Devotions

HUMILITY – Day 5 of The One Word Devotional

/ Lisa Womble / 7 Comments

Today’s word is HUMILITY.

There are many things you can do to “process” this word today:

Think on it.

Look it up in Scripture if you choose. An easy way to look up biblical texts on the topic is to go to biblegateway.com and do a search on the word.

Discuss it with others.

Google it.

I’m sure you can think of others. Whatever you choose to do to process this word today, please check back in at the end of the day and let’s have a discussion about your thoughts, experiences, etc.

To see the introduction and table of contents for The One Word Devotional Series, click here. Remember, for this series, the actual devotional thoughts are found in the comments.

JUSTICE – Day 4 of The One Word Devotional

/ Lisa Womble / 9 Comments

Today’s word is JUSTICE.

There are many things you can do to “process” this word today:

Think on it.

Look it up in Scripture if you choose. An easy way to look up biblical texts on the topic is to go to biblegateway.com and do a search on the word.

Discuss it with others.

Google it.

I’m sure you can think of others. Whatever you choose to do to process this word today, please check back in at the end of the day and let’s have a discussion about your thoughts, experiences, etc.

To see the introduction and table of contents for The One Word Devotional Series, click here. Remember, for this series, the actual devotional thoughts are found in the comments.

THOUGHTS – Day 3 of The One Word Devotional

/ Lisa Womble / 10 Comments

Today’s word is THOUGHTS.

There are many things you can do to “process” this word today:

Think on it.

Look it up in Scripture if you choose. An easy way to look up biblical texts on the topic is to go to biblegateway.com and do a search on the word.

Discuss it with others.

Google it.

I’m sure you can think of others. Whatever you choose to do to process this word today, please check back in at the end of the day and let’s have a discussion about your thoughts, experiences, etc.

To see the introduction and table of contents for The One Word Devotional Series, click here. Remember, for this series, the actual devotional thoughts are found in the comments.

CONVICTION – Day 2 of The One Word Devotional

/ Lisa Womble / 18 Comments

Today’s word is CONVICTION.

There are many things you can do to “process” this word today:

Think on it.

Look it up in Scripture if you choose. An easy way to look up biblical texts on the topic is to go to biblegateway.com and do a search on the word.

Discuss it with others.

Google it.

I’m sure you can think of others. Whatever you choose to do to process this word today, please check back in at the end of the day and let’s have a discussion about your thoughts, experiences, etc.

To see the introduction to this devotional series, click here.

To see Day 1 of The One Word Devotional, click here. Remember, for this series, the actual devotional thoughts are found in the comments.

 

CONFIDENCE – Day 1 of One Word Devotional

/ Lisa Womble / 17 Comments

If you missed the introduction to this devotional series, click here to see it.

Today’s word is CONFIDENCE.

There are many things you can do to “process” this word today:

Think on it.

Look it up in Scripture if you choose. An easy way to look up biblical texts on the topic is to go to biblegateway.com and do a search on the word.

Discuss it with others.

Google it.

I’m sure you can think of others. Whatever you choose to do to process this word today, please check back in at the end of the day and let’s have a discussion about your thoughts, experiences, etc.

Prologue to the “One Word Devotional”

/ Lisa Womble / 4 Comments

Beginning Monday, June 16 and running for two weeks, I’ll be posting a “one word devotional.”

This idea came to me years ago when I was working at a daycare. My co-workers and I had tried several times to have devotions while the children were napping. But of course, there was never a time when all the kids slept for the whole nap time. We couldn’t really focus and rarely completed a lesson. So, I suggested we have one “word for the day” to think on and then share throughout the day our thoughts and experiences related to that particular word. It turned out to be a great exercise.

Particularly interesting to me was how “deep” such a simple approach to devotions could go. The continual focus on one single word offered great opportunities for application throughout the day. It revealed areas in which we might not be living out the principles behind the word or not feeling its impact in our lives to the fullest. It brought to mind Scriptures that we shared with one another. We also thought of times when the word had ministered to us and we shared those stories, too. We often set goals related to the word at hand and then held each other accountable to those goals.

