Beth K. Vogt's Blog, page 88

In Others’ Words: Direction

Seems everyone’s talking resolutions and words . . . hopes and dreams for the new year. I relish hearing about other people’s desires for the next 12 months. Meanwhile,  I hung up my “Confidence” quote near my desk and positioned the “Confidence” ornament my friend Shari gave me from the rear view mirror of my Subaru Forester. Yes, that’s one Christmas decoration that wasn’t packed away until next December.

Dr. Seuss always motivates me with a pithy quote that puts a smile on my face and “want to” in my heart. Learning to not toss away my confidence will take smarts ( aka “brains”) and effort (aka “feet in my  shoes”) and movement ( aka “steering myself in the right direction”).

And as the oh-so-wise Dr. Seuss points out, oftentimes the choice to be confident or unsure will be mine and mine alone. The battle will be won or lost out of sight — and within my mind.

In Your Words: If you and I were staring at a map that you’d posted on your wall, and you had one pin marking “Current Location” and one pin marking “Where I’m headed” — what would those two locations be? I’d love to know! And yes, those locations could be actual places — or figurative. What’s it going to take to get you there?

 

In Others’ Words: Begin

Happy 2013, friends! I’ve missed our conversations.

We’re two days into into the new year. I have plans for today … and for this year. Based on your Facebook statuses, your emails, your Instant Messages, y’all have plans too.

I’m wise enough to know my plans will be interrupted. Let’s see if I’m also wise enough to embrace the interruptions, adapt to them — rather than grumble about them.

I want to begin with enthusiasm — and I want to finish well.

I want to be bold — but not foolhardy.

I want to be wise — before, during, and after all the activity I’ve got planned.

Odds are, I’ll stumble and fall and skin my knees — and bruise my spirit. But through it all, I am boldly embracing my word for 2013: confidence.

What am I confident in?

I am confident in the love of family and friends. I am confident that I am pursuing the right dreams for me. I am confident that I am standing in the wide open spaces of God’s grace … and that nothing — absolutely nothing I say or do or don’t say or do – will cause God to point me to the Exit door.

In Your Words: What are you boldly beginning in 2013?

 

In Others’ Words: Christmas Prayer

 

We yearn, our Father, for the simple beauty of Christmas — for all the old familiar melodies and words that remind us of that great miracle when He who made all things was one night to come as a babe, to like in the crook of a woman’s arm.

Before such mystery we kneel, as we follow the shepherds and Wise Men to bring Thee the gift of our love — a love we confess has not always been as warm or sincere or real as it should have been. But now … that love would find its Beloved, and from Thee receive the grace to make it pure again, warm and real.

We bring Thee our gratitude for every token of Thy love, for all the ways Thou hast heaped blessings upon us during the years that have gone.

May the loving kindness of Christmas not only creep into our hearts, but there abide, so that not even the return to earthly cares and responsibilities, not all the festivities of our own devising may cause it to creep away weeping. May the joy and spirit of Christmas stay with us now and forever.

In the name of Jesus, who came to save His people from their sins, even in that lovely name we pray. 

Abridged version of a Christmas Prayer by Peter Marshall

(1902-1949), former Chaplain of the U.S. Senate

I am giving myself a gift — the gift of some time off from blogging between now and January 1, 2013. I wish each of you a joyous Christmas and a deep sense of God’s love and lavish grace in your life. I hope you know how much I appreciate connecting with you through In Others’ Words. See you next year!!

In Your Words: I’m giving myself the gift of time. What would you like for Christmas this year? 

In Others’ Words: On a Hummingbird’s Wing and a Prayer

After eight years living in Niceville, FL (yes, Niceville), my roots ran deep into Florida’s sandy soil. My kids were happy. My husband was happy with his job at Eglin Air Force Base. And me? I was happy too.

I treasured a wonderful circle of friends, taught women’s Bible studies and helped lead the women’s ministry at my church. My phone rang constantly – one of my kids labeled my pantry with a sign that read “Phone Booth” because I often retreated there to enjoy uninterrupted conversations.

If God had pushed the pause button on my life, I wouldn’t have complained.

But I know there’s no pause button—especially for a military family. The time came for us to PCS, military slang for move.

“I want you . . . to go to Colorado,” the military, aka “Uncle Sam,” declared.

What? Move from the land of white sand and emerald waters to a landlocked state with not a drop of humidity?

Several months later, we pulled out of our driveway. I drove one of our cars, suitcases in the back, my two young daughters in the middle seat. My husband drove our van, with our son riding “shotgun.” I cried for an hour—all the way to the Florida and Alabama border. The only reason I pulled myself together was the alarm on my daughters’ faces—and their anxious chorus of “Mom, are you going to be okay?”

