Pen To Paper

This Unwavering Hope

April 1, 2013 by bethany · Leave a Comment

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Unwavering Hope.

Coming off Easter weekend, where our bellies + life are full of new memories, it’s easy to forget — about the reason we celebrated, why we were celebrating, + why we have reason to celebrate every single day.

For those who may not realise or know, I love Jesus. This love moulds who I am + defines my faith.

Because of this, Easter is one of my favourite times of the year.

For one of my assignments I had to go on a field trip to experience an event of some sort in another religion. With Easter near, I chose a Catholic Good Friday service. Despite reading the same (or similar) Bible about the same events + people, everything their faith is built upon is completely different to mine. And it was an eye-opening experience in more ways than one.

The thing about this special time is that it’s never been about the things, but has always being about the One Thing that changed humanity forever.

As churches around the world became filled with people paying their dues + remembering a distant man found only in the history books, many would have missed the reason they’re there – because of what He did for freedom’s sake, for them specifically.

[image via personal Instagram - @bethjae]

[trust steadily. hope unswervingly. love extravagantly.] - 1 Corinthians 13:13

To hope unswervingly + unwavering is something rare + beautiful to possess.

Friday He died. Saturday they mourned + waited. Sunday He rose. And as Monday entered, people’s hearts were filled with an unwavering hope as how they lived the rest of their days changed forever.

When you have hope everything changes — your purpose, thoughts, steps, actions, heart.

When you have an unwavering hope, you stay constant + steadfast in your focus of the future — your past is not a chain pulling you back, because you’ve been made free.

Today is Monday. And as Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday + Sunday roll around, this unwavering hope has been made accessible to us because of what happened one day thousands of years ago.

Easter isn’t just a holiday to eat chocolate, it’s a dedicated weekend each year to be thankful.

As the sun rises each new day, let’s never forget the Greatest Love Story: for God so loved you + cared about you that He sent His son to set you free.

Such a wild, tender, passionate, gentle Love is this because of His Unwavering Hope in us.

…hope your Easter was lovely! x

Filed Under: Pen To Paper ·

Your Tomorrow Is Who You Relate To Today

March 28, 2013 by bethany · Leave a Comment

[image via Pinterest]

“where you’ll be tomorrow is directly linked to who you relate to today + what you read today.”

Reason #926485 why I love to continually study + take courses – for wise quotes like the above.

Now stop. Have a little think about your life at the moment.

Who do you talk to each + every day?

What words are you letting into your life each day?

What information + entertainment are you filling your life with each day?

Because the things you do each + every day are the things that will create your tomorrow.

What we let into our life is really what defines us. It may not happen right now, but if it’s being sowed into you day after day, you can’t help but be influenced by it.

More than ever I’m discovering the power + impact of friendships. Of those I let speak into my life, hang out + have coffee with.

More than ever I’m discovering the power + impact of what books, websites + lyrics I read. The words I let myself visually see + stick to my brain.

It’s about being wise + looking out for yourself. It’s about valuing + respecting yourself. When you don’t have value or respect for yourself, you don’t care about what or who you let into your life.

It’s like the saying goes, “you can’t fly with the eagles (aka, those who will inspire your vision + propel you to go further) when you’re hanging out with the turkey’s (aka, those who keep your vision low + feet stuck to the ground).”

There’s lot’s of eagles out there. Sometimes all you have to do is lift your head up a little to see them before you can hang with them. If all you’re relating to + reading are the things that don’t expand, inspire, + encourage you to go a little further each day, you’ll be stuck.

Who you relate to + what you read today is a key indicator of where you’ll be tomorrow.

Be mindful + purposeful in it.

Filed Under: Pen To Paper ·

What Being Bittersweet Can Teach Us

March 8, 2013 by bethany · 2 Comments

:: entering 2013 I set myself a personal challenge: read 52 books this year. why? if you read well you write well. read the book list here ::

[image from shaunaniequist.com]

“Bitterness is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter + the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth + your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, which helps us earn the lines on our faces + the calluses on our hands. Sweet is night enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth + complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, earthy.” – Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet p11

For ages I’ve adored Shauna Niequist’s work. She’s a treasure of a wordsmith. I’ve posted some of her work on here before because her words deserve to be seen + heard by the many. A couple of weeks ago a lovely friend of mine surprised me with her book Bittersweet – big love, big thank you! Having not personally read one of her books before, only quotes from them + her blog, I was eager to dive in.

But this book broke my ‘read one book a week’ rule + read this over a couple.

See, once I began, I found myself savouring her words. Although the chapters are really short, I couldn’t continue reading more than a couple of chapters (40 altogether) at one time. Her words have such depth that it would be criminal to read the book in one sitting.

And that’s okay!

More than the depth her words bring such peace, raw emotion, freshness, honesty, genuine kindness, + wholeness. It requires you to breathe, slow down in life, + enjoy it.

Above all, this book taught me so much about living a bittersweet life.

:: what bittersweet can teach us ::

To heal is a journey. One we all walk differently, take various paths + timeframes, + go at differing paces in. But it’s a journey. And a beautiful one.

