best you

be yourself

don't try to be somebody else

let them teach you

but don't let them change you

change you to something you're not

you never will be

be you

the best you you can be. 

take the chance 

make the chance to be 

the best you you can be

Encouraging peace workers

I had an epiphany yesterday. Maybe more than just the title of my master's thesis, perhaps this is actually my calling: my vocation.

Perhaps I haven't found the right fit because I was slightly off-target. Maybe I am not the peace worker myself, but the encourager of peace workers. Not the one who stays with and focuses on one group or location, but, (I'd like to think) like Paul, the one who stays connected with and encourages peace workers in many contexts.

Maybe graduate school actually did help me find my calling.

You see flowers in these weeds

I just saw Taproot Theatre's production of In the Book Of… A modern-day take on the story of Ruth and Naomi, set in Mississippi with an African-American ex-soldier and her Afghan translator as the leads.

Incredible.

I was in tears for most of the show. Dandelions were a theme throughout, and I have never been able to shake those memories from Croatia… Change. Beauty in what others see as ugly. Hope. Little seeds being carried throughout the world.

Tonight I will leave it at this:

Dandelions  - Five Iron Frenzy

In a field of yellow flowers 
underneath the sun
Bluest eyes that spark with lightning
boy with shoes undone

He is young 
so full of hope
reveling in tiny dreams
Filling up his arms with flowers
right for giving any queen

Running to her beaming bright
while cradling his prize
A flickering of yellow light
within his mother's eyes

She holds them to her heart 
keeping them where they'll be safe
Clasped within her very marrow
dandelions in a vase

She sees love where 
anyone else would see weeds
All hope is found
Here is everything he needs 

Fathomless your endless mercy
weight I could not lift
Where do I fit in this puzzle
what good are these gifts? 
Not a martyr or a saint 
scarcely can I struggle through 
All that I have ever wanted
was to give my best to you

Lord, search my heart
create in me something clean
Dandelions 
you see flowers in these weeds

Gently lifting hands to heaven 
softened by the sweetest hush 
a Father sings over his children
loving them so very much

More than words could warrant
deeper than the darkest blue
more than sacrifice could merit
Lord, I give my heart to you

I wouldn't trade it for anything

I close my eyes and go back in time...
we were so young, we had just begun
a song we knew, but had never sung...
and life was just happening…
nothing lasts forever...
I wouldn’t trade it for anything
my souvenirs

- Switchfoot Souvenirs

Why do you get up in the morning?

ICCD Leadership class - Semester V

WHY --> Purpose
W/ WHOM --> "The Team"
FOR WHOM --> Impact!
WHAT--> Product
WHEN --> Timelines and Priorities
HOW --> System and Process to get it done


It is a spiritual journey and a lot of things will distract you from the path you're on.
There are people who will try to discourage you, or not believe in you: don't listen to them.

For every article/reading: write down the 3 take-aways ("aha") --> things that capture your attention: there's a reason for that!
--> What are you going to do differently because of those?

I have something (a product) to offer the world; somebody believes in me.

When the values of the org you work with and your "why" match - magic happens.

My hope is anchored on the other side

This lyric is from a song off the new Switchfoot album. Kinda captures how I felt until May 2013. The album itself, though, feels hopeful and feels like it captures how I have felt since May 2013: with the wind at my back again!

"My hope is anchored on the other side
With the colors that live outside of the lines…

And my heart is yours
And what a broken place it's in
But you're what I'm running for
And I want to feel the wind at my back again"

Back to the Beginning Again - Switchfoot

Hope has not forgotten

Fog that is lifting


the spectre of dreams we once had

speaks into the night

Slumber is over


sunlight is streaming through

come into the light

I know

Hope has not forgotten me

- Five Iron Frenzy (It Was a Dark and Story Night / Hope Still Flies)

beginnings

"For a moment, I had seen my pain as the violent, convulsive end to everything for which I had worked. But God had entered me and made me see it as the stinging, bittersweet beginning to everything He was going to do…"

- John M. Perkins
Let Justice Roll Down (p. 197)

hello 2014

photo cred: http://vuible.com/pin/you-are-never-too-old-to-set-another-goal-or-to-dream-a-new-dream-cs-lewis-3/