Monday, June 15, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Bullet Points:
- Flo-thanks for the updates. I really enjoyed reading about Drew and how tender hearted and evident the Father's love for us is through your own child.
- The girl's weekend was great and I miss you all.
- I too have jumped on the blog wagon: hopefully I'll put some of my "in the works" posts up soon http://toholdingfast.blogspot.com
Thursday, April 9, 2009
First, let me say how much I missed getting to see all of you gals on this past trip! The pictures were so fun to see (yay facebook!) and it looked like it was really a great time. Definitely what I missed the most (besides fabulous Nertz time, of course!) was hearing what is going on in everyone’s life and prayer requests. I’m assuming all that was shared but maybe we could keep it going on here?? :)
Just to get the ball rolling…
Drew. That about sums up my life in the past 8 months or so! Seriously, I fell in love with him right away and I love being his mom. I love it, but I am constantly reminded how most of the time, I have no idea what I am doing! It’s a good place to be in to be constantly relying on God’s wisdom!
One of the biggest things that struck me after having Drew was how much God wanted me as His child. When I look at my only son, I think, “Really God, You gave Your only Son for me? Really??” I can’t imagine that sacrifice. We’ve been going through Luke in my Bible Study this year and the timing has been so cool – just this week we are studying the Passion. I’ve been praying that God would show it to me in new ways and that it would be refreshed and new in my heart this Easter. I think He is – just thinking about that kind of love is pretty staggering.
Some things I’m praying for…
My investment in my community: One thing that stands out to me in studying Luke is how invested Jesus was in His community. My life and time look a lot different these days so I’m trying to figure out how to be intentional about giving of myself. (One awesome way God has answered that prayer is through Young Life! Last summer, Andrew and I joined the adult committee and have really fallen in love with all things YL. One highlight of our week is bringing dinner/snacks to our local team before their club meetings. It has been so fun to get to know those leaders and see their hearts for those kids. And I think about you YL girls so much and how much of a blessing you must have been in those high schoolers’ lives!)
Joyfully serving my husband: God has just revealed to me a lot of yuck-yuck in my heart about my attitude. I’m praying to be sensitive to my sin and really just enjoy the opportunities to show Andrew through actions how blessed I am by him.
A mentor: “I need someone older and wiser telling me what to do….” (Guess that movie song!) But seriously, having a woman in my life that has been there and can share that with me on a consistent basis would be awesome.
Okay…Your turn!
Love you all!
Oh and PS – I have a blog…I’m horrible at blogging, but its www.theeckstroms.blogspot.com.
Just to get the ball rolling…
Drew. That about sums up my life in the past 8 months or so! Seriously, I fell in love with him right away and I love being his mom. I love it, but I am constantly reminded how most of the time, I have no idea what I am doing! It’s a good place to be in to be constantly relying on God’s wisdom!
One of the biggest things that struck me after having Drew was how much God wanted me as His child. When I look at my only son, I think, “Really God, You gave Your only Son for me? Really??” I can’t imagine that sacrifice. We’ve been going through Luke in my Bible Study this year and the timing has been so cool – just this week we are studying the Passion. I’ve been praying that God would show it to me in new ways and that it would be refreshed and new in my heart this Easter. I think He is – just thinking about that kind of love is pretty staggering.
Some things I’m praying for…
My investment in my community: One thing that stands out to me in studying Luke is how invested Jesus was in His community. My life and time look a lot different these days so I’m trying to figure out how to be intentional about giving of myself. (One awesome way God has answered that prayer is through Young Life! Last summer, Andrew and I joined the adult committee and have really fallen in love with all things YL. One highlight of our week is bringing dinner/snacks to our local team before their club meetings. It has been so fun to get to know those leaders and see their hearts for those kids. And I think about you YL girls so much and how much of a blessing you must have been in those high schoolers’ lives!)
Joyfully serving my husband: God has just revealed to me a lot of yuck-yuck in my heart about my attitude. I’m praying to be sensitive to my sin and really just enjoy the opportunities to show Andrew through actions how blessed I am by him.
A mentor: “I need someone older and wiser telling me what to do….” (Guess that movie song!) But seriously, having a woman in my life that has been there and can share that with me on a consistent basis would be awesome.
Okay…Your turn!
Love you all!
Oh and PS – I have a blog…I’m horrible at blogging, but its www.theeckstroms.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Been around the world...
You know the P Diddy song, "been around the world and ay, ay, ay..." While I cannot cite it quite as my inspiration for my past week, it certainly could of been. After our wonderful girls weekend I had the opportunity to hit the skies for a little multi-city tour. First, I went to Denver, CO and stayed with two different folks. One was a cousin of sorts, and the other a girl who had just moved from Nashville to Boulder, CO. Mostly my intention was to ski, as it was my first time back to CO since I left my ranch in Spring of '05. It is so strange how parts of us lie dormant for periods of time, but they are still there waiting to be expressed...my dormant characteristic is desiring to be challenged physically and in risk-taking by my external environment. What a rush it was trying to tackle black moguls rather than just cruising down the blues comfortably...an older man even took me under his wing and was teaching me some techniques to the give and go of getting down the hill. What respect I have for older men who have mastered a craft and now the joy becomes helping others do the same...sometimes think I could marry a 50 y.o. man who has reached this point of humility in his life.
