a new beginning

 

Have you heard of the 'one word 365' concept?

It's been out there for awhile. there is a website, and a 'tribe' you can join, and a way to NOT make resolutions, but just still have a new focus.

i didn't really formally plan to take part in this...but i just took 12 days off, and tried to listen a bit to God. i had gotten this vision/connection to an image of MOUNTAINS awhile back, so i started to think about that picture. i like mountains, and the concept of mountains, but of course i would prefer not to climb too many mountains. i'm a plains girl, after all.

then i got a word when i was thinking about mountains.

TRUST.

yikes! trust and mountains? that sounds hard?! that sounds like trouble! that does NOT sound like my 'easy' life is going to continue! trusting God means something bad must be going to happen! almost immediately, my lovely vision of pretty mountains became a scary vision of an uncomfortable journey.

this is where, when combined with the 'trust' word, my attitude started to shift. i started to think about how much i LOVE new things. really love them. i love ideas. i love new paths that i have never been on before. i love new experiences, and images, and people. rather than having an immediate reaction of anxiety and freaking out, i believe God wants to give me an attitude of readiness, of peace, and of joy for what is ahead. he wants to paint a new picture of what it is to TRUST as i live my life journey.

one of the sources of encouragement that i came upon was from Oswald Chambers. the scripture above from Hebrews was the source of the message. he mentions that God will NEVER completely tell you what He is going to do, but He REVEALS to you what He is doing. only when we 'go out' in complete surrender to Him, can we truly enjoy the process of walking with God. because we know we have a wonderful inheritance in Heaven, but we can also have as much confidence in the journey of getting there. it just takes....trust.

this whole concept strikes me strongly with where i am in life. for the last few years, i have been waiting for God to drop an 'answer' to what my life purpose is...mostly through some career direction which - to be honest - has never developed. however, if i look back, God has REVEALED to me many things during this time period. the process itself, if i were not looking for some magic SOLUTION, has been good. i believe that i so much more easily rest in the idea of a future moment than a present moment. i so easily drift into living for the future, instead of for right. now. today. i think it's because i lack trust that the journey, and TODAY are in God's hands, as much as my inheritance and tomorrow.

also, i have been listening to Graham Cooke, who talks about choosing your approach to living. choosing your path based on intimacy with God, and with the joy of knowing that He and His ways are ALWAYS good. and choosing to be ready for a 'new thing' that God is doing. which happens every day. all day long.

it's going to take a change of mindset. i'm going to need some help. but i have a good feeling. i have peace. i have a feeling it's time to learn about TRUST, and i'm glad that i'm going to put my trust into the one person worthy of the word. i may even be ready to see things from a new vista, if those mountains are really as real as i think they are :)

happy new year, blog friends! do you have a 'word' that you are thinking about?

more winter.

do you sense a theme here?!

:) happy week-before-the-week!

b

Learning to love again.

Woke up on this snowy Monday to another -9 degree day. The past week has kind of been full of those!

It's always a shock when winter is really, truly here. This year, I feel like it came a little earlier...the real stuff, I mean. I was walking outdoors a few times a week, then BAM. couch potatoness hit hard.

So yesterday, Lou and I went out in the single digits. My motivation for these outings (and hers) is generally that we also get to take pictures. I'm sure that makes us some kind of fitness rejects, because we stop often and behold. But whatever the reason, I feel 'healthier' after being out in the quiet and beauty and presence of God.

It's good :)

Hope you all are surviving in your own favorite ways!

beautiful.

what a wonderful fall it's been. yesterday, lou and i went for a walk in the woods at good earth state park. it's very peaceful there in autumn, and the clouds were just so beautiful. we were talking about how we make good travel companions, because we both like to stop a lot and take pictures. we also edit the photos almost right away when we get home, to see what we saw :) i guess that is the mark of a visual person. it's hard to know where to put things on the internet, though, because facebook friends generally don't care about your pretty photos, and you don't want to bomb your instagram friends with all kinds of stuff at once.

so, here you go, blog friends. a visual journey of my walk yesterday :) ha.

and of course, the obligatory pet shot...helping me to assemble my ikea storage boxes by testing them out from the inside :)

happy monday!

