It's all about the love, baby!

I knew the first time I met him that he was "different".

He was an awkward fourteen year old. Typical teen, all tall and gangly...with those alarmingly large puppy like feet.

He was endearing and sweet and when he moved into our neighborhood, we welcomed him into our home.

Now the boy doesn't live with his biological family. He lives with his "caregiver".

She's an interesting woman. I like her because she is as kind as she is earthy.

Some people don't care for her because she is lesbian and worships in a New Age kind of way. For me, those little details are a part of what make her such an interesting woman. But then, I'm less interested in who she loves, than I am in celebrating that she is vulnerable and open to loving in the first place.

Anyhow, the boy is "special"; which is a euphemism for retarded.

When the boy comes to our home, we understand that he processes information differently than we do. We understand that he has certain limitations. And the strange thing is, none of that matters. In our home, he's just another wonderful kid who loves karate, Star Wars and pizza!

We don't really see the differences. Instead, we enjoy the boy's capacity to love and to connect. We experience the boy's joy in being with us, his friends. We hear his laughter and we love him for who he is, not for what he isn't.

Not everyone in our neighborhood treats the boy this way. Some people judge the boy, just like they judge the woman who loves and cares for him.

It's a challenge isn't it? To love people who are different from ourselves?

I know that I personally would have a harder time loving a gun toting, Bush loving, pro war neighbor.

But you know what?

I think I would try. I would try to connect, to care and to love.

I don't think this makes me special; but I can tell you this. My children see me trying to love well, and this inspires them to do the same.

If you care about making this world a better place, begin by loving your neighbors.

Love truly is the gift that keeps on giving.

A tear jerker...

This video clip details an amazing and heartwarming story.

I cried when I watched...and I suspect you all will as well.

Celebration!

Does life get any better than organic, whole wheat raisin walnut baguettes and hot cafe latte's?

Oh momma! Dipping that warm, dense, sweet smelling bread into my rich, steaming coffee had my taste buds swooning in ecstasy!

I'm following up my afternoon of gluttony with an evening meal of homemade pizza, sugar babies, mini oreos and the new Wallace and Gromit movie!

You see, I'm celebrating!

What am I celebrating, you ask?

I am celebrating the newly blossomed crocus, snow drops and daffodils!

I am celebrating the amazing joy and privilege of sharing Christ with another woman!

I am celebrating my children, my husband and this incredible love we share.

I am celebrating the knowledge that I have the very best kind of friends....friends who are loving, compassionate and giving.

I am celebrating this body with sincere gratitude, thanking God that I am stronger and healthier today than I was six months ago!

I am celebrating my soul, secure in the knowledge that yes, even my soul was made to be God's dwelling place.

I am celebrating a life that could not possibly be any richer than it is this very moment.

I do not know what heaven will be like; but to be surrounded by love as I am, and to breathe in the love that lies all around me, I find myself wondering, could heaven really be any better?

My Nohari Profile

Last week, I asked for help with my Johari profile. It was a pleasant exercise and I thank those of you who chose to participate.

Now, I have another favor to ask!

Would you consider contributing to my Nohari profile? This won't be quite as pleasant, since it deals with negative character traits; but please, won't you stop by the link below and highlight the words you feel best describe my negative self?

Don't worry about hurting my feelings. I no longer define myself by imperfections!

Here's the link and feel free to leave a pseudonym instead of your real name!

Blissfully Jerri's Nohari Window!

Random thoughts at the Blue Pepper!

I'm sitting here, feeling vaguely annoyed because I have been stood up by a friend who has failed to meet me for our coffee date.

I say vaguely annoyed, because I'm not truly annoyed. Instead, I choose to observe the people around me, and to enjoy my chamomile citrus tea along with my hand dipped chocolate truffle dusted with Droste cocoa!

I'm at the Blue Pepper, a local internet cafe! It's a slick little place with cushy couches, good coffee, and of course, internet access.

Since I have nothing better to do, I thought you all might enjoy reading my random thoughts and musings. Without further ado, let's begin this brief foray into my small, but ever changing mind.....

***my unedited thoughts***

How could Ms. So-and-So forget to meet me here when I am just so damn unforgettable?

This is the third time in a less than a week that someone has failed to remember our scheduled meeting...should I be worried by this? Should I begin developing some strange "no one wants to meet with me anymore" complex?

