Q is for Questions

 

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We all search for answers to the big questions.  Not everyone realizes that they are looking for the answers.  Many of us don’t really want the answers, not the true answers.  We search for them in all the wrong places.  We find or we create confusion.  We are left with questions.  But there are answers if we look for them in the right places, or rather with the right person. 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.   John 14:6

A to Z Challenge

P is for Purpose

We all have purpose.  Tied to my purpose are p words :  passion, prayer, peace, praise, and being the person God created me to be.  

This is Good Friday, the day we Christians mark the death of Jesus Christ.    On Easter Sunday, we Christians celebrate His resurrection from the dead.  My ultimate purpose is to point to Him, our Lord and Savior.  

A to Z Challenge

 

O is for Owl

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“What was that?”   shouts came from upstairs.  

Seated at the kitchen table, I simultaneously turned to look towards the sound of the loud crash just outside.

“Oh my gosh!  Come look!’’

There sprawled across the porch was a huge barred owl.  He stayed perfectly still, his head turned, and I wondered if he was alive.   My daughter and I stared at him in delight and amazement for a while, chattering back and forth about what we should do.

“Can I go out and pet him?”

“NO! Absolutely not!  He could claw your eyes out.”

“What are we going to do?  We can’t just leave him.  I’d love to have a pet owl.” 

“I don’t know yet, what we’ll do.  I have to think.  He sure is beautiful; isn’t he?”

We were all getting ready to leave for church, but I knew that if this poor visitor didn’t take off on his own soon, I’d have to find a solution.  He still hadn’t moved, and we finally thought to take a photo.  We snapped and moved closer to the door to get a better shot. 

As I slowly moved to a different place to get a photo at a different angle, he took off, just fine.  There were a group of crows circling above that started to banter and badger him as he flew to a tall evergreen tree beside my neighbor’s house.  They had apparently been the cause of his earlier fall.  He was trying to wait long enough for them to get out of his way to fly off.

Later we found out from our neighbors that they had been seeing for a couple of weeks in the tree, which is apparently his new home.  As the weather has warmed, we hear him and his friends outside as dusk comes on and throughout the night, sometimes right outside our bedroom window.  We love having our own owl about, but wonder if we will soon sleep through his night calls or tire of them. 

Darla Sue Dollman at Compassion, Kindness, and Love  and Blessed Little Creatures has some fabulous wildlife posts.  I have so enjoyed my visits to her blog and learned a great deal in the process.  Check it out.  You won’t be disappointed.

 

A to Z Challenge

N is for Nouveau Scarecrow

I love the A to Z challenge for the opportunity to meet and discover some amazing blogs.  One of those is Nouveau Scarecrow by author Michael Cahill.   Michael’s subtitle is “A ragged soul investigating the human condition,” and he does an amazing job of it.  He is a rare talent who has a way of touching other “ragged souls” through his words.

Bob Ross

I left a comment on his blog telling him he was like the Bob Ross of writing to me.   If you have never seen Bob Ross, he too is worth checking out.  Though he died in 1995, his art classes are still available for purchase  and some can be seen on You-tube.  As he painted his "happy little trees," he had a way of teaching and painting that just relaxed you and soothed the soul.  Michael has that same affect on me with his words.  I could go back again and again and reread his posts.  


How many blogs do you feel like that about?

A to  Z Challenge

Michale Cahill's prose can also be read at Word Worth, the online magazine of ideas and the arts.

M is for Mom Mantras

by Ginger Plowman

 “Go to what you know.” 


That’s one of my mom mantras.  

Another is,

“How do YOU think it’s spelled?”



You know what I am talking about, those truths and principles you repeat to inculcate them into your kids, to give them what you believe they need to overcome obstacles and become productive people, people who can figure things out and stand on their own two feet. These are Mom (and Dad) mantras.

We remember some that our parents spoke into our lives.

“I used to walk 10 miles to school, up hill and in the snow.”

“We never got to do that when I was growing up.” 

