Impact

Throwback Thursday
(This was originally published on May 25, 2011, on my first blog.)

The Oprah show is now off the air. I admit it, I watched the last 3 shows. I don't consider myself an Oprah fan and I didn't watch the show with any regularity. In fact, through the years, my pendulum has been swinging back and forth as to just how much I liked her or was annoyed by her. 

Regardless of what you think, you have to admit she has had some great things to teach us and made a substantial impact on many lives, and on the world. This was evident in the multi-episode tribute to her coordinated by her staff.

She has encouraged people, especially women, to live the life they were designed for and encouraged us to find our purpose. Education and literacy have both been very important in her life. She has inspired us to pursue our dreams and to step out of our comfort zones. These are good things, they are impactful things.

I've had people in my life that have made an impact. I've also had people in my life that have left me in their wake, some while thinking they made a positive impact. I'm sure you could say the same. Some people leave a remarkable imprint on your life and others leave as big an imprint, but it's mixed with some destructiveness or other negative qualities.

What would people say about you and the impact you've made on them? Are you a blessing to others, and leave an impact on them that is helping to improve the world? Or, have you pushed your way through life leaving others in your wake? 

I want to challenge you today to listen to others, validate their lives, love people, remember that you are worthy, make an impact on the world, and try not to leave others in your wake. Remember, any time I throw a challenge out there, I'm talking to myself as well!

I also want to encourage you to thank the people who have made a difference in your life - it might be the one thing that impacts them the most.

One More Thing...
What are you doing to make a difference and how can I support you?

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you if you have a need or request.
Lois Lynn

In honor of Oprah's dedication to literacy, and in tribute to the library that formed a lot of my childhood memories, I share with you a photo of my favorite library taken on a visit to my hometown last year. I always had the maximum number of books checked out at any given time.

We're Terminal

When I first heard this song and dove into the lyrics there was one phrase in particular that resonated so deeply for me. I remember the shortness of life through songs like, "Live Like You're Dying" and "Dance Like Nobody is Watching" and promise myself I'll step up and live well. Then I'm yelling at the drivers on the road and stressed out about things that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Then someone gets a tough diagnosis or dies and I swing back to the promise of living fully. Then the cycle repeats. Sometimes I look like a pendulum on a clock moving at an accelerated speed.

Today I want to dive into the phrase I am certain many can relate to if they'll allow themselves to focus on this for a moment. Don't be afraid to admit this if it's true.

"Some folks die in offices one day at a time. They could live a hundred years but their soul's already dead. Don't let your spirit die before your body does."

I was finally able to face the truth that this was me. I had let people, places, and circumstances kill me slowly. Oh sure, through leadership training and development I know the phrases to use that make this sound better: burnout, empty bucket, depleted, tired, worn, etc. But the bottom line is I had let others poison my spirit for far too many years.

I pray that if this resonates with you, you will reach out to someone and talk, contact me to chat, and/or take a day off and do something that restores you. You only get one you. You are special and unique. You have a purpose and a value. NOBODY gets to put you in a box or make you conform to their limits. If you resonate with this same phrase - get out of the job, get out of the rut, get out of the dating relationship, get out of the friendship. You know what's destroying your spirit. Please stop living as less than who you are.

TERMINAL

Jon Foreman

One More Thing...
Please make a change if you need to so you won't look back with regrets of lost time later. I didn't make the changes soon enough. Trust me...make the change.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you if you have a need or request.
Lois Lynn

The World's Front Porch

Something happened to me while I was busy with the routine of life, something I didn't expect but I am grateful for. Apparently, I have crossed the age barrier into the stage of life that looks back with more frequency and fondness. The view from this place in life is expansive. While I can still appreciate today and look forward to tomorrow with wonder, I find myself looking back with a sense of respect, pride, and admiration for those days.


I recently heard an updated version of a song that made me stop and listen closely. I think a lot of the struggles, anger, and frustrations with the current state of the world could be impacted by simple acts from people like us. Maybe I'm naive, but I want to believe we can make a difference, one person at a time.

While I didn't have the front porch growing up or in my early married life, we lived in a community where neighbors talked to each other either out front or over the side fence. It wasn't uncommon to join in for dinner together with only a moment's notice. Cookies and pies were often shared and you could trust people enough to actually eat them! 

I can remember waving and stopping to say hello to our elderly neighbors across the street when we lived in our first house. It was nice to know each other's names and hear about what was happening. It was a connection you didn't have in an apartment.

We have a front porch now and yet we don't use it. Why? Society is different and we feel safer in the protection of our backyard. However, we don't brighten anybody's day while hiding out. Nobody gets a wave or a smile from us.

Listening to these lyrics, I wonder if we could all be friends with the simple act of hanging out on the front porch and treating y=our neighbor like he's our next of kin.

One More Thing...

I found the lyrics to paint a portrait of a time that was kind of falling apart and the thought that maybe things could be better with a little kindness. Folks, this song was released 25 YEARS AGO. I don't know about you, but I'd be happy if people treated each other now like we did then! Much less the "back then" the song refers to.

Do you have a front porch? I'd love to hear your front porch stories.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you if you have a need or request.
Lois Lynn

Tracy Lawrence's "If the World Had a Front Porch"


To view lyrics, click here.

