Tag: follow God

Feel the Music

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It’s been almost a year since I’ve posted a Feel the Music. That surprised me, but even more so was looking through and realizing the first one was posted almost 4 years ago! I can barely remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, but I remember the day Feel the Music was born.

I was driving my truck down a back road, listening to the radio, and pondering my Blog. A song began to play, and it was Big Daddy Weave singing, ‘My Story’. Right then, I knew Feel the Music was supposed to become a series in my Blog. It contained those three words, like all my Blog titles did, but this was more than one post. It was going to be a regular thing.

I didn’t drive my truck very much last year, so some time has passed since posting one, but I still have a heart for music. It has helped pull me through some tough spots in my life. I’ve used it as an escape, and I’ve played it to chase after God. From cleaning a chicken coop knowing my marriage was at it’s end, to standing on a pier on 40 acres of land, surrounded by nothingness.

Music healed my heart many times.

Yesterday, I told my daughter something I needed to hear too. I said, “You didn’t come this far, to only come this far.” The inspiration for this song didn’t come while driving my truck, so I need to make myself available to inspiration other than my truck.

Someone in my Fearless community posted a meme of this song because he is halfway to his monthly goal. Maybe we are all halfway there and don’t even realize it. The one thing I do know is, life wouldn’t be worth living without a prayer. Enjoy!

A Faithful Following

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I read a post in my Reader this morning by Mama’s Empty Nest. She doesn’t know this, but she inspires me. She’s been Blogging for 10 years, but doesn’t have a huge amount of followers. (2,000ish) To me, that’s inspiring.

I’ve been Blogging for 6 years, but didn’t get serious about it until 2019. That was the year my views doubled. Today, it’s not about the likes, even though they are nice to see, it’s about the reader. It took years to come to that realization and some days I still struggle with it.

I was thinking of the Fearless Warrior program I joined in July. I’m already fearless because of my trust in God. I trust Him with my life, and He instilled a warrior in me, but there’s one thing in this life I won’t fight. Algorithms.

If you love your Blog, the best thing to do is suit up and show up and give God something to use. Mama’s Empty Nest inspires me by just showing up. She enjoys the simplicity in life and we share the same big God.

Think of your Blog as your own corner of the world.

Once you publish a post, you may see the same readers give you likes and the same writers make comments, but my darling…that is called a faithful following.

Thank you for suiting up and showing up. ~ Barb

Sharing is Caring

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My daughter and I love receiving packages.

We’re slowly getting our life delivered to us, instead of going to public places. Bath and Body Works came in the mail, and my mail lady walked it up to my front door. (It wouldn’t fit in the mailbox) She does that with a lot of our packages, no matter the size.

She laughs when I squeal over the package.

Opening the box, I felt a nudge to give some away. It was just lotion, but it was my favorite lotion, and this scent has been retired. I’ve worn it for years, and it’s become my smell, but why would God be prompting me to give a bottle to my mail lady?

We don’t know each other very well, and I didn’t know if she would like something so girlie, but I was willing to take a chance on it.

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I wrapped a bottle of the lotion in a note, placed it in the mailbox and went for a walk.

About halfway through my walk, I looked up to see the mail lady’s car coming down the road. She was beeping the horn to get my attention, and I walked over to her car. Her window was rolled down a bit, and looking inside, I could see she was rubbing her hands together. The smell of the lotion floated through the open window.

She was so excited! She thanked me and said, “I never buy myself girlie stuff like this!”

When God gives us more than enough, we can give it away. This feels different than giving something away I don’t use anymore. With it being out of the box new, it’s more like sharing.

Finishing my walk home I remembered, sharing is caring.

chances

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Ya Gotsta Move It Move It

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This little farm house has been our ‘Safe Haven’ for almost two years. Last December, I wrote out my goals for 2015. A new house was not on the page, but everything I listed was going to lead us to more. God knows your heart, and He knows when it’s time to move.

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We have to let go of where we are, so God can move us to where He wants us to be. Bailey and I started talking about what our next house would look like. It would be a little bit larger, have a washer and dryer, a bathtub (we have a shower), and a fenced yard for Augustus, Bailey’s Blue Heeler pup. We would still be on acreage, because we love having land. Long gone are the days I look out my window and see another house.

Bailey found an ad for a little house on 5 acres about an hour away. Most every ad we had seen was out of our budget, but this one met our criteria. We drove out to meet the couple who owned it, and take a look. It was a beautiful, old farm house that had been restored to like new condition. The owner had put a lot of himself in that house to bring it up to what it is today.

We stepped through the little wood gate onto the lush, green lawn, and almost bumped our heads on the branch of a giant Oak Tree. (Disco Ball) The next thing I saw was a clothesline. I love hanging sheets outside! That wasn’t on my list, but it must have been on my heart.

We walked in the back door and entered a large mud room. The man who rebuilt this house is a carpenter by trade, so he had filled this room with custom cabinetry! Underneath the cabinets stood, a washer and dryer. On into the kitchen were more custom cabinets and a sweet pantry. Looking into the main living area was a mass of hand rubbed, hardwood flooring. It didn’t surprise me much when we got to the bathroom and there sat a large tub. I was so overwhelmed with God’s goodness by then, it was like walking through a dream.

God had this ready and waiting for us. Once we started talking about it and became willing to move, everything fell into place seamlessly. The glory goes to God! We asked, but it was already there waiting.

Leave Me Alone

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When you have the opportunity to be alone, take it. Being alone gives us the chance to just sit with ourselves and see if we’re happy with that. A lot of people don’t like this feeling and have to be busy or around other people to avoid it. Staying busy and the noise and activity of people keeps us from sitting with ourselves. We have to like ourselves before anyone else will.

walkawaBeing alone and being lonely are two different things. One contains solitude and the other contains insecurity. You are the only ‘person’ that can make you happy. We look for happiness in other people and things. Having been through the gambit of materialism which gave me a mountain of stuff to take care of. What I needed to take care of was me.

Letting Go of people, places and things is what I had to do. Once those were removed all I was left with was God and me. I knew God had a plan that was much better than any plan I could construct. My best day of thinking got me a 16 year membership, thus far, to Alcoholics Anonymous. I was ready to dump all my junk and follow God.

Sitting with yourself doesn’t mean a thinking session and trying to fix what’s unbalanced in your life. It truly means sit, breath and listen. Here is a breathing technique to empty your mind from Lesson One of Letting Go.

To breathe peacefully:
1. Close your eyes
2. Take in 3 breaths
3. Let go of the last breath and wait for your body to breathe by itself
4. Be patient as you wait
5. Allow the inhale to occur as much or as little as it wants
6. Let go of your exhale and wait for the inhale to occur
7. Focus on consistently letting go of your exhale
8. Relax your body as your exhale occurs

Breathe for at least 10 minutes until you are very calm. Once you are calm, focusing on each breath, observe when a thought arises in your mind. (Note – You are not looking to think. You are just being aware when a thought arises.)

1. Write this thought down, unedited
2. Return to breathing and being peaceful
3. If another thought arises, write this down, unedited
4. Return to your breath and being peaceful
Continue writing all thoughts as they occur. Do not focus on the thought. Do not consider the thought. Simply write it down and return to your breath. Allow your mind to empty.

This exercise will:
1. Enhance your ability to obtain a calm, peaceful state
2. Clear your mind of clutter-thoughts
3. Clear your emotional center from negative energy

There is something therapeutic when it comes to writing on paper. The thought travels from your mind, down your arm, through the hand and pen, onto the paper. It’s a mental, physical and emotional release that is well worth the time.