Ordinary’s Impact

“I grew up with quilts like these.”

I remembered the quilts folded in closets, spread across beds and laid on floors as pallets. I remembered sleeping soundly tucked under their heavy warmth. To my young eyes they were just fabric scraps stitched together, a colorful hodgepodge, a mosaic of everyday life.

So as I stood with my husband in the Baltimore Museum of Art, I marveled at how what I considered such an ordinary part of my life now hung as art, admired and coveted by museums all over the world. Someone recognized the powerful beauty and impact of the stories of these quilts and the women who made them.

What do you have? An ability? An idea? A story? Your presence? It seems so ordinary and inconsequential to you yet it may have the power to shift the world around you for the good and the glory of God.

Sometimes our reflections are muddied by distraction and discouragement but I’m grateful God always sends reinforcements to remind us for whom and for what we’ve been created. Let this be your reminder. Don’t underestimate or diminish the impact of the “ordinary.”

“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” -2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT

Learn more about Gee’s Bend here

Do You Know?

Perfection makes impossible demands

Leaving you parched

Thirsting for drops of validation

Begging to be understood

To be seen

To be heard

But, dear one, do you know how lovingly you were formed?

Every hair numbered

Your life purposed

Your very existence a reflection of God’s glory

You are the apple of His eye

In His image created

Fully Known. Deeply Loved.

L.A.S

Building Bridges

Building Bridges by Lorenzo Quinn; Rendered by Halcyon Art International

“From a wise mind comes wise speech;
the words of the wise are persuasive.” -Proverbs 16:23

“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” -Proverbs 16:24

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” -Proverbs 18:21

There have been many times over the past few weeks when I’ve thought “Hmm, I should write something about that.” When everyone else seems to be opining, reflecting, musing, and inspiring, there is sometimes undue pressure to add our own voice to the chorus.

Instead, I’ve just been pondering the weight of words. Words are powerful. What we say and write can lift or crush a spirit, promote peace or provoke chaos.

What do I want my words to do? I want my words to build bridges. Bridges to the blessed Trinity on which my faith & hope are built. Bridges of grace, understanding and forgiveness. I want to build bridges culturally and racially; though, honestly, recent times have made me consider dismantling my bridges, taking my pieces and quietly sitting in my own little corner. But Love convicts and compels me differently. So I will build, knowing I’m not perfect and I won’t always get it right but building bridges, I must.

What do you want your words to do?

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Tis the season, friends. And no doubt it’s…different. I found myself close to ‘Bah Humbug’ until I was struck by the words of an old familiar carol:

🎶God rest ye merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay Remember Christ our Savior Was born on Christmas Day To save us all from Satan’s pow’r When we were gone astray Oh tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh tidings of comfort and joy🎶

So today I offer tidings of comfort and joy To the believer and the unbeliever To the cheerful and the grieving To the hopeful and the discouraged To the gathered and the lonely

And I pray we all remember and come to know Immanuel, the One who was, is and always will be with us.

“…She will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”- Isaiah 7:14

“…and He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”- Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Docu & Chill

These days my idea of a relaxing night includes a bag of SkinnyPop popcorn (tossed with olive oil….mmm…mmm…good) and a good documentary. I love a story that educates and enlightens, challenges my perspective and in some cases, compels me to action. I’m absolutely intrigued by the snapshots of humanity and by lives so different from what I know. I’d like to recommend a few of my recent viewing pleasures…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Suitable_Girl_(film)
http://www.littlewhiteliethefilm.com/
http://closuredocumentary.com/
https://www.sundance.org/projects/one-child-nation
http://www.sisterdocumentary.com/

Happy viewing and may these stories compel you to tell your own. Write on, friends!