If you don’t mind, in light of the current state of our world, I may be posting more regularly. 

As a solid 4 on the Enneagram, I feel all the feelings…of me and  you and the song birds sitting out on our feeder trying to get their fair share of seed before the grackles come swooping in. 

So writing is my outlet. It’s my way to process and to draw close to God like the child I am. And over time, I have found it speaks to a few of you. 

If your inbox is full or I am not your cup of tea, that’s cool (not really…but I will heal…insert a grin)….just delete and move on.

I am just thankful for the internet right now because so many people are filling me up with encouragement and joy and ways to pray and keeping me informed. 

Since it is Saturday, I thought I would pass along a few things that are blessing me right now and if you want to share this with others, please do.

If you want to comment with some good news, I will post it. If you need someone to just share your heart with, you can put FYEO (for your eyes only) at the top of the comment and I will email you back but not post. 

Here is my Saturday list of encouragement:

1. If you have Instagram, follow Natalie Grant. She and her husband are doing a daily song. It is just the two of them, Bernie on piano and Natalie singing. Pure worship and calling down God over our homes and families. Powerful.
2. I have been asking God daily to show me who might need encouragement. Sometimes it’s just a text to check up, or a phone call or to drop something by someone’s house….ring the bell and run. 
3. Our Sarah set us up on a google chat thing and by golly, Russ and I conquered another level of technology and got ourselves to the meet up. We provided several minutes of laughter for our young adults as we attempted to get a microphone working. Seeing their faces as they talked was good medicine. 
4. Face time is so amazing. 
5. Pandora is free with minimal ads and you can create your own stations from favorite artists. We are blessed beyond measure to have the ability to run through the TV, but you can access on your devices. You can also subscribe and skip the ads. 
6. With nowhere to go, there a zillion sermons and podcasts to listen to and this is a great opportunity to learn and grow. 
7. Take care of yourself – and I mean…clean up, dress, maintain the normalcy of routines…drink water often, bundle up and get outside, go ahead and laugh at some of the funnies out there…cry when you need to, acknowledge and name fear that might arise, tell someone…pray together and lift your head. 

Okay….that’s my bit for today. 

You are loved…remember that.

You are not forgotten.

You are precious in the eyes of your God.

He is with us.

We are not alone <3

Here I sit…shaking my head and wondering where January went. Anybody else?

At the start of the new decade, year, month I was loving seeing all the posts on social media regarding resolutions and different ways people handle these.

I love to try new ways to set goals and motivate myself to be and do better. Hearing what others are doing to make positive changes in life is inspiring to me.

One that I liked in particular was posted by a friend who owns a counseling practice and her suggestion was doing one week resolutions. 

She posted a variety of ideas of challenging yourself to make a healthy change for one week at a time. 

Here is a screen shot to give you an idea:

While I liked the concept, I decided to tweak it for myself and come up with something to try for a month. 

Because you know…

Go big or go home. 

I started brain storming new things I would be interested in trying that I am okay with just devoting a month to and see how it goes. So far I have ten written down so if you have an idea…send it my way <3

My first experiment was with the idea of using a “capsule wardrobe.” 

This concept both fascinates and produces extreme anxiety. 

If you are not familiar with it, google them on Pinterest. 

The photographs of 20-30 pieces of clothing and then the mix and match options are like a modern day Sears catalog for this child of the 60’s so if you didn’t love thumbing through the pages and picking out your favorite outfit you probably won’t get why I was intrigued by the challenge. 

The idea behind capsule wardrobes is to simplify the process of getting ready in the morning, and since I am less than punctual on just about every day of my life, I was hoping to instill better habits through the process.

The anxiety part came in because I am a mood dresser and also do not have 20-30 basic pieces of clothing like the examples shown, so I modified the whole thing to make it work for me without having to purge my closet and start over from scratch. 

I decided a workable concept was to make myself put together a week’s worth of outfits and hang them in a row in my closet. I checked forecasts and calendar commitments and refused to allow myself to overthink. 

In order to make sure I am actually WEARING the items that are crammed in my closet, I contracted with myself to only wear each item one time in that month and if I felt uncomfortable in anything at the end of the day I would put it in the give-away bag. (after washing of course!)

One last addendum to the experiment was to not be legalistic about it.

If I had to add a change to a day or didn’t get to it until Monday or Tuesday…there was grace. 

Here is what I learned:

I found it incredibly freeing to not have to figure out what I was going to wear each morning. 

Since I forced myself to detach from over-thinking on Sunday, the process went quickly as I checked off each day’s needs and selected clothes that would work. 

I got rid of some things that I love but really don’t wear anymore. 

I felt more efficient with the rest of my day with one less decision already made at the start. 

I became aware of how much time I waste thinking about something that really isn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things and for a procrastinator can be an excuse to waste time!

Will I continue this habit? 

I think I am going to attempt to make it a part of Sunday. It speaks to my inner need for organization and efficiency and helps me focus on more important things plus it DID help me get ready faster! 

So now I need to find my wish list for the year and figure out what my February discipline will be….and I am sure you will be on the edge of your seat waiting for the end of next month to hear what it was….

Ha! 

How are your “resolutions” going? 

Did you make them, keep them, come up with a new way to challenge yourself to grow?

Share it with someone …. it’s a fun conversation to have and you may inspire someone or learn something new <3