question ... Five Minute Friday 6-21-19

Five Minute Friday, 21 June 2019
The word: question      

For the past 18 months, I've been battling a huge question... "Where were you in all of this God... when things started to unravel."

For the first time that I can remember in my adult life, I've been thrown by a situation which occurred that was in direct violation with what I felt was the Lord's will. I did everything humanly & spiritually possible to make sure that I felt the Lord's hand upon this situation since mid 2012. And... I had a total peace about what was happening & what I felt was God's will to happen. 

But then... in late 2017, it began to unravel. The process was pretty fast... but, felt like it stopped time. During that time, I continued to pray for the will of the Lord - feeling & believing that I knew what that was. But, when all was said & done... things didn't work out as I had hoped, prayed, desired...

"Where were you in all of this God..."

Though my world was shaken... and continues to feel unsteady, I am not giving up on the faithfulness of the Lord. I am trusting that He sees down the road and that He is at work in all of this.

BONUS: A great video from Mercy Me and exactly how I have felt...

Word of God Speak

Love the quote below and have shared it several times over on the "When You're STUCKinindiana Facebook page".

God is always present, always at work, so there are no God-forsaken situations, only situations that have been forsaken by His followers. God is answering our question with another one,

"I’m right here; where are you?'” ~ Mark DeVries  #quotes

#FiveMinuteFriday

Words of Wisdom by Buechner - #write31days 10-27-16

There are several writers who hit the ball right out of the park with their words, so to speak. Some that come to mind are C. S. Lewis, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ann Voskamp. 

One writer whose words reach into the core of my being is Frederick Buechner. (from his website: Frederick Buechner - pronounced BEEK-ner - is an American writer and theologian. He is the author of more than thirty published books and has been an important source of inspiration and learning for many readers. His work encompasses many genres, including fiction, autobiography, essays, sermons, and other nonfiction.) 

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Buechner:

"The sacred moments, the moments of miracle, are often the everyday moments."

~ Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat #quote

"Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave,

and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you,

there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me."

~ Frederick Buechner #quote

"Whatever else is withheld,

the shepherd never withholds himself."

~ Frederick Buechner, Secrets in the Dark #quote

"I not only have my secrets, I am my secrets. And you are yours. Our secrets are human secrets, and our trusting each other enough to share them with each other

has much to do with the secret of what it means to be human."

~ Frederick Buechner #quote

"You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach,

because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you."

~ Frederick Buechner #quote

"Joy is a mystery because it can happen anywhere, anytime, even under the most unpromising circumstances, even in the midst of suffering, with tears in its eyes....”

~ Frederick Buechner #quote

"The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.”

~ Frederick Buechner, The Hungering Dark #quote

For more Buechner quotes, we have an album on Pinterest and an album on Facebook.

5 Minute Free-For-All - Words of Wisdom by Buechner - #write31days 10-27-16

Letting Go - #write31days 10-24-16

How tightly do we hold on to people, places & things when we should loosen our grip... and let things happen freely? Why do we hold on so tightly? When is it time to let go? Why do we want to control our loved ones lives & yet we don't want our loved ones to control us? Why do we get comfortable in a certain place or in a certain scenario or with certain people and refuse to be open to changes?

Ann Voskamp has a great quote which rings so true to me at this season in our lives... 

"Sometimes letting go is how to

find out He holds."

~ Ann Voskamp

If you were hanging from a cliff 30 feet up, would you let go? Would your reply change if I added that a strong person was standing right beneath you with open arms? If you didn't totally trust that person, would you still let go?

For those of us who profess to love & serve the God of Abraham, we always HAVE someone with us who will "catch us". We have someone who has heard our cries & compassionately cares. We have someone who is able to take the darkest threads in our lives and weave them into a beautiful tapestry.

But, do you trust him? Do we really trust him? If not, why not?

There are so many things in life that just don't make sense. Our love (and/or intense LIKE) of people, places and things often causes us to hold on too tightly. Most of us want to be able to make sense out of what happens in our lives. We want to keep those we love from hurt or harm. We want to feel safe, comfortable & secure - sometimes even at the expense of our best or the best of those around us.

Sometimes we just need to let go!

5 Minute Free-For-All - Letting Go - #write31days 10-24-16

Romantic GetAways + Anne Frank #write31days 10-14-16

An explanation of my PAIRINGS posts: I'm a very visual person - a touchy, feely, emotional person. I'm deeply moved by music, lyrics, quotes... and so many scriptures. I've loved writing & taking pictures since I was young. At some point, I decided to put them all together in a sort of "pairing". And, the rest is history.

