Vision...round two

"Be Thou My Vision O Lord of my heart"
Due to a series of corporate groups I have recently been helping to facilitate the concept of vision and personal mission has been fresh on my mind. I have never succeeded at writing a personal mission statement. It's something that just seems impossible to put into words. And quite frankly its something I want to share...to do together with someone...but that's not happening anytime soon.
This morning I went to yet another new church. I was so encouraged to sing Come Thou Fount and Be Thou My Vision mostly cause they are like a "blankie" to me:) Singing those words this morning was a gentle reminder of my vision and my purpose for life. My passion is people and challenging people of all ages to want to grow. My vision and my purpose has already been written... Matt 28:18-20.

Choosing by Alli Rogers

I guess I need to chose
but today I am confused
and losing ground
Is this some part of plan
The rise and fall of man
I can't be sure

When I am away from my source of peace
something fills that space in me
And it feels like I don't need you

It's easy to get by
when I don't even try to
find the truth
Today I learned that faith
is not to be obtained like a place I can go

It's more of a choice than a feeling
And more a wound than healing
The act of believing in you

And I guess I need to choose
but today I am confused and losing ground

But maybe this is where I grow
When I admit that I don't know
When belief becomes the only way to you

I just heard this song on pandora and wow! What really hit me is the statement about peace. Holy cow, have I experienced that lately. I have been away. Wow, have I been away and allowing that space to be filled by something else. Today I am choosing not to be filled with something else but to allow that peace to come from the only one who can really give it.

singles group

I am still in shock of what I experienced this afternoon. Recently I have been thinking about how I really need to make some friends outside of work. No offense to those that I work with...it's just time my life didn't revolve around BW. Last Sunday we'd noticed that there would be a singles potluck this afternoon. I had gone back and forth in my head about going but when one of my housemates volunteered to go with me I had a rekindled desire to take the plunge and go to the singles potluck. It was NOT what either of us expected and I am soooooo glad I didn't go it alone. It wasn't weird or creepy or anything we just happened to be probably 20 years younger than every other person who attended. No offense but this was not what I was hoping for... so my small attempts to find a social network outside of BW and closer than Ohio must continue. This makes me miss college...ugh. How are people suposed to meet each other anymore???

where do I stand on war?

Yesterday I went to visit a fairly local milatiary base.There are many groups that come from this base that I assist in facilitating and we wanted to gain a better understanding of what these people do so that we can provide a better experience for them at the Woods. It was super interesting but somewhat hard to swallow. Way back in my college days(I know that was oh so long ago:) there were a lot of let's say debatable issues that were kind of in my face. One of those issues was war vs. peace. I took a confident pacifist stance... now I am there but not quite as confidently. One of the first things I saw on base were some high powered guns...ugh. Interesting to see but that threw my brain into a tizzy for the rest of the day. As I listened to these men and women share about what they do on a daily basis to enable the US to defend and fight my stomach was unsettled. I was forced to contemplate my assistance in empowering these people to essentially be more effective at sending people off to war.
What IS my role? Am I indirectly supporting war? And should I stop? Or is war a fact of humanity and by helping these people do their jobs more effectively am I indirectly helping protect those who fight every day? Though I am answerless, my convictions are not strong enough to stop doing what I am doing... but I wonder if they should be? What do you think?
On another note I did get to ride in a hummer AND sit in the driver's seat...pretty sweet when I don't think about why hummers exist in the first place...see pics...

on coaching...