“Nothing good ever happens after midnight.”

“Chores first.”

Each of us has our own list, though some may be common to all if you are from similar cultures.  The mantras are meant to instill in us perseverance, strength of character, wisdom.  In my house, among the regular chanted mantras I used were messages about attitude. 

“Attitude ‘A’ every day.”

"Be a blessing and be blessed.”
“What you practice you become.”

"Hold on to the Lord."

Your mantras say something about what you value, about what you believe contributes to a good life, about what influences you.  Some of the mantras of our lives we don’t even realize are there.  They may be subconscious, repeated messages in the recesses of our mind, but shining through who we are none the less.  Sometimes others may hear what we don’t realize we repeat.  These can be dangerous mantras because they may be shaping us with something harmful to our character. 

It’s a good practice to occasionally do a mental check of the mantras we recite, to listen to that voice that speaks within us, the messages we let freely rerun on the screen of our minds.  Listen as well to the ones we speak into the big wide world of our children’s futures.  It wouldn’t hurt to check with loved ones.  Ask if there mantras we are missing that may be having an ill-effect on us or those around us.  We all have blind spots that we can use a little passenger assistance to see. 

  What mantras have been influential in making you who you are?

A to Z Challenge

L is for Luke

          We are reading through and discussing the Gospel of Luke in our care group.  A care group is a small group from church that meets in homes to care for one another and to learn more about what the Bible teaches.  Sometimes we will focus on a topic; other times a book of the Bible.  Sometimes we just get together to have some food and fellowship. 

          I was glad we picked the Gospel of Luke in the Bible to look at over the coming weeks.  It’s been on my heart to spend more time just focusing on Jesus especially as we lead up to Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Often times we get caught up in what we are supposed to do as Christians, what we are supposed to think, what experiences we are having.  Jesus can get lost in our lives.   He becomes the buzzword, the pat answer for the Sunday school class, “Jesus, God, the Bible.” 

“Oh Lord, forgive us that we would allow You to become routine in our lives.”

          I was determined to get to know my Jesus more fully, and the Gospel of Luke is just the place to go to do that.   Spending time with Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is an eye opening, a heart opening experience.  I have been reminded over and over again, not only from the text, but from voices all around me that this Jesus is no ordinary man.  The text certainly bears witness that this is someone special.  Is it possible for Him to have been anyone but God?  I am trying to listen more closely and look more intently, remembering Who it is I am walking with in this narrative.  These are the words God wanted recorded that we would know the truth. 

          Learning is a good L word too.  The more I can learn, the more I know.  The more I know, the more I understand.  The more I understand the more I realize just how little I know and how much there is to learn.  You could study the book of Luke for a long time and not learn or know or understand all that’s there to be revealed about the person of Jesus.   One thing for sure:  He is not mundane in any way. 

                       Faith is based in knowledge and I want to know more. 

 ^“It seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”  Luke 1:3-5 

A to Z Challenge

K is for to Know

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To know:  to be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.  To have knowledge about, to have a relationship with, personal experience with, or familiarity with a person, place, thing, idea, or field.

How do we know things?  What do you know?  How do you know that’s true?  What makes you think you know?  What can we know for sure?  What can we know by examining the evidence and coming to a reasonable conclusion?  How many of the things that you know end up being false?  If we have to change our direction because what we thought we knew was wrong, does that mean we can’t know things at all?  

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People discuss and argue about these questions all the time.  They study knowledge, and the acquisition of it, truth and whether or not we can know it, what’s real and what’s not.  They have official sounding names for these studies and theories.  What it points out to me is that what is and what we think about what is may be different.  What is true and what we think is true may be different.  However, What is and what is true, doesn’t depend upon the knowing of it.  If something is true, it is true whether we know it or not.  The knowing of it just makes it mine.  

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Proverbs 1:7

 

A to Z Challenge

J is for Juncture

 

We all hit significant junctures in our lives.  We have insights that open our eyes.  We have experiences - emotional, physical, spiritual - that change our lives.  We do things that make a difference.

