Tag: goodness

Feel the Music

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I went to a friends shop looking for a pair of jeans and found a pair that fit perfectly, but didn’t buy them. I said, “I’m church hopping and need a pair for church.” She was surprised by the words, ‘church hopping’ and neither of us were sure what church jeans were supposed to look like.

TobyMac dropped a new song and I’ve been thinking a lot about the goodness in my life. It was 7 years ago I was standing in a post office in small town Texas, when a man walked in whose presence engulfed the lobby. I asked, “How are you?”, and still remember what he looked like and the conviction in his voice as he spoke these words, “I’m blessed and highly favored.”

Not only did he say it, but he owned it, and I knew right then, I wanted to be able to respond like that.

Earlier this year at another friend’s shop, I saw this pillow and picked it up and held it every time I walked in. It’s a frivolous purchase, like I need one more pillow, but still remember it and how it made me smile. The original pillow sold, but a couple of weeks ago I was talking with my friend and mentioned that pillow. She offered to special order me a new one.

Kendall Designs

My daughter says it looks like I killed a Yak, but I see God’s favor.

When this post airs, I’ll be sitting in the same church for the second time and I’m treating it like a date, so let’s see if we make it to number three. Sometimes God’s goodness is tangible like this pillow, but it isn’t always so obvious. The true goodness in life is God Himself consistently showing up. Maybe I’ll practice saying, “Blessed and highly favored”, at church. That’ll reveal pretty quick if I’m at the right building.

TobyMac-The Goodness

Acknowledge the Good

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A couple of years ago I posted about a gratitude jar. The jar I’d begun using became needed elsewhere, so I took all those little slips of paper, and placed them in an empty Voluspa jar. Last December, I sat down in the middle of my bed with the jar, and read each one.

I remembered cutting paper into strips, writing something I was grateful for, and placing it in the jar. The jar wasn’t very full, because walking by it isn’t enough. I have to pause long enough to write something down. It’s funny, but I was the most grateful for sunlight. The unfolding of each piece of paper and reading what it said, felt like a ritual. I refolded each one and placed them in a baggie for the jar to be used as a vase.

One of my most loved books by Julia Cameron is The Sound of Paper. I don’t know which I love more, the book itself, or it’s title, because I’m enamored by the sound and feel of paper. I want to experience that year-end ritual again, so I started a new jar, in hopes that by this December it will be packed full. The key is to sit it where it doesn’t fall into the background of the everyday, so it’s by my bedroom window waiting, every time I enter.

Empty Voluspa jar.

Here’s some examples of how often I see this jar.

  • First thing in the morning, while opening the drapes.
  • When I walk back in to make my bed.
  • Sitting on the floor, during meditation.
  • When I pet the cat who’s lounging in the morning sun.
  • To plug in my phone for charging.
  • While getting dressed, or anytime I retrieve something from the closet.
  • Anytime I’m in my room gazing out the window, the jar is there.
  • Running the vacuum through the room.
  • Closing the drapes at nightfall.

Some days I’m overwhelmed by goodness, while other days, I need a magnifying glass to see it. No matter if it’s a lot, or just one thing, there’s always something to write on a sliver of paper and place it in the jar.

Pause… breathe… and acknowledge the good.

Worth the Wait

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The candle display looked sparse.

My friend who owns the local Shoppe had placed an order for new ones, but they hadn’t come in yet. The display looked like it was in waiting.

I went back to the Shoppe a few days later, but still no candles. There was a holdup in the shipment, but I could wait. If there’s one thing Breast Cancer taught me is how to wait. ‘You wait patiently Barb, holding the highest expectation of outcomes.’

There’s goodness in the waiting.

More days passed and I called the Shoppe. They had located the shipment and it was to arrive that day or the next at the latest. A couple of days later, I entered the Shoppe to find a breathtaking display. My friend had ordered so many Voluspa candles, the candle display spilled onto other displays.

It seemed like a natural effect for this much beauty.

I’ve written quite a bit about waiting. We tend to wait for the big things in life, but it’s an accumulation of little things that equal big. The day comes where you sit down to write a Blog, and there’s this knowing that every little thing has been worth the wait.

volupsa1

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Drink the Glitter

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“There’s so much glitter”, she said.

“I’ll take that one”, was my response.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll just drink the glitter!”

This is a normal conversation between my daughter and me. This is also the second time this week she’s made a cup of tea, only to find glitter floating in it. The glitter is from the garland hanging across the coffee bar. A sprinkling landed in the cups.

