Flying Solo

Tuesday Tips

There is an interesting theory about discovering your life purpose. When you know you life purpose, there is clarity and it gives you hope and direction.

Step One- Look inside of us. Our life is like an onion, it has many layers of experience, influence and habits. As human, we react to situation and conditioned ourselves with the environment, as such sometimes we lose track of our core value and beliefs.

Reflect on your thoughts, feelings, beliefs and motivations. Examine your attitude towards certain people and situation. Do you feel happy with your action or the decision you have made.

(Side note from Denise: I always ask myself, “What is my motivator?” That is a good indicator of where my heart is. Am I being motivated by fear? Insecurity? Or is this something I know God is calling me to do.)

Peel away the layers of negative emotions and habits that are stifling your progress and creativity. Uncover the real you, the person you are comfortable with, your real motivation and what makes you happy.

Step 2- Ensure that you conscientiously stay away from the stumbling blocks of your life. They are your negative emotions, your fear, anger and self doubt. It is not going to be easy; they are your mountains to climb. But the advantage is you know what they are and what you should do.

Step 3- Is to find out what makes you happy. Have you ever feel your creativity soar when you are not restricted by your own fears? This is the first sign of you realizing your life purpose.

To find out more about how to discover your life purpose, here is an extract from the book The Life You Were Born to Live written by Dan Millman.

"...many of us don't consciously recognize or acknowledge that we even have a specific life purpose, our subconscious knows what we are her to do; reaches out to us, sending messages through our dreams, intuitions and innermost longs. The call of our destiny manifest as our deepest drives and abilities - the hidden forces behind our personality. This drives shape our career and our relationship and influence the quality and direction of our life. "

Got some of your favorite tips you want to share? Email [email protected]

 

Monday Musings

As my heart has come alive over this last season, I’ve discovered a few things about myself. I’ve discovered I like broccoli. Used to hate it. I’ve discovered that I’m a pretty good roommate. My friend Ashley, who is about to get married, has moved in with me quite a few times over the past year, as well as my precious friends who have hunkered down with me for weeks at a time. I’ve discovered I’m pretty good and interior design. I know, such a shocker. I’ve never designed any house I’ve lived in. Didn’t even care honestly.
But one day Ken said, “I want you to go to the store and buy five or six magazines that you would normally never buy.” I was like, “Okay, shopping. I can so do that.” He said, “Just see what you’re drawn to.” I was amazed at what happened. My eyes were immediately drawn to design magazines. My mother was in interior design for years, and growing up I never had an interest in it or a talent for it.
My design talents were limited to decorating my the back of my door with posters, which was where I was allowed to let my creative juices flow. Then I married someone extremely gifted in architecture and design and so I never paid it any attention. So, when my eyes were drawn to design magazines it shocked even me. Architectural Digest used to come to my house monthly and I simply set it aside and never looked at it.
But I was digging in these magazines, marking pages, and my eye was drawn to color, kelly greens, ocean blues, pale pinks. That one little suggestion opened up my heart to another place I had shut it down.
So, today’s challenge, go to a bookstore and stand in front of the magazine section and see what connects with your heart. See what ignites something inside of you, and not something you would normally buy. You might be amazed at what you discover comes to life inside of you. Then, come back and share it with us. We want to know….

Sunday Reflections

This is your time. Reflect with us about your week, your friends, or what God has become to you. This is your space. Your time.

Saturday Dinner and A Movie

Stuffed Bacon Cheeseburgers

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack
• 4 slices cooked bacon, chopped
• 1 pound ground chuck
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large hamburger buns, split
• Ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard, for serving
• Lettuce, sliced tomato, onion, and avocado, for serving

Directions

Combine the jack cheese and chopped bacon in a bowl. Put the beef in another bowl and season with salt and pepper; use a rubber spatula to mix it in. Flatten 1/4 of the meat mixture in the palm of your hand. Squeeze together about a tablespoon of the cheese and bacon mixture to make a little nugget; put it in the center of the ground beef. Bring up the sides of the patty over the filling, making sure the cheese is completely covered by the meat. Flatten slightly for a nice patty shape. Set them side by side on a platter in the refrigerator while preparing the grill.

Place a large grill pan on 2 burners over medium-high heat or preheat an outdoor gas or charcoal barbecue and get it very hot. Brush the grates with oil to keep the burgers from sticking. Grill the burgers for 8 minutes per side for medium. (The USDA recommends cooking ground beef until it is no longer pink and the internal temperature is 160 degrees F.) Remove the burgers to a clean side plate while you toast the buns.