My car may have been pointed west, but my heart’s compass did not budge off of south. I burned emotional heel marks all the way from Florida to Colorado.

After telling my husband, “I can’t live in base housing again,” our Florida home didn’t sell. Not wanting to juggle two mortgages, we chose to live on base. As I clambered over my bed to get to the miniscule bathroom, I tried to banish images of my large, comfortable still-on-the-market Florida home. Only two people could fit in the galley kitchen at one time. Colorado weather assaulted my body—in mid-July I crawled into bed wearing sweats and socks. July!

Most of the family settled into Colorado easier than I did. My husband had a job to go to—a reason for being there. And once my kids started school and began making friends, they had a reason to be there too.

I struggled to adjust.

One morning at the base gym, I pounded out my loneliness and frustration on the stair-stepper. I also prayed. I’d never been much of a “Could you send me a sign” kind of pray-er, but I was desperate for a tangible bit of hope.

God, I need some encouragement. I need to know You love me, even though You let my life turn upside down. Could You give me a sign? Nothing big. How about a hummingbird? Would You send one to show me that You love me?

 With my hope set on a small, fleet-winged bird, I gathered up my water bottle, gym bag, and car keys and headed home.

Several days later, I visited a nearby nail salon for a manicure. Gail, the nail technician, introduced herself, and directed me to her work area. Walking down a narrow hallway, I rounded a corner—and stopped short.

At her worktable she had set up an adjustable, white architect-style lamp—and dangling from the arm of the lamp was a crystal hummingbird.

My sign!

That wasn’t all. On the wall behind her table hung a hummingbird calendar.  Next to the calendar was a stained glass image of yet another tiny, ruby-throated bird. The final touch? Taped to the wall beneath the picture were the words: God loves you. I think God wrote his answer to my prayer in black and white so I didn’t miss it.

Since my hummingbird encounter at Gail’s shop, I’ve scattered reminders of God’s love throughout my house. A crystal hummingbird adorns a vase in my dining room. Another dangles from the lamp in my office, and yet another handcrafted hummingbird hangs from my car’s rearview mirror. Whenever my family hikes in the Colorado mountains in the early spring, my ears tune to the sounds of hummingbirds in flight. And whenever I hear the whir of hummingbird wings, I hear God whispering, “I love you.”

 In Your Words: I know today’s post breaks the pattern of a quote and a brief bit of thinking out loud from me. Some of you know my hummingbird story … some of you are reading it for the first time. How has God whispered “I love you” to you recently? 

 

*Photos by  the amazing LisaAnne Meeter. 

In Others’ Words: Direction

Where are you headed?

There are 28 days left in December and then it’s time for a new calendar and a new year.

Where are you headed in 2013?

If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know I abandoned New Year’s Resolutions years ago — way back in 2006, to be exact. Instead, I focus on one word. That’s it: just one word.  The beauty of focusing on one word? I never lose track of one word, unlike a list of resolutions, which I usually lose within the first month of a new year. The best thing about focusing on one word? By the end of the year, I’ve experienced real life change.

In 2012, my word was trust.  It’s been a year of change for me, both in my personal life and my professional life. And looking back, I can see why God directed me to the word “trust.” I had to put my hope and confidence in him over and over again during the past twelve months. I faced doubting versus trusting — and ultimately chose trusting God. One thing I enjoyed doing this past year was posting daily trust quotes on my Facebook page. Doing so broadened my understanding of trust.

Before I share my word for 2013, I’ll rewind and tell you what my words have been in years past:

2006: gratitude (I kept a gratitude journal and found my “glass-half-empty” attitude revolutionized.)
2007: simplify (A severe illness turned this word into survival. I embraced simpler things in ways I never imagined.)
2008: content – as in “be content with such things as you have” (Hebrews 13:5) (I bought a lot less that year!)
2009 & 2010: forgiveness (I had a lot to learn and unlearn about forgiveness.)
2011: hope (A word I clung to when life hurt or when my heart ached for others who were hurting. There were times I could have asked “Why?” Instead, I asked myself, “Are you going to abandon hope?” My answer: No.)

My word for 2013 is confidence. The Scripture I’ve anchored the word to is “… do not throw away your confidence …”  (Hebrews 10:35 NIV) and I intend to apply this exhortation to both my personal and writing life. And that’s my visual to remind me of my focus for 2013.

 

In Your Words: Where are you headed in 2013? Are you making a list of New Year’s Resolutions and checking it twice? Or, like me, do you choose one word and focus on that for 365 days?

 

 

In Others’ Words: Perseverance

It has been an interesting week.

