Truly Brave...

This is inspirational... 

just had to share it with you 

(and I know you all will understand this message more than just about anyone)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9fMNNsdPjU

Make us a city of light...

as you all plan your wedding, 

my prayer is that you will be a light to your friends, 

a light to your families, 

and most of all, a light to each other... 

I love you all so much.... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5stbmwTI0WI

Make us a city of light

Shining through the darkness of night

that the world may see that you are reigning

that the world would know you're always saving

make us a city of light

Now is our time to shine

Let this light be seen

We will not hide what Christ has done for us anymore

Make us a city of light

Shining through the darkness of night

that the world may see that you are reigning

that the world would know you're always saving

make us a city of light

A new day is coming a new song is rising up

Story Time

The following story is from the message at our church last Sunday that I thought you two would appreciate...

One of our pastors relayed a sermon by Tony Campolo of a story of a kid who, because of a terrible automobile accident, ended up losing his left arm. His father, trying to cheer him up, told his son he would do anything for him. One day the kid said, “You know, Dad, I’ve heard you can learn judo and do it with one arm. I’d like to learn judo.”

So the father got him a judo master, and the kid learned some moves. But after about 2 or 3 lessons, the master had him focus on just one move, and they worked on this move day after day, hour after hour. At the end of two months, the master said, “There’s a tournament coming up. I want you to enter it.” The kid said, “You’ve got to be kidding! I’ve only been taking judo for a couple of months. Other than basic moves I only know one really good move.” But the master convinced him to give it a try.

They went to the tournament. And this one-armed kid surprised himself by winning his first two matches. The third round proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win that match as well. He couldn’t believe his good fortune. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. He was up against the champion. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the judo master intervened.

"No," the master insisted, "Let him continue."

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: He dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home he said to the master, “I don’t understand it. I’ve only been taking judo for two months. I don’t have a left arm. And I just won a tournament. How is this possible?”

The master said, “You won for two reasons. First, the one move you do now is one of the most effective moves in all of judo. The second reason why you won is the only defense against that move is to grab your opponent’s left arm.” 

God indeed uses our weaknesses and turns them into strengths.  Praying for you all this week that you will experience the joy and freedom of this truth even when it is hard to believe...

Taking a deep breath, part 2

I've started running with a running group on Sunday mornings. The last two Sundays, I've run about 10 miles and have so enjoyed having a group of women to run with.  (Part of the reason I came to this group is that my best friend Elizabeth is in Malawi for the year. This used to be her running group so I guess this is one way I feel like I can be close to her by participating in a group that she was a part of...)

On the Sunday morning route, we run right by the place where I tried the simulation of breathing through a straw.  Every time I run on those trails, I am reminded of how brutally hard that was to sustain while running.  When I would take the straw out of my mouth, I would gasp for air desperate for a deeper breath.

I have thought about the next 6 months for you two as you prepare for your wedding. While you have 93% lung capacity now and while you are reaching for the stars with 100%, I imagine there are going to be some times that you all feel like you are emotionally breathing through a straw with all the stresses and strains of planning a wedding and trying to manage family expectations, etc.

So, when that happens, I just want to encourage you to take the straw out of each other's mouth and remind each other that you have all the air you need. His grace is enough...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpYtYYaTFGQ

Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me [x2]

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God I see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me

Taking a deep breath, part 1

Abby and Jens,  this morning as I got up before the sun got up to go running, I thought about the text I got from you yesterday about the score of 93!!!!!!!!!! You went from a failing grade of 16% to an rocking 93% - that's an A!!! 

As I ran, I thought of our simulations of breathing through a straw and how that is a chapter in the past now. You can actually experience the joy of taking a deep breath and you can feel the air fill your lungs. 

I ran across this article and thought it was worth sharing since you can appreciate this more than anyone I know. 

Take those deep breaths today and know that I am jumping for joy with you! 

Take a deep breath   MAY 2009

Adapted from Stress Management: Approaches for preventing and reducing stress.