This "stuckinindiana pairing" is full of memories for me -- a photo from a wonderful time away with the LOML,

Creating an Emotional Connection

I began writing at a very young age - mostly in the form of journal entries or short stories. My writing was often based on an emotional experience or feeling. I've always been a very emotional person. I think that many people would see me as being too emotional. I wrote about my emotions for various reasons:
   * to analyze my feelings.
   * to document an event or happening in my life & the effect it had on me
   * to remember how the emotions felt & affected my actions
   * to learn from what I experienced

But, often I wrote about

Silence Can Be Deceiving

I love finding quotes that hit a chord within me. Here's one that grabbed me a while back:

"The fact that I'm silent doesn't mean I have nothing to say."

~ Jonathan Carroll

Today is busy - like most days. But, I want to write and share -- especially with a community of writers whom I've grown to love. I haven't written much in the past few months. I've managed to keep jotting down three blessings each day. (My #JoyDare / #1000gifts lists.) But, I've even been slow in editing and posting those. Other things have filled my days. 

I guess, with regard to writing, you could say I've been silent. But, in those times of infrequent blog posts, my writer's mind hasn't been silent at all. There are few things that happen in my normal day-to-day life that don't evoke a flood of thoughts... 

All 5 eggs were laid in the same box by the Golden Comets one cold morning... Coincidence? Well, I make a note of the low temp in their coop on the preceding night & come to the conclusion that sticking together is warmer. My crazy brain immediately envisions 5 hens crowded in one box with each one wiggling out when she's laid her own egg. It reminds me of how important "community" is for all of us. I'll write more about that later.

I vigorously scrape off frost and ice from the windows of our daughter's car in the wee hours of the morning before she takes the Little to school. I pause and snap a shot of the glints of diamonds that shine in the snow as her headlights illuminate the crystal forest that was made of our property in the night while we slept. It occurs to me that I'm freezing there in my jammies, boots and a heavy coat. I walk in and am warmed by the sight of the little seascape I placed above the sun room door years ago. I'm reminded that I can be at the seaside anywhere I am on this planet. Happiness is in me... not in a place. I'll write more about that later. 

I wake in the middle of the night for no logical reason other than "I ,myself, am no longer a spring chicken." I pray for everyone I can think of - at the same time really wishing I was sleeping. Just as I begin to drift off, I hear the pitter-patter of little bare feet running from the east side of the house. I think to myself, "Wouldn't it be nice to sleep in today." And, within minutes I'm drowning in hugs and kisses from a toddler giggling and proclaiming, "You're my best friend, DeeDee." I'm reminded that sleep can be highly overrated and that life often happens just as it should happen... not as we had envisioned or planned. And, I acknowledge that even the most difficult chapters of our lives are filled with sweet, sweet blessings we might not otherwise have received. I'll write more about that later.

Each morning I wake and know there are some things which absolutely have to be done that day - commitments, appointments, etc. And, each morning I wake with a long list of what I'd like to do that day. Truth be told, some days I just desire to hide under the blankets for the day. But, life pushes me out of bed. I go about my day-to-day life - making mental notes and writing blog posts along the way (in my mind). I'll write more about that later.

Whether the day ends up being great or grave, it always contains blessings - just waiting to be seen. I write daily in my mind. I record those thoughts for others to read when I feel I can. But, don't be fooled... "The fact that I'm silent doesn't mean I have nothing to say."

Join the conversation with me on Twitter & Instagram at @stuckinindiana And, hop over to the Facebook Page stuckinindiana :) Oh, and I'm on Pinterest at "stuckinindiana" too... but, don't do so well keeping up with that one :)

Thinking Though Your Fingers

Since a very young age, writing has been my first choice for recording & communicating my memories & feelings. For a big part of my childhood, I felt as though I had no voice. I recorded things down in a dime store diary with, what I thought, was a very safe lock clasp closure. The diary was hidden between my mattress and the box springs -- where no one would think to look. The key to my diary was on the floor behind the foot of the bed -- where I could reach it when laying in bed at night. I filled the pages of one diary, purchased another diary, filled those pages, and a love of writing was born. 

