lenses.

lenses.

by Kathleen Moulton

We all look at life through a particular set of  lenses.

If we’re willing, sometimes we have to take off the glasses.

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And we will see things differently.

Shadowy forms come into focus. Depth perception increases. And was the sky always this blue?

Mindsets become our lens. We aren’t always right.

Are there perceptions .. thoughts .. opinions .. which you are clinging to?

Some people are easily frustrated or discouraged. Some worry or complain. Others are bitter and unforgiving.

Try taking off your glasses and tell me what you see.

Now try putting someone else’s glasses on.

There’s more to your life than meets the eye.

~~~

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journey.

journey.

by Kathleen Moulton ♥ 2 Comments

Sometimes, we can be so buried in our troubles, we think we’re on a path to nowhere.

Not true. You’re going somewhere. If it feels like nowhere, it’s only because you are looking down.

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No one is denying the way you feel right at this moment.

But on the horizon, beyond the struggle, is scenery waiting for you to explore.

It’s not an illusion. You have to believe it’s there.

And why wouldn’t you? Have you disqualified yourself?

Decide today to reject that mindset and inspire yourself with what might be.

Because even though it can get really bad .. it can get really good, too.

Maneuver around the obstacles, learn about yourself, and look forward with expectation!

If you don’t see your life as a journey, you will miss the scenery.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him …

-The Bible

~~~

Photo credit: Kuzeytac / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

rhythm.

rhythm.

by Kathleen Moulton

Pain disrupts the rhythm of our life.

Our hearts are like dry soil.

God waters the earth when it is time.

And the rhythm returns.

rejected.

rejected.

by Kathleen Moulton

I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth…

And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say “come dance with me”
And murmured vague obscenities
It isn’t all it seems at seventeen…

Some of get it. Some do not.

Have you been rejected because you don’t measure up to the world’s definition of beauty?

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Listen here.

He is right. It may not change a thing. But if somehow, you can feel acceptance…even for a moment.. let it encourage you.

It’s not you.

It’s them.

~~~

Photo Credit:  Denis Collette…!!! / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

At Seventeen – Janis Ian

listening.

listening.

by Kathleen Moulton

We’ve lost the art of listening.

We’ve got too many thoughts, opinions, and fixes.

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We need to slow down and listen. Because sometimes that’s all it takes to help someone.

Simple, isn’t it?

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We need someone to care about what we have to say.

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But if there is no one, there is one who always listens. Anytime. Anywhere.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

-The Bible

~~~

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Michelle Brea / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA girl

Bindaas Madhavi / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

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treasures.

treasures.

by Kathleen Moulton

All around us are treasures meant to capture our attention.

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There’s something about driving down the road and spotting a cluster of daisies. They seem to have the power to make us stop whatever we were doing or thinking and make even the saddest heart smile.

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The daisy symbolizes purity, innocence, loyal love, beauty, patience and simplicity.

When all seems dark, a small gift awaits you right around the corner that will make you smile, if only briefly.

Treasure those moments!

 

triggers.

triggers.

by Kathleen Moulton ♥ 2 Comments

Those moments that unexpectedly penetrate your heart.

A song, a smell, a taste, a feeling, or a sight that brings it all back. That’s what a trigger is.

For me, it comes like a wave washing upon the shore.  Not a wave that knocks me off my feet because I’m numb and cannot feel it. It just advances and retreats back where it came from. But it leaves something, as waves often do. It leaves memories. And then I wonder. And then I want to remove myself from the source of those triggers.

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It’s amazing how God has made us to endure pain. The best way to describe it is we are wired that way. It’s just that it can be a lonely place sometimes. We live smile, we laugh, we work, we play, and always beneath the surface of our smile is sorrow. No one else is aware of it but us.

People who live this way are okay. Really. Something or someone is missing from their lives and they walk with a limp. They have come to accept it.

Some have to avoid those triggers. Don’t judge them.

~~~

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hope.

hope.

by Kathleen Moulton

My friend was suffering. She was facing multiple, serious situations all happening within a couple of days. She was going down and she knew it.

There are times when we just want to close our eyes and not wake up. The pain is too much.

“Tell me something,” she said. I knew the desperation she was feeling. I knew she did not have an ounce of strength. She had enough.

Without blinking an eye, and surprised at what came out of my mouth, I said: “All I can tell you is that the sun rises every morning.”

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It was all she needed.

So much we cannot predict.

Some things we can.

And as long as we can, there is hope.

simple.

simple.

by Kathleen Moulton

Have you had the experience of feeling as if you’ve got far too many burdens to bear, far too many people to take care of, far too many things on your list to do? You just can’t possibly do it, and you get in a panic and you just want to sit down and collapse in a pile and feel sorry for yourself.

Well, I’ve felt that way a good many times in my life, and I go back over and over again to an old Saxon legend, which I’m told is carved in an old English parson somewhere by the sea. I don’t know where this is. But this is a poem which was written about that legend. The legend is “Do the next thing.” And it’s spelled in what I suppose is Saxon spelling. “D-O-E” for “do,” “the,” and then next, “N-E-X-T.” “Thing”-“T-H-Y-N-G-E.”   – Elisabeth Elliot

The world is busy and complex.

It’s your choice if you want to get off at the next stop or be swept away in the current.

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The simple things in life are often the most profound.

Slow down.

And just do the next thing.

loss.

loss.

by Kathleen Moulton ♥ 1 Comment

Loss makes us grieve.

Death is loss.

But there are many other kinds of loss.

Job.

Home.

Sickness.

Failure (perceived or real).

Broken dreams.

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You were going one way, until suddenly, it all stopped.

Your fault, his fault, her fault, their fault.

Why blame? Does it help?

Learn flexibility. The way a vine finds the path to reach the sky.

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Unhindered, unapologetic

… but not unscathed.

A  leaf turns yellow and a new one grows. A blossom drops and a new one forms.

Let the tears fall and the anger find a place.

But then, live again.

~~

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jekkone/5402067141/

Randy Son Of Robert / Foter.com / CC BY