My goal for the next 40 days

I haven’t been blogging for… too long. Life has brought transitions and turmoil since my last long-ago post on here. (There has also been much good… I often have to remind myself that transition is not a bad thing!) The last few months have led me to the goal of having more trust, and showing more transparency… and for me, that is easier through writing than talking. SO… I’m trying to find the good — and bring it back here. Whether it is an inspiring quote, a blog post plucked from Google Reader or a tidbit about my day, my plan is to update this blog with positive things to think on. I hope you will join me on the journey!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of my blog readers! I love reading all of your comments and reading along on your blogs as well! Thank you for listening to my musings, and responding at times.

Today I am very thankful for the blessings of health, safe travel, a white Christmas(!), family & friends, and especially the gift of hope that we celebrate today. I have been enjoying this song during this holiday season… it reminds me that even when life seems dark and it seems despair and evil are winning that we have hope; that we know that the Good will and has prevailed; and that the hope that comes from that knowledge and the peace it enables us to have and pass along is the true Christmas spirit. Wishing all of you a peaceful Christmas…

Peace Star Scarlet Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for beautiful photo Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

(Did you order cards from Shutterfly this year? Post your card on your blog and e-mail the link to shareproject@shutterfly.com to receive $25 off your next order! We loved our Christmas cards this year!)

He will quiet you with his love and rejoice over you with singing…

I came across this verse on another blog this week… on a day I was feeling very much in turmoil and needed the reminder and impression of peace and comfort this verse gives.

Today I read it in the context of Zephaniah 3.  I really don’t know much about the minor prophets… or the book of Zephaniah.  But basically I get the impression of a people who did not trust God… who wanted things their own way (how often do I do the same?).  And yet… when even a few trusted… God relented.  He did not punish.  He did not give the consequences they deserved.  (If you have read the Bible, this should be sounding really familiar… God has done this over and over again).

The impression I get is of a parent dealing with a child who is upset, overwrought, in a tantrum.  Who won’t listen to what their parent has to say… even if that is what is best.  And yet, God swoops down… accepts the anger without condoning it… and offers comfort, a refuge, a lullaby… a reminder that child is loved.

That’s all.  I could muse a bit on how I am that child at times.  Or on how I am not that kind of parent as often as I should be.  Maybe another time.  This week, I just needed the reminder that I can be irrational, unreasonable, overwhelmed… and still be loved.  And I’m offering what has blessed me in hopes it will do the same for you.

WFW is not about books, authors, artists.. it’s about God and HIS WORD ONLY. WFW is about celebrating the gift of creativity through God’s Word.

Join myself and others as we share at Word Filled Wednesday:

Also, visit Mom’s Mustard Seeds to connect with more women learning and living in the Word

Word Filled Wednesday

I just received a link to this CD in my e-mail. I suppose it is ironic that just as I posted about my favorite lullaby CD, I am going to have to change that vote. I haven’t bought this CD yet… but it is a given I will. I hope this video (and the CD) blesses you as it has me today.

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”  — Psalm 46:10

You can preview the rest of the CD at Scripture Lullabies.

Also, visit Internet Cafe Devotions for other Word Filled Wednesday posts.

Today, I am thankful for the message of the songs on this CD… I needed some peace today. The bonus is that the second song on the CD is based on Philippians 4:6-7, which is my absolute favorite life-sustaining Scripture.

Seeking Contentment

Had a whole blog post typed out… and decided I was no longer in the same frame of (worrying; complaining) mind and wouldn’t post it.  Here’s the gist!

Here’s what I keep trying to remember:

Fear(less)?

Fear. Despite reading and loving Fearless, I spend too much time enveloped by fear. I tend to go to one of two extremes… either I become overwhelmed by fear and anxiety or I attempt to ignore it. Of course, Fear will not be ignored. It will arise at inopportune moments in an attempt to strangle dreams, quash hope, steamroller joy. Fear shackles me to the past and tries to convince me that there can be no different future. Fear looks at future hopes and reasons that my present path cannot lead to future dreams. Fear discourages me from having future dreams at all. Fear burdens me, weighs me down, limits my vision.

Instead of having extreme reactions, I need to embrace Fear and courageously act in response to it.  I need to remind Fear that it is a part of me but it will not master me. I need to embrace fears… look and see which are realistic… and take action where I can. After doing what I can to guard against reasonable fears, I need to discourage irrational fears from overtaking my mind. And I need to remember that I have a God who reminds me that, no matter what, he is beside me; he will help me carry burdens and surmount life-storms; he will take life-pressures away from me and send peace “that transcends all understanding” (Phil. 4:6-7) to make them as if they are weightless.

This is a blog post in response to Three Word Wednesday writing prompts and part of Word Filled Wednesday.  Feel free to join in!