sunrise thoughts 24 October 2015

sunrise shot
10-24-14

Honesty is the best policy. I cheated this morning. Well, actually no, I didn't cheat. But, I did accidentally fail to set an alarm for sunrise. Also, I went to bed WAY TOO LATE last night. This morning the drapes were drawn tight and the cat must have gotten up in the night for a midnight snack. He was peacefully curled up sleeping in the hollow of my back when I awoke an hour after sunrise. And, as for "the Little"... she was quiet this morning!!! There was no loud rattling of the door handle & her sweet voice crying out...

sunrise thoughts 18 October 2015

New every morning... a Sunday morning sunrise post :)

photo credit T. Getz 2015

I donned the LOML's oversized robe & waterproof boots to walk through the dew-covered grass to "get my sunrise shots" a week ago today and was laughed at by our daughter (Mommy to the Little). "You picked a hard topic this year Mom!"

HAPPY ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY TO...

It feels funny to make a big deal over something that I created & that I administer... but, today I am making a big deal of AND celebrating the ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY of the stuckinindiana Facebook page! 

It's kind of a dream come true -- in that I finally feel that I have a forum for communicating with so many more people than just my small circle of friends. And, "the world" might not look at what I share. But, at least it's out there in a very accessible format and location.

PAIRINGS: A Mother's Secret Hope

Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

When I see a quote that strikes a chord with me, I jot it down and save it somewhere. I've had that habit for years.. many years! Being the blessed generation that we are, keeping those quotes has gotten much easier as we've embraced what's offered to us through technology. True confessions...

The Best Way Out

"Two Worlds II" (oil on canvas) by Jessica Bentley, Artist

Life is full of seasons. And, some of those seasons are grueling... shame, fear, grief, illness, insecurity, loss, persecution... and the list goes on. At times we feel paralyzed by what's happening in our world -- with those around us or what's happening to us -- inside our bodies or our minds. 

My first thought when facing a tough season has often been a question which is probably asked often by many people, "What's the fastest way to get through these seasons?" 

Rainy Day Recipe - Country Cemeteries

It was what I like to call my birthday week... which generally turns into my birthday month for celebratory reasons. The weather was not cooperating!! Although the forecast called for only a 30% chance of rain, we seemed to be getting all of our portion during the daylight hours - specifically between the hours of 7:30am and 3pm - when my schedule is more open due to family members being out of the house. A brisk walk for 3-4 miles along country roads in the rain might happen every once in awhile. But, my idea of "walking in the rain" does not meet true exercise standards.

Struggling to Do It ALL!

I'm a wife, a mom, & a DeeDee (my g'mommy name). I'm a daughter, a sister & a friend. I'm a volunteer, a blogger & a somewhat-but-hopefully-not-totally-addicted social media person. Putting all of those things together (as is the series title for this month) is a daunting challenge. But, the worst thing of all is... I'm an over-achiever. 

My childhood, youth & adulthood have been riddled with me feeling insecure and struggling

A Living Legacy

A great-grandmother holds a baby.
And, the memory of her -
her works & deeds
will live on...

My mind is full as I write this in the wee hours of the night. I can't sleep. And, I'm perfectly fine with that. My heart is full & overflowing. Certain things happen in life and, they just feel right... and you're filled with joy. 

Last week a young woman gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby. She desired a life for her child that she could not provide - security, provision and love. She made the decision to relinquish her child to the care of parents who would give her baby what she could not. By what I believe is & was God's provision, that infant was placed into the loving home of some of our dearest friends. The world has become a better place as this family has grown & welcomed this child. And, lives will never be the same - but be greatly enriched - for anyone touched by this story.

Making Memories - A Moment At A Time

I couldn't seem to fall asleep. My mind was racing -- nothing bad, it just would not shut off. Knowing that having television on does nothing for relaxing a person's mind, I turned it off... just as they were talking about the full lunar eclipse that would be clearly visible in our time zone in less than 5 hours. I seemed to fall asleep pretty quickly & felt unbelievably rested when I woke around 5am. The room was flooded with bright light from the moon setting in the western sky. I jumped up to take a look. It was already partially covered. I cheerfully told the LOML what was happening... no response. I sat in bed beside the peacefully sleeping LOML for half an hour -- peering out the window at the moon. As soon as he became cognizant of the new day, I mentioned the lunar eclipse & he headed to the patio door. I gleefully followed.

Annoying Someone for Life

What's the recipe for a good marriage? Some of the ingredients I'd put in that recipe:

* friendship
* grace & forgiveness
* support & encouragement
* patience
* honesty
* humor, humor, humor

I've been married to the LOML for over 25 years. And, laughter has been a big part of those years together. Oh trust me... we don't see eye-to-eye on plenty of things. And, we both have the "death stare" perfected. But, we enjoy laughing with each other and, often, at each other. 