Proper breathing goes by many names. You may have heard it called diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, or belly breathing. When you breathe deeply, the air coming in through your nose fully fills your lungs, and you will notice that your lower belly rises. The ability to breathe so deeply and powerfully is not limited to a select few. This skill is inborn but often lies dormant. Reawakening it allows you to tap one of your body’s strongest self-healing mechanisms.

Why does breathing deeply seem unnatural to many of us? One reason may be that our culture often rewards us for stifling strong emotions. Girls and women are expected to rein in anger. Boys and men are exhorted not to cry. What happens when you hold back tears, stifle anger during a charged confrontation, tiptoe through a fearful situation, or try to keep pain at bay? Unconsciously, you hold your breath or breathe irregularly.

Body image affects breathing, too. A “washboard” stomach considered so attractive in our culture encourages men and women to constrict their stomach muscles. This adds to tension and anxiety, and gradually makes shallow “chest breathing” feel normal.

The act of breathing engages the diaphragm, a strong sheet of muscle that divides the chest from the abdomen. As you breathe in, the diaphragm drops downward, pulling your lungs with it and pressing against abdominal organs to make room for your lungs to expand as they fill with air. As you breathe out, the diaphragm presses back upward against your lungs, helping to expel carbon dioxide (see figure).

Shallow breathing hobbles the diaphragm’s range of motion. The lowest portion of the lungs — which is where many small blood vessels instrumental in carrying oxygen to cells reside — never gets a full share of oxygenated air. That can make you feel short of breath and anxious.

Deep abdominal breathing encourages full oxygen exchange — that is, the beneficial trade of incoming oxygen for outgoing carbon dioxide. Not surprisingly, this type of breathing slows the heartbeat and can lower or stabilize blood pressure.

Here’s how to take a deep, healing, diaphragmatic breath:

First steps. Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit or lie down. Start by observing your breath. First take a normal breath. Now try taking a slow, deep breath. The air coming in through your nose should move downward into your lower belly. Let your abdomen expand fully. Now breathe out through your mouth (or your nose, if that feels more natural). Alternate normal and deep breaths several times. Pay attention to how you feel when you inhale and exhale normally and when you breathe deeply. Shallow breathing often feels tense and constricted, while deep breathing produces relaxation.

Now practice diaphragmatic breathing for several minutes. Put one hand on your abdomen, just below your belly button. Feel your hand rise about an inch each time you inhale and fall about an inch each time you exhale. Your chest will rise slightly, too, in concert with your abdomen. Remember to relax your belly so that each inhalation expands it fully.

Breath focus in practice. Once you’ve taken the steps above, you can move on to regular practice of breath focus. As you sit comfortably with your eyes closed, blend your breathing with helpful imagery and a focus word or phrase that will help you relax. Imagine that the air you breathe in washes peace and calm into your body. As you breathe out, imagine that the air leaving your body carries tension and anxiety away with it. As you inhale, try saying this phrase to yourself: “Breathing in peace and calm.” And as you exhale, say: “Breathing out tension and anxiety.” When you first start, 10 minutes of breath focus is a reasonable goal. Gradually add time until your sessions are about 15 to 20 minutes long.

HAPPY 18th!!!

celebrating 4 months with you today..... 

(and cheering for you for your 4 miles that you trekked all throughout NYC! You all rock...) 

every step toward something beautiful...

This stood out to me today as I was thinking about your wedding plans (and all the stress that comes with that).... May this be an encouragement to you to keep it all in perspective... 

Keep adding to the beauty, Abby and Jens... 

Be Brave

As you travel around NYC and as you continue to heal and figure out life together,

 I am praying for you to be brave.... 

sending you much love and praying for traveling mercies...

Because the World Can Get Dark 

& We Really Need You:

 5 Ways to Keep Being Brave

"Freedom rings and won’t be silenced — freedom that calls out the false freedom that a man can do whatever he likes, and rings of the true freedom, that gives a man the freedom to do what is right.

Freedom that grace can be found and hope rises here and God is not defined by time, or fixed by boundaries, or confined to expectations, or forecasts, or pundits, or boxes.

The greatest freedom we have is the freedom to come right to God at any time.

