Monday, January 26, 2015

The Essence of Retreating...


After what seemed like a busier than usual Christmas season, we stopped.  Our family had a few days available to get away, refocus, and breathe.  I'm sure other occupations require the need for such escaping, but since I only know the life of ministry, I have grown to see such time away as vital to the growth and life of continuing in the calling God has given us.  (I am also blessed to have a husband who sees this need too!)


Our time was not filled with schedule, but instead with food, walking, rarely glancing at phones except to take a picture here and there (since I forgot my camera!)  Time was slow and sweet.  There is honestly no other people in this world who I would rather be with than my girls and best friend. Getting away from the housework, the school work, the emails, and phone calls was a breath of fresh air!  So very thankful and yet ready to continue in the work God has called us to.


"Be still and know that I am God;" - Psalm 46:10

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Halfway Goals for January...


It's almost the middle of January, which may seem too late to set goals for the month.  But better late than never...  Laying out goals often seems like I'm setting myself up for failure, which may be true to some degree.  But in writing them down, there comes a form of accountability and a challenge to complete something, anything!  So these goals are nothing spectacular, just simply areas of my life that I hope to tweak throughout the year.

January Goals

1.  Try and implement a new daily schedule (not exactly sure the details yet...)
2.  Finish The Best Yes and read more of Notes from a Blue Bike (working on my "words")
3.  Fill out the paperwork and get pictures taken for passports (#operationokinawa - more info to come)
4.  Declutter our storage area (I must purge!! Girl clothes, school stuff, etc overflow from every crevice of our home. Starting with the storage area this month.)
5.  Order a photobook of 2014 Instagram photos. (I took more pictures with my phone this year and it's the everyday pictures that I cherish the most.  I'll share how it turned out.)
6.  Love the people in my life and show it through my words (an ongoing goal...)



"Now is the blessing.
Now is the time to love.
Now is the time to be."
by Eileen Spinelli in Now It is Winter


Friday, January 9, 2015

Words...


In the first hour of light, when my house is still quiet, our littlest and furriest member of the family requires some outside time and I am given a gift.  A gift of remembering how great our creator is.  The sky blazes with color and I'm encouraged by His Spirit to dive into His Word.

  
Word... words... that is my focus this year.  In the past, I've felt the need to focus on "grace," "peace & stillness," and this past year, on "trust."  But after much prayer, "words" stood out as something lacking in my life and something that I desire more and more to be present.

Psalm 19:14 says, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."  My greatest desire is to not only commit that verse to memory, but to live it!

May I be in the Word on a daily basis, putting aside all distractions (aka social media) until I've spent time reading His Words.  I'm really looking forward to reading a new devotional called Every Day with Jesus by Selwyn Hughes focusing on the armor of God.


May I take the time to really read words, in actual books, not just on some screen that looks flashy and takes little time to understand. May my nightstand be filled with new and old books to fill my mind and cause me to ponder and think. 


May the words that I speak be uplifting to others, especially my family.  It's easy to compliment others who you rarely see, but to show our appreciation and admiration to our loved ones, that takes thought and intention.  May my words be full of grace since grace has so undeservedly been given to me.

 


May my words be fewer in quantity, but more in quality.  May there be less words said and more words read.  I long for time to read aloud quality literature to my girls and for them to read to me.


May there be more words written, whether on paper, on the blog, or even in simple notes delivered by mail.  May even the words penned on a daily to-do list be uplifting and inspiring, rather than overbearing and overwhelming.


Ultimately, may the year 2015 be full of words that bring the God of the Word glory.