Tag: #lysaterkeurst

Gratefulness

It doesn’t take much to keep me happy, or content. Recently I noticed myself walking through the house at night barefoot and felt gratefulness. I haven’t done that in years.

My daughter and I have lived in houses nestled atop farmland. With farmland comes critters and at night a scorpion would sometimes make it’s way into the house. We learned quickly not to walk to through the house barefoot at night and carrying a flashlight was a necessity. If you saw something move across the floor, scream for assistance.

I became good at determining the various intensities of “Mom?!!!” She would stand still keeping an eye on the critter, as I retrieved a glass to sit over it. Once our heartbeats resumed normalcy, we’d devise a plan. It was a Team effort walking through the house at night, but today it’s thrilling to walk barefoot and not have to stare at the floor.

I’ve learned quite a bit about gratefulness and it doesn’t always begin as a positive impact. It doesn’t come gushing into our hearts and lives like gratitude. Gratefulness for me normally disguises itself as disappointment. When we pause in that moment and peel back the layers for a more in-depth look, we will see that in the end it was all a part of a greater plan.

Last week, a friend of mine posted a Duster style jacket on Facebook that was for sale in her shop. It caught my eye, and I gave myself the weekend to think about it, but vowed to stop by on Monday knowing I’d be in that part of town. I was excited to see the Duster and envisioned myself taking it home. When I walked into her shop, I saw the display hanging on the wall, like in the picture, but the jacket didn’t look the same. Maybe the original jacket sold because the one on display wasn’t my taste at all.

I left the store jacketless, but right alongside it came gratefulness.

Do Great Things

The commitment I made to my writing is to complete two writing practices a day, whether I want to or not. Most days it flows through the fingers, but today it didn’t. One practice is equal to 30 minutes which is comparatively a Pomodoro. If you’re not familiar with the Pomodoro technique, you can learn more about it here.

If you’re familiar with this plug-in already, my hope is you’re sharing it with everyone you know who sits in front of a computer the majority of the day. It wasn’t always a happy moment to pull up my browser window for work, but now I look forward to it. I see a breathtaking photo, and receive a poke of encouragement from my browser.

Google Chrome Momentum Plug-in

I posted this on our Fearless Slack channel as a mighty revelation! A man chimed in on the post saying he uses this on all his browsers. I wish he had shared this with us. Sometimes we assume everyone knows what we know, and we’re hesitant to share. I’ve received countless comments from the simplest of shares.

After the motivational phrase it says, ‘Good morning, afternoon or evening Barbara’, dependent upon the time of day it is. It asks what you want to focus on today, and if there’s a project that needs completion, I type that in as a reminder, but most days it’s on a more personal level like writing! A tiny box is over to the left, so at the end of the day I get to check it off and watch it receive a strikethrough.

Pay attention to the small things and let God handle the big ones. Out of all the tasks I do each day, keeping this commitment to my writing feels like a really great thing.

To Feel Embraced

It may look messy, but this feels needed.

I woke up before the dawn and lit my holiday candle. Strolled into the den to grab my stacks of reading from the coffee table. Brought it all into the bedroom and plopped it on my bed. It’s only Friday, but I’m where I need to be.

messybed

Self care doesn’t have to be pretty.

The beauty comes after the care.

The first thing I read this morning said, “One drop of the Lord’s mercy is better than an ocean of the world’s temporary comfort.”~Lysa TerKeurst ‘Embraced’. I can do all sorts of things to bring temporary comfort, but I know where to find that steadfast love and mercy.

I’ve been swimming in the words of SC Lourie and practicing speaking to myself like someone I love. Here’s what I’ve been using.

affirmations

My hope for you my darling is to feel embraced.

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To Be Embraced

I’m sitting in the middle of my bed.

It’s my favorite spot. My total Zen.

I woke up early, but tried being quiet. Tiptoeing to the kitchen to make a french press of coffee, I closed my daughters bedroom door to let her sleep in.

bedroom-comfy-girl-mac

I came back to bed with coffee to read my new devotional. The sun is streaming through the windows lighting the room. You could hear a pin drop, it’s that still and quiet.

Are you comfortable sitting in stillness?

Do you allow your life to become quiet?

A Tale of Yesterday

Yesterday, my daughter and I went to Target. One of her favorite bands came out with a new CD, and this particular store had dibs on it’s new release.

We walked into the store and headed straight back to the electronics section. Once she found the shelf of the new releases, her heart sank. The shelf was empty. I looked at the small, empty space where the CD’s once stood, and it didn’t make sense for them to be gone. The space was so small for a band this big.

the-1975-a-brief-inquiry-into-online-relationships-stream
the-1975-a-brief-inquiry-into-online-relationships.

They seemed to have plenty of people working, so I made eye contact with a young man behind the counter. He walked over and I inquired about the empty shelf. My guess was they hadn’t noticed it being empty, and probably had a stockpile of the new CD’s in the back. He walked away to find out.

My daughter was probably holding her breath while the salesman was gone, but I decided to walk around and enjoy my surroundings. I found myself staring at a wall of books. It’s good as a writer to see what is popular. Then, I saw it. This one book….

Be Still. There is More.

How are you with waiting?

We could have just left the store when we saw the empty shelf, but I wanted my daughter to see me ask for help. To dig deeper into the situation.

We live in a microwave based world. Technology has conditioned us to want what we want and receive it immediately.

I’m completely guilty of downloading books to my Kindle. It’s fast and easy. The eBook is saturating our world. Will technology replace holding a real book in our hands? Will bookstores become extinct?

The book that caught my gaze while waiting for the salesman, was a recommendation by Kindle months ago. I didn’t download it, and then forgot about it. It was one of those books that needed to be held.

embraced

Thank you for your time.

The salesman returned holding a CD.

I was so excited holding the book, and seeing he had the CD, I jumped up and gave him a huge embrace! I shouted, “I love you”!, not expecting a response.

But you know what? He shouted, “I love you!” back. My heart was full seeing God move in Target.

Thank you for spending your time here with me today. My hope is you feel fully embraced.

Pause and Unrush

Today was the first day in my journey with SC Lourie, and let the floodgate open. I’m not even halfway through the material for this week because I got hit between the eyes with a word.

That word is, “Unrush.” I could finally totally relate to this word.

It was such a beautiful day, I grabbed a journal, pen, a chilled glass of ginger ale, and stepped outside. I sat everything down and it was the picture of unrush. Sliding my phone out of my back pocket to take a photo, it happened so quickly, the glass didn’t have time to defrost.

My first thought was, three years ago, at the beginning of this journey, I wouldn’t have done this. Being completely honest with myself, I’m not sure I could have done this a year ago.

To give myself permission to stop, and enjoy the moment. I was married for 25 years, and don’t recall this simple act of unrush.

unrush

Always moving and rushing to get things done. Maybe you can relate. Life happens quickly, and I believe we have to make ourselves pause in it. To just pause and enjoy the exact moment we’re in.

May you take the time to pause, and unrush.