Let the headlines hurl the news, but we can feel the warmth of it on the nape of our bared, bowed necks, we can feel the beating warmth of it pounding like a victory march in the chambers of our praying hearts:

There is always a light that shatters the dark, that shards the dark, 

that pierces the cowardly dark right to the wall of an eternal pit,

and the diseased doomed to death  —-  they walk straight out of hospitals.

And the pleading streets of pain  —-  they feel justice roll & hope run like water,

and the warring wounds of this world  —-  they are dressed with a world of tender prayer,

and you can bet that There. Is. A. Light. in every single darkness

and the darkness can never extinguish it, the darkness can never smother it, the darkness can never, ever, no

matter what, suffocate the relentless coming of an emancipating Light.

And we will never stop being the boldface brave who show up when it’d be easier to give up,
who go do hard & holy things when it’d be easier to just go do happy things,
who do not quit when we don’t know how to keep going on.

You can hear it about this time of September, breathing warm courage into our exhausted places: “Just Call to Me. I guarantee I will answer you. I will make you strong & brave.” (Ps.138:3)

Be Brave. Hold out your Light to hold back the flood of dark. 

Be Brave. Your bravery wins a thousand battles you can’t see because your bravery strengthens a thousand others to win their battles too. 

Be Brave. And do not pray for the hard thing to go away. But pray for a bravery to come that’s bigger than the hard thing.

Be Brave. There are angels closer than you know. 

The glads on the table stand tall. And out across the lawn, you can see it —how there are shadows brushing close to the light — shadows of wings."  

–Ann Voskamp

Passing Hearts

On the plane to and from India, I watched more movies than I usually watch in an entire year. Some were fabulous and others were a complete waste of time (but better than the insomnia I was experiencing in the time warp of international travel.)

This short Swedish film was beautiful and I wanted to share it with you as it reminded me of your story so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIZVyCRgCI4

(some background from Wikipedia:  "The short film Passing Hearts which Brisinger wrote and directed in 2004, was honored with several awards at film festivals over the world, including the audience award at the Berlinale,^[1] best cinematography & audience award in Aspen, and the special jury and audience award in New York. At the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, it came in second in the adult live action category.") 

Holding you up to the light...

The sun has been shining in Seattle beautifully the last few days so I've been able to lace you up in my running shoes for a couple of runs and carry you with me on my bike as I've biked to and from campus.  It has been so good to be out and about after not being able to run in India. 

With the sunshine continuing to hold out for a bit more in September, know that I am holding you up to this light and continuing to pray as I log a few more miles in these days... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHsU6RTQvE0

It's the choice of a lifetime - I'm almost sure

I will not live my life in between anymore

If I can't be certain of all that's in store

This far it feels so right

I will hold it up - hold it up to the light,

Hold it up to the light, hold it up to the light

The search for my future has brought me here

This is more than I'd hoped for, but sometimes I fear

That the choice I was made for will someday appear

And I'll be too late for that flight

So hold it up - hold it up to the light,

Hold it up to the light, hold it up to the light

It's too late - to be stopped at the crossroads

Each life here - a possible way

But wait - and they all will be lost roads

Each road's getting shorter the longer I stay

Now as soon as I'm moving - my choice is good

This way comes through right where I prayed that it would

If I keep my eyes open and look where I should

Somehow all of the signs are in sight

If I hold it up to the light

I said God, will you bless this decision?

I'm scared, Is my life at stake?

But I see if you gave me a vision

Would I never have reason to use my faith?

I was dead with deciding - afraid to choose

I was mourning the loss of the choices I'd lose

But there's no choice at all if I don't make my move

And trust that the timing is right

Yes and hold it up hold it up to the light

Hold it up to the light, hold it up to the light

-David Wilcox 

a penguin for you in India

Abby and Jens, 

I just had to be a tourist and take a picture by this penguin trash can at a sweet shop in downtown Rajamundry today.  Just wanted you to know that there are reminders of you everywhere. :) 

Sending you much love from this little corner of the world.... 

Ratnakar, the penguin and me... ;)