Hands Open Hands Closed June 7, 2023

Then Jesus said to his disciples, 

“If any of you wants to be my follower,

you must give up your own way,

take up your cross, and follow me. 

If you try to hang on to your life,

you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for my sake,

you will save it.“*

The idea of

Living with my Hands Open,

Giving my life up for Jesus’ sake,

Creates a longing in my heart, mind, and soul…

This kind of living feels and looks

Free

Joyful

Trust-filled

Light

Beautiful

Present

However,

Living with my Hands Closed,

Hanging on to my life

With clenched fists,

Is how I often live out my moments…

Even though I don’t want to

Hands closed, fists clenched

Is my default mode,

My control mode, even though

I’m never in control of anything…

Really

This kind of living feels and looks

Limited

Disappointing

Distrustful

Heavy

Dark

Distracted

Today, I began my day

By physically opening my hands,

Opening my hands wide…

This feels vulnerable,

But we can and should be vulnerable with Jesus.

This feels risky, but also full of possibility.

Walking our moments with Jesus,

with our hands opened wide,

provides ample opportunities

of meaningful possibility.

This kind of living

creates a longing on my heart, mind, and soul…

May we all attempt to live out

Today’s moments,

With our Hands Open…

* Matthew 16:24-25 (NLT)

© 2023 Brooke F. Sulahian

Word of the Year January 1, 2023

My word for 2023 is OPEN.

What is yours?

Grief Walk…I Will Change January 9, 2022

Grief Walk…I Will Change

“You need to know that

you will get through this,

even though you will not be

the same person

you were before.”

Grief Walk

Creator God,

I wonder if it’s been

emotionally

and

physically painful

to try to

grieve

without being

open

to change

and

to grow?

I don’t think I was

intentionally standing

in my own way

of change,

but

I wasn’t intentionally

creating the

space

and

time

I need

to change

and

to

grow.

Help me create

this

space…

Help me

accept

Your invitation

each

day.

You

can

handle

my

truth.

Paragr
aph Break

© 2022 Brooke F. Sulahian

How do You Define Strong? February 24, 2021

HOW DO YOU DEFINE STRONG? 

During a season of suffering, 

the suffering is not 

only physical.

 The suffering is also

emotional, 

social,

 and 

spiritual. 

One particular moment 

I spent with God

during my season

of suffering

 focused on the 

physical aspect of

my suffering.

or so I thought.

 As I sat in the quiet 

with our Creator,

 I focused my mind and heart 

on being fully 

present 

with 

God.

 He communicates with me

through pictures,

 In these pictures,

I saw that He was going to 

give me

 the strength I needed

 for each and 

every day.

 From my perspective, 

this was physical strength.

 I would see myself

 standing tall.

 I would see myself

 standing still and not

 teetering back and forth due to

my dizziness.

 I saw myself strong.

 During my third similar session

 with our Creator,

 He asked me to 

consider something

I had not thought of before.

 God asked me to

consider

 that my definition 

of strength,

 may be very different 

than His definition of 

strength.

 I had never thought about 

strength

 this way 

before.

 I saw this as an invitation

 to broaden my 

perspective of strong

 and to be open to 

the kind of strength

 God knew 

I needed 

the most.

 So I left this third session

 with our loving Creator

and Sustainer

 believing the strength 

I needed

 for each day 

would be there,

 but I needed to 

be open to the 

fact that the 

strength He knew 

I needed,

 could look, 

feel, and 

serve

 in a very different way

 then I had 

originally 

envisioned.

  Seasons of suffering are 

times of transformation 

amongst frustration, hope

 anger, thankfulness,

sadness, joy, 

fear and freedom.

 Seasons of suffering usher in

 new experiences, 

limits, questions, and 

relationships.

 What a joy it was

 to know that God, 

our Creator and Sustainer,

would provide

 the strength

 He knew 

I needed 

in each moment 

of my

 journey 

of

suffering.

Knowing this

made

me

strong.

© 2021 Brooke F. Sulahian

ONE HEDGE AND FIVE KEYS April 5, 2017

Strange combination

A hedge and five keys

A hedge that is green, lush and somewhat open

You would not scratch yourself if you were to go through it

You would merely have to push the bushes to each side

Yet the hedge is still a boundary of sorts

Five keys to my heart

Five parts of my heart that have been locked away

Surprised since I don’t remember using the keys

I don’t remember locking my heart

Yet, here I am with

A hedge and five keys

I believe as I sit with Him in stillness

I will eventually understand the meaning of the hedge and each key

In fact, I am beginning to think the hedge is around my heart

Thankful it’s not a wall of concrete or rock

It is permeable

My heart is still accessible by the One I need most

Yet the hedge is there

A boundary I don’t want to exist

A boundary between God and me

The hedge grew in my sacred place without my knowing

One day I had to pass through the hedge for time with Him

There was no opening, no entrance

I simply pushed through and did not think much of it at the time

Now I wonder why it is there

I wonder when it was built

I wonder…

It is still there

I truly believe one day, in His time and way, it will be torn down

Torn down for good

My first key

I held it in my hand just yesterday

What will this key open?

I wonder…

© 2017 Brooke F. Sulahian