The Heart of Life

Pix I Luv But Forgot I Had

It's Friday, so a nice-n-easy post, here. A few pix I love but forgot I had:

od uoy daer ruoy elbib?

oD uoy daer rouy elbib? rof a gnol emit I t'ndid yojne gnidaer ti esauc ti saw ekil gniyrt ot daer hsilngE sdrawkcab, ti t'ndid ekam esnes.

Do you read your bible? For a long time, I didn't enjoy reading it 'cause it was like trying to read English backwards, it didn't make sense.

Then one day I realized I was losing a fight with the devil by having that logic. So I prayed about it, bought a 1-year bible & read it every day for a year. That was 7 yrs ago. I've been reading it daily every since. Sometimes I miss, but after developing it as a habit, I really hate it when I do.

Pardon the cheese, but...we can't call God on our flip-phones; however we can hear God when we flip thru these pages.

A Night with Esther

Tonight we had our first LeadHership book study. Pastor Troy challenged us to grow deeper with our teams, I was excited to take that challenge.
1) We got Caffeinated:
with coffee, fresh fruit & double-fudge cake.

2) We got Creative:
with "arts & craft" time, making tierras (in honor of Queen Vashti, who we studied tonight).

3) We got Challenged:
with Esther 1 that leaders need to know who they are & know where they stand.

Me, Shamu & Safer Places

Over the holidays, we went to Sea World for "Dine with Shamu." While Raul took DJ to the bathroom, Shamu jumped up right by our table & scared the crap out of me. I honestly can't believe I got this pic & it turned out. I'm not sure why, but after we left, I felt for Shamu. In Genesis, God says He made the big animals that live in the sea. Though the emcee assured & re-assured us that this is a wonderful life for Shamu, I couldn't help but think...

8 years ago, I was taken out of my big world (& for my safety) put in a psych unit. Sometimes, the world we're meant to live in we hurt ourselves in & we're too sick to notice. As whacked as it sounds, I'm thankful for the 72 hrs. when God took me out of my big sea & put me in a safer tank, an 8x8 cell. 'Cause it was there that I found Him again. God, you always know where we need to be. Thanks.

It's Time to Tell You Our Secret

It is time. The Cuban & I have discussed this & we feel it is time to come out of the closet with who dresses him. Drumroll please... I do. I buy all his clothes; I lay out his workout clothes; I lay out his office clothes; I decide when he retires his clothes. When he travels, I've twisty-tied outfits together; attached notecards to each hanger & taken pix of each pre-assembled outfit & stored them in his iPhone (see pix above). It's sick, I know. But Raul hates to dress himself & doesn't care; I like to dress him & do care. So this works for us. From the belt to the socks to how to tuck in his shirt--I take care of it. The ONLY (& I mean ONLY) part I don't care about is his underwear. I'd like to say one last thing: it's really cool when you & your mate can mesh what one hates & the other loves, 'cause everybody wins. Just ask the Cuban! We've been doing this for 10 years & we both wouldn't change a thing.

Best Pres?

In our creative meeting, we had a tangent discussion on who's the best U.S. Pres. One of the names we threw in the pool was Teddy Roosevelt, who once said, "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." Now that's a sharp quote. Though Teddy wouldn't be my personal pick for the best U.S. President, I really respect his obvious wisdom here. Who would you pick for the best U.S. Pres?

Got Vision?

This week
we heard the vision for our country
through President Obama.
Which was cool.

But this weekend,
we will hear God's vision
through Pastor Troy.
Which is even cooler!

See you there!
Oh, hey, if you don't live near any of our 5 campuses,
see it LIVE here from your computer!

Masks

Couldn't help but think of "Lord Helmet" in the movie, SpaceBalls when DJ did this.

Have you ever wanted to throw on a mask & hide? I can think of 2 reasons I've wanted to:
1. I did something wrong & I needed some time to hide from someone.
2. Someone did something wrong to me & I needed time to hide from them.

But neither reason is cool. It's better to drop the mask. It's easier to get around without one & it's always better to show my face & let God shine through it.

Bury me, please

Last night I fell asleep with the craziest thought: do I want to be buried or cremated? And before I was out, after some serious thinking, I decided I want to be buried. Burying lets me have a tombstone. A tombstone lets me have an epitaph. An epitaph lets me have a message. A message allows me to keep speaking after I'm not here to say it. People will be able to visit my tombstone and from it, I can SAY something about my God & how THEY can know Him too. I'm not sure how I'll craft my concise tombstone message, but isn't it cool that even when I'm 6 feet under there, God can still speak through me here? I just think that's awesome.

