Beautiful Thing ~ week # 41

It was a whirlwind weekend of wonderful!

My sister decided we needed a girls’ trip and despite the fact that I am terrified of getting lost, she convinced me that this trip was not-optional. Since one of the 14 goals in 2014 was to take a road trip with girls, I figured who better than with my mom, my sister and my daughter.

Deciding that an overnight trip to Birch Run Mall in Port Huron, Michigan was the place to go we headed out on our adventure, last Friday. Where we spent the first part of our evening at Applebee’s feasting on the delicious appetizers and where I tried the super fun Corona’rita.

We then spent the rest of the evening in our hotel room; chatting, laughing, playing games and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

Saturday dawned bright and early for a day of shopping… yes, shopping! 

At the end of the day, I came away with several different tops that will co-ordinate with so many clothes already in my closet.  It was a day well spent, {both literally and monetarily} and a wonderful way to spend time together!

What was your beautiful thing this week?

Blessings

One day at a time

And then there are those handful of days when I don’t feel well, like today. I woke up at 4am. I’m not sure why exactly, other than it‘s been one of those nights. I do know that I don’t have the energy to commit to the day I had planned. Instead of getting it all done, I have to conserve energy, take care of myself, heal, and identify what I really need to accomplish.

If you struggle with chronic illness like me, or are under the weather, or are just having a bad day, take the pressure off and ask this question …

What’s the only thing you have to do today?

A few years ago, I would have pushed through, gone to work, ran errands, carried the world around on my shoulders, and pretended I felt fine, only to feel worse at the end of the day and the next day, and the day after that. Sound familiar?

But I’ve learned that…
cleaning can wait
errands can wait
email can wait
all of the other bits and pieces can wait.If I feel better later I’ll do them and if I don’t, I won’t. They can wait.

I'll be feeling better soon, but this is a great reminder that doing less creates time and space to love more, enjoy more, and to be more.

Blessings

Really? Really!

How are you… really??

Should I be honest?  I wondered.

What if I start crying? What if she doesn’t really have time to listen? What if she’s just asking to be nice?

I could keep it simple and say, “I’m fine.”

There I was, standing in the lobby at church waiting for my husband, when a friend walked up and asked how I was doing. Since I am in active cycle of my illness I was not “fine.”

I was exhausted. I was overwhelmed. I was afraid.

Sometimes it’s hard to let people know how we’re really doing because we don’t want to be high maintenance, right?  And it’s easy to believe people don’t really want to know when they ask. Sometimes they don’t.  But what about those times when someone sincerely wants to know and I still don’t want to tell them?

There are times when I tell people I’m fine even when I’m not, because I want to be. I hope by saying “I’m fine” that eventually I will be. Other times I act like I’m fine because I think others expect me to be.

Then there are days when hormones trump all good manners and if my people are within ten feet they know I am NOT fine. In fact, if I tell them I am, what I really mean is that I am Freaked out, Irrational, Neurotic, and Exhausted!

But not in public. Not where others can see the real me.

This my year to be intentional about what I say, what I do and more importantly who I am and choose to follow. I wonder, can we be women who live unfiltered lives? Not a call to use words carelessly, over-share, or end all creativity, but to say “Here I am. Just as God made me.”

Can we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful and bring God glory through our interntionality? Can we be women who embrace imperfection?

Can we say…
I struggle with anger ~ but trust God to give me peace
I’m insecure ~ but believe God’s plan for my life is good
I’m not a strong speaker ~ but know that God will give me the message
I worry ~ but have faith that God’s way is best
I struggle with envy ~ but trust God knows why it’s not yet my turn
I’m not perfect ~ but God will fill in where I am weak
And that is where I stood that day in the lobby at church. At a pivotal point of decision. Will I be honest and let her see the real me? Should I let her know how I’m really doing?

Everything in me wanted to keep my guard up, keep my heart sealed off and my lips sealed tight.

But I was tired. Tired of pretending I was fine.

So I took a risk. I let my heart, my words and my tears spill. Shared the hard parts of this life. And while it feels safer to pick and choose the pieces of our lives we share, there is freedom and fellowship when we remove the filter of “fine.”

I want you to share that you don’t have it all together, because then I can pray for you. I want you to share your victories ~ the big and the seemingly insignificant ~ so I can cheer for you. I want to see the photos of the beautiful party and the mess left when everyone leaves, so I can relate to a heart that cares more about people than perfectly swept floors.

I believe we can be women who choose to share our live with intention, ones that are filtered by nothing more than the grace of God.

God is working His grace and His strength in my weakness.

When I’m willing to be weak, He gets to be strong. When I’m willing to be real, others get to see, pray for and get to know the “real me” and the real God I desperately need and love.