Rub the grill rack with more oil and place the buns cut-side down, toast for 1 minute. Serve the burgers with your favorite condiment and any garnish you like, such as lettuce, sliced tomato, onion, and/or avocado.

 

We want your favorite recipes, movies and pictures with freinds at dinner! Email them to [email protected]

Movie:

  

Star Trek (2009)

 

 

Fridays with Ken

Our first question this week comes from one of our readers.

Ken, are you familiar with a therapy called EMCR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing).  I would like to know if it is a safe type of therapy and would you recommend it for someone who has been through a traumatic event.
Teresa-SC

EMDR is a very helpful technique. It is perfect for individuals who have been through trauma as well fear and other larger emotional issues. In very simple terms, the technique helps the client connect both sides of their brain (emotive and cognitive) to help them more fully process the events or issues.  I would recommend it but I would look for someone who has been thoroughly trained and that you trust.

When you came to speak to our Bible Study in the spring you talked to us about “boxes”. Why are we so predisposed to put such confines on how we live?

Boxes give us an illusion of safety.  A great number of us are pain avoidant so we will accept the confine if we believe the payoff is big enough. The problem is that we are unable to see our lives through Gods eyes so we don’t realize what we’re missing out on. Bottom line is that we don’t believe God is big enough to help or that He is willing.

How do we begin to break out of the boxes that we have created? And more importantly, how do we prevent ourselves from going back to them?

Breaking out of a box and staying out of new ones require the same kind of commitment.  We have to take the risk of trusting God.  It starts with repenting from our control (the box) and accepting that God may want to write a bigger story with our pain. We need to grow in our understanding that God is wilder than we are and that He wants to do work in us that point’s people back to Him. 

Ken Edwards is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and has earned a Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling and a Master of Arts in Religious Education of Southwestern Seminary. But his discernment matches his education and for me often the greater gift. He lives with his wife Janet and three children in Franklin, Tennessee. And this is him enjoying what he loves, the mountains in Wyoming. Except he's usually behind the camera. And he has been kind enough to spend Friday’s with us. What he is offering us regarding his time is a gift. I hope we will take advantage of it.

Got Question's for Ken? Email your questions to [email protected]

Thursday Thumbprint

Today’s Thumbprint, provided by Nadia, a reader in South Carolina:

I had been really praying about my prayer language for about a year and a half, prior to this year.

I was told that I would receive it when I was really little, but at the time I didn't quite understand and was afraid it. I remember every time a pastor gave a call for whomever wanted to receive their prayer language ...I would have this conversation with God like " I'm not ready yet Lord. I don't think that this is the right time". I knew that he was nudging me...and every time I threw out an excuse to why I wasn't ready to receive.

So, I decided to pursue this language that everyone often spoke about. I read scriptures about it, talked to people who already had it, and prayed for God to show me its significance. I realized, yes Lord... I have to have this language. So, I grew hungry for it! I was tired of being afraid to receive it. I was tired of trying to figure out how it was going to happen. It was a Wednesday church night in March and I wasn't exactly feeling my best. Of course Pastor Don was speaking on the Holy Spirit, go figure. :) At the end of the service, I had a feeling that he was going to give the call. What do ya know? He did. I started to pull out my "It's not a good night for this Lord" line, but God said no this is my perfect time for you. I immediately felt the tugging from him. He gives me butterflies I must say.

I walked toward the front of the church and felt such a peace come over me. I knew that I was going to receive something from him. I started weeping and praising him and told him that I trusted him...and I did. Pastor came over and prayed with me. I jumped and fell to my knees and my tongue started going and I could not stop it. I knew right then and there that God heard me and answered my prayer....and I knew that it was all him. For once I surrendered my control and allowed him to move. For once I didn't try to help God out! It was absolutely awesome Denise. I was on cloud 15! God said to me that night "All you have to do is trust me and release yourself to me and know that I will take care of you".

Do you have a Thumbprint that you would like to share? If so email it to [email protected]

Wednesday 1 on 1 with Nate....

 You live life with such a transparency, such a depth of passion, yet you told me that you’ve just come to that place over this last year. Why do you think it takes some of us so long to get rid of the junk in order to come to real place of living?

  Denise, I don’t believe we see it. I honestly believe right now there are truths in our lives that are staring us in the face, but we are so enmeshed with security and distraction that the margin is not there to actually see and hear the truth. There is also the case, where many of us are not as interested in the truths because we are not sure what to do or where to go from there.

                                                                   

 The face of the church has changed a great deal over the last ten years. People are so hungry for the real instead of the religious. You’ve had an interesting journey in this area too. Would you share that with us?