Those who can't (anymore), teach? That's what people say, right? I was a gymnast for 11 years, competing for 5 of them. At the ripe old age of 17 I retired. Eleven years later gymnastics is still a rewarding part of my life though it's had many faces. I have taught at summer camp, taught after school programs, coached competitive gymnastics in PA for 3 years, and now coach recreational classes as well as girls who compete in Indiana.
I LOVE gymnastics. I love that I can still do a round-off back handspring(much to the dismay of all my girls...and my boss:) and that I can still climb up on a balance beam to do my old high school routine. And though I'd love to be physically capable of doing all the things I could do so many years ago gymnastics bringing a different satisfaction than it used it. There are days when my girls drive me up a wall...but there are nights like tonight that things just click.
I went to practice tonight frustrated about life and wishing I could unhurt people I have hurt. I listened to the song Brand New Day on repeat all the way to the gym and I decided when I walked in the door that it would be a great night. IT WAS! Though the girls were not angels by any means, they allowed me to focus my energy on helping them get better. I am trying so hard to praise the good they do and gentlly explain how to get better. One of the girls inparticular takes correction pretty hard. In our last 5 minutes we worked through a bar skill she's been struggling with. I cannot express how proud of her I still am. She got something she felt so defeated by and really all it took was a lot of praise and encouragment. She left the gym with a huge grin on her face tonight...and so did I.
I have said many times before that my passion is helping people grow...my girls are so small and young but they are growing...and the reward I feel for being part of that growth far exceeds the reward of do a backhandspring!

Brand New Day by Joshua Radin

I kind of stumbled on this song. A friend had given me all her CDs to listen to on my christmas baby tour and I had left this one in my cd visor accidently. Apparently it wasn't hers...another friend had left it at our house and it ended up in the stash I got at christmas.
Anyway...I am a music girl...the words that other people write are often the words I can't formulate. I have been listening to this song over and over for the last few days still trying to let them sink in. It's so simple, so true and so often hard for me to remember. In the midst of pain there is so much good and it's how I handle my time, my words, and my thoughts that will determine the outcome of each brand new day.

Brand New Day
by:Joshua Radin

Some kind of magic
Happens late at night
When the moon smiles down at me
And bathes me in its light

I fell asleep beneath you
In the tall blades of grass
When I woke the world was new
I never had to ask

It's a brand new day
The sun is shining
It's a brand new day
For the first time in such a long long time
I know, I'll be ok

Most kind of stories
Save the best part for last
And most stories have a hero who finds
You make your past your past
Yeah you make your past your past

It's a brand new day
The sun is shining
It's a brand new day
For the first time in such a long long time
I know, I'll be ok

This cycle never ends
You gotta fall in order to mend

It's a brand new day
It's a brand new day
For the first time in such a long long time
I know, I'll be ok

sara groves

If you have never listened to Sara Groves before, now would be a good time to start! Emily, my bff, has loved Sara Groves for probably as long as I have loved Bebo Norman. Whenever I visit Em I know Sara Groves is going to be in at least one CD player. Last night a group of us went to a concert and it was AMAZING. Her music and style are really good but its her lyrics that get ya. It's as if she has made sense of all the things I cannot seem to express.
As of last of last night my favorite song is Maybe There's a Loving God. Check out the lyrics here: http://saragroves.com/lyrics/allrighthere/maybetheresalovinggod
Another joy of the concert was being introduced to Melody Olson. She's been singing back up vocals for Sara and just this month released a CD of her own. I listened to the last song on the disc on repeat for a good long while on my way back to Indiana. Here it is...
Remember the Way You Love
Melody Olson
like a girl in a crowd, lookin around, strangers eyes in the middle of the night, you've got the truth and lies swimmin in my mind, and i am wondering whose got a skeleton to hide
keep me close, keep me calm, cloak my soul with magnificent hope, I'll remember the way you love
see the girl in the crowd, and the light pours down, and the summer breaks through the darkest cloud, the orphan and widow cry, and you say that I, can look for you there and I'll find you every time
keep me close to your heart and i will soar on the wings of the dawn, I'll remember the way you love,
you gave your only son to be the one the saving one, you gave your only son to be the one, the saving one, keep me close to your heart and I will soar on the wings of the dawn, I'll remember the way you love, I'll remember the way you love, I'll remember, I'll remember