Category: desire

Motivate: To Inspire a Response

. . . just say the word . . .
(Matthew 8:8 NIV)


What motivates me, most likely, is different than what motivates you. When I am weary, I need to take a nap in the middle of the day. When I feel depleted of ideas, I need to go and play in my art room. When I feel bored with my quiet time, I need to seek God’s presence with creativity and variety. 

Another thing that energizes me is definitions! If I’m experiencing  a dry time with God, I ask for a word. Just one word to keep me moving towards God. Sometimes the word brings much joy, like desire, my One Word for the year. Or they can be convicting, like today, while I was reading Jesus Calling: 

“To live in My Presence consistently, you must expose and expel your rebellious tendencies.”

Ouch! And further into the reading, God exposed and thankfully helped me to expel some resentment. God brings these words to mind for my well-being and wholeness, and for that I am ever grateful.


In 30 Ways Wake up Your Quiet Time, Pam Farrel shares some clever ways to use a slogan or catchy phrase to jolt your quiet time:

We’re a T-shirt society. Give us a slogan, cause or  catchy saying and we’ll wear it on our back. I listen to sermons frequently. Yet only a few stick out in my mind. One was a series Jill Briscoe did for leaders. Every day in every message Jill would use the Nike commercial slogan and say, Just Do It! 

Now in ministry when I am so exhausted…I feel I can’t go on, I hear a gentle reminder, Just do it…On those days I don’t feel like having my quiet time I hear Just do it!

Pam made her own T-shirt to illustrate a talk she gave on perseverance:

On the front it has a cross. On the back: He went the distance for me, I can live this moment for him! I know that perseverance is a complex subject. There are hundreds of verses on the topic, but when I am dead tired what keeps me motivated is that saying, that word picture of all Jesus did on the cross for me. 

She invites us to create our own slogan to inspire our devotion to God:

Try it! See if you can create an internal motivating saying for one of these spiritual disciplines: prayer, fasting, worship, Bible study or holiness. Think of how it might fit on a …T-shirt.

©Pam Farrel from 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Quiet Time (IVP). For more devotional books by Pam http://www.Love-wise.com



I would love to hear any great slogans you come up with! Share with us in the comments!

Posted on by kelrohlf 2

Ravel: To Become Entangled or Confused {Random Journal Day}


Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw offer everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us . . . (Hebrews 12:1 NIV)


This morning as I went to pull out a random journal, I intentionally found the one from the beginning of the year. I was on a quest to unravel my motive for my “One Word” that I chose eight months ago. My word is . . .



I wanted to choose “want,” but it seemed too grabby and selfish. So, I went with desire, which rolls off the tongue with ease and grandeur. Where has this one word taken me this year? Back to the heart of God over and over again. Why? Because my desires and His desires are not always in sync. I become confused and easily entangled by the desires clawing at me through every medium possible. My phone, the internet, magazines, TV shows and movies, songs on the radio. Books piled around my house beckoning me to read them. So many distractions and choices. 

Some of the choices and distractions are benign, and even good like spending time with friends. However to stay focused on the “race marked out for me,” I often have to say no to good things.

My work is to write words. God has made that clear to me several times. And I want to live a writing life. I love journals and discovery collage and sketching because all of these activities feed my created soul and fuel my writing endeavors.

My desire for writing words is to encourage others to discover their created self. To offer words to feed your soul and dare you to embark on your path and persevere in your race. 

May God unravel those places in your soul that need to breathe, to be expressed and to be scribed or scribbled down on some piece of paper. Your journaling technique is yours alone. I am just sharing mine so you can see that it is possible to explore, enjoy and embrace your created self!

For a treat to myself, I created a journal collaged with magazine pictures and white space for writing and sketching. This journal began during Advent 2012 and goes through the month of January 2013.

This entry was a 5 Minute Quick Write response to the doodling on the top of the page, which I titled, “raveled.” 

raveled instead of unraveled, tightly woven around a central image–a story inside a book, stacked on top of another book, unearthed treasure, waiting potential
knowledge tied up in packages unopened
I prefer raveled–untouched, kept together–if I read will I get tangled or untangled or mired into deeper questions of quest and conquest?
untouched emotions– a place to write freely of how I feel, of how untapped potential lies latent unafraid yet fearful of emerging or plunging or expunging or accusing or bruising my egotistical soul life–life untouched, unwanted, desired and unwanted at the same time
will I be too rough and uncomfortable
will I cause embarrassment or shame
unashamed  unfettered  unbelievable
the piles of unread, unheard, unseen aspects of my life hidden below sub par standard
guilt, risk, freedom–tight, constricted, raveled, woven
no thread to pull to wreck the image– a wrecked image, a ruined reputation-who the hell cares? I care. you care. he cares. she cares. we all care–but I want to live a carefree life!