Tour de South Beach

Today was a cool day for its unexpected, peaceful & fun results. We spent it on Miami Beach (yrs ago, I used to work down there). Here's our "wherever the wind takes us" itinerary:

1. Miami Children's Museum
2. Cardozo's on Ocean Drive
   
3. Lummus Park & Public Beach
4. Lincoln Rd Mall: Ghirardelli's for ice-cream; the famous Follie's, where I got a suh-weet shirt marked down 90%; and Christian Audigier's, where I drooly but no spendy.

To me, Miami Beach is a trip to an uncharted world without a passport! When I'm there, I fully relish in the combined worlds of Old/Latin/Jewish & New/Diverse/Trendy. Everywhere you go, you catch this vibe in its architecture, cuisine & people. You really outta give it a shot. Lemme know if you do, I'll SO go along for the ride!

Protest in my Hood

Tonight, en route to our fav ice-cream shop, we passed a protest in our 'hood. Such an unexpected scene that after we got home, I grabbed our camera to go back & get a pic. It was a group of Palestinian supporters, peacefully protesting with flags, signs & chants. Right away, DJ asked what was going on, (I let Raul take that one). As an American who cherishes freedom of speech & as a bible-reader who understands the deep blood running between the Israelis & Palestinians, I'm still left undone by this. I wonder what God feels? Wonder what God wants?

We All Want New Bodies...

Hey, hold up...I didn't say it, God did! Check it out:

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself & not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, & we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing..." 2 Cor 5

So ya live your life, take the good with the bad, take GOOD care of the bod He's given you. But don't beat yourself up so bad & do NOT be ruled by body-image thoughts. Like God said...it's just a tent.

TrendSpotting: 5 Retailers I'm Lovin!

Time for another trendspotting post. Love trendspotting & really enjoy sharing my finds with you. Here's 4 retailers HIGH on my list right now:

1. Whole Foods - healthy grocery store that fights for the environment. You can't HELP but feel better about your lifestyle and planet when you're there.
   
2. Anthropolgie - a crock-pot store with little-bits-of-everything. A GREAT place to buy unique gifts that everyone else hasn't already found and given.
   
3. Sephora - a wrinkle, zit, nail, eyebrow, lip, smell-good paradise! My only beef with this store is I can NOT walk out w/ out buying something. There's something in the air...
   
4. Brimstone - Grrrreat food, atmosphere & menu selection. And the BEST dessert as far as the east is from the west: Peanut Butter Pie.

Have you been to any of these? Thoughts? Love to hear 'em!

Four Free Books

I have 4 books to give away. No reason. Just feel like it.
1) "Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands" - about lessons in non-linear leadership
2) "It" - about how leaders get it and keep it
3) "Branding Faith" - about why some nonprofits impact culture and others don't
4) "God's Blogs - about what God might say on his blogsite

If you want one, just leave a comment & let me know which one & I'll get it to you.
If you don't live here, email me your address HERE & I'll send it to you.

9 Days, 4 Conclusions

After 9 days in the hospital, I came home tonight with 4 conclusions:

1. I have a condition in my lungs man can't cure.

2. Life doesn't come from cures, it comes from God.

3. I have the living, breathing, all-powerful, everywhere-at-one-time God in my life.

4. That's all I need.

My Wordle

done at Wordle

TULIPS!

Last night & today, I received 2 tulip arrangements. My, oh, my, are they breathtaking! They added so much life to my sterile, white-walled room:












But today, DJ & I also received our own set of tulips. Two lips, that is! LOL!












What leadHership point can I possibly pull from this? Laugh. Laughter released from your trials is like steam released from a pressure cooker. Want good results from either? Let a little out.

An 8th Day Portrait 4 U

OK, took a couple days off from the hospital-posts cause I didn't want to drive you away. But today, I had to offer a glimpse at what I FEEL like doing after 8 days of being horitzontal:


















Obviously, I'm gettin antsy. Looks like they're gonna set this captive free on Wednesday. I'm really glad. Ever feel like this pic could describe one of YOUR days???

You Are...

The day is brighter here with You
The night is lighter than its hue
Would lead me to believe
Which leads me to believe
(chorus)
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours
What does that make me?

I love this song cause it ends with a question. What does that make me? We're glorious, man. Is there any better of a word to describe us? G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S. Just say that. Everything God has ever made is glorious. He's God, for crying out loud. He's only capable of designing, creating & birthing glory. And we're a glorious image of Him. Tell yourself that today.

Laugh-a-Lot

Need a break from the sick-talk, let's talk about what makes us laugh! Here are 4 guaranteed outbursts for me:

1. SNL's Will Ferrell "Cow Bell" & Alec Baldwin's "Schwety"
2. The two Brian's on our staff (him and him)
3. Stephen Colbert's daily antic of receiving all the applause as he welcomes his guests out.
   