My next leg took me to Seattle, WA to visit with our recently engaged friend. I found myself waking up every day saying, "Lord, I love my life". I have been reading The Shack and it has really rocked my world and feeling that great sense of intimacy and greater understanding of the Lord's character has allowed me to feel so much more settled. I encourage every person I know to read it. Also, I was so blessed by the generosity of all my hostesses...giving so fully of themselves and finding joy in serving others. Yet, aware of how do you receive with gratitude, knowing their joy in serving and yet in such a way that those people do not feel taken advantage of...such a balance.
The last few days of my trip were spent at a Student Affairs conference in Seattle. Here I found myself completely rejecting the career mindedness of my surrounding environment. The social networking and agendas of all the various people was hard for me to engage with. My agenda right now is to live a balanced life full of relationships, challenges (emotionally, socially, physically, academic) with significant time to rest in the beautiful presence of the Lord.
All the while my soundtrack for the trip was a cd recently made for me by a dude in Nashville that has been on the radar. My recognition of my desire to love and serve a mate has been very real as I get to know said "dude". The excitement of doing thoughtful things and sharing ones life with sometimes overwhelms me as I know I need to cautiously proceed in the "getting to know" you phase of the process. As I live more and more into the person the Lord made me to be and the freedom associated with that, without extreme controls or constraints, I pray for the Lord's protection rather than the false security I have constructed for myself.
My next leg took me to Seattle, WA to visit with our recently engaged friend. I found myself waking up every day saying, "Lord, I love my life". I have been reading The Shack and it has really rocked my world and feeling that great sense of intimacy and greater understanding of the Lord's character has allowed me to feel so much more settled. I encourage every person I know to read it. Also, I was so blessed by the generosity of all my hostesses...giving so fully of themselves and finding joy in serving others. Yet, aware of how do you receive with gratitude, knowing their joy in serving and yet in such a way that those people do not feel taken advantage of...such a balance.
The last few days of my trip were spent at a Student Affairs conference in Seattle. Here I found myself completely rejecting the career mindedness of my surrounding environment. The social networking and agendas of all the various people was hard for me to engage with. My agenda right now is to live a balanced life full of relationships, challenges (emotionally, socially, physically, academic) with significant time to rest in the beautiful presence of the Lord.
All the while my soundtrack for the trip was a cd recently made for me by a dude in Nashville that has been on the radar. My recognition of my desire to love and serve a mate has been very real as I get to know said "dude". The excitement of doing thoughtful things and sharing ones life with sometimes overwhelms me as I know I need to cautiously proceed in the "getting to know" you phase of the process. As I live more and more into the person the Lord made me to be and the freedom associated with that, without extreme controls or constraints, I pray for the Lord's protection rather than the false security I have constructed for myself.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Oh where oh where has my little mind gone....
Sometimes I wish I could lose my mind. like..completely. then I'd have justification for all my negligence, lost thoughts, indecisiveness, etc.
My bed is made but my mind is cluttered. My closet is organized but my fridge is empty. My sociallizing is prolific but my "me" time is non-existant. Coffee is good...but it gives me jitters. Sleep is refreshing but I find it boring. I crave structure but don't you think it's stifling?
Well rounded, dyanic, multi-faceted, confusing, undecided, non-commital...oh which one is it?
Can I just run away for a little bit? Throw responsibilty and self-understanding to the wind.... return with no questions asked...
don't be confused by me, I'm already confused enough.
My bed is made but my mind is cluttered. My closet is organized but my fridge is empty. My sociallizing is prolific but my "me" time is non-existant. Coffee is good...but it gives me jitters. Sleep is refreshing but I find it boring. I crave structure but don't you think it's stifling?
Well rounded, dyanic, multi-faceted, confusing, undecided, non-commital...oh which one is it?
Can I just run away for a little bit? Throw responsibilty and self-understanding to the wind.... return with no questions asked...
don't be confused by me, I'm already confused enough.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Nashvillefest!
T-53 days and counting!
Until the friends arrive, the laughter ensues, and we will all be together again! I'm quite excited that ya'll will be making the trip up to TN this year. Last year at this time I didn't have the same sentiments as I do towards Nashville now. That's understandable, it takes time to adjust to a place, make friends and mentally move on from the previous chapter in life. Looking forward to sharing this place with all of ya'll!!
Until the friends arrive, the laughter ensues, and we will all be together again! I'm quite excited that ya'll will be making the trip up to TN this year. Last year at this time I didn't have the same sentiments as I do towards Nashville now. That's understandable, it takes time to adjust to a place, make friends and mentally move on from the previous chapter in life. Looking forward to sharing this place with all of ya'll!!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Trusting God and Sliced Bread
So I've been wrestling with a question this week--potentially a very shallow question that completely displays my insecurities--that I'd love to get ya'll's feedback on. While I could probably talk about it in a much more straight-forward way, I am going to try not to completely give myself away and talk about it in code. So here goes.
