Beth K. Vogt's Blog, page 87
January 27, 2013
In Others’ Words: Stop
Lately it seems I end each day thinking about what I didn’t accomplish and how all those undone things are piling on top of the next day’s To Do list.
I head for my bedroom, brush my teeth, wash my face, crawl into bed and snuggle next to my husband as he prays … and then I think about all that stuff.
Shoulda done this.
Shoulda done that.
Sheesh.
Where’s the rest in that kind of thinking?
As I wound down Sunday and prepped for Monday, I found this quote by the oh-so-wise Elisabeth Elliot. I’ve always admired her for her straight-talking and for her choice to trust God — over and over again. She lives her faith out loud.
I kept reading and re-reading her words, asking: Do I make yesterday and tomorrow my business?
Oh, probably.
Do I have too much to do?
Definitely.
Am I willing to let God direct my hand to the delete button on my oh-so-important (must) To Do list?
Maybe.
(I’m just being honest.)
I’ll take Elisabeth Elliot’s suggestion and start with today. I know what I’ve got to do today. Before I rush off into the 24 hours that make up Monday, January 28, 2013, I’ll stop and ask God if anything needs to be deleted … or moved to another day of the week.
In Your Words: Are you making yesterday and tomorrow your business? If your answer is yes, why do you think we do that? If you don’t — if you’ve found that live-for-today balance that eludes some of us — how do you do it?
January 24, 2013
In Others’ Words: Smile, Smile, Smile
What made you smile recently?
Do you have a smile to share with someone today? Ever stop to think how your smile — yes, your smile — could accomplish good in someone else’s life?
January 22, 2013
In Others’ Words: When God Shows Up
How has God showed up for you?
Last night Jerri Marr spoke at the church my family attends. Who is Jerri Marr, you ask? She’s a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service and more importantly to thousands of people in Colorado Springs this past summer, Jerri was the voice of calm and hope during the Waldo Canyon Fire.
She talked briefly about the fire, even more briefly about herself — although I know there’s a story worth hearing there. What Jerri wanted to talk about was the God she believes in: who He is, how He’s worked in her life — and how He wants to work in each of our lives.
Jerri Marr is a hope-filled woman.
She doesn’t view the world through rose-colored glasses. Her job won’t allow for that. But she does walk life out with faith. After listening to her last night, I’ve figured out why she was the voice of calm and hope whenever she stepped behind the microphone during a Waldo Canyon Fire press briefing. She wasn’t there in her own strength, relying on her own abilities to make everything okay. Her hope and confidence was in God. I liked how she said it last night: “With God on our side, how can we lose?” (Romans 8:31)
Jerri reminded me that God is for me. God has never lost sight of me during the toughest of the tough days I’ve walked through. He has shown up for me repeatedly — offering me strength, offering me grace, offering me that unbelievable peace that makes no sense at all in light of what I was facing.
In Your Words: I’ll ask you the same question Jerri Marr asked us last night: How has God showed up for you?
January 20, 2013
In Others’ Words: Anything At All
Mondays are always a bit daunting, aren’t they?
It’s the start of the week — lots to do in my corner of the world, and I am for sure and certain there’s plenty to do in your corner of the world too.
Maybe you woke up with the sound of a lot of “mustn’ts” and “don’ts” and “shouldn’ts” ringing in your ears. Maybe there’s even an “impossible” staring you down.
Here’s what I suggest: Ignore ‘em.
Let’s go with Shel Silverstein’s go-for-your-dream optimism and believe anything can happen … anything can be.
Walking into today … and tomorrow … and the day after that … it’s so much easier without the weight of “won’ts” and “never haves.”
Am I confronting today — pursuing my dreams — in my own strength? No, no and no. Been there, failed at that. My confidence is in knowing I don’t have to do life in my own strength. (Deut. 31:6)
In Yours Words: What’s your Monday look like? How do you push back the can’ts and the mustn’ts and live today with the courage to pursue your dreams?
January 17, 2013
In Others’ Words: Alive
I am astounded by people who can take a massive block of packed snow and turn it into an “I gotta take a picture of this!” work of art.
Me and snow? The relationship is limited to enjoying watching it fall from the warmth of my home or being the photographer when my husband and youngest daughter build a snowman.
Snow + artist = things I never imagined
You’re never going to find me at the International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge, CO as anything more than an appreciative spectator. No standing outside bundled in the cold and chipping away at a block of snow searching for the beauty hidden inside.
But I bet the sculptors loved transforming those white squares into a laughing boy or an evil Medusa or the book cover for White Fang by Jack London.
What about you? Would you be a spectator at an snow sculptor contest — or would you like to have a go at creating a piece of art that will melt within a few days?
In Your Words: So, let’s toss around a couple of questions today, just for the fun and the purpose of it. What makes you come alive? And what are you doing about it? And yes, I’m willing to bet your passion meets others’ needs!
January 15, 2013
In Others’ Words: Writers’ Rules
I was a rule follower long before I realized I was a writer. “Which way do we go — and how do we act while we get there?” was my mantra.
And while I like life to be heavily flavored with grace and passion and laughter these days, there is still a time and a place for rules. Writing requires grace and passion and laughter too — but rules are needed to help the idea in my head and the words I’m writing become a real story.