The old saying says "laughter is the best medicine". There's a lot of truth to that statement - especially, I would say, in marriage. I totally agree with Rita's words below:

"I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." ~ Rita Rudner

Linked with the Nesting Place community through the write31days challenge, October 2014 - post No 2

Other posts of mine about marriage & relationships:

Crazy Spontaneity 

Capture the Flag

Life's Snapshots - Overlooking the Obvious

Empty Nesting in the Moments

A Happy Marriage

PAIRINGS - Chautauqua... Building Bridges, Not Walls

My home for 54 days this summer is NOT "stuckinindiana" :) During these 54 days I am living inside the gates of Chautauqua Institution on the banks of Lake Chautauqua in New York. My daughter is participating in 7 weeks of intensive art study through Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution. I'm care-giver to her ADORABLE & LOVABLE little 18 month old girl. The three of us share a small one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of an old apartment building which was built in the 1880's. That building is perched on the top of a steep slope leading down to the lakefront. I've chosen to call our 200 +/- square foot apartment our "tree top castle" :)

I spend a lot of time "strollering" our sweet little one around. We walk along the gated community from one end to another almost daily. We walk early in the day & late into the night. We walk the small roads & the main roads... and EVERY PATH I can find :) I've made it a goal to try to find every single (public) hidden garden, path and alcove. Truth be told, I'd love to get a glimpse of a few private ones - but, despite the great temptation have decided not to trespass on private property :)

If you're familiar with my blog, I love words... and the power of words. So, my attention is captured when I read a great quote or song lyric or writing. I love pictures... the lighting, the composition... the story each picture tells. When I read an Isaac Newton quote early yesterday morning, I knew exactly what I wanted to pair with it... a picture of the bridge directly behind the Chautauqua Amphitheater.

We build too many walls and not enough bridges. ~ Isaac Newton

I miss my husband (aka the LOML), my home, my cat, my friends, my church, my cornfields & garden... BUT, I'm enjoying my 54 days in Chautauqua. It will be even more enjoyable when we nail down the last 10 days!! Through it all, I've especially enjoyed seeing how many "bridges" this community has built & will continue to build in our world. It's a great environment which celebrates love, life, laughter...and bridges to join all of us together. 

Build bridges friends and look into taking down a few of the "walls" you've put up in the past. I'm planning to be more proactive about doing the same thing!


the stuckinindiana crazy footnote: I seem to be on a HUGE kick lately... being a bit over-the-edge at matching photos I've taken with quotes, lyrics, scriptures, etc. I can't get enough of it. I keep asking God... why am I so compelled to do this?? For someone who was certain she was going to die before she was of 35 and has declared over & over that she's just not quite right, I always seem to wonder... " Am I doing this because I'm going to die soon & God needs me to get it done before going home to be with Him??" Yes... I'm an open book & not afraid to say I'm not normal :)

PAIRINGS - Experiencing God - Love Relationship With God

We've just begun a sermon series at my church about RELATIONSHIPS (see below). We all have relationships. I like the idea of re-visiting how we are living out those relationships. It's always a good idea to reflect upon being the best ME I can be :) The initial relationship I need to cultivate is my relationship with God.

Why GOD first?

Because when lives are centered on God, we're best prepared & equipped to face life and all that it throws in our paths.

"Your love relationship with God prepares you to be involved in His work

by developing in you a God-centered life." 

~ Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God

What are you doing to work on the relationships in your life??

About my church sermon series...

RE:fresh / RE:lationships Sermon Series: April 27 – June 29“It is amazing how the Bible gives us practical, historical examples for many of today’s diverse relational issues. Together we’ll examine critical relationship principles through the lives of some functional, and quite dysfunctional scriptural families. No matter what your family situation, prepare for improved relationships in the upcoming sermon series.” – Rev. Rolland Daniels

Linking with Ann Voskamp - A Holy Experience today... 

PAIRINGS - Peace, a deliberate adjustment

How does one find peace? How can we live in peace?

"Peace is the deliberate adjustment of my life to the will of God."

~ Author Unknown

And how do we KNOW what the will of God is?

"Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." Philippians 2:12-13

I'm looking for PEACE today... I need to TRUST & OBEY!

Used in:

What a Coincidence

A Chapter Closed Today