A journal is a safe place to vent, a real place to reach into uncensored parts of ourselves. It is vulnerable to share these musings here, but I hope this glimpse into my raveled self, unravels in you a desire to find your own safe place to write and express what is inside you. Journaling, for me is a form of prayer, a dialogue between my created self and our Creator God.

What draws you to journaling?


Linking with Random Journal Day and OneWord365
Posted on by kelrohlf 9

Thrilling Guest Thursdays are Back!

 
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 
 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
(Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 ESV)
 
Dogwood in bloom, Spring 2012, in our front yard
 
 
God uses our presence, our friendships and our words and prayers to lift one another up. One of the great encouragements of being a blogger is meeting others who walk the same path. We cheer one another on and share space to encourage, comfort and challenge one another.
 
Dawn Paoletta, a modern day disciple, as she calls herself, is one of those friends. She loves to share the power of words through journaling, blogging, and poetry. Today, she has graciously agreed to link up her newest Spring poem, which I also see as a vulnerable prayer:
 
 
 
Spring Desire by Dawn Paoletta
 
 

I find myself longing for something new.

Not that I am discontent.

I am not.

I have peace.

Am content.

Yet I feel a longing within,

not dissatisfaction,

for that stirs up

negative connotations.

Is there a fresh wind blowing?
 
 
 
 
Thanks, Dawn!
 
 
Posted on by kelrohlf 7

Illuminate: Brightened With Light

 
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God
was hovering over the waters.
(Genesis 1:2 NIV)
 



 
And God said, “Let there be light,”
and there was light.
 
 

 
 
 
 God saw that the light was good,
and he separated the light from the darkness.
(Genesis 1:3-4 NIV)
 
 
As this month comes to an end, desire calls me closer to the flame of God’s light. I want to explore and express His light in fresh ways. As I follow God into the unknown of the future, I see a blank canvas. God hovering over me.
 
The old landscapes and portraits of my life stacked in a dark corner will still speak of who I am, but I want more than the past to define me. A clean, fresh start draws me.
 
I realized recently that as I child, I did not trust my own expression. I let my art teachers “help” me. I may have started a painting, but when I was dissatisfied with my efforts, I would call the teacher over. Inviting him to paint in where I felt deficient to create an image as realistic as possible.
 
As I grown woman, I want to trust myself, as one created in the image of God, capable of expressing my own unique voice and style. I may have to copy others for awhile, and ask them to teach me. But in the end, I hope what others see on the canvas will be a purer expression of me.
 
I desire illumination. God decorating my life. Broad strokes of the Holy Spirit brightening my perspective. I want to engage my spirit and my intellect in God honoring ways. His light shining through all my being.
 
 
Linking up with:
 
Posted on by kelrohlf 4

Ordinary:The Regular Course of Things

We plan the way we want to live,
but only God makes us able to live it.
(Proverbs 16:9 The Message)
 


After the observance of Epiphany, the church calendar returns to Ordinary Time. Not plain time, but ordinal, as in numbering our days.

Last week, I was mulling over my word for the year:
 
 

As I considered desire, I recorded a list of seven desires for 2013 in my planner. Each word ended in the suffix of “–ation” or a form of it, which means the act of something. As I observed this commonality, my heart ignited with hope for intentional, creative action this year.

 
 

I often do not do what I want. My life has been formed more by oughts and shoulds, rather than wants. Caring for others drove my plans as a young mother. Today, with grown children, my planner is wide open for new adventures and uncharted territories.

So, the other day I courageously wrote in my journal, “I want to . .  .”

Saying, “I want to” out loud was quite liberating. (And saying “I don’t want to” can be just as freeing. Try it sometime.)

So here’s a glimpse into  some of my heart desires and creative pursuits for 2013:

I want to join a book club.

I want to participate in community theatre.

I want to take a yoga class.

I want to clean out the fridge.

I want to pray more for my friends.

I want to inspire creativity with others.

I want space to write.

I want to learn more.

I want to be an entrepreneur.

Some lofty aspirations, some recreational outlets and some ordinary tasks came to mind. But even the ordinary task of cleaning out the fridge felt more like joy than drudgery. I used to think saying “I want to” was selfish, but this little exercise showed me that wanting or desiring things can be very healthy and fulfilling. I feel like a tree flourishing in season, producing life for itself and others.

Linking up with:

MonthlyOneWord

Posted on by kelrohlf 10