I’m still pondering why that’s a bad thing.

flocked

The tree went up before Thanksgiving.

We bought one the day they were delivered to the store. This one fits the house instead of overtaking the house. The tree stands quietly in the corner of the den offering additional warmth and sparkle to our lives. A small tree in a small house is more inviting than a giant tree in a small house.

My daughter researched how to flock a tree and good ol’ Amazon helped. She did a fabulous job with it and now we have enough flocking left over for 10 more trees! I believe she wants to flock our wreath next. We give ourselves permission to sprinkle some extra goodness into our life.

But you don’t have to drink the glitter.

flocked2

The Seeds of Success by Og Mandino

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In this season of thankfulness, I want to share this.

Letitgocoach

God, I thank you for this day.

 

I know I have not accomplished as yet all you expect of me, and if that is your reason for bathing me in the fresh dew of another dawn, I am most grateful.

 

I am prepared at last, to make you proud of me.

 

I will forget yesterday, with all it’s trial and tribulations, aggravations and setbacks. The past is already a dream from which I can neither retrieve a single word nor erase any foolish deeds.

 

I will resolve, however, that if I have injured anyone yesterday through my thoughtlessness, I will not let this day’s sun set before I make amends, and nothing I do today will be of greater importance.

 

I will not fret the future. My success and happiness does not depend on straining to see what lurks dimly on the horizon, but to…

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This Ain’t Easy

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If you had $20 to your name, how would you spend it? Years ago, I would spend that money on diapers. Today, I would spend $13 on my favorite candle, and the rest would be a toss up between a Pumpkin Spice Latte, or actual food.

Does that sound silly? I try to be a good steward of everything God gives me, including money. I think He knows, there are a lot of small things I would rather buy before food. It’s just not that important to me. A home that smells like fall from an amazing candle? The moment of savoring my favorite fall coffee drink? Those are important to me.

faithIt’s not easy living in the calling God gives you. God put a desire in me to write and that is what I do. Is it perfect grammar? I’m from Texas, it ain’t gonna be perfect.

I know one of my God given gifts is an Encourager. God prompted me once my legal separation began to start writing publicly. I have always kept a journal, but He wanted to show people my life. Walking through alcoholism and a divorce wasn’t easy, but it was possible. That is all my daughter and I need. Possible.

It is all thanks to God. He gets all the glory for it and that is what I’m here to share.

I’ve had the life of get up, take kids to school, go to work, pick kids up, eat dinner, go to bed and start all over. When it was time for my son to attend high school, the thought horrified me. He was such a good kid, I was afraid he would be eaten alive, so I homeschooled him. Then my daughters school closed down after her 3rd grade year, and I chose to homeschool her. That was the beginning of quality of life for us.sky

When she was younger, I would take her to work with me. As she got older, employers started to frown upon that, so God opened a door for me to work from home. When she turned 13, the beginning of her teenage years, I worked virtually for a friend of mine in California and still do, part time. It was less hours and less money, but the rewards!

That was when I found it to be true that we can make better choices and have a better life. My daughter took this picture of the sky behind our house. She goes outside almost everyday between 6 and 7 pm. The time she goes out depends on the colors reflecting in the house from outside. It’s the beauty factor that gets her attention.

This morning, I was going through a file I have for her in my email. In it was an email she sent a year ago, wishing me a Happy Birthday. The words that jumped off the page this morning were, “I want to be like you when I grow up.” This humbled me as gratitude just spilled out for this beautiful life God has given us. Once again, this must be God.
 

Revealed in Time

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It has been raining this week for what seems like forever. I’m sure it was only two days, but here’s what my pond and pier look like.

cock

Where are the steps?

Earlier today I was comparing this to God’s goodness. How He just loves to overflow in our lives. Later in the day what began as overflow, turned into drowning. Was it all God?

I don’t believe God wants to ‘drown’ us. We wouldn’t be worth much to Him in that capacity. He wants us to be pliable, while observing the occurrences of the day. What was good, and what was not so good. Sometimes we have to face the challenges and responsibilities of life to get to the goodness.

If I do my part and do the very best I can, God meets me there. If life hits too hard and fast, I’m learning to wait. God has taken so many problems out of my life just by waiting on Him. By continuing to give it to God, to lay it at His feet, He will take either take it, because it was a test of my faith, or use it to strengthen me.

The picture of the flooded pond is a great example of faith. Even though I cannot see the steps leading to the pier, I know they’re there. They will be revealed in time.