From my friend Ellen:
GOD IS ALWAYS DESIRING TO SHOW YOU HOW TO:
1) Know Him as He truly is.
2) Prioritize Him above all else, no matter what is vying for your heart.
3) Let yourself receive love.
4) Love unconditionally, no matter what you feel.
5) Be a faithful, loyal, and committed friend.
6) Know the joy in serving others and letting others serve you.
7) Learn great two-way communication in any relationship.
8) Deal with your own anger and let go of your "rights."
9) Truly forgive and receive forgiveness.
10) Seek His direction and recognize His voice.
11) Trust wholeheartedly in Him and His love for you.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
It's All A Part of the Journey
I had lunch with my friend Wendy this past week. She is one of my favorite people in the whole world. Wendy along with her husband David, are two of my biggest encouragers. They think that I can do just about anything irregardless of whether or not I think I can actually do said thing. I love them for it.
While we were having lunch, Wendy pointed out that it was interesting how the things that we loved to do as a child are the things that we are naturally good at as adults. This got me thinking. As a child, I was bossy and stubborn. I liked to do things my own way. I read a lot. I loved all things arts and crafts related. I played make believe all the time; mostly I was being "mommy", secretary, or teacher. I also enjoyed Barbies and had tons of them as well as a plethora of accessories for these dolls.
These musings are a great indicator of the person that I have become today and the dreams and aspirations that I hold. Who would have known I would later end up as a church secretary? I have a passion for learning and a desire to further my education. My Mother will still acount for the stubborn and bossy traits, along with being incredibly headstrong. My favorite hobbies include reading, photography, and paper crafting. All of those accessories that Barbie had have been translated into my ever growing personal wardrobe. I have always wanted to be a wife and a mom.
As a child, one thing that I always was able to clearly articulate was what I was going to be when I grew up. For a long time it was a teacher, then it was a fashion designer, then a larger sized model, and in later years a lawyer and a photojournalist for political campaigns. Now that I am at the age where I need to know where I am supposed to be going, I find that I really don't know what the next step is. Sure, I'm going to finish my degree, take a few years off, and go back to graduate school. But I don't know where it is that I want to end up in terms of a career.
I do know this for sure. God has a calling on my life. I know that I am supposed to be in ministry. I thrive on shepherding people and I love to be able to help others discover who He is. I couldn't dream of not working in a church. This evening David said to me that he knew for sure that I am destined for public leadership. I know that he is right. I know that God has me on an incredible path and I fearfully and excitingly look forward to seeing what that path is. I know that wherever I will go, that those traits that I had as a child will come along with me just like a suitcase full of clothes. And I know that whatever I'm doing there'll be two people (besides my parents) knowing that I'll be able to successfully do what I was meant to do.
While we were having lunch, Wendy pointed out that it was interesting how the things that we loved to do as a child are the things that we are naturally good at as adults. This got me thinking. As a child, I was bossy and stubborn. I liked to do things my own way. I read a lot. I loved all things arts and crafts related. I played make believe all the time; mostly I was being "mommy", secretary, or teacher. I also enjoyed Barbies and had tons of them as well as a plethora of accessories for these dolls.
These musings are a great indicator of the person that I have become today and the dreams and aspirations that I hold. Who would have known I would later end up as a church secretary? I have a passion for learning and a desire to further my education. My Mother will still acount for the stubborn and bossy traits, along with being incredibly headstrong. My favorite hobbies include reading, photography, and paper crafting. All of those accessories that Barbie had have been translated into my ever growing personal wardrobe. I have always wanted to be a wife and a mom.
As a child, one thing that I always was able to clearly articulate was what I was going to be when I grew up. For a long time it was a teacher, then it was a fashion designer, then a larger sized model, and in later years a lawyer and a photojournalist for political campaigns. Now that I am at the age where I need to know where I am supposed to be going, I find that I really don't know what the next step is. Sure, I'm going to finish my degree, take a few years off, and go back to graduate school. But I don't know where it is that I want to end up in terms of a career.
I do know this for sure. God has a calling on my life. I know that I am supposed to be in ministry. I thrive on shepherding people and I love to be able to help others discover who He is. I couldn't dream of not working in a church. This evening David said to me that he knew for sure that I am destined for public leadership. I know that he is right. I know that God has me on an incredible path and I fearfully and excitingly look forward to seeing what that path is. I know that wherever I will go, that those traits that I had as a child will come along with me just like a suitcase full of clothes. And I know that whatever I'm doing there'll be two people (besides my parents) knowing that I'll be able to successfully do what I was meant to do.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Bucket List
My friend Susie, wrote in her Facebook status last night asking friends what were the top three items on their bucket list. While my first automatic responses were finish my bachelor's and master's degree, become a wife and mom, and own my own home, I pushed myself to think beyond this list. A few years ago, I had started to compile this list on my old laptop, but when it crashed, I lost the list. So, here goes:
1. Travel to Europe
2. Learn how to sew.
3. Learn to speak German and French.
4. Drive across the country.
5. Open my own business
6. Plant a church.
7. Attend SXSW and Coachella music festivals.
8. Learn to play piano and guitar (I started to do this years ago and put my guitar aside).
9. See a Broadway play and attend another opera.
10. Buy my dream car - 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sedan in pink and white.
This is not an inclusive list, just some the first few things that came to mind. What's on your list?