I like author Kurt Vonnegut’s rules — and not just because #2, #3, #4 and #6 all appeal to my red pen editor’s eye. Of all the rules, #7 intrigues me the most: Pity the readers.
Now what do you suppose Mr. Vonnegut meant by that? I stopped and asked myself when have I felt as if an author wasted my time? If I rewrote that line (with apologies to Mr. Vonnegut), I’d say, “For pity’s sake, don’t waste the readers time with an implausible plot or characters too stupid to live.*”
In Your Words: How’s your Wednesday going? Did any of Kurt Vonnegut’s rules appeal to you? And what do you think about #7? I’d love to know!
*Best-selling author Rachel Hauck was the first one who taught me about not having characters who are too stupid to live! She talks about it in her post “Avoiding the Rory Gilmore Syndrome.”
January 13, 2013
In Others’ Words: Running
My husband Rob often says that you should never run from something, but rather you should always be running to something.
There’s wisdom in that exhortation.
And yet, the reality is, there are times that the best thing I could do was run as fast as I could away from something.
Like the time I ran from the temptation of a wrong relationship.
Or the times I ran from the “I don’t care how much this hurts me, I’m going to do it anyway” version of myself.
Or the time I said, “There’s always hell to pay,” and Wise Guy asked, “How long are you going to keep paying?” — and I ran from a relational debt I didn’t owe.
Then there are all the things I ran to … and wish I had run to faster.
Like the wide open spaces of God’s grace (instead of the “isn’t this comfortable” confinement of Law).
And the blessed relief of forgiveness — both given and received.
And the long-awaited season of self-acceptance. Yeah, it took me too long to like myself.
The whys of the running froms and the running tos?
That’s easy. It all boils down to lies versus truth … and which one I embraced.
In Your Words: When you join the conversation, the reason for this blog is accomplished. So, where are you running from, and to, and why?
Jennifer Z. Major won the copy of the book My One Word from last Friday’s giveaway! Jennifer, please email me at beth@bethvogt.com!
January 10, 2013
In Others’ Words: Confidence (& book giveaway)
Early in December — so last year! — I shared my one word for 2013: Confidence.
And then the so-generous Melanie at OnlyABreath.com made me — and many, many others — a One Word button for their blog/website. So I had to share mine with you today.
I’m not going to go into why I chose the word “Confidence” — you can read about it in my previous blog post titled “Direction.” What I do want to say is this: If you’ve been thinking “Should I or shouldn’t I?” about this whole One Word experience — do it! I’m not demanding or commanding that you choose One Word, I’m jumping up and down and waving my arms and saying, “Hey, come join with me (and, yeah, hundreds of other people) in a life-changing experience.”
I also encourage you to read My One Word: Change You Life With Just One Word by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen. I just finished reading this book and I plan on starting all over again. Why? Because what the authors did was write a book that helps you dive into your One Word — and embrace your One Word for the next year.
Want to win a copy of My One Word? Read on!
In Your Words: So are you in? Have you chosen a word? (I know some of you have!) Did I finally convince some of you to join the One Word life-changing fun? Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of My One Word by Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen. I’ll select a winner on Monday.
January 8, 2013
In Others’ Words: No Shortcuts
I’ve wanted to be a writer all my life. Really. I was one of those kids in school who didn’t moan about writing papers for English class and who thought spelling bees were fun. When it came time to choose my major for college, I asked myself, “What do I love enough that I wouldn’t mind doing it every day for the rest of my life?”
The answer: writing.
So I majored in journalism — and never once thought of switching to something else.
Marriage and motherhood put writing on the backburner for a lot of years — and I have no regrets about that. But when I decided to step back onto the writing road more than a decade ago, I learned I had a lot of hard work to do to scrape the rust off my journalism degree — and my writing skills.
It’s a good thing I think rewriting is fun.
The one area I struggle in is keeping on my reading — reading a book just for the fun of it. Despite owning a Kindle, I still have To Be Read piles scattered around my house (my apologies to my husband who thought the Kindle purchase would solve that problem) — and I have hundreds of unread books loaded onto my e-reader too.
But if Larry L. King is right — and I think he is — to be a better writer I need to be reading more. Novels. Books on the writing craft. Non-fiction books. The Word.
The question is always: How?
In Your Words: So, friends, in the midst of your busy lives — all the doing and the deadlines and the writing and rewriting: How do you find time to read? And what are you reading right now?
January 6, 2013
In Others’ Word: Being You
I’m not a woodworker — too afraid of a table saw for that kind of endeavor.
Even so, I know that wood has a grain to it. Go against a piece of wood’s natural grain and guess what happens …
The wood tears.
There have been seasons in my life when I lived against the grain. Circumstances pressured me to act a certain way. And then there were the expectations — mine or someone else’s — forcing me to say and do things that tore at the edges of my soul. I’d get to the end of the day and look in the mirror … and I wouldn’t even recognize myself.
More and more life’s been about respecting the grain of my own wood … and seeing the beauty of it. There’s no denying the nicks and dents that come with growing older — and growing up — but I’m embracing those too.
In Your Words: What have you done lately that followed the grain in your own wood?