When someone asks how you are or how they can pray for you, is it hard to be real with them?

Blessings

mhmm monday

I am always looking for new recipes to make for dinner.  So when this website shared this super yum and super simple way to make chicken, I was all over it and decided to make it happen! 
 
Pineapple Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:

2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken {6-8 thighs or 4-6 breasts}

1 20 ounce can of pineapple, juice drained

1 16 ounces jar of salsa

 

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray

Place chicken in slow cooker

Top chicken with salsa and pineapple

Cook on low for 6-8 hours

If freezing, place chicken in the bag and cover with salsa and pineapple. Freeze. Defrost overnight in the fridge and cook in slow cooker for 6-8 hours

 

Blessings

Beautiful Thing ~ week # 40

October!
 
It’s my favourite month of the year. Not because my birthday is there in the middle of it, although that doesn’t hurt… for me though, this month marks the entrance into my ever most favourite season ~ Autumn.

It’s the most beautiful outdoor season of the year.

I stand looking out in awe of the most beautiful colours of the landscape, where orange meets blue, brown meets rust and red shines though the green. That is until the chill of winter sets in, but that’s for another post.

The cool, crisp temperatures, the beautiful leaves, pumpkin spice tea, and fresh apple cider. It is all just delightful!

 

The trees certainly don’t seem to mind the change. The slowing down of growth. They continue to wave their imposing limbs toward heaven in praise, perhaps just grateful for the dormancy that the cooler weather brings. The rest. The leisure. All in His timing.

God has made everything beautiful for its own time.

{Ecclesiastes 3:11a, {NLT}}

 

So I stop and enjoy this season as I continue to watch His glorious work of closing summer’s door and opening autumn’s.

What was your beautiful thing this week?

Blessings

Pain

I opened my devotional and the page is titled, “Pain”. oh the irony of the timing... I’ve been symptomatic with my illness and to be honest, I just wanted to flip to another page, maybe read a different thought. I wanted something encouraging and uplifting.

I didn’t want to think about pain. When it’s something you deal with almost everyday, you want your devotional to help you think of something else, anything else. I wanted to think of life, breathing, and growing.

But here’s what I learned …

Pain can be redemptive ~ your broken heart can lead you to God. Pain can reveal God’s power as you see Him respond to your cry for help. Pain can test and prove your commitment to God. Pain equips you to comfort others in their pain because you know what they are going through.

I thought back over the last few weeks, and honestly, we’ve experienced a little of each of those things. Pain is a funny thing. It leaves you feeling mangled; a bit disfigured or marred. It crushes hope right out of your lungs if you but give it the chance. 

We may be pain now, in this moment, but the thing is ~ it will pass.

My thoughts derail as I reflect on where I’ve been and I tell myself that, even though I don’t know where I’m going, a faithful God has been leading me down this road the entire time and I have no reason not to trust.

So here’s the thing we must remember … it is not going to be forever. Use your pain to strengthen your faith, your character, and your compassion for others.

“Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”

Psalm 55:22 {New Living Translation {NLT}}

Blessings

Blogtober

It seems that a lot of the blogs I follow are joining in with the Nester’s 31 Days Series ~ an invitation to write for 31 days straight for the month of October. Maybe you’ve heard of it. Maybe you’ve even done it before. 

A couple of years ago, I had been seeing a few blog posts about it. I wondered what it was as I had never heard of it before. And my curiosity was peaked. After a little investigating, I learned that it was a writing challenge where bloggers pick a topic of their choice ~ and write about this one topic ~ every day, for the 31 days of October.  I found myself checking in daily to see what was being written which resulted in me starting to follow several of these blogs…

I was thinking, that this year, I might join in on the 31 days, but wasn’t sure how I could manage it.

Last year for the month of October, I did blog every day following the prompts based on two of the blogs I used to follow regularly. I realized that since I enjoyed checking in everyday to see what they were writing about, I thought that I too could give this a try. I was excited to see what the next 31 days would teach me. 

But this year?

Deciding to write for 31 days straight seems completely intimidating and exhausting. Seriously. If you’re like me, you write maybe two or three times a week on a normal month. At the beginning of this year I introduced two weekly posts “mhmm Monday”,  featuring a recipe that I have either made or hope to make and “Beautiful Things” posted each Saturday, that shares something beautiful that happened during the week.

All through September I’ve been thinking about whether or not to join the 31 Day series. How would I continue to be inspired to write each and every day? How do I choose a topic that would be relevant for 31 days? Or, should I just continue doing my own thing?

So for this October, while I love to read those who are joining the 31 Day series ~ cause you know I’ll be checking in… daily. It’s just not the right fit for me this time.

Are you joining the 31 Days?

Blessings