Sometimes we were comforted. Sometimes challenged. Always, we were blessed by our interactions with the word and with each other. I am looking forward to having this kind of devotional experience again, with you.

Since I will only be posting the one word at the beginning of the day, with no commentary, the devotional experience will actually come in our follow-up discussions and postings. So, join me Monday for the word of the day and feel free to share your thoughts and reactions to that word as the day progresses.

Jewish Prayer of Mourning

/ Lisa Womble / 1 Comment

I found this prayer of mourning comforting today. It is my sister’s birthday. She would have been 48.

It is hard to speak of oneness when our world is not complete,
when those who once brought wholeness to our life have gone,
and naught but memory can fill the emptiness their passing leaves behind.

But memory can tell us only what we were, in company with those we loved;
it cannot help us find what each of us, alone, must now become.

Yet no person is really alone;
those who live no more echo still within our thoughts and words,
and what they did has become woven into what we are.

We do best homage to our dead by living our lives fully
even in the shadow of our loss.
For each of our lives is worth the life of the whole world.
In each one is the breath of the Ultimate One.

In affirming the One, we affirm the worth of each one whose life, now ended,
brought us closer to the Source of Life, in whose union no person is alone and every life finds purpose.

Going Deep Together to Reach New Heights

/ Lisa Womble / Leave a comment

GOING DEEP TOGETHER TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS

Going Deep Together

I wrote the following in my journal during a rough spot:
I don’t need you to tell me I’m wrong – somewhere inside I know this. I need you to talk with me about the deeper things surrounding this “wrongness.” To create a place I can live during the processing of it and still be loved and accepted. I need people who are really WITH ME as I work through it. People who call me to a higher standard (or maybe I should say call me to a deeper place) simply by being love to me – being Christ to me even when I am not yet Christlike enough. We can only be this for each other when we realize/admit none of us are “there” yet.

When I decided to share that journal entry here, I wanted an art piece to accompany it. So, I clicked on the page of one of my favorite artists, Gwen Meharg, and found the painting shown above. Click this link , then scroll down to the image of the painting on Gwen’s page and click that to see her explanation of the piece. It’s a great accompaniment for the thoughts I had when I was journaling.

I just want to add, too, that the link to Gwen’s work above is for her watercolors. She also does some amazing multi-media work. You can find it here.

Positioning Yourself to Hear

/ Lisa Womble / 3 Comments

Positioning Yourself to Hear

I went on a prayer walk in a beautiful garden. This particular prayer path (a labyrinth) winds around in a way that brings you past the same spot periodically, but with varying degrees of closeness and different points of view. So, I passed by the same small waterfall fountain several times. I began to notice that while I was on the backside of the fountain, even when I was only a few feet away from it, I could barely hear it at all. But when just a few more steps put me on the front side of the waterfall I could hear its beautiful, refreshing sound very clearly. I wrote the following in my journal: Same fountain at all times; it’s just my positioning which determines if I hear it and receive the peace-bringing, life-renewing sound of it.

I also wrote this prayer: Lord, help me to stay positioned with you in front of me and my face towards you that I might experience the fullness of what you bring to me and have an ear to hear what you might say to me.

Relief or Freedom?

/ Lisa Womble / 5 Comments

560507_514600425612_1333507439_n

Contemplating our addictions, temptations, and other common “issues” – self-pity, co-dependency, whatever it might be – and I keep coming to this thought:

When we are struggling with these things, giving in to “the thing” actually makes us feel like we have relief and some sense of control. We feel better because we no longer have the internal struggle that is present while we are trying to resist. It is interesting that when we give in and are experiencing this momentary state of relief and “peace,” it is that very moment that the thing/issue/addiction/temptation has its greatest hold on us. So, I guess we have to choose whether to feel relieved or to be free. It’s a tough choice.