renewal

A devotional perspective based on Mark 10:46-52 NIV  Bartimaeus receives his sight.

Posted by

3

In the above Bible passage, a blind man named Bartimaeus called out to Jesus as He and His disciples passed by.  The man cried out to Jesus to help him, to heal him.  We’re told that when he learned it was Jesus passing by, (v. 46)… he began to shout “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!  48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” and Jesus healed him.  Jesus told him “your faith has healed you.” 

As I read this passage, I thought, good for Bartimaeus for shouting out all the more! If he had allowed the nay sayers and doubters, those trying to repress him, to hold him back, then he would have lived the rest of his life in blindness and the resulting abject poverty!

His faith healed him and it was his faith that gave him the courage and tenacity to keep seeking what he needed, against opposition, and get connected with the source of power that would transform his life.  Indeed, his faith healed him. Never be afraid to speak out even against opposition, to declare what you need and get connected to help and whatever is necessary and helpful to bring the abundant life your faith enables you to see. It took a blind man to see what others couldn’t- the good life he knew awaited.

Does that mean things were instantly easy? Of course not.  He was starting from scratch having been a beggar his whole life.  He had much catching up to do, but he must have had so much joyous energy and rejuvenation to do the hard work ahead because he was given his sight!!

Take your healing and help from God, renew your energy and go burst on the scene with fervor and faith! The outstretched hand of God is always there waiting for you to take the help, even if opposition is very daunting and discouraging.  And watch out for those distractions! Stay focused and determined.

Seeking enrichment

Posted by

Life can get pretty routine sometimes. Work or school, homework or housework, eat, sleep, repeat. It’s so important to find things to enrich our days. That can be a significant other/spouse, pets, volunteering, a hobby, or a project.

I love playing with my two crazy cats and having them snuggle while I’m watching TV or checking my social media on the laptop. One of them seems to always want to climb on top of me just when I’m ready to settle down to write.  Hey, that’s another enrichment: writing or other creative endeavors. More  importantly, working on long term goals or projects.

Of course, that’s more “work” oriented. You still need something more leisurely or enjoyable in your life. Personally, I find myself doing less of that lately. A friend asked me today if I had done any origami lately. I haven’t. I made a couple birds when I visited with her and my other good friend, her hubby, about a month ago. He’s an artist and did a drawing while we folded. That was the first time I did any paper folding for quite a few years.

I also haven’t taken my camera out too much in recent years. I love photography. I don’t know if it’s just getting older and having less energy, or if it’s depression, or a little of both.  There’s also the lack of time.

The good thing is that I still have interest in these things, so I guess I’m not too depressed. (I have bipolar depression, but take medication for it.) If you don’t know, loss of interest in things you normally enjoy is a sign of serious depression.  I just wanted to throw that in there, since mental health problems often go undiagnosed or untreated.

So, in the spirit of renewal anytime, as I discussed in my last post, I’m going to make more of an effort on all my interests.

Let’s see…. where can I go photoggin’ this weekend?

I’ll let you know.

Carpe diem.

A season for change

Posted by

In nature, spring is, of course, the time of renewal.  Trees budding, flowers blooming, wildlife rearing young.  But, for people, we grow up with the new school year starting in fall, going away to college, football season starts, and for many workers, vacations for the year are done and the busy time of year gets underway.

So, I always thought of fall as the time of renewal. Besides school, I started a couple different jobs in the fall, and I moved out on my own for the first time one September.  I tended to seek out new things as autumn moved in. I joined a film making group one fall, started volunteering at an independent film theater another year.

Then, over the years, I started to lose that association of renewal with fall. Any schooling was a distant memory, started my current job in the spring about three and a half years ago. I haven’t really done anything new in the autumn for a long time.

So, while it’s fall now, where I am, maybe the new theme should be renewal anytime. I hope to get my writing back on track now,  not just posting here, but working on writing projects. I’m not working overtime right now since it’s temporarily unavailable. That makes it a good time to renew and get into good habits, so that when I have less time, I can still do what I need to do in my off hours.

In other words, there’s no better time than the present. While it’s okay to associate a certain time with renewing or trying new things, the flip side is that you don’t need to save something special for that time.  Anytime is a great time to grow,  or renew, or branch out, connect or reconnect.

So, wish me luck on my creative endeavors and get busy with your own! Carpe diem!