How the heck is a girl supposed to compete with the next best thing since sliced bread? Especially when the next best thing since sliced bread seems to be freaking awesome in every possible way! I mean, it obviously wont do to try to replicate the next best thing since sliced bread, because clearly there is only ONE next best thing since sliced bread, and if you are not it, then you are just not it right? Perhaps you are sliced bread. And if so, you were quite obviously made to be the piece of bread that you are, so I would think it to be a great waste of time (and of bread) to try to be something you're not. And yet, though sliced bread is good, hence the saying, it still doesn't seem--at least from your angle-- like it's AS good as that next "best thing."
I'm thinking that one of the answers to this question is that you just dont. You don't compete. You don't compare. And you be the best damn piece of bread you can be. And you thank the One who created and molded and baked you for doing all of that the way He did.
Another of my questions would be how do you deal when someone who you think you want to pick you picks the next best thing since sliced bread instead? Is it that not only were YOU not the bread for them, but THEY weren't the one you want buying your bread anyway? Or do we just tell ourselves that to feel better? What is the truth in the midst of that? Is the next best thing since sliced bread really as good and awesome as it looks? It seems so, but does it really matter and is it even worth spending the time to try to answer that question? It may just be me, but sometimes it's hard to not keep glancing over at the next best thing and be jealous, but instead be thankful and trusting.
Or is this whole "next best thing since sliced bread" thing just an illusion? Aren't we all pieces of bread in the same loaf--some of us maybe resembling the end pieces and some the pieces more towards the middle? Ok, enough of the bread analogy, I know...
I suppose in reality, my time shouldn't be spent focusing all that much on the bread anyway--or even the next best thing since sliced bread, but rather the Maker of it all. Because not only did He Make my bread, but He bought it. And He bought it in such a way, and at such a price, that whether I'm the end piece or the middle piece, or whether I measure up to the next best thing or not, I am His and my purpose and priviledge and preoccupation is to give Him glory, not seek it, or whatever else for that matter, for myself. Mind you, He delights to let me be a unique piece of bread, but ultimately it is about Him and not me. And wow, HE bought ME...can I not be completely satisfied with that in the present even if no one else ever comes along to take me off the shelf? In light of who HE is, I suppose it really just shouldn't even matter.
Ok...does ANY of that make sense? I promise my intention was not to take the bread analogy quite so far, but I actually think it helped me process what I was really after in a round about sort of way. Thoughts?
How the heck is a girl supposed to compete with the next best thing since sliced bread? Especially when the next best thing since sliced bread seems to be freaking awesome in every possible way! I mean, it obviously wont do to try to replicate the next best thing since sliced bread, because clearly there is only ONE next best thing since sliced bread, and if you are not it, then you are just not it right? Perhaps you are sliced bread. And if so, you were quite obviously made to be the piece of bread that you are, so I would think it to be a great waste of time (and of bread) to try to be something you're not. And yet, though sliced bread is good, hence the saying, it still doesn't seem--at least from your angle-- like it's AS good as that next "best thing."
I'm thinking that one of the answers to this question is that you just dont. You don't compete. You don't compare. And you be the best damn piece of bread you can be. And you thank the One who created and molded and baked you for doing all of that the way He did.
Another of my questions would be how do you deal when someone who you think you want to pick you picks the next best thing since sliced bread instead? Is it that not only were YOU not the bread for them, but THEY weren't the one you want buying your bread anyway? Or do we just tell ourselves that to feel better? What is the truth in the midst of that? Is the next best thing since sliced bread really as good and awesome as it looks? It seems so, but does it really matter and is it even worth spending the time to try to answer that question? It may just be me, but sometimes it's hard to not keep glancing over at the next best thing and be jealous, but instead be thankful and trusting.
Or is this whole "next best thing since sliced bread" thing just an illusion? Aren't we all pieces of bread in the same loaf--some of us maybe resembling the end pieces and some the pieces more towards the middle? Ok, enough of the bread analogy, I know...
I suppose in reality, my time shouldn't be spent focusing all that much on the bread anyway--or even the next best thing since sliced bread, but rather the Maker of it all. Because not only did He Make my bread, but He bought it. And He bought it in such a way, and at such a price, that whether I'm the end piece or the middle piece, or whether I measure up to the next best thing or not, I am His and my purpose and priviledge and preoccupation is to give Him glory, not seek it, or whatever else for that matter, for myself. Mind you, He delights to let me be a unique piece of bread, but ultimately it is about Him and not me. And wow, HE bought ME...can I not be completely satisfied with that in the present even if no one else ever comes along to take me off the shelf? In light of who HE is, I suppose it really just shouldn't even matter.
Ok...does ANY of that make sense? I promise my intention was not to take the bread analogy quite so far, but I actually think it helped me process what I was really after in a round about sort of way. Thoughts?
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