I could share all the details, but trust on me on this: It has been an interesting week. Now “interesting” is a vague word, I know. Do I mean interesting-bad or interesting-good?

Well, yes. Yes, I do.

One of the interesting events of the week was getting this blog up and running again. For that oh-so-good accomplishment I thank Matt Jones of Jones House Creative, who is now managing my website. When I finally meet Matt face-to-face, I just may kiss his feet — but at the very least, I am going to give him a ginormous hug!

And I do apologize for the odd test post that showed up in your inboxes yesterday. Just a little blip on the “interesting” radar screen.

I had some fun posts planned for this week. Guess what? They’re all moved to next week! As today’s quote says: We’ll get there some day.

In Your Words: How’s the course of life running for all of you? I missed our conversations this week. I hope you have a chance to stop by and chat today.

In Others’ Words: Gratitude

No matter what your circumstances, no matter where you are geographically, emotionally, or spiritually this Thanksgiving holiday, I hope you are able to embrace some reason to be thankful.

I am thankful for each of you who participate in this blog — as readers, as ones who dive into the conversation and share your insights. You (yes, you!) are a not-to-be-missed highlight of my days.

I’ll be back blogging next Monday! Until then, I’ll be spending time with my family. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

 

 

 

In Others’ Words: Fairy Tales

As a little girl, I read fairy tales.

I enjoyed Walt Disney’s animated version of Cinderella and Snow White and Sleeping Beauty too … and even embraced the updated version of Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel. (Tangled? Loved it and laughed through it.)

So maybe it’s no surprise fairy tales show up in my second novel, Catch a Falling Star (Howard Books, May 2013.) There’s more to a fairy tale than the happily ever after ending … we just need to take the time to discover what the “more” is. To uncover the lessons being learned by the heroine — the hero too — and see how they apply to us.

Lessons like: how courage takes you places you never imagined (Beauty and the Beast); good triumphing over evil may look magical — but it’s much, much more than that (Sleeping Beauty); the value of iron skillets (Tangled) …

Gotcha!

The deeper truth of Tangled? For me, it was not letting someone else keep me from my dreams.

In Your Words: What was your favorite fairy tale? Besides the happily ever after, what lesson did you learn from the make-believe story that sticks with you today?

I’m over at Ashley Clark’s blog today. Well, not just me. She interviewed Allison Denmark, too, the heroine of Wish You Were Here!

In Others’ Words: Answers

 

Remember when you were in school and sometimes — oh, happy day! — the answers to the math problems were in the back of the textbook?

Of course, copying the answers was cheating. And doing so didn’t help you master algebra or geometry … but you did finish your homework a lot faster.

I haven’t stumbled across any book that has the answers to life’s questions in the back — although I have read one that has answers found throughout its pages.

I’ve also discovered some “life answers” through the years. Here are a few:

Women, we need our girlfriends. It may take us a few years to figure out just who the trustworthy friends are, but we need to do that … because life is richer (and easier) with our girlfriends.
If at first you don’t succeed … lower the bar. I know, I know, you all think the proper way to finish that statement is “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Fine, go ahead and try again — but lower the bar first, especially if you’re aiming at perfection. Give yourself a decent chance at success, which means not setting yourself up for failure.
“No” is a good word — and sometimes it is the best word. But you still have to use it sparingly.
God is real … but he’s not pushy. A lot of people who say they know God are fake … and pushy.

In Your Words: We all have learned answers through our individual life lessons. I’ve shared some of mine today. I’d love to hear some of yours. If you could put an answer in the back of the book of life, what would you write?

In Others’ Words: Forgotten

I can’t even let myself think too long of the story ideas I’ve forgotten because I didn’t write them down.

They were brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Sometimes it was a story idea. Or just a scene. Or a snippet of dialogue with just the right zing. But I was already in bed, comfy under the covers, with my teeth brushed and my eyes at half-mast … and I knew I’d remember that little bit of brilliance in the morning.

When morning came I had nothing except a huge pile of regret weighing me down as I wandered around the house muttering, “What was it? What was it?!?”

So I’ve learned to push back the comfy covers, pull on my robe and go downstairs and write it out. If nothing else, I have my little notebook on my bedside table for a hasty scribble for those moments inspiration wakes me up at two o’clock in the morning. I even invested in a waterproof pad of paper and a pencil that is installed in my shower … just in case.

Because I’d rather be tired (or sopping wet) and inspired than dealing with writer regret.

In Your Words: Writers, tell us about the one that got away — the story, that is. And how you avoid inspiration slipping through your fingers. Readers, you have your own moments of inspiration. How do you hold onto them?