Seasonally challenged

Hi peeps!

Every day I wake up and think about blogging, and then my mind goes blank. I am not sure why, but it probably has something to do with my job. Helping others 'manage' their social media and online things has taken it's toll on my own poor sad little blog. BUT, I'm thankful for the years it's been here, mostly for you guys, but also that I've had the chance to practice my 'voice' for online. It has helped my job somewhat.

This has been a lovely fall, but sometimes I cannot believe it's fall. where did the time go? how did I become a 50 year old? when will it stop??????? ha ha. actually, not ready for it to stop.

I am determined to have a restfull holiday season. The crazy is already starting, and I find myself looking at the calendar scheduling into december. But for the most part, things are good and manageable. I am excited for putting up the christmas tree. I'm not even too sad about the forecast for snow today, although I did not get any leaves raked yet. I hope that is okay? Hmmmm. Maybe the leaves will just kind of dissolve :)

I still have been doing projects around the house. THIS winter, I vow to get all of the trim in this house painted. I have a photo shoot coming up in February, so there is a target goal to reach. I would have to seriously question buying a home where every single surface needs to be repainted again. Painting walls is so easy, but woodwork is a whole 'nuther level. I'd rather be doing something else, I guess :) It IS looking good.

i hope things are going well in your world, blog friends. I hope to see you a few more times before 2013 ends!

Hellooooooooooo from the east

I keep looking at the photos of all the snow in western SD, and trying to avoid the pics of all the dead animals that came with the blizzard, because it makes me very sad.

And yet, we are having a beautiful fall here in eastern SD, if not a DRYYYYYYY one. I wish we had even a little of that moisture, because things are really really drying up. It is scary and so hard on the trees and little animals. Sigh. Maybe next year will be better.

I have not been gettting out and about much, it's like I automatically holed up the minute the temps dipped. It's my goal to get outside this week while we have temps back in the 70s! whooo hoo!

in no particular order, here is what seems to be my October focus, according to the iphone. I hope your october is exactly what you were hoping for!

Pumpkin love...big, small, fake, whatever kind.

...decorating the mantel...I really need a fall garland of some sort!

leaves turning...

...and turning.

all kinds of soup. lots of it in the freezer for quick dinners.

sunshine! trying to capture and save it for later.

one quick road trip to ikea, with carey and her super-yukon. yes, the sectional sofa DID fit!

one little tomato trying to grow in the fall...a great illustration of hope!

a focus on women's ministry - my absolute favorite :)

quiet Monday

today was abnormally quiet on the back forty. couple of reasons.

#1 - the 'slowdown' of work is here again, and the phone/email have been silent. sigh. wish it was not so, but i am trying to find a bit of work, and realize that september is a gorgeous month to have 'off'

#2 - today, my 93 year old next door neighbor moved to an assisted living center. she never ever made even a PEEP of sound, but somehow, it's quieter without her here. she has lived on my block since 1950.

#3 - my head is really in the clouds. this past week, i made the trek 'home' several times for my dad, who had hip replacement surgery a week ago. on the way home, sometimes i take the back roads instead of the interstate, because it's a little more scenic and peaceful.

i miss my family. i miss that i lived most of my life far enough away from them that i don't see them that often. last night as i drove home, i wondered how it would have been different if i had stayed in brookings, closer to home. would i visit more often? would i still have strayed away? i know some people who talk to their parents every day! even from far away!

sigh. i have cried alot in this past week, thinking and pondering and wondering 'what if'...but you know what? it is good that i want to have more time with them, that this is just becoming not enough anymore. maybe it means i am finally appreciating what i have always had.

happy monday, all.