My “Bucket” List

January 9, 2008 | T. Suzanne Eller

Today is a birthday. Not mine, but the guy I love. Richard is 49 today.

50 is a number that once seemed ancient but now is only one year away for Richard, and two for me. A wise man once said, “Old is always 15 years older than you are”.

I feel young. I feel healthy. I feel plugged in to life and to God and to purpose. I still love roller coasters and ministering to teens and hanging out with my family and adventure.

Maybe that is the key. We become old when we fail to notice and enjoy the small and wonderful opportunities all around us. This weekend I plan to see the movie, The Bucket List, with friends. In the movie, two guys meet in the hospital and decide to do all the things they’ve always dreamed of before they kick the bucket.

What is on my bucket list?

• travel to China
• travel to South Africa
• jump out of an airplane
• visit every state in the U.S.
• ride in a hot air balloon
• host a radio show
• hold a grandchild in my arms
• take dance lessons

That’s the just the beginning. There are other very personal dreams that I have that involve loved ones, and for now those remain private, but I want to continue to believe and hope and pursue life and all that it holds.

What about you? What is on your “bucket” list? 

Pastor to the Homeless, Rudy Rasmus

January 8, 2008 | T. Suzanne Eller

Pastor Rudy Rasmus is not your average pastor. His church is filled with 9,000 people, and a third are homeless. This is an excerpt from a recent press release:

The Rasmus family planned to rebuild the church and awaken the spirits of street dwellers who were otherwise forgotten, jobless, impoverished and addicted. Instead of shunning them away, Rudy and Juanita invited them inside, offering them a safe haven and a place of refuge. Many who suffered from mental illness, drug addictions and AIDS were offered hot showers and nourishing meals.

“The biggest misconception many people have about homeless people is that they’re lazy…There is no way you can be lazy and survive the streets. (The streets are) harsh, cold and brutal. Imagine this: You don’t have any money; you don’t have any resources; everything you own is with you and you’re literally moving your apartment every day. That is not a lazy person’s practice. A lazy person is a person who has resources and doesn’t use them.”

The downtrodden, once mistakenly identified as lollygaggers, found a friend in “Pastor Rudy” as he opened his heart and mind to them, listening attentively to their stories. He and Juanita soon founded Bread of Life, Inc., which currently feeds 7,000 men and women monthly. They eventually added Daybreak Community Health Facility, which provides rehabilitation for drug addicts and AIDS patients. St. John’s Academy for the inner city’s at-risk children and Touch 1 followed suit.

From Suzie: Go to Pastor Rudy’s website to find out more about Pastor Rudy, his church, and his anti-hunger initiative, as well as listen to stories from those changed by God’s love.

Hearts at Home, Escondido, CA

January 7, 2008 | T. Suzanne Eller, calendar

Today I got to spend a half-day with the Sand Springs, OK MOPS group. It was less than 90 miles from me, a beautiful early morning drive. But more than that, it was awesome spending time with moms as I shared a 90-minute workshop “The Mom I Want to Be: Rising Above Your Past to Give Your Kids a Great Future”. I am grateful for new friends, and for the stories shared by these beautiful moms.

If I met you today, welcome to daretobelieve. I loved sharing time with Sand Springs MOPS today.

Later this month I’ll be in California. If you live near San Diego, Hearts at Home, an International moms group and conference, will offer a one-day Moms Day Out conference for 1,000 women in Escondido, CA. Here are the details:  (more…)

What are you known for?

January 5, 2008 | T. Suzanne Eller

I’m meeting with two smart and God-filled people this month, and one of them asked this question: What are you known for?

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Living as a forgiver

January 4, 2008 | T. Suzanne Eller

I’ve been working on a new book about forgiveness. The deeper that I get into this book, the more I realize how much work there is left to do in my own heart. That’s the beauty of writing, whether in a journal or a book. You can’t get away from the black and white clarity.

I forgive easily. Or at least I say I do. I’m compassionate. I tend to see things through the eyes of mercy, rather than judgment. The big things are forgiven because I know that there is a process, and at the end of it is a healthy perspective and wholeness.

But the guy who has road rage? The person who is unkind to someone because they don’t measure up in image or intellect? The insenstive man or woman who fails to see the needs of those around them?

Not so much.

Because I was once hurt, I throw on my avenger cape and try to make these people conform to my standards, so that they won’t hurt.

This is the problem. Most of the time my avenger cape just gets in the way. People work through conflict. The road rage guy gets pulled over. The person who is insensitve has a chance to apologize.

There are times that I NEED to step in, and I will not hesitate to do that in those cases, but for the most part I need to step back.

I talked about this with two friends who are also authors. One had a dad who was an alcoholic. The other was molested as a child. Their faith in an amazing God has healed them. They both write and speak, and one has a national organization that reaches hundreds of thousands of women.

But they both said this was still a work in progress in them. They’ve conquered, with God’s help, the big things.

Now it’s the little things that irk, annoy, irritate, or inflame.

Yesterday, as I wrote a chapter, I asked God to perform in me what I believed to be a bridge to healing: to live a life as a forgiver–in big and small things.

Suz