We think, we feel, we do.

Sometimes these junctures change us significantly, not just our thinking, feeling, or doing, but our very being.  Who am I?  Why am I?  Isn’t there something more than what’s here?

                            A juncture.  Questions.  Answers?

Jesus came with answers.  He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  (John 14:6)

Meeting Him, the Christ, welcoming Him is a significant juncture. 

We start out already behind in life.  No encouragement can conquer all doubts and uncertainties or solve the problem of the human condition. 

He can, the One Who has given His all.  Find out what it is to know Him.  Then hold on to Him. 

It’s the juncture that matters.

A to Z Challenge

I is for I AM

 

I am convinced it is often better just to let the Word of God speak for itself.  As it does, I hope you will be encouraged to find out more about the Christ, and let go of doubt.  Give it your all as you hold on to something oh so much better - the Great I AM.

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 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”   Exodus 3:14

“As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you,”
                                        Genesis 9:9

“… Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  Genesis 15:1

And that very night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham’s sake.”  Genesis 26:24

He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.  Exodus 3:6

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”  Exodus 3:14

Say therefore to the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  Exodus 6:6

He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”                                                  Exodus 15:26

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;”   Exodus 20:2

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Jesus said to her, “I am He, the one who is speaking to you.”  
                                                                           John 4:26
                           
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.  John 6:35

Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.”  John 7:33

So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am He, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed Me.”  John 8:28

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but He sent Me.”  John 8:42

Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”  John 8:58
                              
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.”  John 10:7

But He was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”           Mark 14:61-62

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though they die, will live,”  John 11:25

            God bless, Maria

A to Z Challenge

H is for Hold On

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“Hold on!  That’s not what I meant!”

“Hold on.  Be careful.  It’s delicate.”

“Hold on tight!”

All of these uses of ‘hold on’ imply something slightly different, yet they also imply something similar - value. 

In the first case, someone’s communication has been misinterpreted.  To the speaker the correct interpretation of what they had to say is obviously important to them.  They are saying, “Wait a minute.  Let me clarify.  I want you to understand me.  The link between what I am expressing and what you are receiving from me has value to me.”

In the second case, ‘hold on’ implies something more tangible.  As the speaker says, “Hold on,” the picture is of an object that needs to be handled with care.  I can envision a fragile piece of expensive porcelain being entrusted from the grasp of its caretaker to the expectant, cupped palms of a wide-eyed admirer, the object’s value emphasized in the solicitude of the transfer.

Picture 3.  “Hold on.  Do you have a good grip?”  This time safety seems stressed.  Perhaps its a child’s first dalliance with an adventure, maybe climbing a tree or a first ride on the back of a motorcycle or something even more daring.  The value of a life, sacred, precious beyond measure, halts a mother’s heart as she says, “hold on!”

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“Hold onto it.  Don’t lose it.”
"Hold on.  You can do it." 
“Hold onto it.  Don’t give it away.”

"Hold onto it.  Protect it.”
"Hold on.  You can make it." 
“Hold onto it.  Watch what you say.” 

 

What do these mean to you?  Will you guard your heart to love or protect it from loving?  Will you hold onto your faith or be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine?  Will you be careful or careless about what comes out of your mouth or is expressed in your emotions?  Will you give up or keep it up?"

Words do mean something, but they can mean so many different things depending on the context and the background of the parties involved.   People are complicated.  So are our relationships, our emotions, our communications, and the list goes on. 

It is worth giving our all to find out what is really meant by the words communicated by the people we love in order to hold on to the truth.

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A to Z Challenge

G is for Giving it Your All

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As I limped home after walking my daughter to her babysitting job, my dog tugged at me to hobble faster.  I suffer with pain issues from arthritis in a small bone in my foot.  When it’s acting up, it feels like walking on a broken foot.  Tendinitis adds to the irritation and pain.  It hurts. 

