


Read More
0 Comments

Pieces...

2/29/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Recently on American Idol, Kelly Clarkson performed her new song “Piece by Piece,”* which describes a little girl watching her father walking away from a relationship with her. Towards the end of her performance, Clarkson became quite emotional, which touched the lives of the audience and many of the viewers watching the televised show. Her story resonates with the lives of many of her listeners as they too have watched a parent walk away leaving them with feelings of unworthiness and confusion.


Read More
0 Comments

Meeting on the Bench...

2/15/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Recently I saw a post on Facebook that pictured an empty park bench with the question, “if you could sit on the bench with someone and have a conversation, who would it be?” In my mind, I went through a list of people including my mom; world leaders, prophets, presidents and celebrities but I didn’t choose any of them. As a Christian, I suppose the obvious answer should be Jesus or God but I don’t like being that predictable, however fascinating they would be. In the end, I would like to sit and have a conversation with the Samaritan woman from the Gospel of John. I think she is fascinating.


Read More
0 Comments

    Author

    Denise seeks to empower people to live into their true potential...
                               Read More

    Archives

    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    Categories

    All
    Abundance
    Acceptance
    Adapt
    Adult
    Advent
    Adventure
    Alzheimer's
    Angelic
    Angels
    Art
    Attention
    Baby Jesus
    Baptist
    Beauty
    Belief
    Believe
    Belonging
    Be Still
    Betrayed
    Black Lives
    Blessed
    Blessing
    Bold
    Bounty
    Breathe
    Brithday
    Brokenness
    Build Together
    Call
    Captivity
    Caring
    Celebrate
    Challenged
    Champion
    Change
    Chaos
    Children
    Choice
    Christ
    Christ Child
    Christmas
    Church
    Community
    Comparisons
    Compassion
    Confidence
    Courage
    Creating
    Creation
    Creativity
    Crooked Lines
    Cross
    Crowd
    Crown Of Thorns
    Crucifixion
    Darkness
    David
    Dawn
    Decisions
    Delighted
    Denied
    Depression
    Determination
    Detour
    Disciples
    Discovery
    Divine
    Divorce
    Dry Bones
    Easter
    Empowered
    Equality
    Extravagance
    Eyewitness
    Failure
    Faith
    Faithfulness
    Family
    Father
    Fear
    Flame
    Forgiven
    Forgiveness
    Freedom
    Friend
    Fruits Of The Spirit
    Game
    Gift
    Gifts
    Gladiator
    Glorious
    Glory
    God
    God Given Gifts
    God-given Gifts
    God Moments
    God-moments
    God's Glory
    God's Love
    God's Timing
    Grace
    Grateful
    Gratitude
    Greatest
    Greek
    Handiwork
    Healed
    Heart
    Holding Space
    Holidays
    Holy Spirit
    Home
    Honor
    Hope
    Hopelessness
    Humanity
    Humility
    I AM
    Identity
    Imperfection
    Inside
    Isaiah
    Jesus
    Jesus Christ
    Job
    John 3:16
    John The Baptist
    Journey
    Joy
    Judging
    Labels
    Lent
    Light
    Liminal Space
    Lion's Heart
    Listen
    Lonliness
    Lord's Table
    Lost
    Love
    Love One Another
    Manager
    Manger
    Mary
    Matter
    Memorial Day
    Memphis
    Mended
    Mercy
    Messiah
    Messiness
    Ministry
    Mom
    Mothers
    Moving
    Music
    Mystery
    Nations
    Nativity
    Neighbor
    New Beginning
    New Birth
    New Day
    New Year
    Open
    Pain
    Paradise
    Parents
    Partner
    Peace
    Pentecost
    Persistent
    Perspective
    Potter
    Power
    Praise
    Prayer
    Preparing
    Presence
    Promise
    Psalm 23
    Purpose
    Pursuit
    Questions
    Radical
    Radio
    Randomness
    Remember 9/11
    Respect
    Rest
    Restoration
    Resurrection
    Risen
    Running
    Sacred Pit
    Sacrifice
    Salt
    Savior
    Scarsity
    Second Best
    See Others
    Serenity
    Servants
    Sharing
    Shepherd
    Shines
    Sibling
    Simon Of Cyrene
    Son
    Spirit
    Spirit Of God
    Spirit Of Love
    Stone
    Storm
    Storms
    Strength
    Suffering
    Suffering Servant
    Surrender
    Temptation
    Thankful
    Thanks
    Thanksgiving
    The Wall
    Together
    Tomb
    Tower Of Babel
    Traditions
    Transition
    Trauma
    Traveler
    Trinity
    Trust
    Understanding
    Undervalued
    Unfaithful
    Unity
    Unworthy
    Value
    Virus
    Vision
    Voice
    Voiceless
    Waiting
    Wandering
    Water
    Weeps
    Welcome
    Wilderness
    Wind
    Window
    Wisdom
    Woman At The Well
    Women

    RSS Feed

MENU

HOME
BLOG
ABOUT
CONTACT

COPYRIGHT © 2015 VIBRANTLIVES.NET

CONNECT WITH US