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My love is not fragile.

Liz

So Frozen II was a thing in our house today and I have to admit I hadn’t seen it yet. Wow we’re there a lot of great parts. Want to know what gave me goose bumps?! This part:

Anna: I’m sorry I left you behind. I was just so desperate to protect her.

Kristoff: I know, I know, it’s okay. My love is not fragile.

This exchange could personify my relationship with God even on the best days. And I’m not proud of that fact but it’s just so obvious!

I jump out of bed and start making breakfast without doing my devotions. (I’m sorry I left you behind God!) I eat 6 squares of chocolate to regain my chill instead of praying for an extra measure of God’s peace. (I was just so desperate to protect myself.)

And yet God says I understand, Jesus’s sacrifice has made it all okay. (I know, I know, it’s okay.) My love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (My love is not fragile.)

Anna might be blessed to have Kristoff but we are ALL blessed to have God. Frozen II was an epic adventure but it doesn’t hold a candle to the life you’re living right now. Are you looking for a love that isn’t fragile? I’d love to introduce you!

❥ Liz

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Suppose this city is Rhodes.

Liz

A certain man who visited foreign lands could talk of little when he returned to his home except the wonderful adventures he had met with and the great deeds he had done abroad. One of the feats he told about was a leap he had made in a city Called Rhodes. That leap was so great, he said, that no other man could leap anywhere near the distance. A great many persons in Rhodes had seen him do it and would prove that what he told was true. “No need of witnesses,” said one of the hearers. “Suppose this city is Rhodes. Now show us how far you can jump.” Deeds count, not boasting words.

This story – The Leap at Rhodes – was told by Aesop in his famous collection of fables. I love fables because they use story to tell an important message. And because it’s a story, the messages are as numerous as your imagination! Now Aesop is a helpful storyteller, in that he straight out tells you the moral at the end of each story. BAM. But… like I said before there is SO much more to uncover.

I could not love a sentence more than this today: “Suppose this city is Rhodes”. Because it begs us to suppose the same!!! What could you do or what have you done somewhere else? Want some examples from my own life?

  • I was SO happy when I crossed the finish line at the Disney Princess Half Marathon.
  • I was proud of my accomplishments when I got my acceptance letter into law school.
  • I was overwhelmed by Gods love for ME while at the retreat in Hawaii.

See pretend the guy in this fable was telling the truth about his jump (Aesop hints that he wasn’t). Pretend he could leap like a frog escaping from an alligator. Then why couldn’t he do it right there?!

We are going through a weird time right now. Without getting too deep into the fear, uncertainty, stress and/or boredom people are experiencing due to COVID-19 can I suggest something? Be the best version of yourself right where you are. Maybe you were supposed to be somewhere else right now. Maybe you wish you were, or maybe you miss your old reality. Well suppose this city is Rhodes.

P.S. Today I brought my best self to everything I did. If I could be a beautiful warrior princess in Rhodes (and why not?!) I can certainly be a beautiful warrior princess in a little house in Arizona.

❥ Liz

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… unless you let them know you’re down there.

Liz

Meg Cabot, who cannot be described better than in her goodreads biography, wrote: “Sometimes in life, you fall down holes you can’t climb out of by yourself. That’s what friends and family are for-to help. They can’t help, however, unless you let them know you’re down there.”

I love this quote because it’s kind of ridiculous. I just picture myself falling into a huge pothole on Stockton Hill Road that is big enough to swallow up my whole mini van. And I’m in there for life because it’s so deep. So I am in the bottom staring at my phone wondering if I should call for help or play Emoji Blitz.

And that’s so life right?! There is this decision to be made: do I engage my issues or checkout and distract myself from the problem?

This whole idea popped up in my life this morning. Backstory goes like this. Since December I’ve been taking control of my health. I’ve started working out, eating healthy and making wellness a priority. Because of these changes I’ve lost over 20 pounds and about 23 inches. Amazing!

But laaaaaaatly I’ve been slacking (a little). My cardio was the first thing to drop off and then my eating habits began to slide. I haven’t gained. But I haven’t lost. And this is the atmosphere in which I entered the coronapocalypse. I was in this hole, but no one knew I was down there.

Until today. This afternoon I had a chat with my trainer. I told her I was going to need to bump back to max accountability because I was in a hole. And I needed her help to get out. So tomorrow I’m going to get back on track with my eating, cardio, and making my wellness a priority.

What about you? Is there a hole you’ve fallen into and you’re just sitting down there playing words with friends? It’s time to get out. You embody an irreplaceable role in a very important story. Bring your heart to it. Ask for help if you need it. We’re all in this together.

❥ Liz

DIARY

I don’t need that kind of pressure.

Liz

Rosanne Cash reminded the world that Shakespeare was able to write King Lear while hiding out from the plague… and he had no toilet paper. Okayyyyyy.

Here I was all proud of myself because the kids and I all had a great day, which included educational things as well as outdoor play. Plus I only lost my cool one time right before dinner and I blame being hangry.

This whole COVID-19 thing has people all worked up. And I am not going to pretend to you all that I have the latest medical information to share. You are talking to the WRONG Goss for that. But I did read a quote today from Oprah that stuck in my soul. She says: “All stress is caused by wanting this moment to be something it’s not. I inhale what is. I accept this time for whatever it has to show me.”

Well I’ve listened to enough of my husband’s cautions to know that “inhaling” what is would be a terrible idea, but I get what’s she saying. We have to be present. This is the place in the grand adventure where we find ourselves. What happens… right here?!

Once upon a time a beautiful princess was taken by an army of giant trolls into a kingdom where a plague had begun to ravage the countryside. And her job wasn’t to cure this plague, her job was to… (well now isn’t that a good question).

What would you write next? Don’t know? See, while I don’t need to be the new “greatest writer in the English language” I do need to write my own story. I need to be my OWN best dramatist and live out days where I am a heroine to be proud of, to be emulated. And that is exactly what I plan to do.

Are you feeling pressure from the color coded schedules floating around social media? Do you think your lunches aren’t healthy enough or that your kids are getting too much screen time compared to who knows what? Take. A. Breath. You don’t need that kind of pressure.

But what you do need is a purpose in life! May I suggest that you have just been dropped into a fascinating adventure? And YOU are the heroine of the whole crazy, wonderful, frightening, boring and action packed thing. So what are you going to do? What am I going to do? Guess you’ll have to wait and find out tomorrow!

❥ Liz