“Stop Gooper.”  I yanked back at the leash.  “I’m giving it my all.”

After the words came out of my mouth, the questions flooded into my mind.  WAS I giving it my all?  What did that really mean?  Was I taking that term a bit too lightly?  After all, I was using it to chastise my dog.

A few weeks before this, I walked an 8K race with my daughter.  My foot was doing ok comparatively.  Though I had been working out, we hadn’t trained for the race, and it was a 2 mile jaunt just to get to the start.  I really hadn’t thought this was all that big of a deal, but plodding through that last mile, I was hurting.  It felt every bit as hard as the last mile of the marathon I HAD trained for several years earlier.  Oh boy, I was giving it my all just to crawl to that finish line. 

Was I though?  I thought I couldn’t walk another step, but I did; and another and another. 

So many times I’m dragging;  I can’t do one more thing.  I can’t…  I’ve given my all, but I know.  As hard as I may have pushed myself, as deserved as the rest might be, giving it my all, that’s something else all together. 

American soldiers are giving and have given their all.  People around the world dying for their faith are giving their all.  The one who most comes to mind as giving His all, is Jesus, the Christ. 

Jesus told us what giving it all looks like, and it’s all about love.  He said,  

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” 

John15:13

He did.  He laid His life down for everyone who puts their trust in Him as the remedy for their human problem.  It’s a beautiful example of giving one’s all.  It’s worth finding out more about.  

A to Z Challenge

F is for Find Out

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“So how do you know that?” 

“Well, it’s common knowledge.  Doesn’t everyone know it?”  I answered, surprised at the question.

“Well, I didn’t know that and I go there all the time.  In fact I have no recollection of that ever being the case.” 

I thought about that.  “Maybe I’m remembering wrong, but I don’t think so.  I’ll check it out and let you know what I find out.” 

His honest, non-threatening question made me wonder.  Was I taking too much for granted?  I needed to find out the truth.

After doing a little research I found out that my information, though technically accurate, was really inconsequential in its scope.  In other words, it wasn’t worth acknowledging or acting upon.  So the stress I put on my supposed “common knowledge” that made my friend ask the question, WAS really in error. 

How much do I believe, talk about, act upon without really understanding the ins and outs?  How much do I pass along without finding out the real deal? 

I’ve been paying more attention to those things, those ideas that I have accepted without giving it a second thought.  I’m trying to listen for those underlying assumptions to which I blindly acquiesce.  Our culture is filled with all kinds of ideas we operate on or agree to because they sound good or because someone we think we can trust said it.  However, with a little reasoning or research we might just see them fall apart.  

What 'common knowledge' are you accepting that may be based in error?  What ideas are you holding onto that have just enough verisimilitude to be convincing, but lead you to wrong conclusions?

I am grateful my friend asked that simple question, “How do you know that?” to prompt me to find out the truth.

A to Z Challenge

Dedicated to my friend Dick V.

E is for Encouragement

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Whether or not you’re a Christian, the Bible has a lot to offer in the way of words of encouragement.  These are worth exploring and contemplating and applying. 

I am working on committing to memory some of those right now.

“… Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”  Hebrews 3:13

Do you think it is important to encourage others?  Why?  Where does that sense of morality come from?  I encourage you to think about that.

A to Z Challenge

D is for Doubt

 

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Doubt don’t got to dominate.
Doubt don’t got to rule.
Doubt is not the potentate.
Doubt is but a tool.

Doubt will help you measure
Your discipline and depth,
Your devotion to your treasure,
The fullness and the breadth.

Don’t follow doubt’s creation
To let it weigh you down.
With dogged determination
Defend your solid ground.

When doubt dangles its discordance,  
Deal doubt a diligence blow.
Depose doubt’s clanging dissonance.
Go to what you know.

Dedicate yourself to deepness.
Truth and triumph will console.
Your decision for completeness,
will guide you to your goal.

 

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Letter D for A to Z Challenge

C is for Christ

He lives! 

