Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred,
let me sow love;
Where there is injury,
pardon;
Where there is error,
the truth;
Where there is doubt,
the faith;
Where there is despair,
hope;
Where there is darkness,
light;
And where there is sadness,
joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled,
as to console;
To be understood,
as to understand;
To be loved
as to love.

For it
is in giving
that we receive;
It is in pardoning
that we are pardoned;
And it
is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

St. Francis

chris and i are headed out of town for a few days to a location where WE KNOW NOBODY. we will meet with nobody and eat with nobody and just hang out…just the two of us…like we did seven freaking years ago.

[sorry, can you tell? this is much needed.]

i hate leaving our cats alone even if it’s just for a few days, but i know they’ll be fine. all of this blog is to say…

are you a cat person or a dog person?

i personally hate dogs…unless they are smaller than cats.

[image from nataliedee - not for the younger eyes]

i’ve had the opportunity to meet some amazing people over the last month…some of them have spoken into my life in crazy and unexpected ways.

last night, i had a conversation with a pastor who i really don’t know very well, but i wanted to hear some more of his story. by the end of the phone call, the objective of the call turned around and he had asked me about some of my story…and had me literally weeping as i sat in my car by my house. i was able to share some things with him that i rarely share…and he was able to speak into those things with truth, objectivity and love.

it’s weird, and maybe it shows how messed up i am [how messed up we are?] when it’s easier to share some of the most ugly, painful things with people we don’t know, but we keep those things hidden or tucked away from the people in our everyday lives. i’m not quite sure why that is. or if it’s bad. or good. or neutral.

all i know is i am really glad we never know how god can use someone regardless of how close they may be to us in either proximity or intimacy.

ht: bs/sg

last saturday, chris and i went with some friends to a ghost tour in franklin. franklin has quite a history behind it, especially during the civil war era. who knew?

i never really believed in ghosts until i was in eighth grade. my family had just moved into a house in abilene, texas, and my friend julie was spending the night. we were up talking and out of nowhere my bed sheets and comforter were ripped off of me. not in a casual, fall-off-the-bed kind of way, either. it was like someone had grabbed them, yanked them off full force, and threw them in the closet which was at the foot of my bed.

julie was directly across from me the entire time. it freaked the both of us out and i slept in the hall for months after that happened.

whether or not it was a ghost - i don’t know…i didn’t physically see anything, but i know something out of the ordinary happened that night!

so, what about you? any ghost stories? or do you think it’s a bunch of hullabaloo?*

—

*you gotta give me some love for using the word hullabaloo in a sentence.

i need a small army who is willing to sign up, sight unseen, for a secret mission.

only those who sign up will get the details (and you’ll have the option of saying no once you do sign up). the rest of you lurkers will just have to wait until november 10th to find out.

three facts about the mission:

1) you want to help provide dignity and safety to those who are living in poverty by using social media

2) you need to have a blog and/or a trusted list of people you can email or message somehow (absolutely no spamming)

3) you are not afraid of audaciously scary big goals. like really big.

if this sounds like you, leave me a comment below (make sure to include a good email address in the email field) and by wednesday night i’ll be in touch with further details.

i am so excited about this mission…it’s unlike anything i’ve ever seen before!