Scattered Blooms

Recently I was strolling across a parking lot I have crossed hundreds, if not thousands, of times over the course of 18 years when something new caught my eye. One tiny blooming plant that couldn't have been more than two inches tall was in the middle of a long stretch of cracked asphalt.

My mind flashed to the Parable of the Sower, then to the Parable of the Weeds (check out Matthew 13 for reference) before landing on the phrase "bloom where you are planted." The more I pondered it I was reminded that of course it wasn't actually planted in the middle of the parking lot. Likely a bird dropped a seed, or maybe the wind blew it into the crack where there was just enough dirt to allow it to grow long enough that it bloomed. 

I had recently sent a letter to a couple of friends who were great inspirations to me in my late teens and early twenties thanking them for planting some seeds in my life while also helping to nurture and grow some seeds planted by others. I was reflecting on this when I looked to my right and found several additional plants blooming along the entire crack.

It finally struck me that regardless of how these plants got there they are indeed beautiful right now. I found it encouraging to think about the struggle to survive and even to thrive to the point of blooming while not feeling like you are where you belong. If plants could think and feel, would they compare themselves to those intentionally placed in the flowerbeds? Would they feel like outcasts? 

I wonder if maybe, just maybe, they would instead bask in the sunlight and hold their beautiful blooms facing Heavenward and thank God for creating them to be just exactly what they are and where they are.

One More Thing...

Do you feel like you were created for a purpose? You were. Do you feel beautiful and worthy of being adored? You are.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you if you have a need or request.
Lois Lynn

Little Boxes

I have had a few significant life events occur in recent months and I found myself mentally paralyzed, not able to focus on what the next step should be. There were trips to plan in order to handle estate items, there were health issues, it was the holiday season, there were business decisions to be made; I could go on for a page listing the chaos and significant decisions to work through. The bottom line was this; while I can usually compartmentalize things and not succumb to the emotions of feeling overwhelmed, I had reached my limit. I was no longer able to think clearly and make simple decisions.

I am fortunate to have some great people around to draw wisdom from. At this time, I finally reached out to someone I knew was a great resource but I had not ever connected with before. I was searching for a song lyric or a Bible verse to help me reset. I knew I knew what to do but I simply could not find it within me. Here are my text message and his reply.

Me: (Note here I am not a person who is in the habit of worrying about things so this was quite an unusual place for me to be.)

"What do you do when you feel like you've run out of faith and are too mentally fatigued to trust? How do you let go of worry, and trust again? Specific scripture encourage you? Song? Hiding place? 🙂"

Reply:

"In these cases you have coffee with me." 

Well, that was NOT the response I was hoping for but it was certainly the response God knew I needed. We met the next day and my life has been in a beautiful, yet interesting, state of turmoil since. The conversation was enlightening and I was challenged.

One particular piece of the conversation centered around the concept of having a closet of boxes. The boxes represent things that I have gone through and have not taken the time to grieve over. Initially, I denied that. After all, I can withstand a lot and I've lived for quite some time taking things in stride, not letting them slow me down while moving on to the next thing I need to handle. 

When he looked me in the eye and told me that any one of the dozen or so things I had just rattled off in a nonchalant manner off the top of my head would be enough to cause pause and the need to grieve, I reconsidered. Then I accepted he was right. In some of the instances, I had been busy helping others through the process and did not take the time for my own healing. For others, I simply kept busy in order to avoid them.

I was intrigued. I had been challenged to start grieving. I believed this was wise counsel and an accurate description of my current state. At this point, I shared the idea with my core friends and each one of them was also in a place where they had not dealt with boxes from many life events and related to this concept as well. It was kind of nice to know I was helping others by sharing his words. Mind you, I wasn't actually doing anything yet, but I was busy assisting others. You know, the thing I do to avoid my own boxes!

Now to take this one step further, I did what I do best. I postponed. I decided it would be really cool to incorporate art into this process and create something representative of my closet full of boxes. This provided a solid two-month delay. Yes...I said TWO MONTHS! First I had the idea, then painted one version, then painted over that one, then changed colors, then...well, you get the idea. While I consider myself creative, I am not a skilled artist with a paintbrush or pen. My creative gift is in other areas so know that what I share is an expression from the heart with the hope that the visual image may be helpful to you. I know it looks like a grade-school project.


The art project is now complete, I have no more excuses and I'm in the midst of allowing the boxes to remain open when they drop off the shelf and open up. I have even willingly chosen to open a box or two but I peer in, make sure everything is as I left it, and then slam it shut and return it to the shelf. I may even have moved some of them further back in the closet. I am prayerful about the day I may open each one and truly grieve it and toss it out to the garbage burn pile. For now, I am willing to name them. I am slowly allowing some time to sit with a box and manage it.

One More Thing...

Please, please tell me I'm not the only one with little boxes in storage. I want to challenge you to take a moment and sit in the quiet and consider this. Is there something you have tucked away deep within you that needs to be cleared out? Maybe it's also things that you need to grieve - loss of people, opportunities, or situations. Maybe it's guilt or shame. Maybe it's negative attitudes or thoughts that hold you down. Please join me and let's clean out the closets together. 

Remember that God's in control and we only need to lean on Him for one day at a time.

Take care, and I'm always here to pray for you if you have a need or request.
Lois Lynn