Christ came to bring deliverance, freedom, life abundant.  He claims to be “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)  That’s difficult to grasp and can’t be completely understood, but it is worth taking the time to consider because if it is true, if He is who He claims to be, God incarnate, then what you do with Christ makes all the difference in your world. 

So let your eyes gaze upon Jesus.  I used to wonder what it meant to keep your eyes on the Lord.  I mean, isn’t being a good Christian about believing Jesus died for my sins and rose again to give me eternal life and then living the good moral life set forth in the Bible.  However, the longer I live the committed Christian life, the better I come to understand how its all about keeping my eyes on Christ.

Jesus Christ is central to the Christian faith.  Unlike other religions, Christianity can’t be separated from its founder, Jesus Christ.  Who He is and what you do with Jesus is what makes Christianity what it is.  You can’t take Christ out of Christianity and still have Christianity.  If you take other founders out of their religions, leaving only with their teachings, their religions could still function.  They are separate from what they taught.  Christ is integral to what He taught.  For the Christian, if Jesus isn’t who He says He was, the religion falls apart.  One could still live according to some of the moral principles He taught.  In fact a lot of people do just that without embracing Christ for who He claimed to be.  That isn’t Christianity though.  Christianity demands confronting Christ.

You see, as C.S. Lewis and other renowned thinkers have put it, Jesus was either liar, lunatic, or the real deal, God incarnate.  He can’t be just a good teacher, just a prophet, just a great guy.  He doesn’t leave that option open to us.  He claimed to be God.  He claimed to be the answer to man’s sin problem.  He made claims that don’t leave those other titles as possibilities.  What would you say to someone who claimed to be God if he wasn’t?   You see if Jesus wasn’t God, as He claimed to be, he was either deluded, or He knew He wasn’t God and He aimed to delude. 

As I spend time reading my Bible, praying, meditating on what I read, considering divergent thoughts and analysis, and conversing with skeptics, questioners, and those who have studied this in depth, as I consider the evidence for and against each of these propositions, deluded, deluder, truth, I am convinced of Jesus Christ’s authenticity as the Son of God.  His claims best fit the evidence and reality.  Christianity is not blind faith, but reasoned faith, yet faith none the less.  We can’t prove who Jesus Christ is, but we can, if we examine the evidence carefully, come to a reasoned conclusion to feed a confident faith.

Yes, Jesus was a great teacher.  He was a prophet and a good man.  He fulfilled many roles.  However, Jesus is so much more.  He was and is the Christ.  And if that is the case, does it make reasonable sense to ignore Him or treat Him as just one choice among many?  He doesn’t leave us that option either.  If His words are true and He says there is only one way to find the way to eternal life, shouldn’t we pay attention?  If He is God incarnate, then He has the answers to life’s big questions and other answers are just wrong.  If you have a disease that will kill you, you want the right medicine.  The wrong medicine won’t solve your problem.  Neither will the wrong belief solve a problem for which only Christ is the solution.

“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to [the Father] who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.  For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.  Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”                                Hebrews 3:1-6  

If Jesus Christ is who He says He is, and the evidence certainly points in that direction, can you afford not to consider Him and what He had to say?  Consider Jesus Christ.  Even better, discover the delight:  the deliverance, the freedom, the life-abundant in knowing Him.

…“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2  

A is for Already, B is for Behind

Yes, 'A' is for 'already'  and 'B' is for 'Behind' because I am already behind.

As I l plopped into bed last night, letting myself relax, eyes just closing, with that end of day comfort sigh, it hit me.  My eyes popped open.  I had failed to enter my first A to Z post.

"Oh well."  I thought."  "Already behind."  That's when it struck me that 'already' started with A, and I supposed I would trash my original 'A' selection and just use 'already'.

I have to admit, though, it didn't occur to me to merge 'A' and 'B' until I actually wrote the words "Already Behind."  It's interesting - isn't it? - how something can be floating around in one's mind, but until you let your fingers do the walking across the page or your mouth do the talking out loud, there will be obvious lessons still yet to be seized.