Hmmm, I wonder why there aren't any people walking by this morning?

Ouch! (I've blistered my upper lip tasting the hot tea.)

Does super heating tea water shock more flavor out of the tea leaves?

It looks cloudy...I wonder if it will rain today?

Sheesh, I didn't bring my umbrella. Great, that means it will rain today for sure.

Mmmmmm, why does chocolate have to taste so freaking good?

I wonder if Tom will remember to walk the dog?

How come most dogs behave more humanely than most humans?

And cats, why do cats always think I want to pet them with their butts all up in my face? That's just weird.

I wonder how Sasha Cohen will skate tonite?

Will American Idol be any good this evening?

Have you ever noticed how some people hold their cigarettes the same way two lovers caress?

Thinking about God makes me smile.

Do you think anyone would notice if I just sat here all day?

Would I be asked to leave?

Why is that guy trying to see what I'm writing?

Do you suppose he's confused me with someone famous?

LOL! Thinking that made me laugh out loud and the haute couture lady next to me looks frightened by my outburst.

Should I apologize? Naaaaah!

I think it's funny when I see an older dude with a crew cut, wearing khaki trousers and a black leather fly boy jacket. What's up with that look, anyway?

Yeah, like I should talk! I'm a walking fashion faux pas!

Hmmm, time's almost up!

Gotta log off now.

Later gators!

Blissfully Jerri's Johari Results!

Arena

(known to self and others)

caring, introverted, knowledgeable, loving, searching

Blind Spot

(known only to others)

brave, cheerful, dependable, giving, helpful, idealistic, independent, intelligent, patient, reflective, religious, sympathetic, trustworthy, wise

Façade

(known only to self)

powerful

Unknown

(known to nobody)

able, accepting, adaptable, bold, calm, clever, complex, confident, dignified, energetic, extroverted, friendly, happy, ingenious, kind, logical, mature, modest, nervous, observant, organised, proud, quiet, relaxed, responsive, self-assertive, self-conscious, sensible, sentimental, shy, silly, spontaneous, tense, warm, witty

Dominant Traits

62% of people agree that blissfully jerri is caring
75% of people agree that blissfully jerri is loving

All Percentages

able (0%) accepting (0%) adaptable (0%) bold (0%) brave (12%) calm (0%) caring (62%) cheerful (12%) clever (0%) complex (0%) confident (0%) dependable (25%) dignified (0%) energetic (0%) extroverted (0%) friendly (0%) giving (25%) happy (0%) helpful (25%) idealistic (12%) independent (12%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (37%) introverted (12%) kind (0%) knowledgeable (12%) logical (0%) loving (75%) mature (0%) modest (0%) nervous (0%) observant (0%) organised (0%) patient (25%) powerful (0%) proud (0%) quiet (0%) reflective (12%) relaxed (0%) religious (50%) responsive (0%) searching (50%) self-assertive (0%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (0%) sentimental (0%) shy (0%) silly (0%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (12%) tense (0%) trustworthy (50%) warm (0%) wise (50%) witty (0%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 21.2.2006, using data from 8 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view blissfully jerri's full data.

I'd like to extend my special thanks to each of you for participating!

Thank you very much!

God Help Me

****verbal vomit alert****

In this life, all I desire to do is to love our God, to love my family and to love my neighbor.

I want to love so deeply, that I forget my own self.

I want to experience God's presence in the here and now. I want every breath I draw, every action I take, to be imbued with the sacred holiness of God.

I want everything I do to honor God, and to bring Him joy.

I do not care about acquiring wealth, or having shiney white teeth.

I do not care that my clothes are plain and worn; or that my shoes are off brand and inexpensive.

I do not care that my home is not a showcase home, or that my furniture eats people instead of supporting them.

Don't try to impress me with how much you tithe, or how much you earn, or how much you spent on your latest technological toy.

Don't try to fool me with fancy words, or big diamond rings, or designer clothing.

I'm more interested in whether you greeted the bum on the street with a friendly gaze and gentle salutation.

I'm more interested in whether you know how to be with me when I am in pain. Will you help me shoulder my sorrows without fixing, advising or playing God?

I'm more interested in hearing about how you experience God than I am in hearing you recite the verses of scripture which describe the experiences others have had.