The importance of homemade meals shared around a table with friends. Shauna found much of her healing through cooking – in fact, her latest book is all about meals being a love letter.

Everyone needs healing + everyone heals in their own way – what’s important is that you take the time to heal well.

It’s okay to be bitter. It’s just not okay to stay there for a long period of time.

The importance of friends. Of sharing in each other’s journey – being excited for a friend who’s pregnant even though you’ve just miscarried, or seeing all your friends become engaged + still being single.

Know what you don’t do, know what you do do, + don’t worry about doing the things that you don’t do. You don’t have to do everything better.

When something bad happens to someone, always say something. Even if it’s simply: ”I heard what happened, and I don’t know what to say.” Not saying anything can be more hurtful than saying the wrong thing.

:: the rundown ::

First Sentence: “I learned about waves when I was little, swimming in Lake Michigan in navy blue water under a clear sky, and the most important thing I learned was this: if you try to stand + face the wave, it will smash you to bits, but if you trust the water + let it carry you, there’s nothing sweeter.”

Least Favourite Part: Apparently she wrote the book in two weeks. Wrote a book in two weeks. ** correction: thanks to the lovely Shauna herself for commenting, turns out she wrote the book over a couple of years + did the last edit it in 2 weeks.

Favourite Quote: “..when life is sweet, say thank you + celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you + grow.” (p.13)

Favourite Part: You never know what story you’re going to read next – there’s a love letter for her son, grief through miscarriage, brokenness after losing her job at her local church, the importance of hospitality, etc. And it feels as though she’s sitting there telling them to you over a cup of tea. A special quality in a writer.

Who should read it? Those who are broken. Those who are whole. Those on the mountaintop of sweetness. Those in the valley of bitterness. Many of people won’t like this book because of its structure, for those who do, it’s a real treasure to find.

// You can download a couple of free chapters of the book here, or purchase Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way here.

Filed Under: Pen To Paper, Read It ·

Kindness + Generosity Are Beams Of Light

March 4, 2013 by bethany · Leave a Comment

[image via Pinterest]

Kindness + generosity are beams of light.

In the darkest of places, hearts, + situations, a simple act of kindness + selfless outreach of generosity is the light needed to show there’s a better day coming.

Kindness + generosity are unseen treasures.

We may not always see the impact they have in someone’s heart + life, but rest assured that seeds were planted + warmth permeated their being — it’s the only response that can be created from something so pure.

Kindness + generosity can be uncomfortable acts.

Reaching out of one’s comfort zone to bestow something beautiful upon another is often something the flesh in us wants to withhold. But, when it’s willingly given new worlds can collide + be transformed.

Kindness + generosity provokes the heart to see beyond.

When someone has gone beyond themselves to shower such goodness, your heart can’t help but be provoked to see beyond as well. Although the outward reaction may not be what you expected, overwhelmed with appreciation, all hope is that their actions begin to speak of kindness + generosity too.

Kindness + generosity are the marks of humanity at its finest.

Humanity thrives in a community of ‘otherness’. And kindness + generosity provide the best platform for that to happen.

Kindness + generosity is a responsibility.

Not for one or two of us, but for all of us. Each individual life was threaded together by a hand of generous grace. Because of this, it’s our responsibility to hand out what we’ve been embedded with.

Kindness + generosity allows everyone to win.

You never lose anything by being kind + generous. But you do lose when you keep it all to yourself.

The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving with passion and compassion and humor and style and generosity and kindness. – Maya Angelou

Filed Under: Pen To Paper · Tagged With: Generosity, Kindness

Write Your Own Story

February 18, 2013 by bethany · Leave a Comment

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Recently the girls from my local church gathered for a delicious morning tea + inspirational message. The theme of the morning was “What’s Your Story?” paired with “Because”.

Part of the morning included breaking into small groups + writing our own story. I’ve done this exercise before, but each time it gets me thinking + my story seems to change.

With storytelling as one of the main themes I seem to write about here (see previous posts: ‘What’s Your Story?‘ ‘Looking For Their Story‘ ‘Write A Good One‘ ‘The Story Is The Power‘ ‘Ira Glass on Storytelling‘), I thought it would be helpful to share the exercise with you so you can ponder + write your own.

:: write your story ::

Fold a piece of paper in half + use each side of the paper as pages – so it’s in ‘book form’. Or, simply write it on unfolded paper.

// TITLE (front page)

Every story has a title. Your life is a story. What does yours say?

// CONTENTS (page II)

Every story has a contents page. In the contents of your life, write down 8 different chapter titles – the first four being highlights + defining moments of your life to date, the last four being the titles of what you’d like the story to read in the future.

// IMAGES (page III)

Draw images relating to your contents – a visualisation of what the story reads.

// SUMMARY (page IV)

A summary about your life, using the contents page as a guide.

Once you see your life plotted out in front of you, it reminds you of the goodness in the past + enables you to have some clarity + vision for the future.

Don’t like how your story reads so far? You can always change it, one word at a time…

“And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone.” – Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts

Filed Under: Pen To Paper · Tagged With: Donald Miller, Storytelling