FlowerDust.net | Anne Jackson

weekend thought: what is influence?

a friend of mine was talking about mother theresa yesterday…how she was significantly influential, but “to influence” was never her pursuit…” she only wanted to love and care for the sick, the unloved, the least, the dying. to allow the actions of jesus to be expressed in her everyday life.

it made me think of this quote from an oswald chamber’s sermon:

“The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and “the lilies of the field”— simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us.

If you want to be of use to God, maintain the proper relationship with Jesus Christ by staying focused on Him, and He will make use of you every minute you live— yet you will be unaware, on the conscious level of your life, that you are being used of Him.”

i pray to be this kind of influencer.

7 things i learned in 2007

i know, i know, i had to pick 7…lame. :)

7. when something good happens, don’t try and figure out why. just accept it!
6. writing a book is really really hard work.
5. just when you think you’re comfortable, get ready for stuff to shake up!
4. take chances.
3. if someone doesn’t like you, tough cookies.
2. you can always find something positive to say.
1. shut up and listen.

you?

sometimes we need a reminder

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I’m found
Was blind, but now I see

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace

in between the past and future

i love time off and away from work. especially after an unusually hectic monday and tuesday, it was nice to relax with chris, my family, and have some alone time as well.

on the flip side, sometimes it’s difficult for me to have that alone time because i end up over thinking. do you ever do that? one thought leads to another, then to another, and another and soon you have all these thoughts piled up in your head.

as we spent time with my family (who live on the fort worth side of things) it reminded me of times past. i lived over that way from the time i was sixteen until i moved to kansas city when i was twenty one. lots of memories. some good. and some i wish i could forget.

on saturday when we were back at our place, we started packing our boxes. all of our decor is now packed away, as well as all of our books. i am so excited about moving! i only have four more weeks at lake pointe, then a couple of weeks off until a new chapter at lifechurch.tv begins.

even though i feel a little overwhelmed with memories of the past screaming at me from behind, and hopes for the future shining so brightly in front of me, this moment right now is the present.

and as quiet as it seems, it’s just as important as the things which have shaped me before, and the things that have yet to come.

painting: jordan isip/my middle name

oh snap

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” ~Henry David Thoreau

referring back to my previous post…i am guilty of this. this totally kicked me in the pants when i read it yesterday.

you?

good morning.

It might not be
The prettiest thing that you’ll ever see
But it’s a new day, oh baby, it’s a new day
And it might not look like
A beautiful sunrise
But it’s a new day, oh baby, it’s a new day

(Robbie Seay Band)

duskdreamer

miles from home, i write from my lower greenville third place. i’ve watched people come and go. i’ve watched the sun set. my focus is lacking tonight as my list of things-to-write increases ever so slightly.

my heart; fickle as of late. questioning things. what? here? now? when? how? what? where?

i love the fact i cannot be spontaneous. it runs completely against my nature.

otherwise?

i’d be on a coast somewhere looking up at the stars. and nobody would know.

settle down, wandering mind…quiet yourself, duskdreamer.