Opportunity knocks

Hi guys!

Hey- you! Don't fall over in shock!  2 Blogs in one week!  What?!?!

I'm just here to tell you about an opportunity I have that I am VERY excited about.

I'm going to be helping write for my church's Women's group blog (and possibly helping with the social media and other events- YAY!) So, there are a few things I'd like to say.

1) Will you pray for me?  I want to be fully immersed in God's word and hear what he wants me to write.

2) Will you pray specifically for people (Believers and Non believers alike) to share stories with me that are encouraging and amazing and hard and that they would be willing for me to share their stories?

The biggest way that we can impact each other is to be real, to be willing to be vulnerable and say to other people "This is me.  This is my story."

I love people.  I love a good story.

So this is PERFECT for me.  I am so thankful God opened this door of ministry for me.

Ok, maybe not that story, but still!

Thanks for being interested in reading what I write.  I'm very excited to be able to continue to do it, even if only one person ever cares about what I write, it will be well worth it.  And now I need to go to bed.

The End

That ONE thing

So, we all have that ONE thing.  You know, the one thing we want to do, but can't or don't do.

Maybe its fear of failure that holds us back, maybe it's an addiction of sorts, maybe it's just contrary human nature.

And since this is my blog and I get to write all the things, maybe I should confess that I have more than ONE thing.

Yeah, more than one.  I try to figure out how I feel about the things, and sometimes it feels crystal clear and other times, it's as clear as mud.

I'll share mine (and I'm quite certain I have more, but these are the ones that popped right into my head)  First, it drives me NUTS that I don't have a good devotional life and that I lack that "be still-ness" that I know would help soothe my soul.  I also realize that this is a discipline that must be learned.  I want to want to spend quality time in my bible, I just don't.  When I pause and take "me" time, I veg out.  Read a book (just not THE book), I watch TV etc.  So my prayer life has changed.  I just pray that God gives me the desire to be in His word.  It's want I want to do, yet I don't.

Another ONE thing, food.  I have a serious food addiction.  I don't eat constantly, nor do I eat a ton, but I don't eat as healthy as I'd like. Sometimes I just do whatever I want.  And this, my friends, puts me on a crazy cycle of guilt, shame, disappointment, disgust and lots of self loathing,  DO NOT get me wrong here, I honestly don't go around hating my body every day.  But they are days when I catch a sideways glimpse in the mirror and think "ew."  And at the same time, I know I am the only one who can change it and I want to...so why don't I?  I'm still down 20 pounds from my 30 pound weight loss this spring, so that is encouraging.  So I am once again praying that God can help with some fruits of the spirit...self control particularly.

Another ONE thing, being a better mom, wife and homemaker.  I keep a fairly tidy house (as much as I can with 4 small kiddos and ALL of their clutter.)  But I could be better.  I often ignore chores because I'd rather do something else.  I get mad and yell at my kids, more often than I care to admit.  I feel frustrated and annoyed.  But I LONG to put this time in my life and my family's life in it's proper place.  And that place is a place of honor.  Every toilet I clean, every meal I make (that my kids won't eat, AGH!) Every minute I feel like my husband doesn't "care" enough to get me, that I can step back and know- that all of those minutes make the whole.  And I have to choose, is the whole going to be happy and content?  Or is it going to be angry and self centered?  I choose wrong a lot.  And I am thankful everyday that grace is a part of my life.   There isn't anything special about me that makes me lovable even when I act like a butt.  That is all grace that my God, my family, my friends and even strangers choose to extend my way.

What are your ONE things?  What one thing can you do today to take a stand against your issue?  Call a friend?  Ask for prayer?  Turn down one treat, just one, just today.  Pause and count to 5 before yelling at your child?  I could do all of these and I know they would help, yet some days, I just don't.  Even though I want to want to!

I've been wracking my brain for a clever acrostic for ONE.  It took a while, but this is my new ONE saying and I am hoping that it helps me and you.  So please feel free to whisper this to yourself in a moment when your ONE thing is up in your face and you feel defeated.

O- Only
(the)
N-Next
E- Experience

If you can contain, control, deny, fill in your own blank, pray, or take on ONLY the NEXT EXPERIENCE with your issue, it seems less daunting.  Less terrifying.  Just less.

And today, make this your goal!

Have a ONEderful day friends!  We can do it! 

Technical difficulty

Hi guys!  I have been experiencing some technical difficulties with my laptop, eventually culminating into a trip to Geek Available.   I have it back now and here I sit.

Silence.

Crickets chirping.

Writers block.

I kid you not, I was MOVED to be writing while my computer was down and now that I can write...my mind is blank.

I guess I am a little like my laptop.  Works more slowly as it gets older, but still has to hold it together.  And just like my computer, I've crashed.  I've had viruses, I've had to be rebooted.  And there were a few times I didn't think I'd make it.  So thanks for bearing with me through my technical difficulties.

Hoping this week is better for many of us and better for my blog!  Have a happy week friends!