So I am seizing the moment.  I hope it isn't too much of a rule breaker.  It seems my life is often, already behind, and I have a feeling many can empathize with that sentiment.  So for today, I will take the 'Already' and mix it with a little 'Behind' so that I can look ahead (ooh another 'A' word), beyond 'B' (ooh another 'B' word),  to catch up at 'C' tomorrow.  

Since I threw in the 'C' with 'catch up', can I count 'C' complete? (ooh another 'C' word)  Well, maybe not.

I'll try not to fall behind again until I get to 'F', because then it'll fit. 

                                                                                                         God bless, Maria

Signing up for A to Z Challenge

Well I waited until the bitter end here to sign up for the April A to Z blogging challenge.  Delight Directed Living is 1338 on the list at the A to Z Challenge website.  This challenge is the brainchild of Arlee Bird of Tossing it Out.  I am privileged to try my hand at it for a second year.  I hope I can survive this year as I don't feel nearly as prepared even though, or maybe because, I am more aware of what I am getting into.  I remember what fun it was, though, and I invite you to check it out for yourself.  

How does it work?  Well straight from Arlee Bird:

HERE IS MORE INFORMATION

IN A NUTSHELL...THIS IS IT…

Starting April 1st, for 26 days, write a post for each letter of the alphabet. 

With 30 days in April, that allows for 4 days off - seems like Sunday was a favourite last year!

This year, April 1st is a Sunday...so your first post will be that day, then go from there!

Need more details? Click HERE.

I expect to experience some of the delight of getting back to blogging a bit more regularly.  So, woohoo, here I go.  I am now officially signed up and psyched!  
                                                       God bless, Maria

A to Z Challenge

Number changed to 1304.  Trying to track it.
Number now 1266 on April 6. 
1255 on April 7
1249 on APRIL 9 
1203 on April 13 
1186 on April 15 
1160 on April 23 
1143 on April 30 

    

Award Flu

I have not signed into or written on my blog for months.  Honestly, I found myself paralyzed by the blog awards.  It may seem silly, but what I found flattering and uplifting, I simultaneously allowed to confine and enslave me.

Not uncommon in my life, once other things clamoring for my attention filled my time, I found it easy to neglect blogging.  What had so recently been a joy to engage in, was now a weight.  Though I wanted to make time for it, I likewise wanted to avoid it.  The months went by and before I knew what had happened, blogging was but an afterthought, something I would read and respond to rather than a personal venture of my own.  How did the kindness of an award turn into a burden?

When I received my first award, I was touched that someone might think enough of what I had shared of myself to affirm me.  I followed the award reqs and I felt encouraged as was intended.  Then, as is almost routine among bloggers because everyone is about supporting other bloggers in their craft, more awards continued to come.  I appreciated the acknowledgement.  Wanting to honor those who had honored me by following through with what was expected in the awards, I found my strong sense of fulfilling my obligations shackling me and I couldn't break free.

The blogging community is about empowering others to write by providing tools and incentives to do just that.  The awards are one of those vehicles by which we can be a support staff to each other.  In no way do I want to impugn the giving of blogging awards.  Rather it was my response I hope to discourage in others.  I let self-imposed expectations inhibit me from doing something through which I found satisfaction.  I put up my own unnecessary road blocks.  Initially getting and responding to the awards was fun for me, but soon it became a trap for me.  I felt this cloud hanging over me.  I needed to let it rain my responses, I thought, before I could write anything else.  Pretty soon I didn't want to write anymore.

I tripped myself up by not letting go of something I didn't need to hold onto.  It is a real lesson for me personally in more than just blogging.  I like to say, "Get over yourself.  Get out of your own way,"  and here I was very much in my own way, not knowing how to move.

I just have to admit that fulfilling the requirements of the awards, as fun as they are, has got to be a secondary concern for me or award flu might set in again.  Better to get over myself and get on my way to delighting in living.