7/8/13

Before Facebook, I Had Hobbies

Anytime I'm asked to list my interests/hobbies my canned response is always: reading, writing, cooking. 

I rarely spend any time doing these beloved pastimes. My wise partner always says, "We make time for the things we want to do." It's true. And apparently, I just want to read my news feed. Write tweets and look at recipes instead of engaging myself in the actual activities I claim to love. 

Enter summer break. Today is my first Monday off. I've decided not to waste my life away on social media. I'm going to set some goals instead. Today I had two: mow the side yard and put away all the folded, clean laundry I'd been stockpiling on a chair. Yep, I do that. I was successful before noon, so I started reading a book and took a nap. It was fabulous! And now I'm writing (well, typing) actual words...

What prompted all of this is that my Goodreads "to-read" list was about to exceed my "read" list--198 vs 236.  I've got a plan and a stack of delicious books on the nightstand at the ready. I'm excited about reclaiming my time and my life! I may even venture into my wanna-be hobbies: organizing and sewing. 

What are your hobbies? What's keeping you for doing what you love? You know, you make time for what you want to do! 

3/1/13

March on!

An old blogpost from March 2013

Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday! xoxo But I think March is my new favorite month (well, maybe second to October aka my bday month). As I get older, it seems like time's flying past my face so rapidly! I'm trying to embrace all those special moments.

Anyway, March is the bday month to lots of my dearies esp. my little brother & sister who are born on the same day three years apart. And my daughter in law who's more like a friend. March is also Spring Break, which means a week off school. #perks And the 18th is my 13th wedding anniversary to the best thing that's ever happened to me besides Jesus' rescue. I'm excited!

March also means clothes month for my 7 (a la the Jen Hatmaker book we read last year) journey with my friend, Michelle. So when you see me wearing the same, stinky outfit please just smile & nod. I'd like to think I'm simplistic, but the volume of clothing in my closet reeks otherwise. I justify it b/c I love hand-me-downs, but truly it's excess. Husband asked me last night, "Remind me why you're doing this again?" I had to reread the chapter. He refused to read it because our friend Kyle Sherman said it sounded like a chick book. The quote from pg. 51 embodies my cause.

So...happy March, everybody! Spring is on her way and she looks promising!!


Addendum to my FB post above: for those that haven't read 7 (why?) undergarments don't count, she counted 2 pairs of shoes as one, I'm counting two as none.
~I didn't choose a jacket (it's March) but this morning I froze during parent drop-off and a kindergartener told me I really should be wearing a coat. HaHa! My sweet co-worker Katie asks if it counts when someone loans me one. Hmm. I gave her the book's spiel about the freezing (literally to death) homeless population and just put my hands in my pockets and endured.
~All the clothes I chose were black, except for my jeans. Scott says I must add color, so I switched a black Ponder tee for a gray & pink breast cancer one.
~Picking out my 7 garments proved to be more challenging than I'd imagined!

From 7, by Jen Hatmaker Page 51

2/16/13

Romans 12:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Love this! This is MY verse for 2013! Every time I become dissatisfied with my stage of life (i.e. living in The Barn instead of a "normal" house, husband's books not being published YET) I'm going to preach this scripture to myself.

I'm currently reading a YouVersion Bible study about surrender. I sought out this topic because being the control freak that I am, I often struggle with surrendering MY plan to God's plan. If you don't believe me, just ask my husband. He's so sweet though, he'd tell you how far I've come in the last 13 years. I have this timeline in my mind and reality just isn't matching up with it, which leads to frustration and some days even sadness.

This past Sunday was one of those days! I started barking out my plan to my husband out of no where. He asked me if I had prayed about it. Well, this was convicting (because of course I hadn't) so I responded with defiance and anger. It was bad, y'all, and he was like, "Where is this coming from?" Ironically, I hadn't read my Bible Sunday morning. Scott and I had this "discussion" Sunday night. Monday morning I woke up and didn't read my Bible. Again. Still being defiant, I suppose. I do my best deep thinkin' on my commute to work and realized that for some reason I associate surrender with weakness. This is a lie. Tuesday, I open up the study I'd skipped for 2 days and guess what?? Sunday's lesson was on SURRENDERING!!! Ha! If only I'd read it on the intended day. This fits the definition of irony, right?

I think a lot of this dissatisfaction is coming from fear too. This year marks the 10 year anniversary of Scott's quadruple bypass. I vividly remember sitting with him in Dr. Taylor's office and the doctor saying there was a 50% chance Scott would live ten years before needing another heart surgery. At the time, Scott said he refused to go through it again. Now that we're closer to that possibility, it is not unthinkable, but at those grim words we kind of came up with this TEN YEAR PLAN of our hopes and dreams. Well, it's crunch time and there are goals undone, unaccomplished. And I think that's where all this silliness is stemming from. How does that saying go... "Man can make his plans, but The Lord..." I never paid attention to the last part! I just kept making my plans.

So, in my study today the author asked the reader to ask ourselves what God is trying to teach us while we're waiting. I've never bothered to ask. I wasn't teachable. So, now I'm clinging to this verse in Romans because its a life-changer; it's life-giving. If I will just "Be JOYFUL in HOPE,
Patient in Affliction, Faithful in PRAYER" then God's plan for our life can happen and guess what?! It's a BETTER plan, exceedingly better than mine.

Are there any other control freaks out there? What is God trying to teach YOU about HIS Plan?
Any recovered planners that could offer us wisdom on our surrender-quest? Will you pray for me as I try?







2/13/13

40 Days

Surely. Surely. If Jesus can go 40 days without FOOD, I can survive 40 days without FACEBOOK.