Images of Faith: My Grandma and the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Images are so powerful. They tap into the pool of memories, both personal and universal, that are deep within us. One image can be understood in so many ways—for different people, faiths and cultures or for the same person over time.

Today when the Sacred Heart of Jesus popped out at me in my Facebook news feed, memories of my grandma came flooding back.

She had a framed image of the Sacred Heart between her living room and her kitchen. As a young child, I remember wondering why the heart had fire Continue reading “Images of Faith: My Grandma and the Sacred Heart of Jesus” →

June 16, 2015 7

Living in the Fullness of God

Seeking solitude and quiet, I was drawn to an advertisement in the Lincoln Journal-Star—“This retreat in the style of Zen involves breath practice. In contemplative prayer, we divest our minds of all thoughts and images in order to receive the pure and simple light of God directly into the summit of our souls.” Breathing as prayer. Experiencing God directly. These words spoke to me; they held promise.

That was in Continue reading “Living in the Fullness of God” →

June 12, 2015 12

Praying with Scissors

“Why run with scissors when you can pray with them?”

After attending a recent SoulCollage® workshop, feeling inspired, a participant hashtagged this question, “Why run with scissors when you can pray with them?”

It’s impossible to be creative or prayerful when either we are running around with scissors in our hands or our head spinning off from the self-destructive-crazy-busy-way-too-many roles we play in life. Our days filled with tasks, whether worthwhile or mundane, are scheduled to the minute. We either count our minutes or count our minutes slipping way. We feel a scarcity of time when we operate in this “chronos” perspective of time. When we function from a place of “not enough” and we don’t invite moments of silence and solitude, we miss the glimpses of grace that could slip through a sliver of unscheduled time. Continue reading “Praying with Scissors” →

May 10, 2015 7

Why I Teach

Childhood Dreams

As early as kindergarten, I identified teacher as a potential
occupation in my “School Years” book, a collection of elementary school memories. My kindergarten-self chose nurse, teacher, model and mother as possible career and life choices, although the options were limited to traditional girl-jobs only. (I’ve wondered why I didn’t dare to select baseball player or astronaut. Was it because those jobs did not interest me or did I not consider the boy-jobs? Or why were airline hostess and secretary NOT of interest to me?) Female stereotypes aside, by fourth grade, I had wisely eliminated model and nurse (yuk and yuk!!), leaving teacher and mother.

I was interested in learning and teaching as soon as I was old enough to work my way through phonics, spelling and math workbooks, just for fun. And then creating worksheets and math problems, grading spelling quizzes and making lesson plans became my childhood joys. My brother was my first student and I worked him pretty hard. I remember taking the graded assignments I’d given him to my fourth grade teacher, proudly showing her what I was helping him accomplish outside of school hours. Rather than receiving the anticipated (and sought-after) praise, she promptly told me I should back off and not force him to be my student anymore or he might hate school—my first humbling opportunity at professional self-reflection.

Laura Ingalls Wilder was my childhood heroine. Pioneer girl turned teacher; wide-open prairie sky and her own classroom, from Little House on the Prairie to These Happy Golden Years —I wanted to BE Laura. I admired her sense of self-confidence and independence, how she encouraged students to overcome learning challenges, many not much younger than she. (I am such a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder that when my daughter could barely read I bought the entire book series, picture books and television movies for her and also road-tripped to Mansfield, Missouri to see the house where Laura penned all of the Little House books. Quite a thrill!)

All the evidence indicates that, if I wasn’t born with the desire to teach, the passion was stirring when I was very young. Continue reading “Why I Teach” →

April 30, 2015 4

From Fingerpaints to SoulCollage®: My Creative Kid and her College Project

I was absolutely tickled when my daughter, Jessica, asked me to help her with an Environmental Politics project. Not only would it focus on SoulCollage®, one of my passions, but she had requested special permission to use a different research idea than those suggested by her professor. I find that kind of creative thinking pretty cool. But, then, I think she’s a pretty cool kid.

From finger painting and Play-doh as a toddler to crayons, markers and watercolor in elementary school and later to SoulCollage®, Jessica has always been willing to try new things. We’ve always had an “art drawer” at our house and an evening at the kitchen table creating was a favorite way for us to spend time together. I believe it has become a form of self-expression, self-understanding, even a way for Jessica to visualize her future.

Rather than putting words in her mouth, though, I decided to ask her to write about her experience with SoulCollage®: Continue reading “From Fingerpaints to SoulCollage®: My Creative Kid and her College Project” →

April 26, 2015 4

Earth Gratitude

We need to care for the earth so that it may continue, as God willed, to be a source of life for the entire human family.
~Pope Francis

Card name: Earth Gratitude

I am one who believes in the Divine birthing of our planet and the life-force that is poured out for us by our mere existence in this dynamic, evolving, growing, breathing earth home. I am one who exists as part of this environment, receiving the mysterious flow of energy and outpouring of nourishment with open hands. I bow my head at the splendor of shades and shapes, the rebirth of nature through the sacred spirals of the seasons, the purpose and patterns that are sometimes evident and always sought after. The waters of life flow through us—cleansing, renewing, blessing us with existence. Nature gives to us without hesitation. I am one who receives with awe. Continue reading “Earth Gratitude” →

April 21, 2015 1

In God’s world every day is Earth Day.

God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools. ~John Muir

Celebrate the 45th annual Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, by combining your love of nature and creativity in a project called “Soul Collage® and the Environment”.

Create a collage that represents your feelings toward our environment and/or your feeling about how humans interact with the environment.

Be creative!! Show your love, anger, doubt, concerns, joys, gratitude… however your creative spirit leads you. After you create your collage, post in the comments or email a picture and a few sentences explaining what it means to you: jodigehr@gmail.com OR jessicamgehr@gmail.com Continue reading “In God’s world every day is Earth Day.” →

April 19, 2015 2

SoulCollage® and the Environment…a collage opportunity!

My daughter, Jessica, is working on a project called “Soul Collage for Environmental Politics”, using Soul Collage as a creative way to see how others view the environment. We would love to get your help and see the cards you might create!

Take as much or as little time as you would like to create a Soul Collage card that represents the environment and/or how you feel about how humans interact with the environment. You may take the prompt in whatever direction you choose.

After you create a card, email a picture and a few sentences that explains what it means to you: jodigehr@gmail.com OR jessicamgehr@gmail.com.

She will reflect on how others see the environment and the implications of those views. With your permission, we will share some of the cards contributed in a future post.

THANKS!! Jessica and Jodi ❤

Card name: Jessica Becoming

March 31, 2015 9

Decluttering: Taking Off The Top Layer

We’ve taken off the top layer of knick-knacks, wall hangings and books—twenty years of pictures of Jessica growing up, snapshots of vacations, dozens of refrigerator magnets holding senior pictures, expired coupons, newspaper clippings and birth announcements—and loaded up two trailers-worth of boxes and furniture that we can live without for a while (and perhaps longer). The stuff that we can live without has gone to a better home. Continue reading “Decluttering: Taking Off The Top Layer” →

March 16, 2015 9

Selling Our House: Surrender to Surprise!

So…we are really going to put this surrender idea into practice. Or at least we are going to give ourselves the opportunity to practice. We are putting our house up for sale. And we have no idea what we are going to do when it sells.

It’s an adventure—kind of exciting, a little scary, a definite opportunity to Continue reading “Selling Our House: Surrender to Surprise!” →