1. Travel to Europe
2. Learn how to sew.
3. Learn to speak German and French.
4. Drive across the country.
5. Open my own business
6. Plant a church.
7. Attend SXSW and Coachella music festivals.
8. Learn to play piano and guitar (I started to do this years ago and put my guitar aside).
9. See a Broadway play and attend another opera.
10. Buy my dream car - 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Sedan in pink and white.
This is not an inclusive list, just some the first few things that came to mind. What's on your list?
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Dreaming is a form of planning...
I have been thinking a lot lately about changes that I want to make in my life. Goals that need to be accomplished. I say goals, because they aren't resolutions. I find that even labeling changes that need to be made as resolutions sets oneself up for failure as most resolutions usually end up being broken. I've challenged myself to be more serious about my goals and what I need to do in order to make these changes in my life...I have worked on this post on and off. Put it aside to finish it later. I find myself sitting down to finish it on Ash Wednesday. Kind of ironic, I think, as Ash Wednesday begins a period in which Christians give up something a symbol of the sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross. In previous years, I have strictly given up different things such as soda, candy, chocolate, but this year as I have been contemplating these long term goals, I want them to be my focus.
Here they are:
1. Eating more healthy. Cutting out fast food. Making sure to get in the right amount of fruits and vegetables. Watching the amount of sugar (candy, sweets, soda that I consume). Drinking more water. Eating a breakfast that has more protein. Getting healthier snacks such as cheese, yogurt, fruits/vegetables, peanuts, etc...
2. Exercise. Over the past three months that I have been dealing with my injury, the ability to even go for a walk has been impossible to do without experiencing lots of pain. I need to slowly start walking around the block and from there easing into longer walks. My puppy could use the exercise too. This will require me to have to get up a little bit earlier, and go to bed a few minutes earlier as well.
3. Devotions and daily scripture reading. This is something that I have struggled with on and on off. I'm really good at making a daily effort to do so for about three months at a time and then I stop for another three months at a time. I see the benefits when I do so, and am a strong believer in being in the Word every single day. I need to stop making excuses, sleeping in, and just do it.
4. Making time for play. I love to read. I love to scrapbook. I love photography. I find myself so busy lately that I don't have time for the fun things. Finding a balance between work, school, studying and church activities where I have the time to meet up with friends for coffee or go for a walk with my camera.
5. Stay organized at home. If you were to walk into my office at the moment, you would think that I'm an extremely organized person. This is not always the case. I am organized at work and with my school responsibilites, but at home this is not the case. There are piles of clean laundry all over my room waiting to be put away, scrapbooking supplies to be sorted and purged, books stacked up, and on and on...I come home at night and am overwhelmed by this and so I need to stop everything for one afternoon sometime soon and attack the clutter. I know that if my own personal space is taken care of , that I will start feeling more calm and less stressed.
6. Writing at least once a week. I started this blog a few years back as a place to record my thoughts (which could also be encorporated into my scrapbook albums). When I picked it up a few months ago, I hadn't written anything in about two years. I know if I don't get the words down on paper, no one else do, so there's no better time to start than now!
I know that these goals are not something that can be completed overnight, in a week, or in one single weekend. They are going to take me some time to accomplish, just as it has taken me awhile to get to a place where I have had to look back and realize that these changes need to be made. I'm committed to diligently working at accomplishing them and am looking forward to the results!
Here they are:
1. Eating more healthy. Cutting out fast food. Making sure to get in the right amount of fruits and vegetables. Watching the amount of sugar (candy, sweets, soda that I consume). Drinking more water. Eating a breakfast that has more protein. Getting healthier snacks such as cheese, yogurt, fruits/vegetables, peanuts, etc...
2. Exercise. Over the past three months that I have been dealing with my injury, the ability to even go for a walk has been impossible to do without experiencing lots of pain. I need to slowly start walking around the block and from there easing into longer walks. My puppy could use the exercise too. This will require me to have to get up a little bit earlier, and go to bed a few minutes earlier as well.
3. Devotions and daily scripture reading. This is something that I have struggled with on and on off. I'm really good at making a daily effort to do so for about three months at a time and then I stop for another three months at a time. I see the benefits when I do so, and am a strong believer in being in the Word every single day. I need to stop making excuses, sleeping in, and just do it.
4. Making time for play. I love to read. I love to scrapbook. I love photography. I find myself so busy lately that I don't have time for the fun things. Finding a balance between work, school, studying and church activities where I have the time to meet up with friends for coffee or go for a walk with my camera.
5. Stay organized at home. If you were to walk into my office at the moment, you would think that I'm an extremely organized person. This is not always the case. I am organized at work and with my school responsibilites, but at home this is not the case. There are piles of clean laundry all over my room waiting to be put away, scrapbooking supplies to be sorted and purged, books stacked up, and on and on...I come home at night and am overwhelmed by this and so I need to stop everything for one afternoon sometime soon and attack the clutter. I know that if my own personal space is taken care of , that I will start feeling more calm and less stressed.
6. Writing at least once a week. I started this blog a few years back as a place to record my thoughts (which could also be encorporated into my scrapbook albums). When I picked it up a few months ago, I hadn't written anything in about two years. I know if I don't get the words down on paper, no one else do, so there's no better time to start than now!
I know that these goals are not something that can be completed overnight, in a week, or in one single weekend. They are going to take me some time to accomplish, just as it has taken me awhile to get to a place where I have had to look back and realize that these changes need to be made. I'm committed to diligently working at accomplishing them and am looking forward to the results!
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)