Thankful Thursday

I debated whether to write a thankful post today. I have spent the week very grateful for some areas of life, including life itself. I have also spent the week feeling ungrateful and overwhelmed by responsibilities, information, and emotional upheaval. It’s the little things that add up… allergies, fatigue from fighting with asthma that comes from those, dealing with a willful 4 year old, watching my house be overtaken by *stuff*. And yet… it is the little and not so little things that I am grateful for. So… here’s my gratitude list for the week:

• I am grateful for Tori at This Journey Called Life, specifically for this post. I’ve been feeling like a much less than perfect person lately… struggling with how people see me (while I know I am should not be judged as a person by the behavior of my child or the cleanliness of my house… I often feel I am, whether I truly am or not).
• I am grateful for life. I am grateful that my family is safe, both here and in Nashville. I spent last Saturday morning camped out in the bathroom with my 4-year old listening to tornado sirens which continued until late that night… and I’m not one to usually run for cover at storm warnings.   I’ve spent the days since then captivated and heartbroken by images of loss across Tennessee, and particularly heartbroken by the devastation in Nashville and its surrounding areas, which I called home for 20+ years.  So many cars, houses, family members, businesses and the jobs that go with those businesses were lost.  Many who lost belongings and homes don’t have flood insurance… because areas that no one (including the insurance companies) thought would flood, did.  I’m grateful for having a house to clean today… even though I hate cleaning it.
• I’m grateful for what I’ve seen over the last few days of people willing to reach out and help each other… whether they are passing along information or donations of any kind.
• I’m thankful for the ongoing reminders I have gotten this week that what matters is “keeping on keeping on” (as my husband used to say) What matters is just to keep going. What matters in fighting evil and tragedy in life is for the good to keep pushing at it. It is so easy for me to get discouraged that all I am trying to do in life doesn’t make a difference (okay, I don’t feel like I am doing much at the moment, but it was a frequent feeling during my career in social work and counseling). I’ve been reminded in several ways this week to keep working for good… and somehow, even if I can’t see it, it will make a difference.  (And that is not at all flood-related)
• I’m thankful for living in a country where I can pray to my God in public. (I’m also thankful for living in a country where others can do the same… or not… because giving them a choice means I have one as well)
• I’m thankful that a friend of mine is coming in later tonight… and thankful she can get here because that was looking a little uncertain a few days ago.
• With Mother’s Day coming up… I am even more thankful for my little boy. Even though he has kept me exasperated this week and feeling like a parenting failure. He always comes out with something adorable or runs over for a hug just when I feel I’m at my wit’s end.
• I’m thankful for air conditioning! It is getting hot here, and it is only May! I’m thankful that it is looking like we’ll have a/c back in the car sometime soon as well… it’s been a while and it will be so nice to go through a summer with air in the car.
• I’m thankful for tears. It’s been one of those weeks with a lot of them shed. But crying has a way to make you feel better too… I’m not quite sure how that works but I am grateful for it.
• I’m thankful for all of my readers… because if I didn’t have people reading I probably wouldn’t have written this post.  Writing this post was therapeutic… and I am in a much better mood than when I started writing it.
• I’m thankful for autosave on WordPress! My computer shut down when I had written 95% of this post… and it was still there when I came back. 🙂

What are you thankful for this week?

Also, I just decided to link up with Kerri @ Mommy4Him… visit there to see some more Thankful Thursday posts!

(never been) Unloved

Taking it easy this Saturday… and posting a reminder I’m sure we can all use…

Sometimes, I have been unwise

I’ve been undone by all I’m unsure of

But because of you and all that you went through

I know that I have never been unloved.

Peace and Possibilities

Completely random aside… the title of this blog reminds me of Sense and Sensibility, which reminds me that while browsing in a bookstore over the weekend I saw a shelf of “repackaged” classics — Pride & Prejudice, Romeo & Juliet, Sense & Sensibility — with covers quite similar to those of the Twilight series and tag lines such as “the original love story”.  Just found that interesting…  now back to the actual post:

I was all set to write about Peace today — specifically about this bible verse:

Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  ~ Philippians 4:6-7

This verse is so special to me, because at a time when I was overwhelmed by anxiety and the unknown I did start trying to follow that verse.  I memorized the verse, I posted it all over my house, I clung to it for reassurance and hope.  I somehow found peace in the midst of internal and external turmoil. That experience made a lasting impression.  This bible verse became not just a verse of scripture but MY bible verse, MY promise, MY hope.  It’s a good thing that it did.  Being peaceful is not my default mode.  It should be… but more often I find myself struggling with anxiety and mentally rehearsing the worst that could happen and paralyzed by indecision from possibilities.  I’m working on that one…  I think it is time to post that verse up some more.