This week, a Christian friend told me that if I wanted to lay up treasures in heaven, I must tithe 10% of my gross income. I was also told that if I wanted jewels for the eternal crown, I must pray for a poor person to come into my life.

My reply?

I have no need of treasure in heaven, because my treasure is Christ Jesus. I have no need to pray for a poor person to come into my life, because my days, and my prayers, are already occupied with hollow eyed, hopeless people who have never truly known the love of God.

I do not need an eternal bank account filled with heavenly riches any more than I need an earthy bank account filled with greenbacks.

I do not desire rewards or jewels.

I desire to love and to be loved.

That is enough for me.

So preach your prosperity gospel if you must. Preach your prosperity tithing if you must.

Me?

I choose to listen to our Father's heartbeat.

I choose the eternal rhythm of love.

**************************

There! I'm through spewing my verbal vomit. I hope I didn't get any on ya!

Going Deeper?

Jerri's Personality Profile

You are dignified, spiritual, and wise. Always unsatisfied, you constantly try to better yourself. You are also a seeker of knowledge and often buried in books. You tend to be philosophical, looking for the big picture in life. You dream of inner peace for yourself, your friends, and the world. A good friend, you always give of yourself first.

World's Shortest Personality Test

*****************************

Please take the time to contribute to my Johari profile!

Jerri's Johari Window!

Today, I am asking each of you for a favor.

Would you take two minutes of your time and help me with a little project?

I am interested in learning more about how others perceive me. I have decided to set up a Johari Window, in order to increase my own understanding of self.

The Johari Window was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingram in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up.

Would you please take a moment or two and visit my Johari Window?

Blissfully Jerri's Johari Window!

Later on, I will set up a Nahari Window...this will assess my "negative" personality traits.

That should be interesting, don't you think?

Disarming?

Saturday marked an historic day in the life of our church.

After nearly two years of vision casting, prayer and hours upon hours of hard work, we have become a "weekend church".

Yes, from here on out, there will be two full services, bible studies, ect. that will meet every Saturday evening, followed by three additional services on Sunday morning.

Over 1300 individuals attended this past Saturday. It was an amazing kick off!

I had been asked to speak to a group of young couples who desire to learn and to implement the spiritual disciplines into their lives. I had expected 20 or so individuals and was blown away when I saw well over 100.

I rarely speak in front of groups. In recent years, I think this was the second time I've addressed a group with more than 10 people. I'm not a very good public speaker, but something happens when I am asked to speak from my own experiences about all the ways I endeavor to connect with God. Somehow, I'm able to reach people, to connect with them, and to challenge their thinking.

Wait a minute! I think I have that all wrong. It's not me, it's God.

Somehow, God uses me....imperfect, unattractive, slow to think on her feet, Jerri.

Several mucky mucks from the church stopped by to listen to my "talk".

I noticed immediately that I was being observed. As various pastors drifted in and out, I was less disconcerted by their presence than I was by their feedback on Sunday.

"Jerri," one pastor said, "you are one of the most disarming speakers I've heard in a long time."

Disarming? Now that's an interesting way to describe me. I'm not quite sure what to make of that assessment.

My husband says that people in the church aren't accustomed to someone who speaks honestly and plainly about their spiritual journey. He says this is what draws the audience to me.

If you would have asked me one year ago, whether I would be speaking in front of 100 people in my church about my spiritual life and spiritual development I would have laughed.

If you had suggested that I might one day be in a unique position to help people understand all of the wonderful ways God has equipped each of us to hold His hand and to enjoy relationship with Him, the creator of our universe...well, I would have really laughed!

And yet, this is exactly how God is using me!

Never doubt for a moment that God uses the most imperfect, and the most unlikely of people for the most amazing tasks.

After all, just look how He has used me!

Viral bullets

I've dodged viral bullets all Fall and Winter.

Now that Spring is in the verge of breaking through the cold grey of Winter, I find myself laid low by some unspecified viral infection that refuses to get the heck out of Dodge.

I'm suffering physically; but for the most part, I am struggling more to keep my emotional life under control. Illness for me, infects more than my body. It infects my mind and twists my thinking.

It's harder for me to see the good in other people, or in myself when I've been without sleep for days on end. I suppose it's hard to see anything positive when one feels as though one's head might explode at any given minute...

Well, if nothing else, this post should explain why I haven't written in recent days.

