Hope: Lexicon

Happy Lexicon Thursday! There's a huge range of responses to Covid-19 right now, from: confused to unaware, prayerful to depressed, patient to angry. It's timely, then, that this vital word in our personal lexicon is about looking ahead on purpose. Hope offers a wild ride, doesn't it? It pulls us forward, through seasons unknown and at times unwanted. Here's a peek into Chapter Eight of my upcoming book on words, family and overcoming depression - A Lexicon of Awesome.

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/ H /

When I feel like a failure in my vocation, that attitude spills over onto my kids as they attempt their homework. They begin their task with confidence and joy in the challenge until I show up deflated, open my mouth and begin to speak the tongue of Mordor. Yeah, you know what I mean, don’t you? Those hurtful and completely unhelpful groans of  “ought to” and “should have” and “why didn’t you.”

Hurt people, hurt people.

Yet, and this is a huge yet, when I recognize this bloody mess for what it is and press all the more into the forgiveness birthed on the cross I’m able to keep an eye on the shifting surf, look to that bandera drawing me upward, recognize the rampant emotional waves crashing in, and step forward in deep breath and solid stride. Hope invigorates for the swim and refreshes for the marathon. I think this is part of Christ’s ongoing work of restoration. He absorbs the cosmic waves hurling through my emotional space somewhere out there while washing off the salty residue from the unwarranted crash right here. Hope inspires endurance, overflows from faith and acts in humility.

We can be “confident of this, that Creator and Healer God, who began a good work in you and me, that He’s going to see it through to completion.”

There’s hope in those waves.

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Keep an eye out for A Lexicon of Awesome: an upward shift in words for the downcast in early summer of 2020.

Twenty Seconds

A few weeks ago we had a particularly cold snap for a day or two here in the beautiful northeastern portion of exotic Ohio. When the temp drops, like the good dad that I am, I begin assigning my son more and more random outside tasks, like grabbing the mail.

"Elias, step out and snag the mail, would you?"

"What? It's freezing out there. I'm not wearing any socks."

"Come on dude, man up!"

But it was the next line that caught our attention. My little two year old had been listening in on this exchange and decided to intervene with her very own call to action in her very own high yet tiny voice, "Yeah, man up man!"

We lost it.

The whole family laughed as she repeated it now for the attention. But it worked. Elias immediately stepped out into the frigid winds and grabbed the mail. I think we need this once in a while. A humorously motivating break in an otherwise mundane moment.

It wasn't an impossible task, and for most of us, many of the things we're hesitating doing aren't impossible or even unreasonable, they're simply beyond what we're comfortable with and it takes that small but mighty voice within (and sometimes from without) to step up and do it.

In We Bought A Zoo Mr. Lee gives his brother credit for a wildly simple action step when prompted by a challenge. Twenty seconds. That's all it takes to take the first step toward a goal, a challenge, a healthy and bold and awesome desire. Twenty seconds of courage and you're off.

So, like Joanna said, "Man up man!" And take the next twenty seconds to take the leap.

Balance Like Our Life Depends On It

I think most of us have this notion that living a balanced life is generally a good rule of thumb. I also think that most of us don't attempt to actually create any sort of balance in our lives and that some of us, based on uncontrollable factors (like cancer and virus' and crazy uncles), simply can't for a season.

Even more, I think that most of us imagine life balance as a new-agey sort of remedy for those who can't handle the burden of real life. That life balance is for those with money laying around, thirty-one pairs of yoga pants in the walk-in closet and white linen robes made by someone named Glee.

Life balance is actually pretty gritty.

In fact, get rid of the phrase "life balance" and we're left with the same desire: "I want more time to do the things I love, with the people I love for the greater good of my purpose and design... and less of the pain, frustration and struggle."

At Creativista I decided to use the tagline "connecting the dots between life, faith and creative pursuits."

Life: personal elements of a life rhythm beyond vocation

Faith: system of belief (mine in Christ) that speaks to our entire being

Creative Pursuits: chosen art-form and related mission, vision and actions steps

Sounds simple. Sounds cliche. Sounds pretty.

But balance only really matters in light of chaos and calamity and confusion (like what I did with the C's there?). When life is smooth and easy, balance is just, well, like anything that's normal it's taken for granted. But when a virus takes over our economy, social life, vocational rhythm, travel plans, time with our kids, study rhythm etc... now that's when balance matters.

Think of it like this: When all three - life, faith and creative pursuits - are in working order, when one crashes for a season then all of life doesn't tank along with it. We have two healthy systems to support us in the meantime. That's it. It's that simple.

We don't shoot for balance because it's part of the modern zeitgeist. No, we shoot for balance because in fostering healthy rhythms in all areas of life we're setting ourselves up for healthier falls that inevitably arise.

How are you attempting to find some sort of balance in your life, vocation, family rhythm?

What strain are you experiencing this time around? How are you comforted in other areas in the meantime?

Are you ready for a shift in perspective, mission or balance? Let's talk.