4. I'm sorry, Raul, but I gotta share that moment from our honeymoon in Mexico. 'Member when you tried to mount the horse for the horseback ride thru the mountains? 'Member your foot got caught in the saddle footstrap & the horse took off? OMGosh, Husband, nothing makes me laugh more. The visual of that gets me every time. Good times, Cuban, good times. :)

What makes YOU laugh?? Do tell!

Before the anesthesia...

Tomorrow they're wheeling my butt down to the OR for a "procedure." Into thy pneumonia-infested lungs they will go, knocking me out to jam a metal instrument up my nose, down into my lungs to "Hoover" me out. I've had it done before & far be it from me to tell you it's a par-Tay. No way, dudes! Now I don't have anything deep to impart here, but I wanna tell you what God's telling me: "Heather, [insert your name here], "My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you." So if you're facing something tomorrow too, face it with these words. Cause if you believe 'em, it's an honor to know that in your adversity, God's power is perfectly being displayed through you.

Day Two

Here's a couple of pix from today. This first one I took because I'm bored sitting here unable to sleep right now. I titled it, "Look, Ma, No Hands!"

This 2nd pic is from earlier today. It was emailed to me. It made me cry. You see, sometimes when I'm in the hosp., I feel bad that I'm not home being mom. But when I saw this pic, the 1st thing I noticed was my boy's happy faces & big love messages. Sometimes, I think kids have a way of helping us learn to love ourselves...by the way they unconditionally love us.

Welcome to the 7th Floor

For the 4th time in 11 mo.'s, I'm in the hospital. This time I'm on the 7th floor. 'Though I don't always see things this way, here's how I am seeing things today from the 7th floor...

• to my right is the door. When I look at the door I can either see it as a closed or open. I chose to see it open. True, it stays closed all day, but in the last year, God's allowed me to "rise" and walk out of it every time. I'm super glad about that!
  
• in front of me is a clock. When I look at the clock I can either see time "standing still" or "moving." I see neither. Clocks represent time, which God controls, not me. So when I see the clock, whether it stands still or ticks away, I see God being in control.
  
• to my left is a window. When I look out the window I can either see "sigh, just trees" or "WOW! PALM TREES!!!" I chose the latter. Palm trees are one of my FAVS & the forest of them out my window reminds me God made them for my enjoyment.
• behind me is oxygen, tubes & an IV pole. What's my perspective on that? HA! Actually? I don't have one. I'm just thankful that all the stuff is behind me & that I don't have to look at it all day.

Privacy or Solitude?

I'm reading this book & its kickin' my butt. I'm still only in Chap. 1, but had to share this with somebody!
So often, I'll say, "I need to get away so I can collect my thoughts; get my rest; do my thing." Do you know what this is? That's P-R-I-V-A-C-Y. Do you know what that isn't? S-O-L-I-T-U-D-E. Solitude is separating all of me and all I want from everything so I can get right with God.
Hear me: I crave & I get moments of privacy, but trust me, my "skin" doesn't crave & get moments of solitude.
Jesus had moments of solitude, so did Martin Luther, Thomas Aquinas & John the Baptist.
So now that my butt's kicked, I'm praying for something my skin won't want but my soul is thirsting for: SOLITUDE with God to get things right.

Found a New Quote & Love It

I was really motivated by these 9 words:

"We are the hurdles
we leap to be ourselves."
-Michael McClure

Movie: "Bedtime Stories"

Last night, Raul & I saw Bedtime Stories. As we previewed it for our boys, we also thought it'd be fun to see. After all, it's a Disney movie. Apparently, that doesn't mean squat? The adventure, comedy & overall plot was so entertaining; so why the boobs, booties & sexual innuendos? I know we're a sex-crazed America & I know I'm no religious freak..."but sometimes, Disney, we'd just like to see something fun for the whole fam. Can you do that for us? Maybe? I would've liked to tell fams to check this out. But won't, sorry."

Would You Stop for Throw Up?

Yesterday, as we left our hotel, I carried Andy thru the lobby 'cause he had a fever. There were a lot of people--it was check-out time for the guests & the hotel was hosting some nationwide Model/Talent Search. Without any warning, Andy starting throwing up on himself, me, the lobby floor & the Poinsettia garden in front of us. In between his 3rd & 4th projectile-vomit blow, I summoned the garden caretaker to please get us a garbage bag. That's when I noticed many people walking by, staring but not stopping. Now we were in the middle of a main thoroughfare, so if I had to guess, I'd say 15 people passed us by. I'm not angry they didn't stop, but as the day went on, I flashbacked often, asking myself, "Would I have stopped? Throwing-up is totally gross & it's also not life-threatening, so I'm curious: what's the Good Samaritan etiquette for something like this?