Hopefully, this bug will abandon me soon and my muse will return to me.

Until then, I wish you soul peace and physical health!

Holy Ground

In his book, "Reaching Out", Henri Nouwen describes an intimate moment of silence shared with a friend.

He writes:

The silence which grew between us was warm, gentle and vibrant. Once in a while we looked at each other with the beginning of a smile pushing away the last remnants of fear and suspicion. It seemed that while the silence grew deeper around us we became more and more aware of a presence embracing both of us.

Then he said, "It is good to be here" and I said, "Yes, it is good to be together again," and after that we were silent again for a long period.

And as a deep peace filled the empty space between us he said hesitantly, "When I look at you, it is as if I am in the presence of Christ."

I did not feel startled, suprised or in need of protesting, but I could only say, "It is the Christ in you, who recognizes the Christ in me."

"Yes," he said, "He indeed is in our midst," and then he spoke the words which entered into my soul as the most healing words I had heard in many years, "From now on, wherever you go, or wherever I go, all the ground between us will be holy ground."

And when he left I knew that he had revealed to me what community really means.

**********

This, is perhaps the most beautifully written description of true community I have ever had the privilege to read.

Holy ground...the space that extends between those who have mirrored Christ in one another.

Mind blowing, tear provokingly beautiful!

My New Musical Heartthrob!

Ben Lee.

I love him.

He's just one groovy dude.

Right now I'm shaking my bootie to his tune, "Gamble Everything For Love"

Yeah baby!

I'm ready!

I'm ready to gamble everything on love!

How about you?

Without further ado, the lyrics to:

Gamble Everything For Love
by Ben Lee ~stud muffin/song writer extraordinaire

gamble everything for love
gamble everything
put it in a place you keep what you need
you can gamble everything for love if youre free
you gotta gamble everything for love

baby are you cold?
are you cold baby i could wrap you up
wrap you up in my love
if you wanna you can gamble everything for love
if you wanna you can gamble everything for love

tell me are you feeling lost? have you crossed
into places that you never knew to get through?
tell me are you gonna cry all night?
tell me the truth and ill tell you the truth
if you gamble everything for love
youre gonna be alright
alright

make a list of things you need
leave it empty
except for number one - write love,
gamble everything
keep it under lock and key
if you wanna you can gamble everything for love

love me with an open heart
tell me anything
we can find a place to start to gamble everything
we can set this thing apart
cos were gonna
gonna gamble everything for love

tell me do you lose your way each day?
are there people you dont recognize?
do they lie?
tell me do they make you feel too real?
tell me the truth and ill tell you the truth
if you gamble everything for love
youre gonna be alright
alright

you can go your own way
you can go your own way
you gotta go your own way
if you gamble everything for love
if you gamble everything for love

gamble everything for love
gamble everything
put it in a place you keep what you need
you can gamble everything for love if youre free
you gotta gamble everything for love

tell me are you getting hurt?
is it worth it?
tell me are the people strange?
do they change?
tell me are you letting go?
do you know?
if you gamble everything for love
if you gamble everything for love
if you gamble everything for love
youre gonna be alright
alright

The Purpose Driven Life.

A group of us are going to begin blogging our way through Rick Warren's book, "A Purpose Driven Life".

If you think you might be interested in joining the study or that you might just like to follow the discussion, here is the link!

http://purposedrivenlife4study.blogspot.com/

Now, I'm not organizing this blogging shindig; but I will be participating. Thus far, I've read the first chapter of "A Purpose Driven Life" and I'm not wildly enthusiastic with Warren's starting point.

I'm trying to keep an open mind however, since many people I know have raved about this particular book.

The actual study begins right after Super Bowl Sunday and will run for the next forty days.

This blog will definately fall under the category of a "God Blog"; but don't let that stop you!

I'm hoping that it will be a lively, and respectful place for all kinds of thoughts, opinions and religious persuasions.

So, why not stop on by and check out the discussion?

Life is a journey

My friends, this life is a journey....

The Journey
David Whyte

Above the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again

Painting their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.

Sometimes everything
has to be
enscribed across
the heavens

so you can find
the one line
already written
inside you.

Sometimes it takes
a great sky
to find that

small, bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.

Sometimes with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone out

someone has written
something new
in the ashes of your life.

You are not leaving
you are arriving.