I can’t speak more on peace right now.  I’m not there.  Where I am is looking towards possibilities… the good kind of possibilities.  Having a weekend away… sans children… in a clean hotel room instead of my unorganized (to say the least) house… helped me see how life could be if I just felt like I could relax a little more often (and possibly clean a little more often as well).  It gave me some hope for possibilities of a slightly saner life.  It reminded me that parenting a 4-year-old (as much as I love him!) can be draining… and that needing time by myself or just with my husband is not just something I want as a luxury but it really is something I need to be able to keep being positive and have a better perspective on daily life.  (And, yet, I still feel guilty typing that out).  And, of course, missing the little guy reminded me how precious he can be.  His Granny thought he was perfect all weekend.  I think a lot too how many possibilities are out there for him… and how much it is my responsibility to keep those open for him — to keep him feeling positive and cherished, to show God to him, to model behaviors that will help him get along with others (I don’t always do that).  And, of course, being able to hold and snuggle my not-quite-one-month-old nephew reminded me all over again how much possibility lies with the birth of every new child… and how much his life is dependent on having a mommy and daddy to take care of his every need for his life to be peaceful.  Lucky for him, he has that.

So… my goal for today… beyond the typical Monday routine of grocery list-making, grocery shopping, catching up from the weekend… is to stress out a little less, prioritize a little more, work on bringing a little more peace to my house and be thankful for the blessings that are already there.

Encouragement

Encourage (v): to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope

Yesterday, the four year old and I went to the park.  Lately, Andrew would rather spend time at the park drawing letters in the dirt or making up stories than running around and climbing on playground equipment. He is definitely more of a thinker than a born athlete (which is perfectly fine by me… athletics is not at all one of my strong points!) Still… remembering my days as the non-athletic one in school and thinking that is probably even harder for the boys… I try to help him to develop his confidence in those areas.  Yesterday we tried a few ladders that led up to the reward of sliding down some pretty cool slides. Andrew’s initial reaction was, “I can’t do this! I don’t want to do this!”. I reminded him that he had conquered those ladders last fall and that I was right by his side. He still needed encouragement every step of the way… but after that first time his confidence was restored and he was ready to go do it again! One of my greatest joys as a parent is watching the elated look of “I did it!” on his face.

I started thinking of times I was encouraged in my life.  The ones that most easily come to mind are from adulthood — someone telling me I was a strong person at a time I felt incredibly weak, a friend listening over lunch, support to pursue dreams, a hug on an incredibly bad day. Here is a list of some ways to encourage others… some are from my life, some are not. Some relate to giving comfort and courage to go on through tough times, and some are everyday ways to lift others’ spirits. My challenge to you is to work on encouraging others in your life. They will remember. Both you and the ones you encourage will be strengthened.

1. Give a hug… even a virtual one (note: be careful with this one… I’ve been the recipient of a few unwanted hugs in my life, especially from the opposite sex!)
2. Send a card just to say “I’m thinking of you”.  Hand write a note inside.
3. Take action to meet a need — take a meal, give a restaurant gift card, babysit the kids, come help clean house.
4. Put notes in your kids lunchbox… and your spouse’s.
5. Go around the dinner table as a family and say what you appreciated about each other that day.
6. Be specific when telling someone what you appreciate or admire about them or their message.
7. Keep checking in to see how things are going during extended tough times. Our society encourages people to be self-sufficient and not ask for help all of the time. That doesn’t mean we don’t need it.
8. Remind others of their past victories.
9. Share your story when appropriate. Don’t compare… but sometimes it helps to know you aren’t alone.
10. Pass along quotes/Scriptures that are applicable.
11. Recognize small changes in attitude and actions. Applaud positive steps… no matter how small.
12. Listen. Keep listening.  Ask questions.  Listen to the answers.
13. Spend time with the person you want to encourage.  Your presence often says more than your words.
14. Words to say: “You can do it!  I believe in you!”
15. Smile.
16. When you ask, “How are you doing?”, listen.
17. If someone confides in you… follow up later and ask how things are going.
18. Say, “I love you.” (and then share why!)

The last 2 are from Andrew.  I asked him today if there was a way I helped him when he was a little scared climbing the ladder.  He said:

• Stand right next to me (good advice… it helps knowing someone is right there beside you!)
• Telling me which step to get on (more good advice… sometimes we are afraid because we don’t know the way to go or the first step to take to get there.  Encouragers help us remember we don’t need to know all of the steps before starting our journey… we just need to have someone who has been there before and can lead us each step of the way).

Here are some more encouraging posts from todays A to Z challenge participants:

Blabbin’ Grammy

Families are Forever

GA Flygirls FLY Journal (wow, do I need this blog!)

And, of course, Lee at Tossing It Out (his blog for today is encouragement in disguise)

Who encourages you? What are some things others have done or said to give you courage in facing a new or frightening situation, or to give you hope in discouraging times?

Speaking of encouragement… stop by my friend’s blog at Learning Contentment and encourage her as she is getting started with this A to Z challenge! 🙂