I hit a brick wall a few years ago, and just could not take another Sunday at church. I realize now that my expectations were so out of whack for the purpose the church is to have in our lives. When my counselor (The very famous Ken Edwards, from Fridays with Ken Edwards) suggested I take a mini-sabbatical from church I was relieved. He said take the month of June off (it was the first week of May), and I said “Yeah, and ya know what; I am going to start it early”. So, I enjoyed my Sunday mornings and my new liberated self then Ken paused and said “Uh, Nate. It’s December. Are you going back to church at some point?” I loved that period because it gave me a fresh new perspective that in my walk with God I am responsible to pursue Him, and invest everything in to our relationship and not rely on the church for any pick me ups or feel good moments. I do fear the church is having a bit of an identity crisis. It seems they are softening and softening and becoming more “relevant” to be able to make sure people feel comfortable. I don’t want to feel comfortable in church, I want to feel truth. The Holy Spirit stands alone as the most relevant connection to a soul and I don’t want to see that watered down.

 

Tuesday Tips

One of the best ways I’ve discovered in being alive is connecting with Jesus throughout the day. Here is an interesting article I found in opportunities we have that we might have missed.

Did you know that there are countless times in your day that you have established a connection with God?

Yes, I am talking about as if they are already happening. Yesterday, you were in connection with God.. Whether you knew it or not.

Every moment of our lives, we are connecting to God. I don’t mean it in the way that we are all God and God is everything, but more like you always have a cell phone turned on and connected with God’s cell phone. Our problem is that we just don’t realize it. We make such a big deal out of finding the right way to reconnect to God: the right prayer or the right environment. We try so hard that we end up getting burnt out on “getting right with God”, but it is not our job to learn how to connect with God. God has already done it.

Our job is to become aware of the connections that God has already established with us throughout our day.

Below is a list of 5 times that you can be aware of your chance to connect with God through your average day. Every item on this list is an action that you make in your everyday life.

   1. Opening the front door on the way to work. As you step outside of your house in anticipation of a new day, God is there with you. Whether you are expecting to have a nice and relaxing day or an extremely stressful day, God is stepping through the door with you.

   2. In friendly conversations. We are connecting with God in all of our everyday conversation. When we are laughing with friends over a cup of coffee or glass of beer, God is there enjoying  the time with us.

   3. While waiting for something/someone. You’d be surprised how much of your day is made up of waiting for someone or something. Its just a natural part of the day. Have you ever taken the time to talk to God while you are waiting?

   4. During that 5 minute personal breather from work. We all take those personal moments to get away from our work for several moments. We check our email, go outside for a smoke, or  find someone to talk too. This is a good opportunity to give a short breath prayer.

   5. On the wonderful drive home from work.  I love to blast the radio on the way home from work. I probably would be embarrassed if someone videotaped and then showed me driving home. Its my time to release all the stress from work and refocus on my family.

These are just 5 in an average day that I am trying to make a habit of being aware of my connection with God. There are many other ways to connect with God through a routine and ordinary day. You might be more aware during other times than the ones I have listed.

I would like to hear about your experiences. Feel free to post a comment about when you are most aware of God’s connection or an event in your day that you are trying to be more aware of how God is connecting with you.

http://www.altnoise.net/connecting-with-god/

Got some of your favorite Tips you want to share? Email them to [email protected]

Monday Musing

Ken spoke to the Bible Study I teach this past semester. He talked about the “boxes” that we create. You know, the little squares we try to cram our worlds inside. The way life is supposed to look, at least from our point of view. And when life doesn’t fit inside the square peg we have try to cram it and make it fit. He challenged us to get rid of our boxes. Instead to walk in a relationship with God where we so trusted Him that we didn’t need a box. That we could be confident He could bring us His best. And shocker, it might not look like what we would create. 
 Thought I had done away with my boxes. But as I sat there that morning taking notes, I realized I had created me a new one. I had decided what a certain aspect of my future needed to look like and anytime something presented itself outside of that, this fear would overtake me. 
 That morning I realized how geared we are to create “boxes”. I had spent the last two years trying to get rid of all my boxes, only to pick up a new one. When I left that morning I had a conversation with God on the way home. And I released my new box. It’s scary. It’s scary when something is brought to us outside of what we think we need. But if this journey has taught me anything it is that God can so be trusted. 
 And if He wants to show up in a way I never anticipated, bust up in my life with something that is so outside of my comfort zone and challenge me, yet again, in my deep places, then let’s go! I’m ready! He has proven more faithful than I had ever thought or expected. And sister is going to do her best to get rid of her boxes. So, how about you?

Sunday Reflections

This is your time. Reflect with us about your week, your friends, or what God has become to you. This is your space. Your time.